WO2009149499A1 - Improved scan display - Google Patents

Improved scan display Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2009149499A1
WO2009149499A1 PCT/AU2009/000728 AU2009000728W WO2009149499A1 WO 2009149499 A1 WO2009149499 A1 WO 2009149499A1 AU 2009000728 W AU2009000728 W AU 2009000728W WO 2009149499 A1 WO2009149499 A1 WO 2009149499A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
data
probe unit
processing unit
display
hand held
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/AU2009/000728
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Glenn Costa
Andrew John Medlin
Andrew John Paul Niemlec
Original Assignee
Signostics Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from AU2008902992A external-priority patent/AU2008902992A0/en
Application filed by Signostics Limited filed Critical Signostics Limited
Publication of WO2009149499A1 publication Critical patent/WO2009149499A1/en

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Classifications

    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61BDIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61BDIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/42Details of probe positioning or probe attachment to the patient
    • A61B8/4245Details of probe positioning or probe attachment to the patient involving determining the position of the probe, e.g. with respect to an external reference frame or to the patient
    • A61B8/4254Details of probe positioning or probe attachment to the patient involving determining the position of the probe, e.g. with respect to an external reference frame or to the patient using sensors mounted on the probe
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61BDIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/44Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device
    • A61B8/4444Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device related to the probe
    • A61B8/4455Features of the external shape of the probe, e.g. ergonomic aspects
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61BDIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/46Ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic devices with special arrangements for interfacing with the operator or the patient
    • A61B8/461Displaying means of special interest
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61BDIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/44Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device
    • A61B8/4444Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device related to the probe
    • A61B8/4472Wireless probes
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61BDIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/46Ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic devices with special arrangements for interfacing with the operator or the patient
    • A61B8/467Ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic devices with special arrangements for interfacing with the operator or the patient characterised by special input means

Definitions

  • Modem, high end ultrasound Imaging systems include electronic beam steering transducers. These consist of a number of electronic crystals where the transmitting pulse oan be delayed In ⁇ squerioe to eaoh crystal and efleot an electronic means to steer the ultrasound beam. Modem designs sometimes use a thousand crystals or more.
  • the mobile cellular telephone has developed from a large, expensive power hungry device to a small, ubiquitous communications tool, with significant computer processing power. These devices can be used for days In many cases before needing to be recharged.
  • the PDA and the smartphone have increasingly included functionality allowing third party software to be run on the included processors. It is no longer necessary for this add on software to be related to the primary purpose of the PDA or smartphone.
  • the probe unit provides functionality selected from the functions of an otoscope, an ophthalmoscope, a laryngoscope, sigmoidoscope, an ultrasound transducer and a colonoscope.
  • the probe unit further Includes an orientation sensor 20 capable of sensing orientation or relative orientation about one or more axes of the probe unit.
  • the sensor is able to sense rotation about any or all of the axes of the probe unit, as indicated by rotation arrows 24, 25, 26.
  • the sensor may be Implemented In any convenient form.
  • the sensor consists of three orthogonally mounted gyroscopes.
  • the sensor may consist of two gyroscopes, which would provide information about rotation about only two axes, or a single gyroscope providing Information about rotation about only a single axis.
  • the probe unit Includes a transducer 305 which transmits and receives ultrasound pulses to and from a body to be scanned. Ultrasound pulses travel into the body and are reflected and refracted by features within the body. The echoes are received by the transducer and give rise to electrical received scan signals.
  • the iPhone or PDA will also be running native or other third party applications.
  • the ultrasound application 315 receives the scanline data.
  • the ultrasound application processes the data to produce an ultrasound scan image for display on the IPhone display 316.
  • the ultrasound application 315 allows images to be stored In fixed or removable memory associated with the hand held processing device. These images may be retrieved for later display, or for download to othar processing or storage devices such as a personal computer.
  • the ultrasound application controls the user interface to provide a control interface for the probe unit and the ultrasound scan process. All functions of the ultrasound scan device may be controlled.
  • Scans may be started and stopped.
  • the scan depth may be set.
