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US 7,606,445 B2Granted
Methods and systems for ultrasound inspection
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorPatrick Joseph Howard
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and systems for measuring indications in an image are provided. The method includes acquiring image data that includes a potential indication, processing the data such that features of the indication are enhanced, thresholding the data such that the indication is separated from the remaining data, determining a size of the indication, and displaying a determined size of the indication.
Claims17
A computer-implemented method of measuring indications in an image, said method comprising:
- acquiring image data that includes an indication;
- processing the data such that features of the indication are enhanced;
- determining a minimum interpretable size for the indication;
- segmenting pixels with a value of “1” into a cluster of adjoining pixels;
- comparing each cluster to the minimum interpretable size using morphological processing techniques;
- eliminating a cluster from the image if the cluster is equal to or smaller than the minimum interpretable size;
- determining a size of the indication;
- and
- displaying a determined size of the indication.
6 more elements
An ultrasound inspection system comprising:
- an ultrasound transducer;
- and
- a processor operationally coupled to said transducer, said processor configured to:
- acquire image data that includes an indication;
- process the data such that features of the indication are enhanced;
- apply an amplitude threshold to the enhanced image;
- threshold the data such that the indication is separated from the remaining data;
- determine a size of the indication;
- apply a morphological operator to the image to close gaps and fill holes in the image;
- segment the image to generate clusters of pixels that correspond to indications;
- compare the clusters to a predetermined minimum interpretable size;
- remove from the image, clusters that are smaller than the minimum interpretable size;
- and
- measure the size of the clusters using a bounding box algorithm;
- and
- display at least one of a determined size of the indication and a measured size of the clusters.
13 more elements
An ultrasound inspection device comprising:
- a pulse echo transducer;
- and
- a processor operationally coupled to said transducer, said processor configured to:
- process 2D ultrasound data of a part;
- determine a size and number of indications in the part using morphological operators to threshold and segment the image into clusters of pixels that represent the indications;
- if the image includes more than one cluster, group the clusters together such that the clusters are measured as one cluster;
- determine a horizontal, vertical, and diagonal measurement of the cluster;
- determine a major and a minor axis of the cluster;
- measure the size of the indications using a bounding box algorithm wherein the bounding box comprises the smallest box capable of containing the indications therein;
- convert the size measurement from a pixel space measurement to a physical dimension;
- apply empirical correction factor to the measurement;
- and
- display the indications and the indication size.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.