Back to results
US 10,376,234 B2Granted
Ultrasonic imaging apparatus and a method for imaging a specular object and a target anatomy in a tissue using ultrasound
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips N.V.
InventorsFrancois Guy Gerard Marie Vignon, Jin Chang, Allison Arden Daniels, Ameet Kumar Jain
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention relates to a method and an ultrasonic imaging apparatus (20) for imaging a specular object (such as a biopsy needle) and a target anatomy in a tissue, whereby the specular object remains visible even when its location deviates from a target plane (21) including the target anatomy.
Claims16
A method of imaging a specular object and a target anatomy in a tissue using ultrasound, the method comprising:
- a tissue imaging step comprising:
- transmitting first sound waves into a volumetric region of the tissue, the volumetric region including the target anatomy located in a target plane;
- receiving echoes of said first sound waves from the target plane;
- and
- processing said received echoes to produce a two-dimensional tissue image;
- a specular object imaging step comprising:
- selecting elevations for imaging the specular object based on an elevation of the target plane used for imaging the target anatomy in the tissue imaging step;
- transmitting second sound waves into said volumetric region of the tissue based on the selected elevations, the volumetric region including the specular object;
- receiving echoes of said second sound waves from a plurality of image planes, said plurality of image planes each corresponding to one of the selected elevations;
- and
- processing the echoes received from the plurality of image planes to produce a set of two-dimensional specular object images, wherein the method further comprises:
- performing a first combination of the set of two-dimensional specular object images into a first combined two-dimensional specular object image, wherein performing the first combination of the set of two-dimensional specular object images includes coding each of the two-dimensional specular object images based on an elevation position of the two-dimensional specular object image relative to the target plane such that the first combined two-dimensional specular object image indicates a portion of the specular object that is in front of the target plane and a portion of the specular object that is behind the target plane;
- performing a second combination of the two-dimensional tissue image and the first combined two-dimensional specular object image to generate a second combined two-dimensional image;
- and
- displaying the second combined two-dimensional image.
12 more elements
An ultrasonic imaging apparatus for imaging a specular object and a target anatomy in a tissue, the apparatus comprising:
- an array transducer for transmitting sound waves into a volumetric region of the tissue and for receiving echoes of said sound waves, wherein the array transducer is adapted to have elevation steering capabilities;
- a beamformer
- for controlling the transmission of sound waves by the array transducer such that first sound waves are transmitted into the volumetric region including the target anatomy located in a target plane and echoes are received of said first sound waves from the target plane,
- for selecting elevations for imaging the specular object based on an elevation of the target plane used for imaging the target anatomy, and
- for controlling the transmission of sound waves by the array transducer based on the selected elevations such that second sound waves are transmitted into the volumetric region including the specular object and echoes are received of said second sound waves from a plurality of image planes, said plurality of image planes each corresponding to one of the selected elevations, the selected elevations being distributed in an elevation direction;
- a data processor
- for processing said received echoes of said first sound waves to produce a two-dimensional tissue image, and
- for processing the echoes received from the plurality of image planes to produce a set of two-dimensional specular object images;
- and
- an image processor
- for performing a first combination of the set of two-dimensional specular object images into a first combined two-dimensional specular object image, wherein performing the first combination of the set of two-dimensional specular object images includes coding each of the two-dimensional specular object images based on an elevation position of the two-dimensional specular object image relative to the target plane such that the first combined two-dimensional specular object image indicates a portion of the specular object that is in front of the target plane and a portion of the specular object that is behind the target plane;
- for performing a second combination of the two-dimensional tissue image and the first combined two-dimensional specular object image to generate a second combined two-dimensional image;
- and
- for displaying the second combined two-dimensional image.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.