  • the angle between successive triggerings of an ultrasound pulse to form a scanline may be set.
  • the scan mode may be changed from B mode to M mode, or to any other mode supported by the probe unit.
  • the scan data set may be seen to consist of a series of scanlines 41 , each of which has an origin 42, and a direction and a depth 43. Taken together, these constitute the echo data for some geometric region in the target body. Since only orientation data is collected, the origins of all of the scanlines are oo-lncldent, sines no Information about any linear displacement which may have occurred is available. They are not, In general, co-planar. In embodiments where rotation about only a single axis is sensed by the sensor, the scanlines will be co-planar, since no information about rotation out of the plane orthogonal to the sensed axis will be available.
  • the plane of best fit may be chosen by any means which minimises the degree to which scanilnes deviate from the chosen plane, in an embodiment a mathematical process employing principal component analysis is undertaken to find this plane. The scanlines are then mapped to this plane.
  • a process we have called pixel row-wise scan interpolation is now applied to the scanllne data to Implement the process of mapping the scanlines to a pixel grid.
  • the scanline dataset is a series of scanlines 51, with a common origin 57.
  • Each scanllne consists of a 73umber or data points 62.
  • Internstly of reflection values For the purposes of display these are brightness values.
  • intersection points are now sorted Into pixel column order, and order within eaoh pixel.
  • Them may be more than one Intersect point in a pixel, when the angle between soanlfnes is sufficiently email that more than one scanlrne crosses a pixel.
  • the pixel value Is the mean of the value of the data points whloh we closest to each of the intersect polnts.
  • pixels 77 which are "noles", that is they do not have a scanline intersect. In order to display a smooth image, these holes must be filled with values which are consistent with the filled pixels around them.

Abstract

A method and apparatus for forming an image of a target from echo return data in an ultrasound system which incorporates a commercially available handheld data processing device of a type including a display, a processor and an I/O port. A probe unit containing an ultrasound transducer is moved over a body to be imaged, transmitting ultrasound energy into the body. The probe Includes a sensor adapted to provide Information about the position and/or orientation of the probe unit, which may be a gyroscope. Echo return data received by the ultrasound transducer Is combined with the sensor output to produce a plurality of scanlines each including echo intensity data and information defining the position and/or orientation of the scanline. There is then calculated a transform adapted to map the scanlines to a plane of best fit; which is applied to the scanlines. The transformed data is mapped to a raster image the resultant image Is displayed.

Description

IMPROVED SCAN DISPLAY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present Invention relates to a medical diagnostic system for use with a handheld date precessing devvice of a type whlch to oommercially available, the system indudlng a medical dlagnostic probe for gathering date and means for preoessing the received data and displaying the results of that processing by use of functionality of the handheld processing device which may be additional to the primary function of that device.
BACKOROUND ART
The technology ueed for medical diagnosis and In particular for medical scanning has progressively become smaller, more portable and better adapted for use at or close to the point of oare.
Much of this has bean driven by Improvements in, and miniaturisation of display monitors and prooeeelng oapability. However, the provision of processing power and display capabilities remains a very significant part of the cost of providing point of care diagnostic equipment
Considering ultrasound Imaging In particular, this Is widely used as a safe, noninvasive method of medical Imaging. Ultrasound energy Is transmitted into the body of a patient and the reflected echoes from a particular direction, called scanlines, are received and processed to produce an Image which can be Interpreted to show Internal features of the body.
Modem, high end ultrasound Imaging systems Include electronic beam steering transducers. These consist of a number of electronic crystals where the transmitting pulse oan be delayed In βsquerioe to eaoh crystal and efleot an electronic means to steer the ultrasound beam. Modem designs sometimes use a thousand crystals or more.
However, the cost of producing transducers with arrays of crystals Is high. There Is also a high cost In providing the control and processing droultry, with a separate channel being required lor each crystal. The transducers are usually manually manufactured, with the channels requiring excellent channel to channel matching and low Gross-talk. The power consumption for electronic systems is also high, and is generally proportional to the number of channels being simultaneously operational.
