| Entries |
| Document | Title | Date |
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| 20080199059 | Information Enhanced Image Guided Interventions - Linking of interventional and real time ultrasonic information with nonereal time anatomical information of, for example, a vessel or a tumor vascularization provided by x-ray rotational angiography requires high computational performance. According to an aspect of the present invention, an ultrasonic reference image is calibrated with respect to a high quality image acquired by a different imaging system. Then, during operational intervention, a registration or calibration of a data set acquired during the intervention is performed with respect to the reference image and not (as in state of the art devices) to the high quality image. Advantageously, this may allow for a fast fusion of the high quality image with the real time images and therefore allow for an improved tracking of operational interventions performed on a patient. | 08-21-2008 |
| 20080205715 | Method and apparatus for variable resolution medical images - A hand carried medical imaging device includes a probe configured to acquire raw medical image data, an integrated display, a data memory configured to store the acquired raw medical image data, a back end processor, and a user interface operably coupled to the back end processor configured to receive commands from a user and to instruct the back end processor to display the produced medical image on the integrated display at a first resolution, and to either produce and send either the medical image at the second, higher resolution, to send the acquired raw image data, or both, to the external device, in accordance with the commands from the user. | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080205716 | Image Processing Device and Method - The present invention relates to an image processing device and a corresponding image processing method for processing a multi-dimensional data set of image data, in particular of three-dimensional medical volume image data, including a segmentation unit ( | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080205717 | System and method for three-dimensional image rendering and analysis - The present invention relates to methods and systems for conducting three-dimensional image analysis and diagnosis and possible treatment relating thereto. The invention includes methods of handling signals containing information (data) relating to three-dimensional representation of objects scanned by a scanning medium. The invention also includes methods of making and analyzing volumetric measurements and changes in volumetric measurements which can be used for the purpose of diagnosis and treatment. | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080205718 | Automated Organ Linking for Organ Model Placement - It is an object of the invention to provide a linking system ( | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080205719 | Method of Model-Based Elastic Image Registration For Comparing a First and a Second Image - The invention aims at improving the point-based elastic registration paradigm. Point-based elastic registration is typically carried out by finding corresponding point landmarks ( | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080205720 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EFFICIENT REAL-TIME TECHNIQUE FOR POINT LOCALIZATION IN AND OUT OF A TETRAHEDRAL MESH - A method for determining whether a point is contained in a sub-volume of a digitized medical image, includes providing a tetrahedron volume mesh (TVM) representing a sub-volume of a digital image volume and a point M, finding a vertex P of said TVM that is closest to point M, finding a tetrahedron T | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080205721 | Segmentation Method Using An Oriented Active Shape Model - An improved method of segmenting medical images includes aspects of live wire and active shape models to determine the most likely segmentation given a shape distribution that satisfies boundary location constrains on an item of interest. The method includes a supervised learning portion to train and learn new types of shape instances and a segmentation portion to use the learned model to segment new target images containing instances of the shape. The segmentation portion includes an automated search for an appropriate shape and deformation of the shape to establish a best oriented boundary for the object of interest on a medical image. | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080205722 | Method and Apparatus for Automatic 4D Coronary Modeling and Motion Vector Field Estimation - A method for computer-aided four-dimensional (4D) modeling of an anatomical object comprises acquiring a set of three-dimensional (3D) models representing a plurality of static states of the object throughout a cycle. A 4D correspondency estimation is performed on the set of 3D models to determine which points of the 3D models most likely correspond to each other, wherein the 4D correspondency estimation includes one or more of (i) defining a reference phase, (ii) performing vessel-oriented correspondency estimation, and (iii) post-processing of 4D motion data. The method further comprises automatic 3D modeling with a front propagation algorithm. | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080205723 | Utilizing Physiological Models to Control Functional Acquisitions - Adaptively controlling an imaging system ( | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080212852 | Registration System and Method For Tracking Lung Nodules In Medical Images - A nodule registration system useful for tracking lung nodules in computed tomography (CT) scans is presented. The system registers a small sphere centered on a detected nodule in one scan with another scan under a rigid transformation assumption using a fast registration scheme. The registration scheme employs very fast simulated annealing (VFSA) with constraints to maximize a tunable cross-correlation (TCC) coefficient, enabling the system to register, with minimal registration error, all nodules within their maximum diameter. The system achieves an average registration time of 10 seconds or less on a 3.06 GHz computer programmed to implement the present invention. | 09-04-2008 |
| 20080212853 | Computer Aided Diagnosis Using Dual Energy Subtraction Images - Computer-aided diagnosis techniques may be combined with dual-energy radiography techniques to provide enhanced computer-aided diagnosis of, for example, lung nodules. | 09-04-2008 |
| 20080212854 | DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING SUPPORT EQUIPMENT - The present invention comprises: a data storage unit for storing series image data obtained by medical image acquisition equipment and object data containing image acquisition conditions for the series image data and the specific information for specifying other series image data related to the series image data; an information management unit for generating a thumbnail image that represents combination information of the presently obtained series image data and the past related series image data by referring to the object data; and a display unit for displaying the thumbnail image. | 09-04-2008 |
| 20080212855 | MEDICAL IMAGE STORAGE DEVICE - A medical image observation device relating to the present invention receives enhanced image data having a plurality of medical images, and splits the enhanced image data into a plurality of single image data each containing only one medical image, based on system information of the enhanced image data. According to the present invention, it is possible to make a medical image observation device accurately display an image without depending on system information of enhanced image data. | 09-04-2008 |
| 20080212856 | SIMILAR CASE SEARCH APPARATUS AND METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM STORING PROGRAM THEREFOR - More accurate search for similar cases can be carried out in the case where images at different time phases exist. A contrast enhancement information analysis unit obtains time phase information of search target images obtained at different time phases in the same examination from accompanying information of the images, and a similar case database storing similar case information sets each including examination ID, time phase information, a characteristic quantity, and image interpretation/diagnosis support information is searched in processing by a first similar case information search unit, a second similar case information search unit, and a judgment unit. A corresponding portion of the similar case information sets satisfying three conditions comprising agreement of the time phase information with the search target images, agreement of examination between the portion of the similar case information sets, and similarity of a content-based characteristic to the search target images is obtained. | 09-04-2008 |
| 20080219523 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ASSOCIATING ELECTRONIC IMAGES IN THE HEALTHCARE ENVIRONMENT - A computer system for associating a laboratory report for a patient with a radiology image, such as a Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) image, is provided. The system comprises at least one image database for maintaining at least one DICOM healthcare image for a patient and at least one laboratory application for documenting one or more laboratory report for the patient. The system further comprises at least one association module for receiving a request from a clinician to associate the one or more laboratory reports for the patient with at least one DICOM image for the patient and for associating the one or more laboratory reports for the patient with at least one DICOM image for the patient. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080219524 | GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR DISPLAYING A RADIOLOGY IMAGE FOR A PATIENT AND AN ASSOCIATED LABORATORY REPORT SUMMARY - A user interface embodied on at least one computer readable medium for displaying a healthcare image for a patient and a clinical report for a patient simultaneously is provided. The interface comprises a first display area configured to display a healthcare image for a patient and a second display area configured to display a clinical report associated with the healthcare image simultaneously with the healthcare image for the patient, where the clinical report is created based on results other than the healthcare image. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080219525 | Acceleration of Joseph's method for full 3D reconstruction of nuclear medical images from projection data - A method for interpolating at least one oblique line of response ray representing nuclear image projection data through a rectangular volume and a system for using the method. The method consists of steps of interpolating all the direct rays in a rectangular volume, making a projected ray by projecting the oblique ray onto a surface of the rectangular volume, matching the projected ray to a coinciding interpolated direct ray, shearing the rectangular volume to match the projected ray, and interpolating the oblique ray in the sheared volume. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080219526 | System and Method for Volume Rendering Three-Dimensional Ultrasound Perfusion Images - A three-dimensional visualization technique for easily identifying common morphological landmarks in volume rendered ultrasound perfusion images. The technique includes processing acoustic data received by an ultrasound imaging system ( | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080219527 | Cardiac Region Detection From Motion Analysis of Small Scale Reconstruction - A diagnostic imaging system ( | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080219528 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING SIMULATED IMAGES THROUGH COSMETIC MONITORING - An automated cosmetic applicator uses wide-angle cameras, a high-resolution camera, and a differential lighting process to capture images of a body. Software analyzes these images to identify large and small features of the subject and to use these features as landmarks to create in computer memory a corresponding map that is highly accurate and data rich with pixel-level data about the subject's color, light value and texture characteristics. The rich images may be used for tracking the device on the skin, for making accurate corrections to skin, for simulating possible cosmetic enhancements and selecting a desired correction, and for use in other applications such as video games and animations. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080219529 | Method of, and Apparatus and Computer Software for, Performing Image Processing - A computer-implemented method of performing image processing for images of biological objects includes: storing definitions of a plurality of descriptors; receiving image data relating to an image of a reference population of biological objects; receiving image data relating to an image of a target population of biological objects; processing the reference population image data to obtain a reference set of measurements, containing data for each of the descriptors; processing the target population image data to obtain a target set of measurements, containing data for each of the descriptors; and selecting a combination of the descriptors on the basis of comparing the reference set with the target set to define a preferred combination of the descriptors for use in identifying characteristics of a further population of biological objects which are similar to those of the target population. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080226144 | DIGITAL VIDEO IMAGING SYSTEM FOR PLASTIC AND COSMETIC SURGERY - A system for plastic surgery comprises entering patient information into a database; computing a video sequence template for the patient based on the information and a synthetic video model. | 09-18-2008 |
| 20080226145 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIA CONTAINING IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM - An image processing apparatus having improved detection performance for detecting an abnormal shadow, such as a tumor, and reducing a burden on the user is disclosed. In the image processing apparatus, an aligning unit aligns a previous image and a current diagnosis image with each other, and a corresponding position calculating unit calculates a position on a subject in the current diagnosis image corresponding to the position of an abnormal shadow on the subject in the previous image based on positional information of the abnormal shadow on the subject in the previous image and alignment information. A current diagnosis image abnormal shadow detecting unit detects the abnormal shadow in the current diagnosis image from the vicinity of the corresponding position in the current diagnosis image. | 09-18-2008 |
| 20080226146 | Biometric Detector and Identity Control Device - The present invention describes a biometric detector ( | 09-18-2008 |
| 20080226147 | Method to provide automated quality feedback to imaging devices to achieve standardized imaging data - Automated image quality assessment algorithms, which perform the functions of locating a region of interest, maximizing the image contrast, and ensuring the region of interest is properly centered in the image. Wherein the region of interest is located by spectral matching filter using a target spectrum obtained from samples of the image itself. | 09-18-2008 |
| 20080226148 | Method of image quality assessment to produce standardized imaging data - Automated image quality assessment methods, which include locating a region of interest, region assessment, contrast assessment, blur assessment, and contaminant detection, on video data and high-resolution imagery. Where the blur assessment is performed without a reference image by dividing the region into non-overlapping block, measuring the wavenumber frequency of the blocks and calculating the ratio of the low frequency to high frequency areas. | 09-18-2008 |
| 20080232655 | Apparatus and Method for Assisting the Diagnostic Evaluation of Images - The invention relates to an apparatus and to a method for assisting a doctor in assessing a potentially pathological structure, such as a tumor ( | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080232656 | Recognizing a real world fiducial in image data of a patient - A storage medium contains a program which instructs a computer to recognize a predetermined shape of each of at least one portion of a medical assembly as a real-world fiducial in image data of a patient when the image data includes the predetermined shape and is received by the digital computer. The at-least-one portion has another function apart from functioning as a real-world fiducial. A medical apparatus includes a medical assembly and a storage medium. The medical assembly includes a component having at-least-one portion each with a predetermined shape. The storage medium contains a program which instructs a computer to recognize the predetermined shape of each of the at-least-one portion as a real-world fiducial in image data of a patient when the image data includes the predetermined shape and is received by the digital computer. The component has another function apart from functioning as a real-world fiducial. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080232657 | Feature Intensity Reconstruction of Biological Probe Array - The invention provides methods and systems for reconstructing feature intensities from pixel level data. In certain embodiments, the invention uses an empirically determined transfer function to construct a theoretical estimate of pixel level data and then iteratively updates feature intensities based on a minimum multiplicative error between the pixel level data and the theoretical estimate of the pixel level data. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080232658 | Interactive Multiple Gene Expression Map System - Disclosed herein is a system and method for providing remotely accessible gene expression image data. The system and method allows for increased accuracy and semi-quantitative or fully quantitative data from images by enabling the remote user to select regions of interest on a compressed image, and then conducting quantitative analysis on original images at a central location. The subject invention relates to, in one embodiment, an BVIGEM (Interactive Multiple Gene Expression Maps) system: which provides internet based software tools for the extraction of functional information from gene expression images and also to act as a repository for gene expression image data. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080232659 | Analysis Processing Method and Device - The invention relates to image processing, and to a method and device for recognizing the reaction results of a test sample in which various reagents are arranged on a surface, by image analysis, and assay. An object is to provide an analysis processing method and an analysis processing device which can obtain analysis results efficiently and with high accuracy, for objects which are integrated using a wound body which is wound with a linear base substance, and for which positions are uncertain. An analysis processing method for performing analysis based on optical information from a wound object which is wound with a linear base substance in which biological substances of previously determined types are immobilized, and a plurality of these immobilized spots are arranged at previously determined positions, includes: detecting a partial region belonging to the spots, by means of optical information obtained by scanning a surface of the wound body; specifying the spots belonging thereto, based on the detected partial region for the detected spots; and performing analysis of the spots based on the optical information from the specified spots. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080232660 | ULTRASOUND SYSTEM AND METHOD OF FORMING ELASTIC IMAGES CAPABLE OF PREVENTING DISTORTION - The present invention is directed to an ultrasound system and a method of forming an elastic image, which are capable of preventing the distortion of the elastic image. The persistence of the previous frame and the present frame is performed after moving the boundary pixels set up in the previous interest frame to the boundary pixels in the present interest frame. This is so that the distortion of the elastic image may be reduced and the signal to noise ratio may be increased. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080232661 | Method and Apparatus Featuring Simple Click Style Interactions According To a Clinical Task Workflow - A computer-aided method ( | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080232662 | Outline detection apparatus, outline detection method, and program thereof - An outline detection apparatus which detects an outline of a tooth in a dental image, including: a rectangular range specification device for estimating portions in the dental image as a tooth, gum, and background respectively, and specifying rectangular ranges with predetermined pixels in the positions estimated as the tooth, gum, and background; and a site estimation device for acquiring a characteristic quantity based on color information of the pixels in the rectangular ranges, finding a classification vector which maximizes the Fischer ratio based on the characteristic quantity, and estimating which of the tooth range, the gum range, and the background range, pixels other than the pixels in the rectangular ranges are positioned in according to comparison between a predetermined threshold value and an inner product between the classification vector and a pixel value vector based on color information on pixels other than the pixels in the rectangular ranges. