Method and apparatus for natural voice control of an ultrasound machine

A method for controlling an ultrasound device using voice commands, comprising:

• providing a plurality of voice commands for controlling the device, said plurality of voice commands having at least two different words that activate a single feature of the device, said plurality of voice commands including at least one qualitative voice command and at least one quantitative voice command, said quantitative voice command comprising at least one of a direction and a numeric value and said qualitative voice command representative of a feature of said device that is altered by said numeric value;
• selecting at least one of said at least two different words;
• translating said selected word into a signal;
• and
• providing said signal to the device to apply said numeric value to said feature in a default direction when said quantitative voice command lacks said direction.

An apparatus for providing voice control of an ultrasound device having a plurality of features, the apparatus comprising:

• a memory device adapted to store a plurality of voice commands for controlling the ultrasound device, said plurality of voice commands having at least two different voice commands that active a single feature of the ultrasound device, said plurality of voice commands including at least one qualitative voice command and at least one quantitative voice command, said quantitative voice command comprising at least one of a direction and a numeric value and said qualitative voice command representative of a feature of said device that is altered by at least one of said direction and said numeric value, said feature altered by said numeric value in a default direction when said quantitative command includes said numeric value and lacks said direction;
• a selection module adapted to selecting at least one of said at least two different voice commands;
• and
• a translator module adapted to derive a signal from said selected voice command and transmit it to the ultrasound device.

A voice-controlled ultrasound system, comprising:

• an ultrasound machine operating based on features;
• an input for receiving from a user spoken quantitative and qualitative commands associated with one another, said quantitative commands each comprising at least one of a direction and a numeric value and said qualitative commands each representing a feature of said device to be altered by at least one of said direction and said numeric value, wherein at least one qualitative command is spoken in conjunction with an associated first quantitative command;
• and
• a controller controlling a feature of said ultrasound machine based on said first quantitative command, said controller adjusting control of said feature based on said qualitative command by applying said numeric value in a default direction when said first quantitative command includes said numeric value and lacks said direction.

A method for voice-control of an ultrasound system, comprising:

• receiving spoken quantitative and qualitative commands associated with one another, said quantitative command comprising at least one of a direction and a numeric value and said qualitative command representing a feature of said ultrasound system, wherein a first qualitative command is spoken in conjunction with an associated first quantitative command;
• controlling said feature of an ultrasound machine based on said first qualitative command;
• and
• adjusting control of said feature based on said first quantitative command by applying said numeric value in a default direction when said first quantitative command lacks said direction.