These high cost, high power consumption devices are unsuitable for broad polnt-of-care application outside of specialist sonography facilities, In particular, these systems are unsuitable for application to hand-held devices. Providing useful images from simpler transducer arrangements, which are suitable for hand-held use, within the prior art Is difficult in part because of the difficulty of providing a uniformly distributed set of scanllnes in a single scan plane, A lower cost solution has been disclosed in US patent application 12/092599, which Is hereby incorporated by reference. This returns to the concept of the single scanllne as used by the static mode scanners, but with the movement Information provided by an inertlal sensor.
The personal digital assistant (PDA) has developed from the innovative but commercially unsuccessful Newton, released by Apple, Inc to a hand held processor with significant processing power, with strong market penetration.
The mobile cellular telephone has developed from a large, expensive power hungry device to a small, ubiquitous communications tool, with significant computer processing power. These devices can be used for days In many cases before needing to be recharged.
The combination of the features of a PDA with.those of a cellular telephone has led to the creation of the smartphone. Smartphones are carried by large numbers of people. These devices have a display, they provide a user interface, and they have significant processing power. There is a high Ievel of acceptance of carrying these devices by a user at almost all times.
The PDA and the smartphone have increasingly included functionality allowing third party software to be run on the included processors. It is no longer necessary for this add on software to be related to the primary purpose of the PDA or smartphone. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The Increasing capability of PDA's and smartphones may be tapped to provide low cost medical scanning instruments where the processing and display functionality is provide by the PDA or smartphqne, whilst the specific medical scanning capability Is provide by dedicated hardware and/or software,
Therefore, In one form of this Invention there Is proposed an ultrasound imaging system adapted for hand held use inoludlng a probe unit having a transducer in a fixed spatial relationship with the probe unit, said transducer being adapted to transmit and receive ultrasonic signals, an orientation sensor adapted to sense a rotation of the probe unit about at least one axis, electronics adapted to apply a pulsed electrical signal to the transducer and to process the electrical output signal of the transducer and of the sensor to produce a plurality of scsnllnes each having a series of intensity values and a rotation value, a processor adapted to process the scanlines to produce a raster image, a display adapted to display the resultant raster image, wherein the processor and the display are provided by a hand held processing unit with a general purpose processing capability. In preference the hand held processing unit Is one of a personal digital assistant, a smartphone or an IPhone.
Communication of data between the probe unit and the handheld device Ia provided by standard connectors and protocols implemented by the hand held device. The handheld processing unit is loaded with software which is specific to the specific medical diagnostic function provided by the probe.
In another aspect, the invention may be said to Ile in a method for forming an image of a target from echo return data in an ultrasound system which Incorporates a commercially available handheld data processing device of a type including a display, a processor and a data communications port. A probe unit containing an ultrasound transducer Is moved over a body to be imaged, transmitting ultrasound energy into the body. The probe includes a sensor adapted to provide Information about the position and/or orientation of the probe unit, which may be a gyroscope.
Echo return data received by the ultrasound transducer is combined with the sensor output to produce a plurality of scanlines, each including echo intensity data and Information defining the position and/or orientation of the scanline. There is then calculated a transform to map the scanlines to a plane of best fit; which is applied to the scanlines. The transformed data is mapped to a raster image and the resultant Image is displayed.
In a further form the Invention may be said to Ile In a probe unit having a diagnostic function for use with a commercially available handheld data processing device of a type Including a display, a processor and a data communications port the probe unit Including a sensor able to collect medical diagnostic data.
There is an interface adapted to removably connect the probe unit to the handheld data processing unit using the data communications port, and to transfer the medical diagnostic data to the handheld data processing unit. The handheld data processing unit executes program instructions to process the medical diagnostic data and to display the results of such processing as medically useful information. In preference the interface Is a USB interface.
In preference, the probe unit provides functionality selected from the functions of an otoscope, an ophthalmoscope, a laryngoscope, sigmoidoscope, an ultrasound transducer and a colonoscope.