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080232663 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REMOTE NAVIGATION OF A SPECIMEN - A method of providing remote navigation of a specimen includes receiving a command to remotely control a microscope and a camera coupled with the microscope to view a portion of a specimen disposed on the microscope, capturing a digital image of the portion with the camera in response to the command, representing the digital image as a plurality of digital image components, each of the digital image components providing a different level of detail of the image, and transmitting the components in sequential order of increasing level of detail from least detailed to most detailed. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080240524 | ORGAN BASED HANGING PROTOCOL FOR A DIAGNOSTIC READING WORKSTATION - Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a method for displaying a volume image set. The method includes selecting an image hanging protocol and displaying one or more volume images based at least in part on the image hanging protocol. The image hanging protocol includes a rule set for displaying the one or more volume images based at least in part on a body part component. Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a system for displaying a volume image set. The system includes a display device adapted to display one or more volume images based at least in part on an image hanging protocol. The image hanging protocol includes a rule set for displaying the one or more volume images based at least in part on a body part component. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080240525 | Method and system for reconstructing a medical image of an object - A method for reconstructing a medical image of an object in a reconstruction process, where image data is achieved by a medical imaging system by collecting a real measured projection image data of said object, in which method an antipriori component is deter-mined for modelling artifacts caused by the imaging system and/or reconstruction method. The antipriori component is used for attenuating said artifacts from the medical image of said object to be reconstructed in said reconstruction process. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080240526 | OBJECT RECOGNITION SYSTEM FOR MEDICAL IMAGING - An improved system and method (i.e. utility) for segmentation of medical images is provided. The utility fits an estimated boundary on a structure of interest in an automated selection and lifting process. The estimated boundary may be a model boundary that is generated actual boundaries of like structures. In one arrangement, the boundaries may be selected based on the age and/or ethnicity of a patient. In further arrangements, narrow band processing is performed to estimate the actual boundary of the structure of interest. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080240527 | Methods, Compositions and Systems for Analyzing Imaging Data - The present invention provides methods, compositions and systems for the analysis of imaging data, in particular, whole-animal imaging data acquired using microCT. Included in the invention are methods for registering and comparing test images to one or more reference images to identify and analyze anatomical features of interest. Also provided by the invention are methods and systems for efficient, semi-automatic and fully automatic methods for generating morphological statistics for anatomical features contained in imaging data. Libraries of images, including raw data acquired from imaging apparatuses as well as processed images, are also encompassed by the present invention. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080240528 | Method and Device for Scanning a Sample with Contrast Evaluation - The invention relates to a method and to a device for optically scanning a sample ( | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080240529 | Methods for Improving the Perfomance of a Detector - A system and method for allowing adjustments of various parameters associated with the operation of charge-coupled devices adapted for use in biological analysis devices. Gate voltage signal applied to the CCDs can be adjusted to advantageously affect the manner in which charge is transferred from pixels. The manner in which transferred charges from the pixels are processed in a readout process can also be adjusted to advantageously change the speed of the CCD based detector. Various methods of performing such adjustments are disclosed. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080247616 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF NAVIGATING AN OBJECT IN AN IMAGED SUBJECT - A system to navigate an image-guided object traveling in an area of interest of an imaged subject in relation to an acquired image of the imaged subject as created by an imaging system is provided. The system includes a navigation system to track movement of the object in the imaged subject in spatial relation to a navigation coordinate system, and a controller. The controller is operable in detecting an image of the object in the at least one image of the imaged subject, calculating a spatial relation between the location of the image of the object and a tracked location of the object, and modifying the spatial relation of the image coordinate system relative to the navigation coordinate system so as to reduce the difference between the location of the image of the object and the tracked location of the object by the navigation system. | 10-09-2008 |
| 20080247617 | RADIOLOGICAL IMAGING OF PATIENT FUNCTIONAL UNITS - Certain embodiments provide a method for radiological imaging including: receiving a set of image data, the image data further including information corresponding to at least one functional portion of a patient; identifying the information corresponding to the at least one functional portion of the patient; and grouping the information corresponding to the at least one functional portion of the patient into a group. In an embodiment, the method is performable substantially automatically. In an embodiment, the method further includes enhancing at least a portion of the group. In an embodiment, the enhancing at least a portion of the group is performable automatically. In an embodiment, the enhancing at least a portion of the group is performable manually. In an embodiment, the enhancing at least a portion of the group includes at least one of: applying a look up table; applying a window level; applying an algorithm; and applying a filter. | 10-09-2008 |
| 20080247618 | INTERACTIVE DIAGNOSTIC DISPLAY SYSTEM - In certain embodiments, an interactive diagnostic display system comprises a database, a digital data processing device, and a display. The database includes: ( | 10-09-2008 |
| 20080247619 | METHOD, DEVICE AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM CONTAINING PROGRAM FOR EXTRACTING OBJECT REGION OF INTEREST - An object region extracting process for extracting an object region of interest from an image is automated to the maximum possible extent to improve user-friendliness. In this process, an arbitrary point is set in the object region of interest, and a presence area, which is likely to contain the entire object region of interest, is determined in the image using the set arbitrary point and a possible size of the object region of interest. Then, the object region of interest is extracted from the image based on the set arbitrary point and at least one point outside the determined presence area. | 10-09-2008 |
| 20080247620 | Apparatus and Method for Augmenting Sight - A method of augmenting sight in an individual. The method comprises obtaining an image of a scene using a camera carried by the individual; transmitting the obtained image to a processor carried by the individual; selecting an image modification to be applied to the image by the processor; operating upon the image to create a modified image using either analog or digital imaging techniques, and displaying the modified image on a display device worn by the individual. The invention also relates to an apparatus augmenting sight in an individual. The apparatus comprises a camera, carried by the individual, for obtaining an image of a scene viewed by the individual; a display carried by the individual; an image modification input device carried by the individual; and a processor, carried by the individual. The processor modifies the image and displays the modified image on the display carried by the individual. | 10-09-2008 |
| 20080253627 | Compton scattered X-ray visualization, imaging, or information provider using image combining - One aspect relates to deriving at least one first visualization, image, or provided information via Compton scattering substantially within an at least some matter of an at least a portion of an individual at least partially as a result of directing an at least one first applied X-ray having an at least one first energy level towards the at least some matter of the at least the portion of the individual; deriving at least one second visualization, image, or provided information via Compton scattering substantially within the at least some matter of the at least the portion of the individual at least partially as a result of directing an at least one second applied X-ray having an at least one second energy level toward the at least some matter of the at least the portion of the individual; and deriving at least one combined visualization, combined image, or combined provided information at least partially by combining the at least one first visualization, image, or provided information with the at least one second visualization, image, or provided information. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080253628 | IMAGE DIAGNOSIS SUPPORT SYSTEM - The admission of the editing of information on a key image of an object, the type of edit processing, and the contents targeted for edit processing are controlled in accordance with a combination of user information and device information (i.e., a scene where the key image is used). | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080253629 | IMAGING DIAGNOSIS SUPPORTING SYSTEM AND IMAGING DIAGNOSIS SUPPORTING METHOD - In a server apparatus, an information classification is determined by a user and a utilization situation, and provision information is determined on the basis of the determined information classification. A common object is processed to include only the determined provision information, and then provided to a client apparatus. To the client apparatus, a common object including requisite minimum information is provided. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080253630 | IMAGE DISPLAY METHOD, APPARATUS, AND PROGRAM - Extracting a luminal or line-like three-dimensional structure from a three-dimensional image of a target object, then generating a projection image by projecting a portion of the entirety of the three-dimensional structure on a cross-sectional image of the target object intersecting the three-dimensional structure, the portion being a portion located within a range of a predetermined thickness from a cross-section represented by the cross-sectional image or a portion located within a range of a predetermined distance from a position where the three-dimensional structure is intersecting the cross-sectional image, and displaying the generated projection image. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080253631 | APPARATUS AND PROGRAM FOR ASSISTING REPORT GENERATION - A burden in generating a follow-up observation report is reduced. The size of an abnormal shadow present on a current medical image obtained by imaging a subject is measured, and the size of an abnormal shadow present on a previous medical image, which has been obtained by imaging the same subject, at a position corresponding to the position the abnormal shadow on the current medical image is measured. A character string describing a change in the size is generated from the measured sizes of the two abnormal shadows, and a file of a report text, containing the character string, about a case shown in the previous and current medical images is outputted. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080260217 | System and method for designating a boundary of a vessel in an image - A method and system of applying a fitting function to an element in an image, and determining the segments of the element that are included in an boundary of a blood vessel in the image. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080260218 | Medical Imaging Method and System - A computerized method and system for detection and quantification of changes in color on skin or internal tissue or organs within the human body. Digital images of the skin or tissue containing an area of interest are analyzed using the software of the invention, based on at least one channel of the LAB color system. The invention calculates the intensity and distribution of color present within the predetermined area of interest, and results in display of at least one color information attribute. The invention allows color calibration of the image to be performed in relation to a reference label having predetermined colors which surrounds the area of interest, prior to the analysis. The invention allows a threshold analysis to be performed, which graphically depicts the size and location of areas exhibiting significant change in color, which is a determinant factor in medical diagnosis. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080260219 | AUTOMATICALLY DETERMINING LANDMARKS ON ANATOMICAL STRUCTURES - An automatic landmark determining device, includes a storage device for storing at least one anatomical sample image and at least one anatomical landmark, the at least one anatomical landmark corresponding to a characteristic location within the at least one anatomical sample image, The automatic landmark determining device also includes an input device for inputting an anatomical patient image, and a transformation device. The transformation device is configured to apply an image-adapting transformation to the at least one anatomical landmark, said image-adapting transformation corresponding to a transformation that converts the at least one anatomical sample image to the anatomical patient image. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080260220 | REGISTRATION OF OPTICAL IMAGES OF SMALL ANIMALS - A method for registering a first imaging dataset of a small animal with a second imaging dataset of the animal includes defining a contour of the animal body and dividing it into subregions using skeleton lines. The subregions of the first dataset, once defined, are morphed individually into corresponding subregions of the second dataset. A set of lines may be found for defining each of the subregions, and an index determined which relates the lines of a subregion of the first dataset to those of a corresponding subregion of the second dataset. A pixel index may thereafter be determined for each of the lines, and used to map each pixel of a line to a corresponding list of pixels for the corresponding line of the other dataset. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080260221 | System and Method for Lesion Segmentation in Whole Body Magnetic Resonance Images - A method for lesion segmentation in 3-dimensional (3D) digital images, includes selecting a 2D region of interest (ROI) from a 3D image, the ROI containing a suspected lesion, extending borders of the ROI to 3D forming a volume of interest (VOI), where voxels on the borders of the VOI are initialized as background voxels and voxels in an interior of the VOI are initialized as foreground voxels, propagating a foreground and background voxel competition where for each voxel in the VOI, having each neighbor voxel in a neighborhood of the voxel attack the voxel, and, if the attack is successful, updating a label and strength of the voxel with that of the successful attacking voxel, and evolving a surface between the foreground and background voxels in 3D until an energy functional associated with the surface converges in value, where the surface segments the suspected lesion from the image. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080260222 | Lesion Quantification and Tracking Using Multiple Modalities - A method for lesion detection includes acquiring pre-therapy medical image data from a first modality. Post-therapy medical image data is acquired from a second modality. A transformation matrix for transforming from an image space of the first modality to an image space of the second modality is calculated. A volume of interest is defined from the medical image data of the first modality. The volume of interest includes one or more lesions. The volume of interest is automatically copied to the medical image data of the second modality using the calculated transformation matrix. Treatment is directed to the lesion using the medical image data of the second modality including the copied volume of interest data. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080260223 | System And Method For Concurrent Transfer And Processing And Real Time Viewing Of In-Vivo Images - Embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method for a concurrent transferring of an image stream gathered by an in-vivo sensing device, including creating a plurality of segments from at least a portion of the image stream and concurrently transferring the created segments. Other embodiments of the present invention provide and system and method for a concurrent processing of an image stream gathered by an in-vivo sensing device, including creating a plurality of segments from at least a portion of the image stream and concurrently processing the created segments. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080260224 | Using statistical process control (SPC) to demonstrate solution convergence in a technician guided segmentation system - A method and apparatus for generating a computer model from scan data from a patient, comprising:
| 10-23-2008 |
