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US 9,039,618 B2Granted
Medical imaging device and method
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsJose Angel de la Rosa, Edgardo R. Lebron
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An imaging system uses sensors to traverse an external portion of an object to generate a three dimensional image of the object.
Claims16
An imaging system, comprising:
- a first imaging device for imaging an external surface of an object to be imaged;
- a second imaging device for imaging internal features of the object to be imaged;
- and
- a processor operatively connected to the first imaging device and to the second imaging device, the processor to combine images from the first imaging device and the second imaging device to create a three dimensional image of the external and internal features of the object to be imaged;
- wherein the first imaging device comprises:
- a sensor ring having a plurality of sensors mounted thereon to send out signals and to receive back reflected signals pertaining to data of external features of the object within the ring;
- a first motor operatively connected to the sensor ring to move the ring about its longitudinal axis to rotate the ring about the object within the ring;
- and
- a second motor to move the ring translationally along the longitudinal axis.
6 more elements
A method of imaging, comprising:
- obtaining a three dimensional internal image of an object;
- obtaining a three dimensional external image of the object;
- processing the images in a processor;
- and
- combining the internal and external images to form a composite image;
- wherein obtaining the three dimensional external image of the object comprises:
- placing the object into a sensor ring, the sensor ring having a plurality of sensors mounted thereon to send out signals and to receive back reflected signals pertaining to data of external features of the object within the ring;
- rotating the sensor ring about a longitudinal axis of the sensor ring to image a circumference of the object;
- translating the sensor ring along the longitudinal axis to image a length of the object;
- sending out signals from sensors of the sensor ring;
- and
- sensing external image information from signals reflected from the external features of the object and received back at the sensors of the sensor ring.
9 more elements
A method of generating an image of an object, comprising:
- obtaining an internal image of the object;
- obtaining a three dimensional external image of the object;
- overlaying the internal image with the three dimensional external image to generate a combined image;
- and
- saving the combined image in a machine readable format;
- wherein obtaining the three dimensional external image of the object comprises:
- placing the object into a sensor ring, the sensor ring having a plurality of sensors mounted thereon to send out signals and to receive back reflected signals pertaining to data of external features of the object within the ring;
- rotating the sensor ring about a longitudinal axis of the sensor ring to image a circumference of the object;
- translating the sensor ring along the longitudinal axis to image a length of the object;
- sending out signals from sensors of the sensor ring;
- and
- sensing external image information from signals reflected from the external features of the object and received back at the sensors of the sensor ring.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.