Loosely coupled probe position and view in ultrasound imaging
AssigneeSiemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.
InventorEli Gibson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ultrasound scanner scans a patient. The scan data is checked for an optimal view as a subpart of the scan. Where the field of view does not include the optimal view, the scan is repeated with a different spatial extent. Where the field of view does include the optimal view, then the scan data for that optimal view is used to generate an image. Both the view and the overall or broader scan are controlled together so that a sonographer may place the transducer at an approximate location to still provide a precise view.
Claims11
A method of ultrasound imaging, the method comprising:
- scanning, by an ultrasound imaging system, a first volume of a patient, where a transducer for the scanning is held at a first location during the scanning providing a first view;
- searching, by a machine-learned model, for an optimal view in the first volume, wherein searching comprises inputting, by the machine-learned model, the first volume and outputting, by the machine-learned model, search results that describe the optimal view, the machine-learned model trained on a dataset of pairs of data including 3D scan data and ground truth 2D optimal view data;
- determining, based on the search results and the first view, a change in a field of view for the transducer to acquire additional data for the optimal view;
- determining acquisition parameters for a subsequent scan without requiring movement of the transducer, the subsequent scan to acquire the additional data;
- scanning, by the ultrasound imaging system while the transducer is held at the first location using the acquisition parameters, a second volume of the patient having the changed field of view, the second volume acquiring the additional data for the optimal view;
- identifying the optimal view from the first volume and second volume;
- and
- generating an image for the optimal view.
A system for ultrasound imaging, the system comprising:
- a transmit beamformer;
- a receive beamformer;
- a transducer connectable with the transmit and receive beamformers;
- an image processor configured with a machine learning network configured to input a first volume from a previous scan using the transducer held at a first location and output search results that describe a view that was not captured in the previous scan, the machine learning network trained on a dataset of pairs of data including 3D scan data and ground truth 2D view data, the image processor further configured to determine, based on the search results a subsequent view for imaging and determine acquisition parameters for a subsequent scan using the transducer held at the first location, the subsequent scan to acquire additional data for the view by the transmit and receive beamformers using the transducer, the additional data including data for the view that was not captured during the previous scan and surrounding context data;
- wherein the transmit and receive beamformers are configured to perform the subsequent scan using the transducer held at the first location to capture the additional data not captured during the previous scan, and the image processor is configured to generate an image of the view;
- a display configured to display the view.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.