Patent EP0585070A1 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0585070A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Enhancement of organ wall motion discrimination
Assignee: Eastman Kodak Co
•
Filing: 1993-08-20
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2013-08-20
Abstract
Abstract Subtle changes in heart wall motion which may be symptomatic of coronary disease states are more easily discerned by acquiring a real time sequence of ultrasonic diagnostic images. An image acquired at a predetermined point in the cardiac cycle, such as the end diastole image, is chosen as a mask image, and the heart wall in the mask image is colored a first color. The heart wall in the remaining images in the sequence is colored a second, contrasting color. The contrasting images are then successively displayed in overlapping alignment with a static display of the mask image. Abnormalities in heart wall motion are more easily discerned by the relative motion between the contrasting image sequence and the mask image.
Inventors
- 👤 Geoffrey Fitch
- 👤 Harvey Feigenbaum
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 15:11
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B8/00; A61B8/08; A61B5/00; A61B5/103; A61B5/11; A61B5/1126; A61B5/1128; A61B8/0883; A61B8/46; A61B8/461; A61B8/463; G; G01; G01S; G01S15/00; G01S15/88; G01S15/89; G01S15/8906; G01S15/8979; G01S15/8981; G01S7/00; G01S7/52; G01S7/52017; G01S7/52053; G01S7/52057; G01S7/52071; A61B8/54; A61B8/543
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim
99 words
A method for distinguishing motional characteristics of moving tissue within the body comprising the steps of: a) acquiring a sequence of images of said tissue during a period of its motional activity; b) denominating a selected image in the sequence as a reference image; c) providing tissue shown in said selected image with a first predetermined visual appearance; d) providing tissue shown in at least one other image in the sequence with a contrasting visual appearance; and e) concurrently displaying said selected image with one or more images with contrasting visual appearance in an at least partially overlapping alignment.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 1, wherein step e) comprises the step of concurrently displaying said selected image with each of said contrasting images in sequence.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 2, wherein said sequence of contrasting images is displayed as a substantially real time sequence.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
63 words
The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein step c) comprises the step of coloring the tissue shown in said selected image with a first color or hue and wherein step d) comprises the step of coloring the tissue shown in the other images in the sequence with a color or hue which contrasts with said first color or hue.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
79 words
A method for distinguishing motional characteristics of moving tissue within the body comprising the steps of: a) acquiring a sequence of images of said tissue during a period of its motional activity; b) coloring tissue represented in a first image in the sequence in a first color; c) coloring tissue represented in the other images in the sequence in a second color; and d) successively displaying said first image in substantial tissue alignment with each of said other images.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 5, wherein step d) further comprises the step of concurrently displaying said first image in overlapping alignment with each of said other images.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
84 words
A method for distinguishing displayed motional characteristics of moving tissue within the body comprising the steps of: a) acquiring a sequence of images of said tissue during a period of its motional activity; b) coloring tissue represented in a first image in the sequence in a first color; c) coloring tissue represented in the other images in the sequence in a second color; and d) statically displaying said first image on a display while concurrently displaying said other images in sequence on said display.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of any one of claims 1 or claim 7, wherein said moving tissue comprises the wall of a beating heart, and wherein said first image represents a cross-sectional view of said beating heart at a predetermined point in the heart cycle.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 7, wherein said predetermined point in the heart cycle comprises end diastole.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
21 words
The method of any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein said sequence of images of step a) are acquired ultrasonically.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
103 words
A method for distinguishing motional characteristics of a beating heart within the body comprising the steps of: a) ultrasonically acquiring a sequence of images of the beating heart during a portion of the heart cycle; b) substantially concentrically aligning each of the heart images with respect to at least one other heart image in the sequence; c) coloring tissue represented in a first image in the sequence in a first color; d) coloring tissue represented in the other images in the sequence in a second color; and e) successively displaying said first image in substantial tissue alignment with each of said other images.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 11, wherein step b) comprises the step of translating each of the other heart images in said sequence into improved overlapping alignment with a selected one of said heart images.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
50 words
The method of claim 12, wherein the translation of one of said other heart images into improved overlapping alignment with said selected one of said heart images also effects an improvement in the overlapping alignment of at least one other heart image with said selected one of said heart images.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
51 words
The method of any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein step a) comprises the step of ultrasonically acquiring a sequence of greyscale images of said tissue during a period of its motional activity; and comprising the further step of selecting a range of greyscale shades which are to be colored.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
72 words
Processing apparatus for presenting diagnostic cardiac images comprising: means for acquiring a sequence of cardiac images; means for creating a mask image in which the heart wall is represented in a first color; means for representing the heart wall in a plurality of other images in the sequence in a second color; and means for concurrently presenting said mask image and one of the other images in at least partial overlapping alignment.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
27 words
The processing apparatus of claim 15, further comprising means for determining the portions of said acquired images of said sequence which are to be represented in color.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
36 words
The processing apparatus of claim 17, wherein said means for acquiring acquires a grayscale cardiac image sequence, and wherein said means for determining designates a range of grayscale intensities which are to be represented in color.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
41 words
The processing apparatus of any one of claims 15 to 17, further comprising means for translating the heart wall representation of images subsequent in the sequence to said mask image into alignment with the heart wall representation of said mask image.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
AT343734B
Cited
WO1991019457A1
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.