Where the probe unit Includes an ultrasound transducer, in preference there Is provided transmit circuitry stimulating the ultrasound transducer to emit ultrasonic signals into a body to be Imaged, receive circuitry receiving echo signals from the ultrasound transducer In response to echoes returned from a body to be imaged, and a position and/or orientation sensor sensing relative or absolute position and/or orientation of the probe unit, and outputting the position and/or orientation of the probe unit as position data, and an Interface providing two way communication between the probe unit and the commercially available handheld data processing unit, which may be an iPhone. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OP THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a view of an ultrasound scanning apparatus including an embodiment of the Invention in use.
Figu r e 2 is a view of a probe unit for use with n embodiment of the invention, showing the orientation sensor.
Figure 3 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the Invention. Figure 4 shows a representation of a scan data set Figure 6 shows a sean data set with an associated pixel grid. Figure 6 Is a detail of Figure 6. Figure 7 Ie a further detail of Figure 5.
Figure 8 Is a diagram illustrating the process of infill lnterpolation.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Now referring to the illustrations, and in particular to Figure 1, there Ia provided a commercially available hand held device of a type having a display and means for user Input The hand held device has a capability to provide a data processing function, and Is able to accept programming for applications beyond the use for which ft Is primarily made.
The hand held device may be a smartphone or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or any other suitable device. In the embodiment of Figure 1, t he ha nd he ld device is a smartphone, in particular an IPhone 11, being a smartphone device manufactured by Apple, Inc
The IPhone Includes as standard a socket connector 16 enabling it to be connected to external devloeβ, to a dooking cradle and to a battery charging facility.
A plug oonnβctor 17 provides a connection via the socket oonnector to a cord 12 which is connected to a probe unit 10.
In B further embodiment, In addition to, or as an alternative to the connector 16, a data connection from the IPhone to the probe unit Ie provided by wireless connection. Examples of possible wireless connections are Bluetooth (IEEE 802,15,x) or Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n).
There is a probe unit 10 which Includes circuitry, which may include one or more processors, which is adapted to provide medical diagnostic Information. In the Illustrated embodiment, the probe unit provides an ultrasound scan capability. Other probe units, providing other medical diagnostic capability, may be provided in addition to or as alternatives to an ultrasound probe.
The probe unit 10 includes an ultrasonic transducer 13 adapted to transmit pulsed ultrasonic signals into a target body 14 and to receive returned echoes from the target body.
In this embodiment, the transducer Is adapted to transmit and receive In only a single direction at a fixed orientation to the probe unit, producing data for a . single scanllne 15.
As shown In Rg 2, the probe unit further Includes an orientation sensor 20 capable of sensing orientation or relative orientation about one or more axes of the probe unit. Thus, in general, the sensor is able to sense rotation about any or all of the axes of the probe unit, as indicated by rotation arrows 24, 25, 26.
The sensor may be Implemented In any convenient form. In an embodiment the sensor consists of three orthogonally mounted gyroscopes. In further embodiments the sensor may consist of two gyroscopes, which would provide information about rotation about only two axes, or a single gyroscope providing Information about rotation about only a single axis.
It would also be possible to implement the sensor with one, two or three accelerometers. The entire assembly of Figure 1 acts as a hand held ultrasound scan device.
In use, a user applies the probe unit 10 to a body to be imaged 14. An ultrasound beam is produced by the transducer 13, and the reflections from the imaged subject 14 are received by the transducer. The user rotates the probe as required to sweep the ultrasound beam over the desired area, keeping linear displacement to a minimum. In embodiments where rotation about all axes is not sensed, the user will also keep rotation about unsensed axes, that is axes about which rotation Is not detected by the sensor of the embodiment, to a minimum.
At the same time, data is received from the orientation sensor 20. This is the rotation about the sensed axes of the probe unit It may be the angular change in the position of the probe unit since the immediately previous transducer pulse, or the orientation of the probe unit In some defined frame of reference. One such frame of reference may be defined by nominating one transducer pulse, normally the first of a scan sequence, as the zero of orientation. Figure 3 shows a functional block diagram of an embodiment of the Invention. There Is provided a probe unit 302 which may have one or more medical diagnostic functions. These functions may Include, without limitation, those of an otoscope, an endoscope, blood analysis devices, a laryngoscope, and a stethoscope. The illustrated embodiment Includes an ultrasound scan device. The entire assembly of Figure 3 acts as a hand held ultrasound scan device.
