EP0181677A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Improved ultrasonic image storage device and method
Assignee: Technicare Corp
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Filing: 1983-01-10
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2003-01-10
Abstract
Abstract An ultrasonic imaging system for medical diagnostic purposes is provided. A first digital signal representative of a video input signal is provided. The first digital signal comprises a series of digital amplitude samples of the transverse component of the input signal. A second series of samples is provided from the first series. Each element of the second series is the arithmetic average of a group of elements of the first series. The second digital signal series is compressed to form a third digital signal series, the third digital signal series being stored. The compressing provides a third digital signal which is a non-linear function of the second digital signal such that the granularity of the stored signal is increased in regions of high diagnostic interest at the expense of decreased resolution in areas of low diagnostic interest. When it is desired to display the stored digital image, the third digital signal is retrieved from the storage means (18) and expanded to provide the reconstituted second digital signal which is thereafter directed to a video display (120).
Inventors
- 👤 Ralph H. Carmen
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 22:46
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06T; G06T5/00; G06T5/90; G06T5/92; G01; G01S; G01S7/00; G01S7/52; G01S7/52017; G01S7/52023; G01S7/52025; G01S7/52026; G01S7/52028; G01S7/52053; G01S7/52057; G06T5/40
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
201 words
An ultrasonic imaging system (10), for collecting and displaying body tissue images, comprising; an ultrasonic transducer (12); input imaging means (14) for converting signals received by said transducer (12) to an analog video input signal; means (22) for producing a first series of digital amplitude samples representative of said video input signal; means (24, 30) for forming a second series of digital amplitude samples from said first series; means (46, 48, 118) for converting said second series of samples to a video output signal; and display means (120) responsive to said video output signal for producing an image of said tissue, characterised in that: said means (24, 30) for forming a second series of samples includes means (58) for compressing said first series of samples to produce a compressed series of samples which is a first non-linear function of said first series of samples (Fig. 4); the system (10) includes means (18, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44) for storing and retrieving said compressed series of samples; and the converting means includes means (68) for expanding said retrieved compressed series of samples to produce a video output signal which is substantially similar to said video input signal.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
201 words
An ultrasonic imaging system (10), for collecting and displaying body tissue images, comprising; an ultrasonic transducer (12); input imaging means (14) for converting signals received by said transducer (12) to an analog video input signal; means (22) for producing a first series of digital amplitude samples representative of said video input signal; means (24, 30) for forming a second series of digital amplitude samples from said first series; means (46, 48, 118) for converting said second series of samples to a video output signal; and display means (120) responsive to said video output signal for producing an image of said tissue, characterised in that: said means (24, 30) for forming a second series of samples includes means (58) for compressing said first series of samples to produce a compressed series of samples which is a first non-linear function of said first series of samples (Fig. 4); the system (10) includes means (18, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44) for storing and retrieving said compressed series of samples; and the converting means includes means (68) for expanding said retrieved compressed series of samples to produce a video output signal which is substantially similar to said video input signal.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
31 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said expanding means (68) exhibits a second non-linear function (Fig. 6) whereby certain regions of said image have enhanced resolution compared to certain other regions.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system ot claim 2, wherein said second non-linear function is a monotonically increasing function with a :^notonielly increasing slope.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
21 words
The system of claim 2 or claim 3, wherein said second non-linear function is the inverse of said first non-linear function.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
25 words
The system of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said first non-linear function is a monotonically increasing function with a monotonically decreasing slope.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
44 words
The system of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said compressing means (58) comprises a random access memory, each value of said compressed series of samples being stored at an address therein determined by a value of said first series of samples.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
45 words
The system of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said expanding means (68) comprises a second random access memory, each value of said expanded series of samples being stored at an address therein determined by a value of said compressed series of samples.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
137 words
A method of storing and retrieving an ultrasonic image comprising: providing an analog video input signal representative of said image; converting said analog video input signal to a first series of digital amplitude samples; forming a second series of digital amplitude samples from said first series; and converting said second series of samples to a video output signal for video display of an image, characterised in that said first series of samples is compressed to produce a compressed series of samples which is a non-linear function of said first series of samples; said compressed series of samples is stored in and retrieved from a memory; said retrieved compressed series of samples is expanded to produce said second series of samples which is converted to a video output signal which is substantially similar to said video input signal.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
137 words
A method of storing and retrieving an ultrasonic image comprising: providing an analog video input signal representative of said image; converting said analog video input signal to a first series of digital amplitude samples; forming a second series of digital amplitude samples from said first series; and converting said second series of samples to a video output signal for video display of an image, characterised in that said first series of samples is compressed to produce a compressed series of samples which is a non-linear function of said first series of samples; said compressed series of samples is stored in and retrieved from a memory; said retrieved compressed series of samples is expanded to produce said second series of samples which is converted to a video output signal which is substantially similar to said video input signal.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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