Tissue Movement Tracking via Dynamic Coordinate System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional image diagnostic techniques fail to accurately measure the moving state of cardiac tissue and its trajectory, leading to unreliable evaluation indexes due to the movement of cardiac muscle, which affects the diagnosis of cardiac functions and other organ movements.
Innovation Solution
An image diagnostic apparatus that includes imaging, storing, and display units, along with tracking means to designate and track tissue movement by setting a cutout image, correlating image data, and calculating coordinate differences to accurately measure tissue movement and trajectory.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional image processing techniques are used to extract cardiac ventricle outlines and measure wall thickness, then whole cardiac function evaluation is possible, but measurement precision of tissue movement is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the cardiac wall into multiple discrete points (first point on endocardium, second point on epicardium) rather than treating the wall as a continuous outline. This segmentation enables independent tracking of each point's movement trajectory, significantly improving measurement precision of tissue movement while keeping the system manageable through focused point-by-point analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates virtual copies of the cardiac wall points in a standardized coordinate system that moves with the tissue. By copying point coordinates and transforming them into a moving coordinate system that follows tissue movement, the system maintains precise tracking of tissue deformation and movement without requiring complex real-time imaging adjustments.
2Reliability
If the region of interest (ROI) is fixed in the image coordinate system, then image processing is simple, but reliability of evaluation indexes is lost due to tissue movement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the static ROI approach into a dynamic coordinate system that moves with the tissue. The coordinate system's origin and axes are continuously updated to follow the movement of reference points on the cardiac wall, ensuring the ROI remains reliably positioned on the moving tissue throughout the cardiac cycle. This dynamic adjustment maintains evaluation index reliability despite tissue motion.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from tracked point positions to continuously update the coordinate system transformation parameters. By monitoring the movement of cardiac wall points and using this information to adjust the coordinate system in real-time, the system maintains accurate alignment between the ROI and the moving tissue, ensuring reliable evaluation indexes.
3Adaptability or versatility
If cardiac muscle moves during imaging, then dynamic function evaluation is possible, but relative position changes between cardiac muscle and ROI make measurement difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a moving coordinate system as an intermediary between the fixed image coordinate system and the moving tissue. This intermediate coordinate system moves with the tissue, serving as a bridge that allows precise measurement of tissue position and movement while maintaining compatibility with the fixed imaging system. The intermediary coordinate system absorbs the complexity of tissue motion, enabling precise measurements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes the parameters of the coordinate system (origin position, axis orientations) to follow tissue movement. By adjusting these parameters in real-time based on tracked point positions, the system maintains precise measurement capability throughout the cardiac cycle, accommodating the full range of cardiac muscle motion while preserving measurement accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
A one frame image of a moving image formed by producing tomographic images of an object to be examined is displayed (S2), a mark is superposed on a designated portion of a tissue the movement of which is tracked in the displayed one frame image (S3), a cutout image of a size including the designated portion is set in the one frame image (S4), local images are searched in another frame images of the moving image and a local image of the identical size which is most coincided with the cutout image is extracted (S5,6), and a coordinate of the designated portion after movement is calculated based on a coordinate difference between the most coincided local image and the cutout image (S7), thereby the movement of tissue is quantitatively measured.