The probe unit Includes a transducer 305 which transmits and receives ultrasound pulses to and from a body to be scanned. Ultrasound pulses travel into the body and are reflected and refracted by features within the body. The echoes are received by the transducer and give rise to electrical received scan signals.
The transducer is driven by transmit/receive electronics 306. These electronics provide the appropriate electrical signals to drive the transducer, and receive the electrical signals returned from the transducer.
Position/orientation sensor 308 Is provided. This provides information about the position/orientation of the probe unit.
In use, a user rotates the probe unit as required to sweep the ultrasound beam- over the desired area, keeping linear displacement to a minlmum.
In embodiments where rotation about all axes is not sensed, the user will also keep rotation about unsensed axes, that is axes about which rotation is not detected by the sensor of the embodiment, to a minimum. At the same time, data is received from the position/orientation sensor 308, This Is the rotation about the sensed axes of the probe unit. It may be the angular change in the position of the probe unit since the Immediately previous transducer pulse, or the orientation of the probe unit in some defined frame of reference. One such frame of reference may be defined by nominating one transducer pulse, normally the first of a scan sequence, as the zero of orientation.
The sensor data and the received scan signals are passed to probe processor 307. The sensor and received scan data are combined to form scanlines. A scanline Is a dataset which comprises a sequential series of intensity values of the response signal combined with orientation Information.
The scanlines are then passed to Communications module 309 for transmission to a commercially available processing device 303, in this embodiment an IPhone. Any other PDA or smartphone or similar device may be employed. Transmission is via communications channel 310.
The scanline data is passed to the iPhone. The iPhone has an IPhone processor which runs an ultrasound software application 315.
The ultrasound application 316 is implemented using the third party software development kit (SDK) facilities provide by Apple, Inc, the makers of the IPhone. Makers of other suitable hand he]d devices also provide analogous capabilities.
The iPhone or PDA will also be running native or other third party applications. For example, a mobile telephone application 318 and productivity applications 319. The ultrasound application 315 receives the scanline data. The ultrasound application processes the data to produce an ultrasound scan image for display on the IPhone display 316.
The hand held device includes a user Interface 317. In the case of the preferred IPhone, this is a touch screen and associated software. The touch screen is the display screen 316. In other embodiments other user input devices may be used Including, but not limited to a scrollwheel, a push button and a voice command module. Movement of the probe unit, as sensed by sensor 308 may be used for user Input when the probe unit is not in a scanning mode. The user interface 317 allows the user to control attributes of the display of the ultrasound scan image. These attributes are the same attributes as may be controlled for the display of images by a known cart based ultrasound scan unit. These include but are not limited to brightness, dynamic range, and image zoom. The user Interface also allows the user to annotate images In the same manner as can be done by known cart based units. This may include the application of callipers, measurements or text annotations.
A user may record voice to b0 associated with a scan image.
The user may associate patient and examination details with an image ore series of images, in the same way as may be done using known cart based ultrasound units.
The ultrasound application 315 allows images to be stored In fixed or removable memory associated with the hand held processing device. These images may be retrieved for later display, or for download to othar processing or storage devices such as a personal computer.
The ultrasound application controls the user interface to provide a control interface for the probe unit and the ultrasound scan process. All functions of the ultrasound scan device may be controlled.
Scans may be started and stopped. The scan depth may be set. The angle between successive triggerings of an ultrasound pulse to form a scanline may be set. The scan mode may be changed from B mode to M mode, or to any other mode supported by the probe unit.
