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US 10,646,199 B2Granted
Systems and methods for remote graphical feedback of ultrasound scanning technique
AssigneeClarius Mobile Health Corp.
InventorsLaurent Pelissier, Trevor Hansen, Jacob McIvor, Benjamin Eric Kerby, David Glenn Willis, Narges Afsham
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and method for providing remote expert feedback to an operator of an ultrasound imaging machine. The remote feedback consists of graphical icons that are dragged and dropped onto a video stream of the patient being scanned or the ultrasound image being captured and shared in real-time with the local operator to help improve their scanning technique.
Claims24
An ultrasound imaging system comprising:
- a hand-holdable probe comprising:
- a transducer;
- transmit and receive circuits respectively operable to drive the transducer to transmit ultrasound energy to a patient and to receive signals generated by the transducer in response to ultrasound energy received from the patient;
- and
- an image processing circuit comprising a beamformer configured to process the received signals to yield ultrasound image data;
- and
- a local user interface device communicably coupled to the hand-holdable probe, the local user interface device configured to receive and display the ultrasound image data, and the local user interface device comprising:
- an ultrasound image buffer configured to store a plurality of frames of the ultrasound image data;
- a camera operable to generate a video stream;
- a video stream buffer configured to store a plurality of frames of the video stream generated from the camera;
- and
- a data interface connected to transmit, to a remote interface, the plurality of frames of the ultrasound image data and the plurality of frames of the video stream generated from the camera, wherein the remote interface is configured to display a user interface comprising:
- a palette of selectable controls that correspond to movements of the probe, the remote interface being configured to receive input selecting a selectable control of the selectable controls from the palette, wherein upon selecting the selectable control, the remote interface transmits a position correction message corresponding to the selectable control to the data interface, the position correction message relating to positional correction for the probe, and
- a freeze control, wherein upon actuation of the freeze control, the remote interface transmits to the data interface a freeze message that identifies both a selected one of the plurality of frames of the video stream generated by the camera and a selected one of the plurality of frames of the ultrasound image data;
- and
- a display connected to:
- upon receipt of the position correction message, display the ultrasound image data with a positional correction symbol, the positional correction symbol being determined by the position correction message received from the remote interface, and
- upon receipt of the freeze message, display both the selected one of the plurality of frames of the video stream and the selected one of the plurality of frames of the ultrasound image data, so that a position and orientation of the probe for acquiring the selected one of the plurality of frames of the ultrasound image data is shown in the selected one of the plurality of frames of the video stream.
15 more elements
A method for providing positional feedback to an operator performing an ultrasound scan, the method comprising:
- acquiring a plurality of frames of ultrasound image data from a probe at a first location;
- acquiring a plurality of frames of a video stream depicting the probe and the patient at the first location;
- transmitting, from the first location to a second location that is remote from the first location, the plurality of frames of ultrasound image data and the plurality of frames of the video stream;
- displaying on a graphical interface at the second location the plurality of frames of ultrasound image data, the plurality of frames of the video stream, a palette of selectable controls that correspond to movements of the probe, and a freeze control;
- receiving input, through the graphical interface, that selects a selectable control of the selectable controls from the palette or that actuates the freeze control;
- upon selecting the selectable control from the palette,
- transmitting a position correction message corresponding to the selectable control from the second location to the first location, the position correction message relating to positional correction for the probe at the first location, and
- outputting a positional correction symbol determined by the position correction message to a display of a device at the first location;
- and
- upon actuation of the freeze control,
- transmitting a freeze message from the second location to the first location, the freeze message identifying both a selected one of the plurality of frames of the video stream and a selected one of the plurality of frames of the ultrasound image data, and
- outputting both the selected one of the plurality of frames of the video stream and the selected one of the plurality of frames of the ultrasound image data to a display of the device at the first location, so that a position and orientation of the probe for acquiring the selected one of the plurality of frames of the ultrasound image data is shown in the selected one of the plurality of frames of the video stream.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.