| 20080260225 | Infrared Multi-Spectral Camera and Process of Using Infrared Multi-Spectral Camera - A process of performing a medical test includes taking multi-spectral images of an area of interest of a patient. The patient can be a human being or an animal, and can be known to be healthy or known to have health issues or problems. A multi-spectral camera includes a long-infrared charge-coupled device, a mid-infrared detector array, and a control device that synchronizes operation of the charge-coupled device and the detector array. The mid-infrared detector array can include carbon nanotubes. The carbon nanotubes can be detector elements. For example, the carbon nanotubes can be tuned-bandgap carbon nanotubes. Each pixel of resolution of the detector array can include a balanced Wheatstone bridge circuit including one of the tuned-bandgap carbon nanotubes. Adjacent pixels of the detector array can be arranged for orthogonal polarization. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080260226 | METHOD, APPARATUS, AND PROGRAM FOR JUDGING IMAGE RECOGNITION RESULTS, AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM HAVING THE PROGRAM STORED THEREIN - To obtain more accurate image recognition results while alleviating the burden on the user to check the image recognition results. An image recognition unit recognizes a predetermined structure in an image representing a subject, then a recognition result judging unit measures the predetermined structure on the image recognized by the image recognition unit to obtain a predetermined anatomical measurement value of the predetermined structure, automatically judges whether or not the anatomical measurement value falls within a predetermined standard range, and, if it is outside of the range, judges the image recognition result to be incorrect. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080267466 | Receiving Apparatus - Each of detecting circuits | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080267467 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC ADJUSTMENT OF A DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING DISPLAY - A method and system for automatic adjustment of a diagnostic imaging display are provided. The system includes an acquisition component configured to acquire image data and a display configured to display the acquired image data. The diagnostic imaging system further includes an ambient light detector configured to detect an ambient light level and a display adjustment module configured to automatically adjust a display transfer function for the display based on the detected ambient light level. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080267468 | System and Method for Segmenting a Region in a Medical Image - A method and computer program are provided for segmenting a prostate from a medical image such as an ultrasound image. Each slice in a study is analysed and uses a manual initialization to obtain an initial contour, in which a user selects initial points that are automatically rendered on the image. An automatic refinement stage then snaps the contour to the prostate boundary in the image based on a pre-stored anatomical atlas and edge information obtained from the image. A manual adjustment stage may then be performed and if selected, the contour is automatically propagated to the next image slice to avoid the manual initialization. An auxiliary image slice may be referred to, which indicates how the prostate shape changes from slice to slices e.g. by providing a perpendicular profile. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080267469 | SPECIMEN ANALYSIS AND ACICULAR REGION ANALYZER - The present invention provides assistance for visual observation based counting of particles or crystals. In an image of a specimen of an unidentified sample, particles are counted from an image obtained as a result of binarization using a method such as the discriminant analysis method, for example, and crystals are counted from two images using the difference between the images according with different imaging conditions. As an example, in the particle counting, such as a two-step noise removal is performed, and also, for the crystals, alignment and aspect ratio calculation are performed. In particular, the present invention can provide assistance for the dispersion staining method in which asbestos crystals are visually searched for using a phase-contrast microscope. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080267470 | ALGORITHMS FOR SELECTING MASS DENSITY CANDIDATES FROM DIGITAL MAMMOGRAMS - The present invention provides a method for selecting mass density candidates from mammograms for computer-aided lesion detection, review and diagnosis. The method has two steps: a Gaussian difference filter to enhance the intensity and a Canny detector to find potential mass density contours. For circumscribed masses, an additional Hough circle detector is used. This invention makes use of both intensity and morphology information and only processes each image at a single gray-level, so both sensitivity and processing time are improved. The selection algorithm can be also used to select mass candidates from ultrasound images, from 3D tomosynthesis mammography images and from breast MRI images. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080267471 | AUTOMATIC PARTITIONING AND RECOGNITION OF HUMAN BODY REGIONS FROM AN ARBITRARY SCAN COVERAGE IMAGE - A recognition pipeline automatically partitions a 3D image of the human body into regions of interest (head, rib cage, pelvis, and legs) and correctly labels each region. The 3D image is projected onto a 2D image using volume rendering. The 3D image may contain the whole body region or any subset. In a learning phase, training datasets are manually partitioned and labeled, and a training database is computed. In a recognition phase, images are partitioned and labeled based on the knowledge from the training database. The recognition phase is computationally efficient and may operate under 2 seconds in current conventional computer systems. The recognition is robust to image variations, and does not require the user to provide any knowledge about the contained regions of interest within the image. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080267472 | SIMULTANEOUS ACQUISITION OF DIFFERING IMAGE TYPES - A system in one embodiment includes an image forming device for forming an image from an area of interest containing different image components; an illumination device for illuminating the area of interest with light containing multiple components; at least one light source coupled to the illumination device, the at least one light source providing light to the illumination device containing different components, each component having distinct spectral characteristics and relative intensity; an image analyzer coupled to the image forming device, the image analyzer decomposing the image formed by the image forming device into multiple component parts based on type of imaging; and multiple image capture devices, each image capture device receiving one of the component parts of the image. A method in one embodiment includes receiving an image from an image forming device; decomposing the image formed by the image forming device into multiple component parts based on type of imaging; receiving the component parts of the image; and outputting image information based on the component parts of the image. Additional systems and methods are presented. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080273772 | Component Labeling - Disclosed herein are methods, computer systems and computer program products for labeling components. One method includes the step of labeling ( | 11-06-2008 |
| 20080273773 | Three-dimensional modeling of the oral cavity - A method for creating three-dimensional models of intra-oral scenes and features. The intra-oral scene is illuminated by a two-dimensional array of structured illumination points, with anti-aliasing achieved by using stored two-dimensional patterns of pixels for anti-aliasing. Using a single camera to form images reduces the amount of apparatus necessary to introduce into the patient's mouth. Three-dimensional models are obtained from the single image by triangulation with a stored image of the structured illumination onto a reference surface such as a plane. Alternative methods include the use of “bar-coded” one-dimensional patterns. | 11-06-2008 |
| 20080273774 | SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR CAPTURING A MEDICAL DRAWING OR SKETCH FOR GENERATING PROGRESS NOTES, DIAGNOSIS AND BILLING CODES - A system and methods are provided that allows an end user such as a doctor to draw a picture representation of a patient physical findings such as symptoms, treatments, imaging results or other procedures so that the rendering is captured and translated to a textual description as progress notes, diagnosis, or for inclusion with an electronic medical record, for example. The captured rendering (“sketch-to-text”) is storable and recallable for future annotations as needed. The translated description may be used for automated billing. | 11-06-2008 |
| 20080273775 | CARTESIAN HUMAN MORPHO-INFORMATIC SYSTEM - The present invention is a three dimensional Cartesian coordinate system for the human body, having three perpendicular and intersecting planes. The present invention is based upon the use of the three cardinal planes, in the universally recognized orientations. The cardinal planes in accordance with the present invention are: Sagittal: midsagittal plane, Transverse: upper-most extent of the iliac crests, and Coronal: anterior-most aspect of the vertebral canal. The point at which these planes intersect defines the 0,0,0 location in the human body. | 11-06-2008 |
| 20080273776 | Apparatus and Method for Rapid Microscopic Image Focusing - A method of capturing a focused image of a continuously moving slide/objective arrangement is provided. A frame grabber device is triggered to capture an image of the slide through an objective at a first focus level as the slide continuously moves laterally relative to the objective. Alternatingly with triggering the frame grabber device, the objective is triggered to move to a second focus level after capture of the image of the slide. The objective moves in discrete steps, oscillating between minimum and maximum focus levels. The frame grabber device is triggered at a frequency as the slide continuously moves laterally relative to the objective so multiple images at different focus levels overlap, whereby a slide portion is common to each. The image having the maximum contrast value within overlapping images represents an optimum focus level for the slide portion, and thus the focused image. Associated apparatuses and methods are also provided. | 11-06-2008 |
| 20080279428 | Adaptive Point-Based Elastic Image Registration - The present invention aims at improving the point-based elastic registration paradigm. According to the present invention, a force field, for example, with Gaussian-shaped forces, is applied at several points to the image to be deformed. In this case, no landmark correspondences are required and the optimal positions of the force application point are found automatically, which minimizes the difference between the source and target image. Advantageously, this may allow to control a local influence of individual control points. | 11-13-2008 |
| 20080279429 | Method For Delineation of Predetermined Structures in 3D Images - A method for delineating a bony structure within a 3D image of a body volume. A non contrast-enhanced tissue (reference) structure and a region comprising the bony structure and contrast-enhanced structures are identified (S | 11-13-2008 |
| 20080279430 | System and Method for Enabling Selection of an Image Registration Transformation - System and method for enabling intra-operative selection of an image registration transformation for use in displaying a first image dataset and a second image dataset in correspondence with one another. Image dataset acquisition devices ( | 11-13-2008 |
| 20080279431 | IMAGING PROCESSING APPARATUS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT - An image processing apparatus includes an organ determination unit that determines a type of observation target which appears in a target image among a sequence of observation images, an imaging distance estimation unit that estimates an imaging distance at a time of image pickup of the observation image, an abnormal region detection unit that detects an abnormal region, which is a specific region, from the target image using an abnormality detection parameter, and an image processing control unit that sets as the abnormality detection parameter, a parameter value corresponding to a result of determination by the organ determination unit, and causes the abnormal region detection unit to detect an abnormal region using the abnormality detection parameter. | 11-13-2008 |
| 20080279432 | METHOD AND MEDICAL DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING DATA ACQUISITION OR DATA PROCESSING THEREIN - In a method to control the data acquisition and/or the data processing in at least one medical device, in particular to control the image data acquisition and/or the image data processing in a medical image data acquisition device, at least one work step already effected and/or still to be effected by an operator at a computer in the framework of controlling the data acquisition and/or the data processing is determined and/or analyzed by at least one program, and the operator is assisted dependent on the determination and/or analysis result. | 11-13-2008 |
| 20080285819 | Systems and method for composite elastography and wave imaging - Systems and methods for composite elastography and wave imaging are presented. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention an imaging modality field of view, such as, for example, that of ultrasound, can be divided into N sectors, each having 1/Nth of a full field of view. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention a temporal series of 2D or 3D ultrasound images for each of the N sectors can be acquired over a duration of one or more periods of a periodic signal. Substantially simultaneously, such a periodic signal can also be acquired, wherein each of said series of 2D ultrasound images for each sector can be triggered or gated using said periodic signal. For example, for ultrasound imaging of the heart, an ECG signal can function as such a periodic signal. The data from the various N sectors can be synchronized in time using the ECG signals, and the ultrasound signals from each of the N sectors combined to generate a series of composite ultrasound images at the frame rate of the individual sectors. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention such a composite image can be further processed to estimate displacement between consecutive frames, remove noise, accumulate displacement with time for an entire cardiac cycle, and derive strain in the cardiac muscle, vessel or any other organ or tissue under motion. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention the derived strain data can be overlaid onto all or part of the composite ultrasound images, and one or more of such overlaid images can be displayed to a user. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080285820 | OPERATING SYSTEM HAVING AN OPERATING LAMP AND A CAMERA - A method is described for displaying an image of an illumination field of a medical operation. The method includes recording an image at an illumination field of an operation, receiving a color temperature signal representative of an operating lamp that illuminates the illumination field of the operation, based on the received color temperature signal, adjusting parameters to compensate for differences in the received color temperature signal from white balance to produce a white balanced image, and outputting the white balanced image to a monitor. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080285821 | Method, a System and a Computer Program for Image Segmentation - The invention relates to a method | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080285822 | Automated Stool Removal Method For Medical Imaging - A registration process that allows for assessment of deformation in the gastrointestinal region is provided. The registration process includes a classification process that classifies image data into the type of material imaged. The registration process further includes an automated segmentation process that allows for identification of the materials in the imaging region and allows for removal of objects, such as stool, from imaging data to allow for registration of images. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080285823 | Device for Imaging an Interior of a Turbid Medium - The invention relates to a device ( | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080285824 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF EXTENDED FIELD OF VIEW IMAGE ACQUISITION OF AN IMAGED SUBJECT - A system and method of imaging an imaged subject is provided. The system comprises a controller, and an imaging system including an imaging probe in communication with the controller. The imaging probe includes a transducer array operable to move through a range of motion along a first imaging path at a first speed to acquire a first set of image data. The transducer array can be operable to move through the range of motion along the first imaging path at a second speed greater than the first speed so as to acquire an update image data at a rate faster than acquisition of the first set of image data. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080285825 | MASS SPICULES DETECTION AND TRACING FROM DIGITAL MAMMOGRAMS - The present invention provides an algorithm to detect and trace the spicules of a mass density in digital mammograms using an adaptive threshold edge algorithm and a flood-fill segmentation algorithm. Elongation criteria are used to remove false edges that do not radiate from a central mass margin. The algorithm works on a central mass border and spicules feature map that contains a subset of the pixels from the source image, so processing time is fast enough for use in a mammography CAD server and for real-time computation within a digital mammography workstation. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080285826 | DISPLAY PROCESSING APPARATUS OF IMAGE INFORMATION AND DISPLAY PROCESSING METHOD OF IMAGE INFORMATION - A display processing apparatus and a display processing method displays a lesion color mark displayed as a mark by arranging a vertical line expressed in a color depending on a lesion for each piece of video horizontal in a time series on the display screen for each type of lesion by the display processing apparatus for displaying image information (observation image, thumbnail images, image bar, lesion color mark) about plural pieces of video obtained by capturing with time at a plurality of positions by a capsule endoscope implemented in a test subject as superposing and displaying in an image bar a vertical line expressed by an average color calculated for each piece of video horizontally in a time series on a display screen as a bar. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080292149 | Image Processing System, Particularly for Images of Implants - The invention relates to an image processing system that is adapted to generate a three-dimensional image ( | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080292150 | Image Display Apparatus - An image display apparatus | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080292151 | CAPTURING DATA FOR INDIVIDUAL PHYSIOLOGICAL MONITORING - A method for capturing images of an individual to determine wellness for such individual, including establishing baseline physiological data for the individual, and baseline capture condition data for the individual; detecting and identifying the presence of the individual in the image capture environment; providing semantic data associated with the individual; capturing one or more images of the individual during a capture event and determining the capture conditions present during the capture event; using the event capture conditions, the baseline physiological data for the individual and the baseline capture condition data to determine the acceptability of event captured images; and using the acceptable images and the semantic data in determining the wellness of the individual. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080292152 | Radiology case distribution and sorting systems and methods - The invention provides a system and method for processing an image including means for receiving image information, means for queuing the image information, and means for receiving profile information for a plurality of image analysts. The system can further include means for selecting an image analyst from the plurality of image analysts by comparing the image information from the profile information. The invention also provides a machine readable program including a first input routine for receiving image information, a second input routine for receiving profile information for a plurality of image analysts, and a first run routine for queuing the image information. The machine readable program can also include a second run routine for selecting an image analyst from the plurality of image analysts by comparing the image information to the profile information. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080292153 | Generating an anatomical model using a rule-based segmentation and classification process - A system for computer-aided detection uses a computer-implemented network structure to analyze patterns present in digital image slices of a human body and to generate a three-dimensional anatomical model of a patient. The anatomical model is generated by detecting easily identifiable organs first and then using those organs as context objects to detect other organs. A user specifies membership functions that define which objects of the network structure belong to the various classes of human organs specified in a class hierarchy. A membership function of a potentially matching class determines whether a candidate object of the network structure belongs to the potential class based on the relation between a property of the voxels linked to the candidate object and a property of the context object. Some voxel properties used to classify an object are location, brightness and volume. The human organs are then measured to assist in the patient's diagnosis. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080292154 | Medical image processing method - A medical image processing method for image processing of a medical image picking up an image of a living mucous comprises a boundary information detecting step for detecting boundary information corresponding to a boundary portion of a living mucous from the medical image and a mucous feature detecting step for detecting presence of a living mucous with a different feature on the basis of the boundary information detected at the boundary information detecting step. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080292155 | Diagnostic Imaging Support System and Diagnostic Imaging Support Program - A diagnostic imaging support system includes input means ( | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080292156 | Hospital System - A hospital system for generating image data is provided. The Hospital System includes a module for determining raw image data, with a server that is spatially separated from the module and can calculate image data from the raw image data, and a network for transmitting the raw image data from the module to the server. The hospital system may include a number of modules. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080292157 | Automatic Adaptive Soft Tissue Thresholding for Two-Pass Ct Cone-Beam Artifact Reduction - Since the soft tissue levels in an image usually comprise a variety of values between air and bone boundaries, it may not be obvious a priori what threshold value applies. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an examination apparatus is provided which is adapted for determining the optimal weight for subtraction of a soft tissue correction image without performing a multitude of forward and backward projections. This may be provided determining a roughness function based on a plurality of subtractions of the soft tissue streak image, each subtraction corresponding to a different weighting of the streak image. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080292158 | Method and Device for Planning a Treatment - A device for planning an irradiation is provided. The device includes an evaluation module with an input for receiving input data, a memory and an output for outputting determined output data. The evaluation module is designed for using the input data that includes the type and number of the imaging units present, variables characterizing the tumor and/or variables characterizing the patient, in order to determine the output data that includes the type of the imaging unit, the frequency of use of the imaging unit and/or the parameters for setting the imaging unit to be used in the form of an imaging plan with the aid of a functional relationship, which is based on experience, stored in the memory. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080292159 | Second Opinion Network - Systems and methods are provided to facilitate consultations between a referral source (e.g., labs, pathologists and patients) and a consultant (e.g., pathologist, radiologist, or other digital image analyst). Links between the various referral sources and consultants are established through a scanning center via a data communication network such as the Internet. The referral source sends a slide to the scanning center where the corresponding digital slide is posted for review and analysis by the consultant. Upon completion of the analysis and report, a digital slide conference is conducted through the scanning center that provides a venue for direct communication regarding the consultation. The scanning center may also facilitate payment from the referral source to the consultant. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080292160 | METHOD FOR ESTIMATING THE PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS DEFINING THE EDEMA INDUCED UPON INFUSION OF FLUID FROM AN INTRAPARENCHYMALLY PLACED CATHETER - A method for estimating the physiological parameters defining the edema induced upon infusion of fluid from an intraparenchymally placed catheter including; a) acquisition of patient-specific medical data; b) estimation of pertinent tissue microstructure based on the patient-specific medical data and/or generalized information derived or drawn from one or more of the following: experience, literature, modeling, studies, research, analysis; c) acquisition of information about delivery parameters, and/or delivery device geometry, and/or fluid properties, such as: delivery device trajectory, flow rate, pressure, catheter diameter, catheter profile, fluid viscosity, fluid molecular size; and d) computing a field of values of predicted extracellular volume fraction over the tissue region using the information obtained in (b) and (c). According to a further aspect, a method of infusing or planning and/or monitoring an infusion of a contrast agent such that the distribution of such agent can be detected by means of medical data acquisition (e.g. MRI, CT, x-ray, ultrasound, SPECT, PET) and observing and/or measuring the backflow length along the catheter track. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080292161 | IMPLANTABLE ORTHOPEDIC DEVICE COMPONENT SELECTION INSTRUMENT AND METHODS - The present invention provides tools and methods designed to aid in the placement of artificial facet joints at virtually all spinal levels. One aspect of the present invention is a measurement tool for installing an artificial cephalad facet joint including a fixation measurement element and a support arm element. This measurement tool assists in the selection and/or configuration of an artificial cephalad facet joint for implantation in a patient. Another aspect is a measurement tool for installing a caudad facet joint including a stem element and a trial caudad bearing surface element. This measurement tool assists in the selection and/or configuration of a caudad facet joint for implantation in a patient. Yet another aspect is a measurement tool holder including a measurement surface connected to a holder element. This tool holder assists in determining the measurements obtained with the caudad facet joint measurement tool. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080298651 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR COLOR BLOOD FLOW FRAME AVERAGING - The present invention provides a method and device for color blood flow frame averaging. In the present invention, whether aliasing occurs to an output blood flow velocity of a previous frame is first determined. If aliasing does occur to the output blood flow velocity of the previous frame, the output blood flow velocity of the previous frame will be moved, and the moved output blood flow velocity of the previous frame is then subjected to the frame averaging. The present invention can improve and eliminate the “shadow” in the output blood flow velocity of the current frame due to velocity aliasing of the previous frame existing in the prior color frame averaging processing, such that the blood flow velocity appears more natural and has a more reasonable distribution. | 12-04-2008 |
| 20080298652 | METHOD AND SYSTEM OF PREVIEWING PREVIOUS AND FORWARD FRAMES OF A SELECTED END OF DIASTOLE OR END OF SYSTOLE FRAME CANDIDATE - A method and system for viewing a series of medical image frames. The method and system displays a candidate medical image frame selected from the series of medical image frames, in a first portion of a display screen of a user interface; displays, in a second portion of the display screen of the user interface, a first alternate candidate medical image frame of the series of medical image frames which precedes or follows the candidate medical image frame in the series of medical image frames; and displays the first alternate candidate medical image frame in the first portion of the display screen when the first alternate candidate medical image frame displayed in the second portion of the display screen is selected, via the user interface, for display on the first portion of the display screen. | 12-04-2008 |
| 20080298653 | Method for Topographical Presentation of Alterations in an Examined Brain - The invention relates to a method for the topographical presentation of structural alterations in an examined brain using volume data records. In line with the invention, this method is distinguished in that functional areas are mapped by extracting profiles, where the profiles record boundaries for two functional areas in the examined brain, in that the boundaries of the two functional areas are recorded by calculating a multivariant distance measurement, and in that a microstructure in the region of the boundaries of the two cortical areas is recorded and is compared with at least one microstructure in a boundary region of a reference brain. To increase the comparability of various areas in various brains taking into account the interindividual variability, it is expedient for the volume data records to be transformed to a target volume data record using an elastic registration method. | 12-04-2008 |
| 20080298654 | TEMPERATURE MANAGEMENT FOR ULTRASOUND IMAGING AT HIGH FRAME RATES - To keep the temperature of an ultrasound probe down, the probe is operated at a low frame rate (with correspondingly low heat generation) for the vast majority of time. Probe operation is only switched to the high frame rate temporarily at times when high temporal resolution is needed, preferably under operator control. The probe is only operated at the high frame rate for a short period of time, during which a burst of images with high temporal resolution is obtained. After capturing the short burst of images, the frame rate is cut back, which reduces the generation of heat. | 12-04-2008 |
| 20080298655 | METHODS, APPARATUSES, AND SYSTEMS USEFUL IN CONDUCTING IMAGE GUIDED INTERVENTIONS - Methods, apparatuses, and systems relating to image guided interventions on dynamic tissue. One embodiment is a method that includes creating a dataset that includes images, one of the images depicting a non-tissue internal reference marker, being linked to non-tissue internal reference marker positional information, and being at least 2-dimensional. Another embodiment is a method that includes receiving a position of an instrument reference marker coupled to an instrument; transforming the position into image space using a position of a non-tissue internal reference marker implanted in a patient; and superimposing a representation of the instrument on an image in which the non-tissue internal reference marker appears. Computer readable media that include machine readable instructions for carrying out the steps of the disclosed methods. Apparatuses, such as integrated circuits, configured to carry out the steps of the disclosed methods. Systems that include devices configured to carry out steps of the disclosed methods. | 12-04-2008 |
| 20080298656 | Precision subtraction computed tomographic angiography - This invention relates to a novel technique for producing images of arteries that overcomes a significant limitation of conventional computed tomographic angiography (CTA). The technique is performed by the acquisition of pre-contrast computed tomography in addition to the conventional computed tomographic angiography and by the digital subtraction of the pre-contrast computed tomogram from the conventional CTA after alignment of the two images. | 12-04-2008 |
| 20080304720 | Channel Apparatus for Focusing a Fluid Flow - Disclosed is a focusing channel device which focuses fluid containing micro particles so that the micro particles flow in a line. The channel device comprises a nozzle formed by left and right walls each of which comprises an inclination surface. The cross sectional area in vertical direction decreases from the entrance of the nozzle toward the exit of the nozzle. The shape of cross sectional view in horizontal direction is asymmetric for the central line in the length direction. Using the focus channel device of the invention, the micro particles in the fluid are not combined with each other and passed through the channel one by one. Thus, blockage of the channel or combination and movement of two particles together does not occur. | 12-11-2008 |
| 20080304721 | IMAGE DETECTION METHOD FOR DIAGNOSTIC PLATES - The present invention relates to an image detection method for diagnostic plates, which detects the changes of signal lines in multiple assay regions at the same time, and promotes the detection efficiency remarkably. The diagnostic plates in the present invention may comprise Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, and comprise at least one assay region, and at least one signal line within the assay region. This image detection method for diagnostic plates according to the present invention comprises: reading the parameters from the RFID tags of the diagnostic plates directly, or reading the alternative RFID tags provided with an RFID reader, or downloading the parameters from external files of computer; detecting the changes of the images whether reaches the stable state; analyzing and measuring the color of signal lines and the background in the image of the diagnostic plates after the images are stabilized; calculating the color intensity difference between the images of the signal line and the corresponding background; and determining the result of the signal lines in the assay region based on the difference in intensity. | 12-11-2008 |
| 20080304722 | System and Method for Assessing Image Interpretability in Anatomic Pathology - A portion of imagery data is obtained from a digital slide and a protocol of image analysis/diagnostic tasks is performed on the portion of imagery data by a pathologist or an image analysis module. The result of each task (e.g., success or no success) is recorded and a score is determined for the portion of the imagery data. Multiple portions of imagery data from the digital slide are analyzed and scored and the various scores from the multiple portions of imagery data are calculated to determine an overall score for the digital slide. Regions of the digital slide can be scored separately. Multiple rounds of scoring (by different pathologists and/or different image analysis algorithms) may be employed to increase the accuracy of the score for a digital slide or region thereof. | 12-11-2008 |
| 20080304723 | BIO-READER DEVICE WITH TICKET IDENTIFICATION - A method and device for determining a concentration of a biological target. The method and device include: capturing an image of a ticket including the biological target and information about the ticket; selecting pre-determined data corresponding to the ticket and the target responsive to the read information about the ticket; and determining the concentration of the biological target according to the pre-determined data. The method and device may further comprise selecting calibration data corresponding to the ticket, responsive to the read information about the ticket; and determining the concentration of the biological target according to the pre-determined data and the calibration data. | 12-11-2008 |
| 20080304724 | ENDOSCOPIC IMAGE VIEWING PROGRAM AND METHOD - A computer is caused to perform a process for displaying an endoscopic image, including displaying an endoscopic image on a display, displaying overlay information on the displayed endoscopic image, and changing a position of the displayed overlay information in accordance with a change in the displaying of the endoscopic image. | 12-11-2008 |
| 20080304725 | Method and device for preparing an implant from an implant material - A method and device for preparing an implant from an implant material are provided. A defect image of the defect which has a defect contour is made available, in which a first calibration member arranged in or adjacent to the defect is displayed. A second calibration member is arranged on or adjacent to the implant material to be processed, this second calibration member corresponding to the first calibration member. A real-time image of the implant material is displayed on a display device. The defect image is displayed on the display device and superimposed on the real-time image so that the first and the second calibration members are displayed one on top of the other. A processing tool is displayed on the display device in the real-time image and moved over the implant material so that it follows the defect contour displayed in the defect image. | 12-11-2008 |
| 20080310692 | System and method of organism identification - A system and method for identifying organisms by analysis of scattergrams of colonies is disclosed. cattergrams are obtained by culturing samples and illuminating the resultant colonies by a laser. The forward scattered light is imaged and subject to a feature extraction process. The feature vector may include Zernike or Chebyshev moments and may also include Harelick texture features. Feature vectors may be used to train a classification process using either supervised or unsupervised machine learning techniques. The classification process may be used to associate a colony phenotype with the genotype of the sample. | 12-18-2008 |
| 20080317305 | Imaging Apparatus and Method of Forming Composite Image from a Plurality of Source Images - Source images, in particular images used for the planning radiotherapy, using internal images of the human body obtained with techniques such as X ray techniques, are processed to form a colored composite image that depends in a robust way on differences between different ones of the source images. For each pixel position in the composite image, the maximum image value in the different source images is determined and used to control brightness of the composite image. For each pixel position, an amount of spread in the images values among the source images is determined and used to control a color saturation in the composite image. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20080317306 | Methods of and apparatus for forming a biometric image - The invention relates to a method of forming a composite biometric image. The method comprises sensing first and second successive partial images of a biometric object with a sensor during relative movement of the biometric object and the sensor. The sensor comprises an array of sensing elements defining an area smaller than an area of the biometric object to be formed as the composite biometric image and thus the first and second successive partial images overlap each other along a direction of the relative movement. The method also comprises acquiring at least a first image portion and a second image portion from each of the first and second sensed partial images, the first image portion and the second image portion of each comprising different sensed image data along a direction orthogonal to a direction of relative movement of the biometric object and the sensor, the first image portions overlapping with each other, and the second image portions overlapping with each other. The method further comprises: determining first new data of the first image portion of the second partial image absent from the first image portion of the first partial image; and determining second new data of the second image portion of the second partial image not comprised in the second image portion of the first partial image. The method concludes with the formation of the composite biometric image from the image portions in dependence upon the determined first and second new data. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20080317307 | Systems and methods for alignment of objects in images - Systems and methods for aligning objects in object sets are provided. An object set has objects that are in a corresponding image in a plurality of images. For each respective object in a first object set, a corresponding object group is constructed that contains the respective object, thereby constructing a plurality of object groups. Similarity metrics are computed between object groups and objects in objects sets in order to assign the objects to object groups. The object groups are then refined in order to align objects in the object sets. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20080317308 | System and methods for image segmentation in N-dimensional space - A system and methods for the efficient segmentation of globally optimal surfaces representing object boundaries in volumetric datasets is provided. An optical surface detection system and methods are provided that are capable of simultaneously detecting multiple interacting surfaces in which the optimality is controlled by the cost functions designed for individual surfaces and by several geometric constraints defining the surface smoothness and interrelations. The graph search applications use objective functions that incorporate non-uniform cost terms such as “on-surface” costs as well as “in-region” costs. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20080317309 | IMAGE DIAGNOSIS SUPPORT SYSTEM AND IMAGE DIAGNOSIS SUPPORT METHOD - Specific information for specifying a specific study or series for which an object, which is obtained by adding at least one information of a scan condition, a scan range, and a key image position as a basis of a diagnosis in an image, is to be generated is specified. It is determined whether or not an image for references is present in the specific study or series on the basis of additional information of at least one image related to the specific study or series. When it is determined that the image for references is present, an object about the specific study or series is generated afterwards, for example, in the unit of series by using the image for references and at least one information of a scan condition, a scan range, and a key image position of the additional information. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20090003665 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MULTIPLE VIEW VOLUME RENDERING - A method and system for multiple view volume rendering are provided. The method includes identifying a plurality of view directions relative to an image of an object and automatically volume rendering a volumetric data set based on the plurality of view directions. The method further includes generating an image for each view direction using the rendered data. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090003666 | System and methods for image analysis and treatment - An image analysis system comprising a computer apparatus programmed to access at least one image of tissue within a living organism and to register a plurality of segments of a region of interest of the tissue, the plurality of segments divided relative to a biological landmark of the living organism and/or each of the plurality of segments positionally referenced to the biological landmark, the computer apparatus further programmed to analyze at least one parameter for at least one of the plurality of segments. In another embodiment, the image analysis system further comprises an image recording apparatus for capturing the at least one image. In yet another embodiment, the image analysis system further comprises a treatment apparatus for delivering at least one type of therapy to at least a portion of at least one of the plurality of segments in relation to the position of the at least one segment relative to the biological landmark, in relation to the at least one parameter, or in relation to a combination of the two. In addition, methods of operating the image analysis system are provided, as well as methods of delineating a region of interest in an image, analyzing at least one image, and treating a region of interest. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090003667 | Cephalogram Image Analysis Method - An automated cephalogram image analysis method is disclosed. In this method, a step is first performed for building a reference database in which a set of tracing feature curve models respectively representing a set of reference cephalometric patterns are established based on a set of tracing records. Then, a step of pattern comparison and analysis is performed. In this step, at least one cephalogram is first input, and then a step is performed for comparing the image of the cephalogram with the tracing feature curve models, thereby selecting at least one cephalometric pattern and at least one feature curve model belonging to the cephalometric pattern from the reference cephalometric patterns and the tracing feature curve models. Thereafter, the feature curve model is fitted to the image of the cephalogram so as to obtain at least one tracing of the at least one cephalogram. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090003668 | IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM, AND IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE - An image processing method for specifying a region of interest encapsulating without omission a part of interest through a simple operation. Start and end points specified on a blood vessel center curve define the region of interest range of the blood vessel. A front point at the frontmost position and rear point at the rearmost position in the projection direction are determined based on a center axis from the start to end points. A front specified plane located frontward by a predetermined distance from a plane perpendicular to the projection direction and intersecting the front point is specified. A rear specified plane located rearward by a predetermined distance from a plane perpendicular to the projection direction and intersecting the rear point, is specified. A region of interest encapsulating the part of interest, without omission, between the front specified plane and the rear specified plane is defined. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090003669 | Diagnostic system for display of high-resolution physiological data of multiple properties - A diagnostic system for display of physiological data in a format useful for identifying or diagnosing physiological conditions. The system registers visual representations of different types of physiological data to aid in an understanding of bodily processes. In addition to registering the data, the system may display different types of physiological data with different visual characteristics. Further, the transparency of the visual representations of the different datasets may be controlled to enhance the understandability of displayed information. The system, for example, can be used with data representative of pressure and impedance within a patient's gastrointestinal tract to provide greater understanding of physiological processes during a swallow. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090003670 | Method and apparatus for thickness compensation in mammographic images - Methods and apparatuses perform thickness compensation in anatomical images. The method according to one embodiment accesses digital image data representing an image including a breast; estimates thickness of the breast at multiple locations inside the breast using an image data characteristic and a reference tissue in the breast; compensates thickness of the breast using a thickness model; and refines compensation of breast thickness from the compensating step. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090003671 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - A medical image processing apparatus of the present invention includes an edge extracting section that extracts edges of an inputted two-dimensional image, a three-dimensional-model estimating section that estimates a three-dimensional model on the basis of the two-dimensional image, a voxel extracting section that extracts, on the basis of positions of respective voxels, where the edges are present, a predetermined voxel group to be set as a calculation object of a shape feature value, a shape-feature-value calculating section that calculates the shape feature value for at least a part of voxels among the predetermined voxel group, a three-dimensional-shape extracting section that extracts a voxel group, a three-dimensional model of which is estimated as a predetermined shape, on the basis of the shape feature value, and a tuberal-shape detecting section that detects the voxel group as a voxel group forming a tuberal shape in the three-dimensional model of the living tissue. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090003672 | Method for segmenting image data for detecting a liver - A method is disclosed for segmenting image data for detecting a liver of a subject under examination. In at least one embodiment, the method includes determining as rib pixels which represent a rib, determining pixels which delimit an area inside the rib cage, determining pixels which represent a pixel of the liver and determining a probability, for each pixel inside the rib cage, as to whether the pixel belongs to the liver or not, with the aid of a Random Walker method. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090010504 | Confocal Microscope Apparatus - A confocal microscope apparatus capable of increasing a degree of freedom in varying sectioning resolution while keeping a configuration of a confocal microscope simple. The confocal microscope apparatus includes a confocal microscope capable of detecting two or more microscopic appearances with different sectioning and an arithmetic unit that performs arithmetic operations on data of the two or more microscopic appearances detected by the confocal microscope to create data of a microscopic appearance at sectioning resolution different from that of those microscopic appearances. Even if the number of actually measured microscopic appearances is two, it is possible to vary the diameter of a virtual-confocal diaphragm by performing arithmetic operations thereon, and therefore, an arbitrary sectioning resolution can be realized. | 01-08-2009 |
| 20090010505 | Method, a System and a Computer Program for Segmenting a Structure in a Dataset - The method ( | 01-08-2009 |
| 20090010506 | Method for Processing Image and Volume Data Based on Statistical Models - A method for visually displaying and/or evaluating measurement data from imaging methods involve the following acts: a) calculating a parameterized statistical model from example voxel data sets that map different objects of an identical object class; b) carrying out at least one imaging method on an object to be examined of the object class in order to extract real measurement data; c) setting a set of model parameters of the parameterized statistical model; d) determining a difference between the real measurement data and the parameterized statistical model; e) repeating steps c) and d) while changing the model parameters until the difference between the real measurement data and the parameterized statistical model is minimal; and f) visually displaying and/or evaluating the statistical model parameterized in aforementioned manner. | 01-08-2009 |
| 20090010507 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING A 3D MODEL OF ANATOMICAL STRUCTURE USING A PLURALITY OF 2D IMAGES - A system and method are provided for generating a three dimensional (3D) model of an anatomical structure of a patient using a plurality of two dimensional (2D) images acquired using a camera. The method includes the operation of searching the plurality of 2D images to detect correspondence points of image features across at least two images. Camera motion parameters can be determined using the correspondence points for a sequence of at least two images taken at different locations by the camera moving within the internal anatomical structure. A further operation is computing dense stereo maps for 2D image pairs that are temporally adjacent. A consistent 3D model can be formed by fusing together multiple 2D images which are applied to a plurality of integrated 3D model segments. Then the 3D model of the patient's internal anatomical structure can be displayed to a user on a display device. | 01-08-2009 |
| 20090010508 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - A medical image processing apparatus of the present invention has a three-dimensional model estimating section for estimating, based on an inputted two-dimensional image of an image of a living tissue within a body cavity, a three-dimensional model of the living tissue, a shape feature value calculating section for calculating shape feature values of respective voxels included in the three-dimensional model of the living tissue, a three-dimensional shape extracting section for extracting a first voxel group whose three-dimensional model has been estimated as a predetermined shape, in the respective voxels included in the three-dimensional model of the living tissue, based on the shape feature values, and a protruding shape detecting section for detecting the first voxel group as a voxel group configuring a protruding shape in the three-dimensional model of the living tissue. | 01-08-2009 |
| 20090010509 | Method and system for detection of deformable structures in medical images - A method and system for detection of deformable structures in medical images is disclosed. Deformable structures can represent blood flow patterns in images such as Doppler echocardiograms. A probabilistic, hierarchical, and discriminant framework is used to detect such deformable structures. This framework integrates evidence from different primitive levels via a progressive detector hierarchy, including a series of discriminant classifiers. A target deformable structure is parameterized by a multi-dimensional parameter, and primitives or partial parameterizations of the parameter are determined. An input image is received, and a series of primitives are sequentially detected using the progressive detector hierarchy, in which each detector or classifier detects a corresponding primitive. The final detector detects configuration candidates for the deformable structure. | 01-08-2009 |
| 20090010510 | MR-compatible video system - In an MR-compatible video system, MR-compatible video eyeglasses are connected to a graphics unit. A position sensor arrangement is connected to the graphics unit to detect the position and/or orientation of the MR-compatible video eyeglasses and/or the position of the pupils of a user. The graphics unit comprises means for producing image signals for MR-compatible video eyeglasses depending on the position and/or orientation of the MR-compatible video eyeglasses and/or the position of the pupils of the user. | 01-08-2009 |
| 20090010511 | REGION OF INTEREST METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ULTRASOUND IMAGING - A region of interest is identified by user selection of a single point. Multiple regions of interest may be identified by selection of multiple points. Region growing is then used to define the boundary of the region of interest. In an alternative or additional embodiment, an image processing region is identified by adding additional spatial locations to a region of interest. The image processing region of interest is then used for image processing. In yet another alternative or additional embodiment, information from a plurality of regions of interest is provided in a same frame of reference. For example, an ordered set of regions of interest along the myocardium is defined. An average intensity for each region of interest as a function of time is displayed within the same frame of reference, such as axes of intensity, region of interest number and time. Alternatively, the frame of reference is region of interest and time where a given portion of the image is modulated as a function of the average intensity for the associated region of interest. | 01-08-2009 |
| 20090016579 | Method and system for performing quality control of medical images in a clinical trial - A method for performing quality control on medical images in a clinical trial setting. In one embodiment, the method includes the steps of designating an image as reference image; obtaining attribute data from the reference image as reference attribute data; storing the reference image and the reference attribute data; subsequently taking a second image; obtaining attribute data from the second image as second attribute data; comparing the second image with the reference image on a single output screen; and denoting on the single output screen the second attribute data associated with the second image which differs from the reference data associated with the reference image. | 01-15-2009 |
| 20090016580 | BREAST IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEM AND BREAST IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - The problems that a skipping area is shown in the chest wall portion of the output image and image information on the chest wall portion lacks when the left and right breast images are recorded on films and outputted to compare and examine the images on the film viewer are solved. An image processing device of a breast image processing system performs a format processing so that the chest wall portions of left and right breast images created by an image creating device may be disposed on the writing commencement position H sides of an image recording apparatus. | 01-15-2009 |
| 20090016581 | SYSTEMS, METHODS AND APPARATUS TO DISTRIBUTE IMAGES FOR QUALITY CONTROL - Systems, methods and apparatus are provided through which in some embodiments an image acquisition station transmits images that have been identified as having inadequate diagnostic quality to a computer system of an image quality consultant. The image quality consultant may develop recommendations on how to improve the quality, and the recommendations are communicated to appropriate personnel. | 01-15-2009 |
| 20090016582 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR GENERATING DISPLAY DATA - A method of aiding in the evaluation of lesions in a body using a plurality of sets of image data of sections of the body region in mutually parallel planes. Processing of the data requires several steps, including pixel intensity pattern recognition, contouring of the regions of probable pathology, thresholding and 3-dimensional clustering, providing each pixel with a color representative of a selected opacity level and displaying an image of the region of interest where areas of probable pathological conditions are highlighted. | 01-15-2009 |
| 20090016583 | System and Method for Detecting Spherical and Ellipsoidal Objects Using Cutting Planes - A method for detecting spherical and ellipsoidal objects is digitized medical images includes providing a 2-dimensional (2D) slice I(x, y) extracted from a medical image volume of a colon, said image volume comprising a plurality of intensities associated with a 3 grid of points, generating a plurality of templates of different sizes whose shape matches a target structure being sought in said slice, calculating a normalized gradient from said slice, calculating a diverging field gradient response (DFGR) for each of the plurality of masks with the normalized gradient, and selecting a strongest response as being indicative of the position and size of the target structure. | 01-15-2009 |
| 20090016584 | METHOD AND CONTROL EQUIPMENT TO CONTROL A MEDICAL IMAGING SYSTEM - In a method and control equipment to control a medical technological imaging system to produce image data, several measuring request signals are transferred to the medical technological imaging system and, depending on the measuring request signals, the medical technological system is controlled to acquire raw data in a combined measurement of a subject for the different measuring request signals. For each of the measuring request signals, image data are reconstructed on the basis of the raw data. The respective sets of image data (reconstructed for the individual measuring request signals are combined in separate studies allocated to the individual measuring request signals and are stored in a storage unit and/or transferred to a diagnostic station. | 01-15-2009 |
| 20090016585 | Time-lapsing data methods and systems - Time-lapsing mirror methods and related systems. | 01-15-2009 |
| 20090016586 | REGION OF INTEREST METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ULTRASOUND IMAGING - A region of interest is identified by user selection of a single point. Multiple regions of interest may be identified by selection of multiple points. Region growing is then used to define the boundary of the region of interest. In an alternative or additional embodiment, an image processing region is identified by adding additional spatial locations to a region of interest. The image processing region of interest is then used for image processing. In yet another alternative or additional embodiment, information from a plurality of regions of interest is provided in a same frame of reference. For example, an ordered set of regions of interest along the myocardium is defined. An average intensity for each region of interest as a function of time is displayed within the same frame of reference, such as axes of intensity, region of interest number and time. Alternatively, the frame of reference is region of interest and time where a given portion of the image is modulated as a function of the average intensity for the associated region of interest. | 01-15-2009 |
| 20090022375 | SYSTEMS, APPARATUS AND PROCESSES FOR AUTOMATED MEDICAL IMAGE SEGMENTATION - A system and process for combining multiple datasets to provide a composite dataset is described. The system includes a data collection tool, a computation engine and a memory coupled to the data collection tool and computer-readable code embodied on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable code is configured so that when the computer-readable code is executed by one or more processors associated with the computation engine the computer-readable code causes the one or more processors to: (i) accept two or more datasets corresponding to distinct measurements of a subject, (ii) initiate processing of the two or more datasets, (iii) contemporaneously segment and register a combination of the two or more datasets to achieve a combined dataset, (iv) test for convergence of the combined dataset and (v) provide the combined dataset for analysis when the test for convergence indicates that the combined dataset has been registered and segmented. | 01-22-2009 |
| 20090022376 | METHOD FOR PROCESSING IMAGES IN INTERVENTIONAL RADIOSCOPY TO DETECT GUIDING INSTRUMENTATION EQUIPMENT - A method for processing images in interventional radioscopy for detecting guiding instrumentation equipment. The method of the invention enables objects of longilinear or very curved shapes to be detected within the radioscopic image having very low contrast to noise ratios. In one embodiment, an algorithm enables the measured contrast to noise ratio of long or curved structures in the image to be considerably improved. To do this, an embodiment of the invention uses oriented, separable, recursive and rapid steerable detection filters. Said detection filters have a low calculation cost, even for long filters having several orientations | 01-22-2009 |
| 20090022377 | MEDICAL IMAGE OBSERVATION SYSTEM - The report storage stores an interpretation report that includes patient-identifying information, examination-specifying information, and medical image-specifying information that specifies medical image data. The image data storage stores the medical image data that includes image data and additional information for the image data that includes the patient-identifying information, the examination-specifying information, and the medical image-specifying information. The key image-searching part specifies an interpretation report that includes patient-identifying information specified by a display request for the medical image data and specifies the medical image data using the medical image-specifying information included in the specified interpretation report. The image data-searching part reads the medical image data from the image data storage based on the additional information of the specified medical image data and the display request. The displaying part displays a medical image based on the read medical image data. | 01-22-2009 |
| 20090028397 | MULTI-SCALE FILTER SYNTHESIS FOR MEDICAL IMAGE REGISTRATION - First and second images to be registered are filtered using a low-pass filter kernel having a sharp central peak and a slow decay away from the central peak. The apparatus determines a mapping function that transforms the filtered first image into the filtered second image. | 01-29-2009 |
| 20090028398 | Sensitivity lens for assessing uncertainty in image visualizations of data sets, related methods and computer products - Systems for rendering images from a multi-dimensional data set include a sensitivity lens configured to electronically render a sequence of images showing features in a region of interest to interrogate and/or explore potential uncertainties in the rendered visualizations of images. | 01-29-2009 |