The scariline data received by the ultrasound application 315 running In the iPhone Is a scan data set, as illustrated In Rg 4, The scan data set may be seen to consist of a series of scanlines 41 , each of which has an origin 42, and a direction and a depth 43. Taken together, these constitute the echo data for some geometric region in the target body. Since only orientation data is collected, the origins of all of the scanlines are oo-lncldent, sines no Information about any linear displacement which may have occurred is available. They are not, In general, co-planar. In embodiments where rotation about only a single axis is sensed by the sensor, the scanlines will be co-planar, since no information about rotation out of the plane orthogonal to the sensed axis will be available.
The application processes the scanlines in order to map the vector scanlines to a pixel buffer which may then be mapped to the physical pixels used by the display. Any suitable method of mapping vector data to a Cartesian grid may be employed. Interpolation is required In order to fill In pixels that do not coincide with scanlines.
Since no information concerning the linear displacement of the probe unit is sensed, all scanlines have a common, arbitrary origin. In embodiments where rotation about only one axis is sensed, the scanlines will also be co-planar In an arbitrary plane. In embodiments where rotation about more than one axis Is sensed, It Is necessary to choose a "plane of best fit" which will correspond to the plane of the display screen.
It Is also necessary to choose a forward direct ion for the soari which will correspond to the vertical centreline of the screen display.
Any suitable method may be used to make these choices. In an embodiment, the forward direction is chosen by bisecting the angle which is the largest angle between any two scanlines.
The plane of best fit may be chosen by any means which minimises the degree to which scanilnes deviate from the chosen plane, in an embodiment a mathematical process employing principal component analysis is undertaken to find this plane. The scanlines are then mapped to this plane.
In a preferred embodiment a process we have called pixel row-wise scan interpolation is now applied to the scanllne data to Implement the process of mapping the scanlines to a pixel grid. As shown in Fig 5, the scanline dataset is a series of scanlines 51, with a common origin 57. Each scanllne consists of a 73umber or data points 62. In the case of an ultrasound scan these are Internstly of reflection values. For the purposes of display these are brightness values.
Fi g 5 also shows a pixel buffer pix e grid superimposed on the data. As can be seen, a display screen Is a regular grid 63 of Individual pixels S4. Eaoh pixel can have only one brightness value. It can be seen that there are pixels 68 which are associated with more than one scan point 65 and other pixels 58, which are associated with none. Pixel rowwise scan Interpolation to applied to produos a data set with one and only one brightness value associated with each pixel. Pixel row-wise interpolation begins by intersecting the scan lines with the pixel buffer one pixel row at a time.
Looking at Rg 6, there is a pixel row 61 and a scanline 62. We define a rowline 83 as the midline of the pixel row. There is one Intersection point 64 between the rowllne and the scanline. Each of these Intersection points Is calculated for a given row. This gives an array of values sorted in the order of the received scanϋneβ. This may not be the order of the column of the pixel grid. TNe oan occur because the ultrasound probe unit, being hand scanned, may briefly wobble In a direction against the predominant direction of rotation, or Indeed may have been swept back over already scanned areas by a user.
The calculated intersection points are now sorted Into pixel column order, and order within eaoh pixel.
The value which Is assigned to each pixel Is chosen as that of the data point which Is closest to the Intersection point This is shown on Fig 7. ScanHnβ 71 lntersects rowline 72 at intersect point 73 in pixel 74. Scan data point 75 is closest to the Intersection point and becomes the value for pixel 74. Scan data points 76, In the same pixel, are Ignored and do not contribute to the displayed image.
Them may be more than one Intersect point in a pixel, when the angle between soanlfnes is sufficiently email that more than one scanlrne crosses a pixel. In this case, the pixel value Is the mean of the value of the data points whloh we closest to each of the intersect polnts. Also in Fig 7, there are shown pixels 77 which are "noles", that is they do not have a scanline intersect. In order to display a smooth image, these holes must be filled with values which are consistent with the filled pixels around them.
In this embodiment, this is done using a rowwise hole filler algorithm. As shown in Figure 8, in general, there may be N holes 83 in a row of pixel display values 84 between two pixels with defined values of A 81 and B 82. The pixel brightness value to be assigned to a given hole is interpolated. In this embodiment the value of Hole[i] is given by:
Figure imgf000013_0001
The process Is repeated for each row of the pixel grid buffer.
