Flexible measurement protocol for medical imaging

A method for transferring a measurement protocol from a medical imaging device of a first type to a medical imaging device of a second type, said method comprising:

• providing a computer with a plurality of measurement parameters that are to be formulated into a measurement protocol for medical imaging of a subject, said medical imaging to be implemented using a medical imaging apparatus that comprises hardware apparatus components;
• in said computer, dividing said measurement parameters into a protocol structure comprising a base class, consisting of hardware-independent measurement parameters that are independent of said hardware apparatus components, and at least one class that supplements said base class that consists of hardware-specific measurement parameters that specify a feature of at least one of said hardware apparatus components;
• in said computer, formulating said measurement protocol from said measurement parameters with said measurement parameters in said base class being treated differently in the formulation of the measurement protocol than the measurement parameters in said at least one class that supplements said base class, thereby obtaining a formulated measurement protocol;
• in said computer, examining whether a measurement parameter used by the medical imaging apparatus of the second type is included in one of the classes encompassed by the formulated measurement protocol;
• in said computer, using the classes included in the formulated measurement protocol if the measurement parameters are included in the formulated measurement protocol;
• generating at least one further class with measurement parameters in the event that the measurement parameters of the medical imaging apparatus of the second type are not included in the measurement protocol, and thereby generating a modified measurement protocol;
• and
• emitting the modified measurement protocol from the computer in electronic form targeted for use by said medical imaging apparatus of the second type.

A computer for generating a measurement protocol for medical imaging of a subject, said medical imaging to be implemented using a medical imaging apparatus that comprises hardware apparatus components, said computer comprising:

• an input interface configured to receive a plurality of measurement parameters that are to be formulated into said measurement protocol;
• a processor configured to divide said measurement parameters into a protocol structure comprising a base class, consisting of hardware-independent measurement parameters that are independent of said hardware apparatus components, and at least one class that supplements said base class that consists of hardware-specific measurement parameters that specify a feature of at least one of said hardware apparatus components;
• said processor being configured to formulate said measurement protocol from said measurement parameters with said measurement parameters in said base class being treated differently in the formulation of the measurement protocol than the measurement parameters in said at least one class that supplements said base class, thereby obtaining a formulated measurement protocol;
• and
• an output interface configured to make the formulated measurement protocol available from the processor in electronic form with a format configured to operate the medical imaging apparatus to execute said medical imaging according to said formulated measurement protocol.

A computer for transferring a measurement protocol from a medical imaging device of a first type to a medical imaging device of a second type, said method comprising:

• an input interface configured to receive a plurality of measurement parameters that are to be formulated into a measurement protocol for medical imaging of a subject, said medical imaging to be implemented using a medical imaging apparatus that comprises hardware apparatus components;
• a processor configured to divide said measurement parameters into a protocol structure comprising a base class, consisting of hardware-independent measurement parameters that are independent of said hardware apparatus components, and at least one class that supplements said base class that consists of hardware-specific measurement parameters that specify a feature of at least one of said hardware apparatus components;
• said processor being configured to formulate said measurement protocol from said measurement parameters with said measurement parameters in said base class being treated differently in the formulation of the measurement protocol than the measurement parameters in said at least one class that supplements said base class, thereby obtaining a formulated measurement protocol;
• and
• said processor being configured to examine whether a measurement parameter used by the medical imaging apparatus of the second type is included in one of the classes encompassed by the formulated measurement protocol;
• said processor being configured to use the classes included in the formulated measurement protocol if the measurement parameters are included in the formulated measurement protocol;
• said processor being configured generate at least one further class with measurement parameters in the event that the measurement parameters of the medical imaging apparatus of the second type are not included in the measurement protocol, and thereby generating a modified measurement protocol;
• and
• an output interface configured to emit the modified measurement protocol from the processor in electronic form targeted for use by said medical imaging apparatus of the second type.

A medical imaging apparatus for medical imaging of a subject, said medical imaging apparatus comprising:

• hardware apparatus components;
• a computer provided with a plurality of measurement parameters that are to be formulated into a measurement protocol for said medical imaging;
• said computer being configured to divide said measurement parameters into a protocol structure comprising a base class, consisting of hardware-independent measurement parameters that are independent of said hardware apparatus components, and at least one class that supplements said base class that consists of hardware-specific measurement parameters that specify a feature of at least one of said hardware apparatus components;
• said computer being configured to formulate said measurement protocol from said measurement parameters with said measurement parameters in said base class being treated differently in the formulation of the measurement protocol than the measurement parameters in said at least one class that supplements said base class, thereby obtaining a formulated measurement protocol;
• and
• said computer being configured to make the formulated measurement protocol available from the computer in electronic form with a format configured to operate the medical imaging apparatus to execute said medical imaging according to said formulated measurement protocol.

A non-transitory, computer-readable data storage medium encoded with programming instructions, said storage medium being loaded into a computer of a medical imaging apparatus and said programming instructions causing said computer to:

• receive a plurality of measurement parameters that are to be formulated into a measurement protocol for medical imaging of a subject, said medical imaging to be implemented using a medical imaging apparatus that comprises hardware apparatus components;
• divide said measurement parameters into a protocol structure comprising a base class, consisting of hardware-independent measurement parameters that are independent of said hardware apparatus components, and at least one class that supplements said base class that consists of hardware-specific measurement parameters that specify a feature of at least one of said hardware apparatus components;
• formulate said measurement protocol from said measurement parameters with said measurement parameters in said base class being treated differently in the formulation of the measurement protocol than the measurement parameters in said at least one class that supplements said base class, thereby obtaining a formulated measurement protocol;
• and
• make the formulated measurement protocol available from the computer in electronic form with a format configured to operate the medical imaging apparatus to execute said medical imaging according to said formulated measurement protocol.