Back to results
US 2026/0248481 A1Published application
Systems and methods for scoliosis assessment and progression prediction
OwnerEdmond Hok Ming LOU, Marek Zenon REFORMAT +2inventors
InventorsEdmond Hok Ming LOU, Marek Zenon REFORMAT, Carmen Hoi-wen LEUNG, Weiying CHEN
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods are discussed for capturing ultrasound images of a person's spine, in particular, a stereo camera integrated with a handheld wireless ultrasound scanner, which can simultaneously capture surface topography, internal spinal alignment, and bone quality information.
Claims16
An imaging system for screening, diagnosing, monitoring, and assessing treatment of a scoliotic patient, the system comprising:
- a) an ultrasound scanner for capturing internal spinal structural changes of the patient by acquiring a stream of axial B-mode images thereof (“ultrasound images”);
- b) a stereo-camera to capture images of a back surface topography of the patient (“stereo-camera images”);
- c) an inertia measurement unit (“IMU”) disposed inside the stereo-camera to produce position and orientation information of the stereo-camera (“IMU data”);
- d) a mini-personal computer (“PC”) operatively coupled to the stereo-camera for storing the IMU data and for storing the stereo-camera images;
- e) a battery for providing electrical power for the mini-PC and for the stereo-camera;
- f) a central processing unit comprising a display, and at least one software module comprising software code segments configured for:
- i) reconstructing at least one spine and back surface image from the ultrasound images and the stereo-camera images,
- ii) displaying and manipulating the at least one spine and back surface image in three dimensions (“3D”),
- iii) manually annotating spinal and surface landmarks on the at least one spine and back surface image,
- iv) automatically annotating the spinal and surface landmarks using machine learning,
- v) measuring scoliotic and surface topography parameters based on the annotated spinal and surface landmarks, and
- vi) predicting curve progression using machine learning;
- and
- g) a wireless control pedal for controlling the operation of the system.
11 more elements
A method for screening, diagnosing, monitoring, and assessing treatment of a scoliotic patient, comprising using an imaging system, comprising:
- a) an ultrasound scanner for capturing internal spinal structural changes of the patient by acquiring a stream of axial B-mode images thereof (“ultrasound images”);
- b) a stereo-camera to capture images of a back surface topography of the patient (“stereo-camera images”);
- c) an inertia measurement unit (“IMU”) disposed inside the stereo-camera to produce position and orientation information of the stereo-camera (“IMU data”);
- d) a mini-personal computer (“PC”) operatively coupled to the stereo-camera for storing the IMU data and for storing the stereo-camera images;
- e) a battery for providing electrical power for the mini-PC and for the stereo-camera;
- f) a central processing unit comprising a display, and at least one software module comprising software code segments configured for:
- i) reconstructing at least one spine and back surface image from the ultrasound images and the stereo-camera images,
- ii) displaying and manipulating the at least one spine and back surface image in three dimensions (“3D”),
- iii) manually annotating spinal and surface landmarks on the at least one spine and back surface image,
- iv) automatically annotating the spinal and surface landmarks using machine learning,
- v) measuring scoliotic and surface topography parameters based on the annotated spinal and surface landmarks, and
- vi) predicting curve progression using machine learning;
- and
- g) a wireless control pedal for controlling the operation of the system.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.