In other embodiments, Interpolation formulae of higher order along a pixel row may be used.
Along each row, pixel values are interpolated between Intersection points, which Is computationally efficient because pixels along a row are contiguous in memory. Intersection points are computed and stored In fractional pixel index and fractional scan line index coordinates. After the first row of pixels, subsequent Intersection points are determined simply by adding a constant offset to the fractional pixel and fractional scan line coordinates.
The result of this repeated processing is an array of values in the pixel grid buffer. These values are brightness values for the related pixel. This array is mapped to the physical pixels of display 316 and the result is a conventional ultrasound image where brightness corresponds to the Intensity of echo, compensated for depth attenuation, and a picture of the internal features of the subject is formed, Although the invention has been herein shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognised that departures can be made within the scope of the Invention, which Is not to be limited to the details described herein but Is to be accorded the full scope of the appended claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices and apparatus.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS
1. An ultrasound imaging system adapted for hand held use including a probe unit having a transducer in a fixed spatial relationship with the probe unit, said traraducer being adapted to transmit and recive ultrascnic signals, an orientation sensor adapted to sense a rotation of the prebe unit about at least one axis, eleotronlcs adapted to apply a pulsed electrical signal to the transducer and to process the electrical output signal of the transducer and of the sensor to produce a plurality of scanlines each having a series of intensity values and a rotation value, a processor adapted to process the scanllines so produce a raster Image, a display adapted to display the resultant raster image, wherein the processor and the display are provided by a hand held processing unit with a general purpose prooeββlng oapablity
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the hand held processlng unit is a personal digital assistant.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the hand held processing unit is a smartphone. 4. The system of claim 1 wherein the hand held processing unit Is an IPhone
6. An ultrasound Imaging system adapted tor hand held use Including a handheld data processing device of a type Inducing a display, a processor and an I/O port the system including a first connection means adapted to connect to to a port of the handheld device, a second connection means adapted to oonneot to a medical diagnostic scan probe unit, means to receive data from said probe unit, a software application adapted to run on the processor to process said data and to display the information from the processing of the data on the means to accept user input via the handheld device, and to use such user Input to control functions of the probe unit.
6. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 5 wherein the first or second connection means are provided by wireless means. 7. The ultrasound Imaging system of claim 5 wherein the first connection means is a physical connector of a type supplied by the handheld data processing device,
8. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 7 wherein the connection is a USB connection. 9. A method for forming an image of a target from echo return data in an ultrasound system incorporating a commercially available handheld data processing device of a type including a display, a processor and an I/O port including the steps of moving a probe unit containing an ultrasound transducer over a body to be Imaged, receiving an output of a sensor adapted to provide information about the position and/or orientation of the probe unit, receiving echo return data from the ultrasound transducer combining the sensor output with the echo return data to produce a plurality of scanlines each including echo intensity data and information defining the position and/or orientation of the scanline, calculating a transform adapted to map the scanllnes to a plane of bast fit; applying said transform to the scanlines, mapping the transformed data to a raster image, displaying the resultant Image.
10.The method of claim 9 wherein the calculating of the transform includes principal component analysis.
