Recent Patents in Signal Processing (June 2016) – medical imaging

For our June 2016 issue, we cover recent patents dealing with hardware and signal processing issues of  medical imaging.

According to Patent no. 9,349,178, in hemodynamic determination in medical imaging, the classifier is trained from synthetic data rather than relying on training data from other patients. A computer model (in silico) may be perturbed in many different ways to generate many different examples. The flow is calculated for each resulting example. A bench model (in vitro) may similarly be altered in many different ways. The flow is measured for each resulting example. The machine-learnt classifier uses features from medical scan data for a particular patient to estimate the blood flow based on mapping of features to flow learned from the synthetic data. Perturbations or alterations may account for therapy so that the machine-trained classifier may estimate the results of therapeutically altering a patient-specific input feature. Uncertainty may be handled by training the classifier to predict a distribution of possibilities given uncertain input distribution. Combinations of one or more of uncertainty, use of synthetic training data, and therapy prediction may be provided.

Patent no. 9,349,067 introduces a method and apparatus for correcting image data from a medical imaging scan of a subject, into which subject a specified amount of an imaging substance has been introduced, a region of the image data, containing an anomalous proportion of the imaging substance introduced, is identified. For the identified region a regional value of a variable in the image data associated with the imaging substance is determined. The regional value is used to determine the proportion of the substance in the region, and the proportion is subtracted from the specified amount of the imaging substance

The claim no. D756,517 presents the ornamental design for a multi-purpose medical imaging device support apparatus.

Patent no. 9,342,922 presents and apparatus and a method of medical diagnostic imaging. The apparatus includes: an image unit for constructing volume image data by capturing images from a multiplicity of tomographic images of a sampling specimen and for constructing internal three dimensional images of the diagnosing object of the sampling specimen as seen from a viewing point; a display for displaying the three-dimensional images; an input unit for entering parameters for setting up a precutting plane at an inter-voxel image data boundary between voxel image data of the volume image data closer to the viewing point than the diagnosing object and voxel image data associated with the diagnosing object; and a control unit for controlling the structure of the three-dimensional images constructed by the image unit based on the precutting plane set up via the input unit, wherein the control unit extracts a boundary based on one of the parameters inputted to the input unit.

Patent no. 9,336,605 introduces a medical imaging system  for acquiring medical image data, the medical imaging system comprising: a tissue treating system  for treating a target volume; a computer system comprising a processor, wherein the computer system is adapted for controlling the medical imaging system; and a memory containing machine readable instructions. Execution of the instructions cause the processor to: acquire medical image data; reconstruct  a medical image using the medical image data; receive an image segmentation seed derived from a treatment plan, and identify a treated volume in the medical image by segmenting the medical image in accordance with the image segmentation seed.

The claim no. D755,209 proposes the ornamental design for a medical imaging display screen or portion thereof with graphical user interface, as shown and described.

Patent no. 9,330,801 inntroduces a  photon collimator, suitable for use in medical imaging equipment, is constructed from a block of photon-attenuating material, such as solid tungsten or molybdenum alloy that defines a plurality of integrally formed septa slats. Each slat has an elongated length dimension greater than thickness and depth dimensions, and is oriented in an opposed pattern array that is laterally spaced relative to its respective thickness dimension. An aperture channel is defined between each pair of opposed slats. Rows of integrally formed slats in one block or separately affixed blocks may be stacked on each other at skewed angles to form two-dimensional grids of apertures having polygonal cross sections. The slats may be formed by electric discharge or laser thermal ablation machining, such as by a sequential passing of an EDM wire cutting head along the pattern array, repeating sequential cutting of respective channel depth and width.

The invention no. 9,330,454 relates to a computer-implemented method of performing image quality analysis on images from an imaging examination, including: displaying an imaging examination; performing a quality review of the images; performing a quality analysis on data from the imaging examination and on the images; receiving image quality analysis from the user on the data and the images and storing the image quality analysis in at least one database; saving data from the image quality analysis on at least one key image of the images, using computer-generated standardized annotation and mark-up, or graphical data input, or speech data, using a computerized tool, and saving the data as annotated image data in the at least one database; and transferring the annotated image data to at least one quality assurance database with linking to images from the imaging examination

If you have an interesting patent to share when we next feature patents related to medical imaging, or if you are especially interested in a signal processing research field that you would want to be highlighted in this section, please send email to Csaba Benedek (benedek.csaba AT sztaki DOT mta DOT hu).

References

Number: 9,349,178
Title: Synthetic data-driven hemodynamic determination in medical imaging
Inventors:       Itu; Lucian Mihai (Brasov, RO), Passerini; Tiziano (Plainsboro, NJ), Rapaka; Saikiran (Pennington, NJ), Sharma; Puneet (Monmouth Junction, NJ), Schwemmer; Chris (Forchheim, DE), Schoebinger; Max (Hirschaid, DE), Redel; Thomas (Poxdorf, DE), Comaniciu; Dorin (Princeton Junction, NJ)
Issued: May 24, 2016
Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft (Munchen, DE)

Number: 9,349,067
Title: Method and apparatus for correcting medical imaging data
Inventors: Kelly; Matthew David (Botley, GB)
Issued: May 24, 2016
Assignee: Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. (Malvern, PA)

Number: D756,517
Title: Multi-purpose medical imaging device support apparatus
Inventors: Sagalovich; Boris (New York, NY), Ukrainsky; Gennady (New York, NY), Kopit; Danny (Brooklyn, NY)
Issued:  May 17, 2016
Assignee: Comprehensive Telemedicine (Forest Hills, NY)

Number: 9,342,922
Title: Medical imaging apparatus and method of constructing medical images
Inventors: Nishiura; Tomofumi (Tokyo, JP)
Issued:  May 17, 2016
Assignee: HITACHI MEDICAL CORPORATION (Tokyo, JP)

Number: 9,336,605
Title: Medical imaging system, computer-implemented method, and computer program product for identifying a treated region in a medical image
Inventors:       Nieminen; Heikki Juhani (Helsinki, FI), Kohler; Max Oskar (Espoo, FI), Hakkinen; Marko Tapani (Espoo, FI)
Issued:  May 10, 2016
Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Eindhoven, NL)

Number: D755,209
Title: Medical imaging display screen or portion thereof with graphical user interface
Inventors:       Bonnaudet; Jean-Marc (Munich, DE), Hau; Alexander (Tuttlingen, DE), Hiltl; Christoph (Bohlingen, DE), Holoien; Lee D. (Santa Barbara, CA)
Issued:  May 3, 2016
Assignee: Karl Storz Imaging, Inc. (Goleta, CA)

Number: 9,330,801
Title: Method for fabricating medical imaging multilayer, multiaperture collimator
Inventors:       Malmin; Ronald E. (Chicago, IL)
Issued:  May 3, 2016
Assignee: Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. (Malvern, PA)

Number: 9,330,454
Title: Method and apparatus for image-centric standardized tool for quality assurance analysis in medical imaging
Inventors:  Reiner; Bruce (Berlin, MD)
Issued:  May 3, 2016