Apparatus and method for detecting a tool
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips N.V.
InventorsArash Pourtaherian, Hendrikus Hubertus Maria Korsten, Nenad Mihajlovic, Jinfeng Huang, Peter Hendrik Nelis De With
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The apparatus is adapted to detect a tool based on a 3D image obtained by a 3D ultrasound imaging system. The apparatus comprises an image processing unit, which includes a tool detection module configured to perform a tool detection procedure. The tool detection procedure involves identifying a shadow of the tool in the 3D image and calculating the position of a “tool plane section” of the 3D image in which the entire length of the tool is represented.
Claims10
An apparatus for detecting a tool comprising:
- an image processing unit comprising a computer adapted to detect a tool based on a 3D ultrasound image, wherein the image processing unit is configured to:
- determine whether the tool is visible in the 3D image;
- when the tool is determined to not visible in the 3D image, perform a first tool detection procedure comprising:
- obtaining a set of planar sections from the 3D ultrasound image;
- identifying a tool shadow region present in a planar section of the set of planar sections;
- and
- determining the location of a tool plane section within the 3D ultrasound image, wherein the tool plane section represents a plane within the 3D image in which the entire length of the tool is present, based on the detected tool shadow region;
- when the tool is determined to be visible in the 3D image, perform a second tool detection procedure, the second tool detection procedure different from the first tool detection procedure, the second tool detection procedure comprising:
- determining the tool based on a representation of the tool in the 3D image.
A method for detecting a tool using ultrasonic radiation, comprising:
- obtaining a 3D volume data set;
- determining whether the tool is visible in a 3D image;
- performing the first tool detection procedure responsive to the tool being not visible in the 3D image;
- wherein performing the first tool detection procedure comprises:
- obtaining a set of planar sections of the 3D volume data set, wherein each planar section represents a plane perpendicular to a transmission direction of the ultrasonic radiation;
- identifying a tool shadow region in a planar section of the set of planar sections,
- wherein a plurality of tool shadow regions are identified based at least in part on the identifying of the tool shadow region and the location of the tool plane section is calculated based on the tool shadow regions,
- wherein the identifying the plurality of tool shadow regions comprises:
- detecting dark regions present in the planar sections;
- and
- determining whether the dark regions correspond to a shadow of the tool, and
- wherein determining whether a dark region in one planar section corresponds to a shadow of the tool comprises determining whether the dark region is consistent with dark regions of other planar sections;
- and
- determining the location of a tool plane section within the 3D volume data set, wherein the tool plane section represents a plane in which the entire length of the tool is present, based on the detected tool shadow region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.