11. The method of claim 9 wherein said mapping includes using pixel row-wise interpolation. 12.The method of claim 9 wherein said mapping consists of producing an array of pixel buffer brightness values including the steps of determining a first set of intersection points between a centreline of a first pixel row and each scanline, determining a second set of Intersection points for a second pixel row adjacent to said first pixel raw from said first set of intersection points, assigning the value of a data point on each scanline which is nearest to eaoh Intersection to be the pixel buffer brightness value, where auoh assignment would result in more than one brightness value lor a particular pixel, assigning the average value of said more than one brightness values as the pixel buffer brightness value. .The method of claim 12 wherein the intersection points are defined in terms of a co-ordinate system consisting of an Index of pixel number along the pixel raw and an Index of data point number along the scanline. A method of ultrasound Imaging Including the steps of applying a probe unit including an ultrasound transducer adapted to transmit and receive ultrasonlo signals Into and from a target body , transmitting ultrasonic puises into said target body and receiving return signals rotating said probe unit substantialy in a single plane such that a two dimensional section of the target body Is scanned providing a sensor at the probe adapted to provide rotation Information about the rotation of the probe unit about at least one axis, receiving rotation Information from said sensor , combining the return signals with the rotation information to produαe scanlines, providing a commercially available handheld data processing davloa of a type including a display, a processor and an I/O port running on the handheld data processing device a program which processes the scanRnee to produce a raster Image, displaying the raster Image on the display. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of producing a raster image includes mapping the scanlines to a plane of beet fit The method of claim 14 wherein the process further includes mapping the . scanlines so a pixel grid.
17. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of producing a raster image includes applying pixel rowwise interpolation to the scanlines,
18.A handheld medical diagnostic system including a commercially available handheld processing unit with a general purpose processing capability, a user interface, and a display; at least one probe unit which produces as an output medical diagnostic data the handhold processing unit operating to receive the diagnostic data from the probe unit, the probe unit being of a type selected from a plurality of probe unit types each of which provides a different type of diagnostic data to allow the system to fulfil a different medical diagnostic function, an interface which removably connects said probe unit to said handheld processing unit; the handheld processing unit running software to process, and analyse and display said diagnostic data in a manner suitable for the nature of the diagnostic data.
19.The system of claim 18 wherein the hand held processing unit is a personal digital assistant.
20. The system of claim 18 wherein the hand held processing unit Is a smartphone, 21.The system of claim 18 wherein the hand held processing unit is an iPhone. 22. The system of claim 18 wherein the interface is a USB interface.
23,The system of claim 18 wherein the probe unit provides functionality selected from the functions of an otoscope, an ophthalmoscope, a laryngoscope, sigmoidoscope, and a colonoscope. 24. A probe unit having a diagnostic function for use with a commercially available handheld data processing device of a type Including a display, a processor and a data communications port the probe unit including a sensor adapted to αolleot medical diagnostic data; an interface adapted to removably connect the probe unit to the handheld data processing unit using the data communications port, and to transfer the medical diagnostic data to the handheld data processing unit, wherein the handheld data processing unit executes program Instructions to proces the medical dignostic data a and to display the results of such processing at madloaUy useful information.
25.The system of claim 24 wherein the hand held processing unit Is a personal digital assistant 28.The system of dalm 24 wherein the hand held prooessing unti is a smartphone.
27.The system of claim 24 wherein the hand held processing unit Is an IPhone. 28.The system of dalm 24 wherein the Interface Ie a USB interface.
28.The system of dalm 24 wherein the probe unit provides functionally selected from the functions of an otoscope,, an ophthelmoscope, a laryngoscope, sigmoidoscope, an ultrasound transducer and a cdonosoope.
30.A probe unit having an ultrasound transducer, transmit circuitry stimulating the ultrasound transducer to emit ultrasonic signals into a body to be Imaged, rscelve drouttry reoervlng echo signals from the ultrasound transducer In response to echoes returned from a body to be Imaged, and a position and/or orientation sensor sensing relative or absolute position and/or orientation of the probe unit, and outputting the position and/or orientation of the probe unit as position data, and an interface providing two way communication between the probe unit and a commercially available handheld data processing unit 1.The system of dalm 30 wherein the hand held processing unit Is a personal digital assistant 2.The system of calim 30 wherein the hand held processing unit Is a smartphonβ, 3.The system of dalm 30 wherein the hand held processing unit Is an IPhonβ. 4.The system of dalm 30 wherein the Interface Is a USB interface. 6.An ultrasound Imaging system Including a commerdaRy available handheld data processing device of a type Including a display, a processor and an I/O port substantially as described In the specification with reference to and as illustratrated by any one or more of the accompanying drawings.
36. A method of obtaining medical diagnostic data substantially as described in the specification with reference to and as illustrated by any one or more of the accompanying drawings.
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