US 2016/0242732 A1 · ULTRASOUND SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AUTOMATED FETAL HEARTBEAT IDENTIFICATION

Abstract

Ultrasound systems and methods provide a workflow to automatically identify a fetal heartbeat. A region of interest (ROl) is identified in an ultrasound image and an ROl is identified that contains the fetal heart. The ultrasound system produces spatially different M-mode lines associated with the ROl. The ultrasound system can identify a fetal heartbeat by tracking the changing position of the heart wall and estimate the fetal heart rate, e.g. by measuring from peak-to-peak of two subsequent waves. The echo signals for the M-mode lines can also be ranked according to the likely presence of a fetal heartbeat in the echo data.

Claims17

Dependent claims

An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system for identifying a fetal heartbeat, the system comprising:

an ultrasound probe including an array transducer;
an image processor adapted to process echo data from the probe for display;
an image display coupled to the image processor and adapted to display an ultrasound image including a fetal heart;
a graphics generator responsive to a user control that identifies a region of interest (ROI) in the ultrasound image;
and
a user control adapted to initiate generation of a plurality of spatially different M-mode lines associated with the region of interest,
wherein the imaging system is adapted to (1) acquire echo data corresponding to the spatially different M-mode lines and (2) analyze the echo data to identify the fetal heartbeat associated with at least one of the spatially different M-mode lines, and
wherein the system is adapted to rank the acquired echo data based on fetal heart rates measured for each of the corresponding M-mode lines.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Ultrasound systems and methods for automated fetal heartbeat identification

Life of this patent

Ultrasound systems and methods for automated fetal heartbeat identification

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims17