# US 11,896,433 B2 · Ultrasound determination of dynamic air bronchogram and associated devices, systems, and methods > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,896,433 B2 - Document ID: US11896433B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/638,827 - Filed: 2018-08-16 - Published: 2021-05-06 - Granted: 2024-02-13 - Earliest claimed: 2017-08-16 - Assignees: Koninklijke Philips N.V. - Applicants: Koninklijke Philips N.V. - Inventors: Jingping Xu; Balasundar Iyyavu Raju; Shougang Wang; Anthony M. Gades - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11896433B2 ## CPC - A61B 8/5223: {for extracting a diagnostic or physiological parameter from medical diagnostic data (for algorithms to analyse biomedical images G06T7/0012)} - G16H 30/40: for processing medical images, e.g. editing - A61B 8/08: Clinical applications (A61B8/02, A61B8/04, A61B8/06 take precedence) - G06T 7/0016: {involving temporal comparison} - G06T 7/215: Motion-based segmentation - G06T 7/223: using block-matching - G16H 40/63: for local operation - G16H 50/30: for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment - A61B 8/0858: {involving measuring tissue layers, e.g. skin, interfaces} - A61B 8/13: Tomography (A61B8/10, A61B8/12 take precedence) - A61B 8/461: {Displaying means of special interest} - A61B 8/469: {for selection of a region of interest} - A61B 8/5246: {combining images from the same or different imaging techniques, e.g. color Doppler and B-mode} - G01S 7/5208: {with integration of processing functions inside probe or scanhead} - G06T 2207/10016: Video; Image sequence - G06T 2207/10132: Ultrasound image - G06T 2207/20212: Image combination - G06T 2207/20224: Image subtraction - G06T 2207/30061: Lung - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - G16H: HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES ## Abstract Ultrasound image devices, systems, and methods are provided. In one embodiment, an ultrasound imaging system includes an interface coupled to an ultrasound imaging component and configured to receive a plurality of image data frames representative of a subject's body including at least a portion of a lung; a processing component in communication with the interface and configured to determine a metric for each image data frame of the plurality of image data frames based on a threshold comparison; and determine a dynamic air bronchogram (AB) condition of the subject's body based on a variation across the metrics of the plurality of image data frames. In one embodiment, the processing component is configured to determine differential data frames based on differences across consecutive image data frames of the plurality of image data frames; and determine a dynamic AB condition of the subject's body based on the differential data frames. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An ultrasound imaging system, comprising: an interface coupled to at least one of a transducer array and a beamformer, the interface to receive a plurality of image data frames representative of a subject's body including at least a portion of a lung, each image data frame of the plurality of image data frames including a plurality of pixel values representing pixel intensities of an image of the subject's body; a processor in communication with the interface and configured to: determine a count metric for each image data frame of the plurality of image data frames by counting a number of the plurality of pixel values in each image data frame that satisfies a threshold; and determine a dynamic air bronchogram (AB) condition of the subject's body based on a variation across the count metrics of the plurality of image data frames, wherein the dynamic AB condition is determined based on a calculated ratio between a maximum of the count metrics and a minimum of the count metrics. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The ultrasound imaging system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of image data frames represent images of the subject's body across a time period including at least one respiratory cycle. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The ultrasound imaging system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: identify a region-of-interest (ROI) from the plurality of image data frames corresponding to the at least a portion of the lung; and determine the count metrics based on the ROI. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The ultrasound imaging system of claim 1, further comprising a display. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The ultrasound imaging system of claim 1, further comprising an ultrasound imaging probe comprising: at least one of the transducer array and the beamformer; the processor; and a display. ### Claim 6 An ultrasound imaging system, comprising: an interface coupled to at least one of a transducer array and a beamformer, the interface to receive a plurality of image data frames representative of a subject's body including at least a portion of a lung across a time period, each image data frame of the plurality of image data frames including a plurality of pixel values representing pixel intensities of an image of the subject's body; a processor in communication with the interface and configured to: identify a subset of data from the plurality of image data frames by selecting one or more pixel values from each image data frame of the plurality of image data frames corresponding to a same sub-portion of the at least a portion of the lung; determine an intensity metric for each image data frame from the subset of data; and determine a dynamic air bronchogram (AB) condition of the subject's body based on a temporal variation across the subset of data by comparing a maximum of the intensity metrics across the time period to a minimum of the intensity metrics across the time period, wherein the dynamic AB condition is determined based on a calculated ratio between a maximum of the intensity metrics and a minimum of the intensity metrics. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The ultrasound imaging system of claim 6, wherein the time period includes at least one respiratory cycle. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The ultrasound imaging system of claim 6, further comprising a display. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The ultrasound imaging system of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to: determine the dynamic AB condition based on a ratio between the maximum of the intensity metrics and the minimum of the of the intensity metrics. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The ultrasound imaging system of claim 9, wherein the processor is configured to apply a filter across the intensity metrics prior to the determining the dynamic AB condition.