| 20090028399 | System and Method for Detecting Stripe Artifacts in MIP Rendered Images - A method for efficiently rendering a chessboard artifact free Maximum intensity projection (MIP) image is disclosed is disclosed. MIP is a widely used volumetric rendering technology in medical diagnostic imaging. When a volume dataset containing wideband noise is rendered using MIP, the resultant MIP image can show chessboard or stripe like artifacts. A method is disclosed for automatically detecting stripe artifacts present in the MIP rendered images and to determine whether suitable mitigation algorithms need to be applied during rendering. This automatic detection method eliminates the need for human review of images to determine whether mitigation is required, and thus speeds the overall process. | 01-29-2009 |
| 20090028400 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VISUALIZING A STRUCTURE OF INTEREST - A system. The system includes a computing device configured for communication with an imaging system and with a display device. The computing device includes a contour modeling module. The contour modeling module is configured for superimposing reference anchors on a cross-sectional image generated from 3D image data, for generating a line which connects the reference anchors, for sampling the 3D image data in a variable thickness plane defined by the connecting line, and for generating a contour-modeled C-mode image from the sampled 3D image data. | 01-29-2009 |
| 20090028401 | Radiation image capturing system - Radiation image information detected by a radiation detector of a radiation detecting cassette is compressed by an image compressor, and then transmitted by way of wireless communications to a display device, which displays a compressed image representative of a rough radiation image on a display unit. The radiation image information is stored in an image memory and transmitted by way of wireless communications to a console in which the radiation image information is processed as desired by an image processor. The processed radiation image information is sent by way of wireless communications to the display device, which displays a detailed image in place of the compressed image. | 01-29-2009 |
| 20090028402 | Medical Image System - A medical image system capable of performing display corresponding to different monitor configurations of medical image display apparatuses is provided. In the medical image system ( | 01-29-2009 |
| 20090028403 | System and Method of Automatic Prioritization and Analysis of Medical Images - A system for analyzing a source medical image of a body organ. The system comprises an input unit for obtaining the source medical image having three dimensions or more, a feature extraction unit that is designed for obtaining a number of features of the body organ from the source medical image, and a classification unit that is designed for estimating a priority level according to the features. | 01-29-2009 |
| 20090034808 | Automatic Cardiac View Classification of Echocardiography - A method for view classification includes providing a frame of an object of interest, detecting a region of interest within the object of interest for each of a plurality of detectors (e.g., binary classifiers), wherein each binary classifier corresponds to a different view, performing a global view classification using a multiview classifier for each view, outputting a classification for each view, fusing outputs of the multiview classifiers, and determining and outputting a classification of the frame based on a fused output of the multiview classifiers. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090034809 | Abnormal tissue pattern detection apparatus, method and program - In order to accurately detect an abnormal tissue pattern from a medical image, the following are performed: a candidate detection section receives the image and detects abnormal tissue pattern candidates from the image; a false positive candidate elimination section eliminates false positive candidates from the detected abnormal tissue pattern candidates; a proximity characteristic amount calculation section calculates the ratio of the number of the false positive candidates to the number of the abnormal tissue pattern candidates included in a predetermined region surrounding each of remaining abnormal tissue pattern candidates, remaining after the elimination process, as a proximity characteristic amount; and a determination section determines whether or not each of the remaining abnormal tissue pattern candidates is a false positive candidate based on the proximity characteristic amount. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090034810 | Abnormal tissue pattern detection apparatus, method and program - An abnormal tissue pattern detection apparatus capable of accurately detecting abnormal tissue pattern candidates by mutually compensating for the disadvantage of the processing using a morphology filter and the disadvantage of the processing using a Laplacian filter. When an image is inputted, a first candidate detection section detects first abnormal tissue pattern candidates by performing filtering using a morphology filter. At the same time, a second candidate detection section detects second abnormal tissue pattern candidates by performing filtering using a Laplacian filter. A determination section detects a second abnormal tissue pattern candidate, with which a first abnormal tissue pattern candidate overlaps, as a final abnormal tissue pattern candidate. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090034811 | Mapping abnormal dental references - Embodiments are provided for accurately characterizing a tooth's movement. One method embodiment includes associating an abnormal tooth shape with a model tooth shape from a reference library of model tooth shapes, mapping a predefined dental reference from the model tooth shape onto at least a portion of the abnormal tooth shape, and adding a location of the predefined dental reference to the abnormal tooth shape based on the mapped predefined dental reference from the model tooth shape. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090041314 | ROBUST MOSAICING METHOD. NOTABLY WITH CORRECTION OF MOTION DISTORTIONS AND TISSUE DEFORMATIONS FOR A VIVO FIBERED MICROSCOPY - The present invention concerns a mosaicing method taking into account motion distortions, irregularly sampled frames and non-rigid deformations of the imaged tissue. The invention relates to a method for mosaicing frames from a video sequence acquired from a scanning device such as a scanning microscope, the method comprising the steps of:
| 02-12-2009 |
| 20090041315 | System and Method for Robust Segmentation of Tubular Structures in 2D and 3D Images - A method for segmenting tubular structures in medical images includes providing at least a start point and an end point in a digital image volume, minimizing an action surface U | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090041316 | VIBRATOME ASSISTED SUBSURFACE IMAGING MICROSCOPY (VIBRA-SSIM) - An system and method provide the ability to image a biological sample. A sample is embed to a support matrix that is compatible with an aqueous nature of the sample. A vibrating tissue sectioning system is coupled to a microscope and is used to remove a region of the sample without moving the sample. The sectioning of the sample occurs under a surface of an aqueous buffer in a basin. A positioning system enables the microscope to image adjacent sub-regions of the sample. The microscope image multiple sections of the sample in adjacent subregions using the vibrating tissue sectioning system and the positioning system. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090041317 | METHOD OF DENTAL MICROSCOPIC PROCEDURE - A method of dental microscopic procedure, using a digital surgical scope, includes steps for selecting a function of the digital surgical scope to perform, obtaining the corresponding images from the image data taking device or the image data processing/storing device, processing the images by the image data processing/storing device, and displaying the images on the displays. The dental surgical procedure is done by seeing the images displayed on the screen. The digital surgical scope includes a microscope lens assembly for magnifying an optical image of an object and an in-line illumination device for illuminating the object along the same optical axis and from the same direction of the microscope lens assembly. The image data processing/storing device is for manipulating the image taken by the microscope lens assembly and the image data taking device. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090041318 | Method for recording measured data of a patient while taking account of movement operations, and an associated medical device - A method is disclosed for recording measured data of a patient while taking account of movement operations by way of a medical device that is designed both for recording movement-related measured data, in particular measured data of high temporal resolution and/or measured data that can be interpolated with regard to movement operations, with the aid of an imaging method and/or by means of at least one sensor element, and also for recording nuclear medicine measured data, in particular of lower temporal resolution. In at least one embodiment, the method includes recording nuclear medicine measured data with the aid of the medical device; simultaneously recording movement-related measured data with the aid of the medical device; determining at least one item of movement information relating to at least one movement operation of the patient and/or in the body of the patient by evaluating at least a portion of the recorded measured data of high temporal resolution on the part of a computing device of the medical device; and adapting at least one item of attenuation correction information available for the computing device and serving for reconstructing the nuclear medicine measured data, doing so as a function of the at least one determined item of movement information. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090041319 | LIVING BODY OBSERVATION SYSTEM - A living body observation system of the present invention includes an illumination unit for sequentially emitting as an illumination light a plurality of broad band lights and at least one narrow band light to a subject in a living body to illuminate the subject; an image pickup unit for picking up each image of the subject illuminated by the illumination unit and outputting the image as an image pickup signal; a first image generation unit for, based on the image pickup signals, generating a first observation image according to the plurality of broad band lights, and generating a second observation image according to at least one broad band light of the plurality of broad band lights, and the at least one narrow band light, using predetermined signal processing; and a second image generation unit for combining the first observation image and the second observation image to generate one image. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090041320 | ENDOSCOPE INSERTION DIRECTION DETECTING DEVICE AND ENDOSCOPE INSERTION DIRECTION DETECTING METHOD - An endoscope insertion direction detecting device includes a classification section for performing, on a scene of an endoscope image of a moving image picked up by an endoscope inserted into a body cavity, classification into classes for a plurality of different feature values relating to detection of an endoscope insertion direction in the body cavity; and an insertion direction computing section, provided for each of the classes for the feature values, into which the classification is performed, for computing an insertion direction of the endoscope. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090041321 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FAST AUTOMATIC CENTERLINE EXTRACTION FOR VIRTUAL ENDOSCOPY - A method for automatic centerline extraction for a virtual endoscopy image of an organ having a boundary surface includes centering on selected points of an initial path through the image, which is derived from an endoscopy dataset, respective spheres exhibiting respective maximal diameters short of contacting the boundary surface; and forming a centered path consecutively joining centers of the spheres. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090046905 | Uterine cervical cancer computer-aided-diagnosis (CAD) - Uterine cervical cancer Computer-Aided-Diagnosis (CAD) according to this invention consists of a core processing system that automatically analyses data acquired from the uterine cervix and provides tissue and patient diagnosis, as well as adequacy of the examination. The data can include, but is not limited to, color still images or video, reflectance and fluorescence multi-spectral or hyper-spectral imagery, coherent optical tomography imagery, and impedance measurements, taken with and without the use of contrast agents like 3-5% acetic acid, Lugol's iodine, or 5-aminolevulinic acid. The core processing system is based on an open, modular, and feature-based architecture, designed for multi-data, multi-sensor, and multi-feature fusion. The core processing system can be embedded in different CAD system realizations. For example: A CAD system for cervical cancer screening could in a very simple version consist of a hand-held device that only acquires one digital RGB image of the uterine cervix after application of 3-5% acetic acid and provides automatically a patient diagnosis. A CAD system used as a colposcopy adjunct could provide all functions that are related to colposcopy and that can be provided by a computer, from automation of the clinical workflow to automated patient diagnosis and treatment recommendation. | 02-19-2009 |
| 20090046906 | AUTOMATED IMAGING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR REGISTRATION OF ANATOMICAL STRUCTURES - A device and method for capturing images of a specific part of an anatomical structure using a series of images, wherein an image is taken of the anatomical structure and is compared to a database of information is order to determine and optimize the imaging conditions used for taken subsequent images of the specific part. | 02-19-2009 |
| 20090046907 | Parallel Execution Of All Image Processing Workflow Features - A method of parallel execution of image processing, having steps of acquiring at least one image from a patient, choosing a workflow to view the at least one image from the patient, processing the at least one image from the patient in at least two different workflows in parallel, and displaying the at least one image from the patient, wherein a user may view the at least one image from the patient in any different workflow processed. | 02-19-2009 |
| 20090046908 | Detecting Meniscal Tears in Non-Invasive Scans - Techniques for automatically detecting meniscus include receiving pixels from a scanning device directed to a knee of a subject. Also received is a region of interest that includes pixels that correspond to at least a portion of a meniscus of the knee. Without human intervention, a meniscus extraction threshold is determined based on pixel intensities in the region of interest. A meniscus object portion of the scan data is further determined without human intervention based on the meniscus extraction threshold and a geometrical constraint. | 02-19-2009 |
| 20090046909 | Feature Dependent Extended Depth of Focusing on Semi-Transparent Biological Specimens - A method and system for constructing a digital image of a three-dimensional biological specimen that displays diagnostically important information—substantially to the exclusion of unimportant information. The system de-enhances features in a cellular specimen which are not diagnostically important and enhances those which are The system selects the sharpest pixel for each pixel location from among a stack of image slices and copies them into a composite image | 02-19-2009 |
| 20090052753 | IMAGE DISPLAY METHOD, IMAGE DISPLAY DEVICE AND IMAGE DISPLAY PROGRAM - A desired medical image is selected by access to a server from a client terminal. A dataset relating to the selected medical image is read out from the image server and transferred to the client terminal via a communication network. The dataset includes raw image data, compressed image data, partial image data and layout image data. At first, a compressed image is displayed on a monitor in the client terminal. Next, a partial image is fit in the compressed image based on the layout data. Finally, a raw image is displayed based on the raw image data. | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090052754 | IMAGE DISPLAY DEVICE AND PROGRAM - An image display device includes: an input unit ( | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090060297 | Method And System For Discriminating Image Representations Of Classes Of Objects - A method of identifying the location of a lesion in an image and evaluating whether the identified lesion is more likely to be cancerous, benign or uncertain is provided where the image includes a plurality of pixels, each pixel having a particular intensity I in the range of 0| 03-05-2009 | |
| 20090060298 | Method, Apparatus and Computer Program for Quantitative Bifurcation Analysis on Angiographic Images - A method, data processing facility and program storage device for quantitative analysis on medical image data of a bifurcated tubular organ which involves processing the medical image data to identify contours of the bifurcated tubular organ. The contours are used to determine a Polygon of Confluence amongst the bifurcated tubular organ. The Polygon of Confluence is used to determine at least one parameter value characterizing geometry of the bifurcated tubular organ. The at least one parameter value is outputted to a user for angiography purposes. The at least one parameter value can include at least one diameter value of the bifurcated tubular organ, at least one angle value between parts of the bifurcated tubular organ, and at least one reference diameter value for the bifurcated tubular organ, the at least one reference diameter value compensating for damage to the bifurcated tubular organ. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090060299 | Method and Apparatus for Efficient Three-Dimensional Contouring of Medical Images - A technique is disclosed for generating a new contour and/or a 3D surface such as a variational implicit surface from contour data. In one embodiment, B-spline interpolation is used to efficiently generate a new contour (preferably a transverse contour), from a plurality of input contours (preferably, sagittal and/or coronal contours). In another embodiment, a point reduction operation is performed on data sets corresponding to any combination of transverse, sagittal, or coronal contour data prior to processing those data sets to generate a 3D surface such as a variational implicit surface. A new contour can also be generated by the intersection of this surface with an appropriately placed and oriented plane. In this manner, the computation of the variational implicit surface becomes sufficiently efficient to make its use for new contour generation practical. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090060300 | Method and apparatus for image alignment - Methods and apparatuses align breast images. The method according to one embodiment accesses digital image data representing a first breast image including a left breast, and a second breast image including a right breast; removes from the first and second breast images artifacts not related to the left and right breasts; and aligns the left and right breasts using a similarity measure between the first and second breast images, the similarity measure depending on a relative position of the first and second breast images. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090060301 | IMAGE PRODUCING METHOD USING A LIGHT VALVE - An image system comprises a light valve and an image capturing unit. The light valve comprises an array of individually addressable pixels capable of generating an image. The image capturing unit comprises a detector having an array of detector pixels capable of capturing images. The detector pixels are correlated with the light valve pixels. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090060302 | METHOD AND IMAGE EVALUATION SYSTEM FOR PREPARATION OF MEDICAL 2D OR 3 D DATA - In a method and system to prepare medical 2D or 3D data, in particular 2D or 3D image data acquired by means of computed tomography, a data set composed of medical 2D or 3D data is segmented with predeterminable first segmentation parameters, so a first data set with segmented data and a second data set with data complementary to the first data set are generated and stored. Predeterminable color or grey value tables (known as presets) are provided that respectively associate colors or grey values with individual data value ranges. Respective presets are automatically associated with the first data set and the second data set. At an output unit, at least one slice or volume image of the first and/or second data set is presented as a resulting image/resulting images in colors/grey scales according to the associated presets. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090060303 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATED IMAGE ANALYSIS OF BIOLOGICAL SPECIMENS - A method including acquiring images of medical slides at a plurality of different focus positions, determining a position which produces a maximum value of pixel values relative to a pixel value mean, wherein said determining comprises using a pixel value mean as a coarse estimate of coarse focus position, and subsequently refining said coarse focus position to find a fine focus position, and wherein said refining comprises fitting to a polynomial, and using a specified portion of the polynomial as a fine estimate of focus position, and producing a focus control signal that is related to said maximum value to control a focus position. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090060304 | DERMATOLOGY INFORMATION - Among other things, in connection with scanning a lesion on the skin of a subject, the location of the lesion on the subject is automatically determined. The scan and the location are stored on a portable memory device. And the memory device is included in a physical patient record of the subject for later use. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090067692 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REGISTRATION OF MEDICAL IMAGES - The present invention relates to a system ( | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090067693 | Automatic Calibration of Computer Aided Diagnosis Based on Retrospective Examination - A method for automatic detection of lesions within a medical image include acquiring medical image data. Regions of suspicion are automatically identified within the medical image data. It is automatically determined whether each identified region of suspicion is of a benign state, is of a suspicious state that requires a biopsy, or is of an indeterminate state that requires subsequent imaging after a particular length of time. When an identified region of suspicion is determined to be of an indeterminate state, the determination is automatically reconsidered in light of a calibration factor that biases the automatic determination towards either a benign state or a suspicious state. The calibration factor may be based on data collected from follow-up examinations that reveal whether a lesion previously characterized as indeterminate was actually a benign or malignant lesion or on additional diagnostic information including prior image data or non-image data. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090067694 | Efficient Features for Shape Analysis of Lesions in Breast MR - A method for analyzing a shape of a region of interest in a medical image of a body part, including: finding a region of interest in the medical image; calculating a Reeb graph of the region of interest, and determining whether the region of interest is a malignant lesion candidate based on a shape characteristic of the Reeb graph. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090067695 | IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEM WHICH CALCULATES AND DISPLAYS COLOR GRADE DATA AND DISPLAY IMAGE DATA - An image processing system is used for dentistry. Upon creating a false tooth of a patient ( | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090067696 | AUTOMATED ROBUST LEARNING OF GEOMETRIES FOR MR-EXAMINATIONS - The present invention relates to a geometry planning software product for magnetic resonance system, comprising a database manager arranged to process an anatomical landmark set and a planning geometry of a current geometry planning session by forming a combination of both, and to add said combination to a database. The invention enables the learning of relevance of different anatomical structures for a specific planning geometry from user input. It also enables fully automated outlier detection. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090074264 | DATA REPRESENTATION FOR RTP - An imaging system ( | 03-19-2009 |
| 20090074265 | IMAGING REVIEW AND NAVIGATION WORKSTATION SYSTEM - An imaging review system that displays sequences of in-vivo panoramic images stitched together into a single video while providing edit/review/location information of the individual images within the body being imaged. | 03-19-2009 |
| 20090074266 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING AN OPTIMAL DILUTION OF A REAGENT - A system and method for automatically and quantitatively determining the optimal dilution of a reagent is provided. In one embodiment of the claimed method, a plurality of dilution sets are received, where each of the dilution sets consist of a different respective dilution value and a respective plurality of immunoassay staining intensity values. A respective dynamic range metric is determining for each of the plurality of dilution sets relative to the respective plurality immunoassay staining intensity values. Having found the respective dynamic range metric, a dilution set having the numerically optimal dynamic range metric is selected and the dilution value of that dilution set is selected as being representative of an optimal dilution level of the reagent for use in a quantitative immunoassay. In one embodiment, a system is provided with a microscope, an image sensor, and processor module configured determine an optimal dilution of a reagent for use in an quantitative immunoassay. | 03-19-2009 |
| 20090074267 | METHOD FOR GENERATING QUANTITATIVE IMAGES OF THE FLOW POTENTIAL OF A REGION UNDER INVESTIGATION - The invention relates to a method for generating images representative of the flow potential of a permeable body. The following steps are part of the disclosed method. First, providing a first sequence of digital images of the body perfused by a fluid at a rest condition. Then extracting a first quantification image of the spatial distribution of flow of the fluid in the body at the rest condition, the first quantification image being defined by pixel values. Next, providing a second sequence of digital images of the body perfused by the fluid at a stress condition. Then extracting a second quantification image of the spatial distribution of flow of the fluid in the body at the stress condition, the second quantification image being defined by pixel values. Then, combining the two quantification images to obtain an image defined by pixel values. | 03-19-2009 |
| 20090074268 | IMAGE ANALYSIS DEVICE AND IMAGE ANALYSIS METHOD - A CPU implements a possible polyp detection process of step S | 03-19-2009 |
| 20090074269 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - An image processing device includes; a lesion candidate region detecting section that detects a lesion candidate region based on at least one color signal in a medical image including a plurality of color signals; an incidental region detecting section that detects an incidental region that arises because of incidental attributes accompanying a lesion from the medical image; and a detection standard changing section that changes a detection standard when detecting a lesion from the lesion candidate region in accordance with a detection result of the incidental region. | 03-19-2009 |
| 20090074270 | IMAGE ANALYSIS DEVICE - A CPU executes a gray value gradient calculation process to, for example, an R signal in step S | 03-19-2009 |
| 20090074271 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - A medical image processing apparatus which performs image processing on a medical input image, includes: a pixel extraction portion for extracting an inappropriate pixel satisfying a predetermined condition in the input image, a replacing pixel information calculation portion for calculating replacing information with which pixel information of the inappropriate pixel is to be replaced, based on pixel information of a predetermined region including the extracted inappropriate pixel or adjacent to the extracted inappropriate pixel and a replaced image generation portion for replacing the pixel information of the inappropriate pixel in the input image with the replacing information and generating a replaced image. | 03-19-2009 |
| 20090074272 | Method and system for polyp segmentation for 3D computed tomography colonography - A method and system for polyp segmentation in computed tomography colonogrphy (CTC) volumes is disclosed. The polyp segmentation method utilizes a three-staged probabilistic binary classification approach for automatically segmenting polyp voxels from surrounding tissue in CTC volumes. Based on an input initial polyp position, a polyp tip is detected in a CTC volume using a trained 3D point detector. A local polar coordinate system is then fit to the colon surface in the CTC volume with the origin at the detected polyp tip. Polyp interior voxels and polyp exterior voxels are detected along each axis of the local polar coordinate system using a trained 3D box. A boundary voxel is detected on each axis of the local polar coordinate system based on the detected polyp interior voxels and polyp exterior voxels by boosted 1D curve parsing using a trained classifier. This results in a segmented polyp boundary. | 03-19-2009 |
| 20090074273 | Analyzing image errors - A method for analyzing image errors in an image dataset of a medical imaging device is provided. The method includes transmitting the image dataset to a central computing center, analyzing the image errors by a server of the computing center, determining a type of image error in the image dataset, and forwarding the image dataset to a service technician who is responsible for the type of image error determined in the image dataset. | 03-19-2009 |
| 20090074274 | Method for providing image objects in a medical image information system, and medical image information system - A medical image information system is disclosed which includes a PACS server having at least one non-volatile data storage device for storing the image objects, a terminal server which is connected to the PACS server for data purposes, and at least one terminal client which is connected to the terminal server for data purposes. In at least one embodiment, a text data application, which is used solely to manage text data of image objects, is implemented in the terminal client, and an image data application, which is used solely to manage pixel-based image data of image objects, is implemented in the terminal server. A method is also disclosed for providing image objects in the image information system. In at least one embodiment, an image object which is stored in the PACS server is transmitted to the terminal server, in particular on the basis of a user request, under the control of the image data application, pixel-based screen contents for a graphical display of the image object by the terminal client, under the control of the image data application, are determined by the terminal server, and the screen contents for the image object, which are determined by the terminal server, are displayed by the terminal client. | 03-19-2009 |
| 20090074275 | SYSTEM FOR PREPARING AN IMAGE FOR SEGMENTATION - A system for cleaning up and preparing an image for segmentation is disclosed. An image transmitting device is configured to transmit a first image to an image receiving device. The image receiving device is configured to: receive the first image; apply a Dual Tree Complex Wavelet transform to the first image to form a plurality of sub-images; generate a high pass image based on the plurality of sub-images; generate a rotational invariant resultant image based on the high pass image; generate a low pass image based on the plurality of sub-images; and combine the rotational invariant resultant image and the low pass image to form a pseudo-fluorescent image. | 03-19-2009 |
| 20090080719 | METHOD, SYSTEM AND SOFTWARE FOR DISPLAYING MEDICAL IMAGES - In a system for displaying medical images, a first linear array of medical images representing multiple views of a patient taken approximately contemporaneously may be displayed. The images may automatically be ordered within the array based on the represented views. A second linear array of medical images adjacent to the first linear array may contemporaneously be displayed. The images of the second linear array may represent the same views of the patient as in the first linear array taken approximately contemporaneously but at an earlier time from the images of the first linear array. Like views of the patient may be aligned as between the first linear array and the second linear array. Correlation of features between images may thus be facilitated. Alternatively, one or more principal views and one or more non-principal views of a patient in a set of medical images may be identified. Each principal view may automatically be displayed in a particular size on a separate display of an array of displays, while each non-principal view may automatically be displayed on the remaining display or displays of the array in a smaller size. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090080720 | KITS FOR REDUNDANT IMAGE ACQUISITION - A kit for capturing a first primary image and a second backup image from a single exposure. The kit may include a first imaging source and a second imaging source. The kit may further include an attachment mechanism for attaching the first imaging source to the second imaging source such that first imaging source and the second imaging source may be simultaneously exposed to capture a first primary image and a second backup image, respectively, of a same anatomy. The kit may further include a sterilization sheath to cover both the first imaging source and the second imaging source when the first imaging source and the second imaging source are attached and being used to capture images. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090080721 | Method and system for image pumping - A method and system to “pump” radiation therapy (RT) images and associated patient information on an Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) system to a Record and Verify (R&V) system via a standard DICOM connection to allow remote image viewing. Targeted image files in IGRT systems are searched for and transferred automatically. The user identifies the “inlet,” i.e. the source from which the image files are searched, and the “outlet,” i.e., the DICOM server to which the “pumped” imaged are directed. The images can be sent in their original form or fused. The “input” source is scanned periodically at a user-determined time interval. In order not to send the same image multiple time, a time filter skips images generated before a user-selected time and date. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090080722 | SPECTRAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, COMPUTER-EXECUTABLE SPECTRAL IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM, AND SPECTRAL IMAGING SYSTEM - A spectral image processing method is capable of reducing noise while maintaining necessary information. The spectral image processing method performs processing on a spectral image of a specimen, including a step of normalizing spectra (=spectral brightness curves) of respective pixels constituting the spectral image such that their brightness levels become equal, a step of smoothing the normalized spectra in spatial directions of the respective pixels, and a step of denormalization of multiplying spectra of the respective pixels obtained by the smoothing by either one of brightness levels of the pixels corresponding the spectra and values corresponding to the brightness levels. Consequently, the noise can be reduced while information on brightness distribution on the image is maintained. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090080723 | DIFFUSE OPTICAL IMAGING CORRECTED FOR BOUNDARY EFFECTS - A method of optically imaging an object includes the determination of a source point and a destination point within the object. Planar boundaries are selected that approximate a geometrical shape of the object, and virtual sources are found using a reflection of the original source through the boundaries. Subsequent reflections of the added sources may be used to find higher order sources. Contributions to an optical transfer function from each of the added sources are added to determine a cumulative optical transfer function until a convergence limit is reached. The resulting optical transfer function is more accurate than the original in that it takes boundary phenomena into consideration. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090080724 | IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD AND IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS - This invention consists in an image processing method in which the similarity between a first pixel and a second pixel constituting an image is numerically given by statistical testing, and the values of the first and second pixels are averaged when the similarity numerically given is high, whereas the first and second pixel values are not averaged when the determined similarity is low, whereby an image with noises suppressed is obtained without spoiling a spatial resolution as well as a temporal resolution. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090080725 | METHODS USING RECURRENCE QUANTIFICATION ANALYSIS TO ANALYZE AND GENERATE IMAGES - Methods for identifying and quantifying recurrent and deterministic patterns in digital images are provided. The methods, which are based on Recurrence Quantification Analysis (RQA), generate similarity or dissimilarity distance matrices for digital images that may be used to calculate a variety of quantitative characteristics for the images. Also provided are methods for identifying and imaging spatial distributions of time variable signals generated from dynamic systems. In these methods a time variable signal is recorded for a plurality of area or volume elements into which a dynamic system has been sectioned and RQA is used to calculate one or more RQA variables for each of the area or volume elements, which may then be used to generate a two or three dimensional image displaying the spatial distribution of the RQA variables across the system. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090080726 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING COLLAGEN THICKNESS | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090080727 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR QUANTIFYING PHOTO-DAMAGE - A method of obtaining a measurement of the extent of telangectasia in an area of skin is disclosed. Initially (S | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090080728 | Method and system for vessel segmentation in fluoroscopic images - A method and system for vessel segmentation in fluoroscopic images is disclosed. Hierarchical learning-based detection is used to perform the vessel segmentation. A boundary classifier is trained and used to detect boundary pixels of a vessel in a fluoroscopic image. A cross-segment classifier is trained and used to detect cross-segments connecting the boundary pixels. A quadrilateral classifier is trained and used to detect quadrilaterals connecting the cross segments. Dynamic programming is then used to combine the quadrilaterals to generate a tubular structure representing the vessel. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090080729 | Method and system for evaluating image segmentation based on visibility - A method and system for evaluating image segmentation is disclosed. In order to quantitatively evaluate an image segmentation technique, synthetic image data is generated and the synthetic image data is segmented to extract an object using the segmentation technique. This segmentation results in a foreground containing the extracted object and a background. The visibility of the extracted object is quantitatively measured based on the intensity distributions of the segmented foreground and background. The visibility is quantitatively measured by calculating the Jeffries-Matusita distance between the foreground and background intensity distributions. This method can be used to evaluate segmentation of vessels in fluoroscopic image sequences by coronary digital subtraction angiography (DSA). | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090080730 | IMAGING FACIAL SIGNS OF NEURO-PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES - The invention provides an integrated framework for detecting peripheral sympathetic responses through imaging. The measurements may be performed on three facial areas of sympathetic importance, that is, periorbital, supraorbital, and maxillary. Because the imaging measurements are thermal in nature and comprise multiple components of variable frequency (i.e., blood flow, sweat gland activation, and breathing), wavelets are used as the image analysis framework. The image analysis may be grounded on GSR signals. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090080731 | System and Method for Multiple-Instance Learning for Computer Aided Diagnosis - A method for training a classifier for classifying candidate regions in computer aided diagnosis of digital medical images includes providing a training set of images, each image including one or more candidate regions that have been identified as suspicious by a computer aided diagnosis system. Each image has been manually annotated to identify malignant regions. Multiple instance learning is applied to train a classifier to classify suspicious regions in a new image as malignant or benign by identifying those candidate regions that overlap a same identified malignant region, grouping each candidate region that overlaps the same identified malignant region into a same bag, and maximizing a probability | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090080732 | System and Method for Performing Probabilistic Classification and Decision Support Using Multidimensional Medical Image Databases - A system and method for providing decision support to a physician during a medical examination is disclosed. Data is received from a sensor representing a particular medical measurement. The received data includes image data. The received data and context data is analyzed with respect to one or more sets of training models. Probability values for the particular medical measurement and other measurements to be taken are derived based on the analysis and based on identified classes. The received image data is compared with training images. Distance values are determined between the received image data and the training images, and the training images are associated with the identified classes. Absolute value feature sensitivity scores are derived for the particular medical measurement and other measurements to be taken based on the analysis. The probability values, distance values and absolute value feature sensitivity scores are outputted to the user. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090080733 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CLASSIFYING FOLLICULAR UNITS - A system and method for classifying follicular units based on the number of hairs in a follicular unit of interest comprises acquiring an image of a body surface having a follicular unit of interest, processing the image to calculate a contour of the follicular unit and an outline profile which disregards concavities in the contour, and determining the number of defects in the outline profile to determine the number of hairs in the follicular unit. The system and method may also adjust for hairs which converge beneath the skin and for images which appear as a single wide hair but which are actually multiple hairs. In another aspect, a system and method for determining the end points of a follicular unit comprises generating a skeleton of a segmented image and identifying the end points from the skeletonized image. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090080734 | DIAGNOSIS SUPPORT SYSTEM - A region of interest is set by region of interest setting means in each of medical images obtained in chronological order. Similar case search means searches for a case information set including a case image having a region of similar pictorial characteristics to each of the regions of interest. When the corresponding case information set has been extracted through the search, case information display means displays test result information sets including not only the case images of similar pictorial characteristics but also all case images, test purposes, findings, and the like in the case information sets in chronological order of tests. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090080735 | MACHINE VISION AND SPECTROSCOPIC PHARMACEUTICAL VERIFICATION - A pharmaceutical solid in a prescription vial is identified from an optical property of the pharmaceutical solid using light reflected from two different light sources. For each known pharmaceutical solid, an optical property of the known pharmaceutical solid is stored. The prescription vial is illuminated with a first light source and a first image is recorded. The prescription vial is then illuminated with a second light source and a second image is recorded. The first image and the second image are processed to find an optical property of the pharmaceutical solid. The optical property found is compared to the stored optical properties. The identity of the pharmaceutical solid is determined from the comparison. The first light source and the second light source are selected to remove artifacts of the prescription bottle or to enhance or suppress two-dimensional or three-dimensional effects on the surface of the pharmaceutical solid. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090087045 | CANCER DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS, STAGING, TREATMENT PLANNING, DELIVERY, AND MONITORING USING X-RAY ATTENUATION COEFFICIENT DISTRIBUTIONS - A method of analyzing a volumetric data set obtained by an imaging system from an object is provided includes defining a first region of interest comprising a population of voxels of a first tissue part of the object to obtain a first distribution of radiation attenuation coefficient values, defining a second region of interest comprising a sample of voxels of a second tissue part of the object to obtain a second distribution of radiation attenuation coefficient values, and distinguishing the second tissue from the first tissue using the properties of the first and second distributions of radiation attenuation coefficients. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090087046 | Digital blink comparator apparatus and software and methods for operation - New techniques, imaging software, and related imaging systems for visualizing and comparing medical images are disclosed. The apparatus of this invention generally comprises a digital imaging system including a visual display device in combination with software adapted so as to enable two or more digital images to be rapidly alternately superimposed on the same display space and displayed to a viewer (FIG. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090087047 | IMAGE DISPLAY DEVICE AND IMAGE DISPLAY PROGRAM STORAGE MEDIUM - An image display device has a point setting section for setting a point for each of multiple medical images representing a subject; a size determining section that determines a common size that fits for each image shown at the point set by the point setting section in each of the multiple medical images such that each image can be displayed within a display area of the common size; and a displaying section that displays the image in the display area of the common size. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090087048 | MEDICAL REPORT SYSTEM, AND MEDICAL REPORT MAKING APPARATUS AND METHOD - On a report making screen, medical images taken from a patient are displayed in a viewer. When an area of concern, such as an abnormal shadow, is designated in any of the displayed medical images, the medical images containing the area of concern are chosen. By drag-and-dropping one of the chosen images to an assigned position in a comment editing zone of the report making screen, a three-dimensional image reconstituted of the chosen images is displayed as a confirmation image, wherein the designated area of concern is displayed distinguishably from other portion, enabling checking whether the choice of the images or the designation of the area of concern is correct or not. When the choice and designation is fixed, group data registering the chosen images as a group and position data relating to positions of the area of concern in the chosen images are memorized in linkage with the assigned position. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090087049 | MEDICAL REPORTING SYSTEM, APPARATUS AND METHOD - A medical reporting system includes a display panel for displaying plural CT images. A ROI setting unit designates a region of interest in the CT images. A group setting unit sets a group of specific CT images having the region of interest among the CT images, to generate group information of the group. A report editor displays a note area for inputting a note related to the specific CT images. A memory stores a text location of the note area assigned to the group information, and stores location information of the region of interest in the specific CT images. Furthermore, a first terminal device has the report editor, the ROI setting unit and the group setting unit. A second terminal device communicates with the first terminal device on line. A reporting display panel displays at least the specific CT images and the note. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090087050 | Device for determining the 3D coordinates of an object, in particular of a tooth - A scanner is used for scanning an object ( | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090087051 | Image Quality for Diagnostic Resolution Digital Slide Images - An improved diagnostic resolution of digital slide images is obtained by scanning a first digital slide image at diagnostic resolution that is then deconvolved into separate images with one stain per image. The single stain images are then enhanced with image adjustments and/or processed with image analysis algorithms. The resulting single image data sets from the image analysis algorithms can then be stored. Additionally, the resulting enhanced single images can be recombined into a second digital slide image at diagnostic resolution that is also enhanced. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090087052 | CONSTRUCTION OF A NON-IMAGED VIEW OF AN OBJECT USING ACQUIRED IMAGES - There is described a method and a system for generating a non-imaged plane view of an anatomical part for assisting a surgery. A model of the anatomical part is provided, comprising features and dimension parameters. A first plane view of the anatomical part is obtained. Features are identified in the first plane view. The dimension parameters are measured from the features identified. The model is displayed in the non-imaged plane view such that the model is dimensioned with the measured dimension parameters. A position and orientation of a surgical object is then tracked relative to the anatomical part while a user navigates said surgical object in space and a representation of the surgical object to be overlaid in register on at least one the first plane view and/or the non-imaged view is generated. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090092297 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEM AND IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM - An image processor performing image processing for reproducing the skin color of an object easily on a screen without being affected by variation in surrounding environment. The image processor ( | 04-09-2009 |
| 20090092298 | METHOD FOR FUSING IMAGES ACQUIRED FROM A PLURALITY OF DIFFERENT IMAGE ACQUIRING MODALITIES - A method for fusing a plurality of images. The method includes: acquiring the plurality of images from a plurality of different modalities, each one of the images having a different reference space; and fusing the plurality of images into a common reference space, such common reference space being different from the reference space of each one of the plurality of acquired images. Thus, with such method, a unified process is provided for handling fusion across multiple clinical interventional and/or surgery (i.e., intra-operative) procedures. | 04-09-2009 |
| 20090092299 | System and Method for Joint Classification Using Feature Space Cluster Labels - A method for training a classifier for use in a computer aided detection system includes providing a training set of images acquired from a plurality of patients, each said image including one or more candidate regions that have been identified as suspicious by a candidate generation step of a computer aided detection system, and wherein each said image has been manually annotated to identify lesions, using said training set to train a classifier adapted for identifying a candidate region as a lesion or non-lesion, clustering candidate regions having similar features for each patient individually, and modifying said trained classifier decision boundary with an additional classification step incorporating said individual candidate region clustering. | 04-09-2009 |
| 20090092300 | System and Method for Lesion Detection Using Locally Adjustable Priors - According to an aspect of the invention, a method for training a classifier for classifying candidate regions in computer aided diagnosis of digital medical images includes providing a training set of annotated images, each image including one or more candidate regions that have been identified as suspicious, deriving a set of descriptive feature vectors, where each candidate region is associated with a feature vector. A subset of the features are conditionally dependent, and the remaining features are conditionally independent. The conditionally independent features are used to train a naïve Bayes classifier that classifies the candidate regions as lesion or non-lesion. A joint probability distribution that models the conditionally dependent features, and a prior-odds probability ratio of a candidate region being associated with a lesion are determined from the training images. A new classifier is formed from the naïve Bayes classifier, the joint probability distribution, and the prior-odds probability ratio. | 04-09-2009 |
| 20090092301 | System and Method for Organ Segmentation Using Surface Patch Classification in 2D and 3D Images - A method for segmenting organs in digitized medical images includes providing a set of segmented training images of an organ, computing a surface mesh having a plurality of mesh cells that approximates a border of the organ, extracting positive examples of all mesh cells and negative examples in the neighborhood of each mesh cell which do not belong to the organ surface, training from the positive examples and negative examples a plurality of classifiers for outputting a probability of a point being a center of a particular mesh cell, computing an active shape model using a subset of center points in the mesh cells, generating a new shape by iteratively deforming the active shape model to fit a test image, and using the classifiers to calculate a probability of each center point of the new shape being a center of a mesh cell which the classifier was trained to recognize. | 04-09-2009 |
| 20090092302 | System and Method for Robust Segmentation of Pulmonary Nodules of Various Densities - A method for differentiating pulmonary nodules in digitized medical images includes identifying an object of interest from a digital image of the lungs, computing a first distance map of each point of the object of interest, determining a seed point from the first distance map, starting from the seed point, growing a first region by adding successive adjacent layers of points until a background point is reached, and partitioning the first region into a nodule region and a non-nodule region. | 04-09-2009 |
| 20090097721 | METHOD OF IDENTIFYING FEATURES WITHIN A DATASET - A method of identifying features within a dataset such as an image comprises applying a multiscale transform such as a dual tree Complex Wavelet Transform to generate a plurality of scale-related transform levels each having a plurality of transform coefficients defining magnitude and phase; determining the phase difference between a first coefficient on one level, and a second coefficient on the same or a different level; and identifying the feature in dependence on the phase difference. Each quadrant of the phase difference, when plotted as an angle, is indicative of a different type of feature. The invention is equally applicable to the identification of two-dimensional features such as images, as well as to the identification of features within one-dimensional data streams such as audio. | 04-16-2009 |
| 20090097722 | METHOD, SYSTEM AND SOFTWARE PRODUCT FOR PROVIDING EFFICIENT REGISTRATION OF VOLUMETRIC IMAGES - The invention relates to a method, system and computer program product for registering 3D image data. It comprises (a) receiving a first 3D image and a second 3D image; (b) determining a rendering transform for applying to each of the first 3D image and the second 3D image; (c) applying the rendering transform to the first 3D image to provide a first 2D projection and to the second 3D image to provide a second 2D projection; and (d) determining an elastic registration for mapping locations of the first 2D projection to homologous locations in the second 2D projection. | 04-16-2009 |
| 20090097723 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR VISUALIZING REGISTERED IMAGES - A method for visualizing a registered image is presented. The method includes receiving a first image data set and at least one other image data set. Further, the method includes displaying at least a portion of the first image data set on a first portion of a display. Also, the method includes displaying at least a portion of the at least one other image data set on a second portion of the display. Additionally, the method includes selectively adjusting display of the at least a portion of the at least one other image data to provide a context to the first image data set. Systems and computer-readable medium that afford functionality of the type defined by this method is also contemplated in conjunction with the present technique. | 04-16-2009 |
| 20090097724 | System and Method For The Analysis of Basic Ear Canal Taxonomy - A method and appertaining system determine and output parameters associated with an ear canal according to a particular taxonomy. The output can then be input to various other systems associated with hearing aid design. An intelligent computational approach is utilized that models the physiology of the human ear canal as reconcilable with a conic or quadric section. The canal segment of the impression is sliced, and various parameters are determined according to each slice. Then, these parameters are analyzed in order to create a basic classification of the canal morphology. | 04-16-2009 |
| 20090097725 | Device, system and method for estimating the size of an object in a body lumen - A device and method for capturing in-vivo images allows for size or distance estimations for objects within the images. According to one embodiment of the present invention there may be provided, in an in-vivo device, at least an imager, an illumination source to provide illumination for the imager, an irradiation source to emit for example a light beam or a laser beam in a body lumen and a processor to calculate, based on image illumination parameter values, an estimate of the size of objects in a body lumen. | 04-16-2009 |
| 20090103789 | DELIVERING AND RECEIVING MEDICAL IMAGES - A method, apparatus, and program product are provided for delivering and receiving DICOM images. A plurality of files, including DICOM image files and non-DICOM image files, stored on a computer is accessed. The DICOM image files are identified from among the plurality of files by scanning header data of the plurality of files when accessing the plurality of files. At least one of the identified DICOM image files is selected to be uploaded in response to user input. The selected DICOM image file is uploaded to an application on a server. | 04-23-2009 |
| 20090103790 | IMAGE DIAGNOSIS SUPPORT SYSTEM AND IMAGE DIAGNOSIS SUPPORT METHOD - There is disclosed an image diagnosis support system which acquires a medical image from a medical image imaging unit, generates object information on the medical image, stores the medical image and the object information in a data storage unit and a database, stores case information for each patient based on the object information in correspondence with a case name and information of the medical image in an information table, collects the case information for each patient read from the information table in correspondence with the case name in accordance with a conference instruction and the medical image read from the data storage unit and the database in accordance with the information of the medical image, respectively, as conference information by a conference information display•feedback section to display the same, and feeds back a conference result based on display contents to the information table. | 04-23-2009 |
| 20090110250 | Method for generating digital test objects - The object of the present invention is a computer-implemented method for generating digital images encoded into a format readable by medical imaging apparatus, characterized in that it comprises the steps of:
| 04-30-2009 |
| 20090116707 | Discrete event distribution sampling apparatus and methods - Locations of the origins of “discrete events,” e.g., photons or other units of radiant energy are acquired from a specimen with reference to a scan frame or other region of interest of the specimen. The location of origin of a discrete event can be determined from the corresponding location datum as derived from a scan-drive signal, a positional feed-back signal, or by a point in time during a unit of sampling time (“image-acquisition period”) at which the event is detected. A probability-density function (PDF) is associated with the detected locations. Summing or other processing of the PDFs is performed to produce imageable data. From the data, images can be produced that require fewer discrete events to converge to an ideal density distribution associated with an image feature than required by pixel-based binning methods. Stored data can be mapped into pixels or voxels of a display or otherwise processed, including post hoc processing. | 05-07-2009 |
| 20090116708 | Medical 3-Dimensional Image Display Control Program and Medical 3-Dimensional Image Display Method - The conventional display of a medical 3-dimensional image fails to display both the left and right sides of the patient simultaneously and symmetrically. The medical 3-dimensional image information cannot be therefore utilized efficiently for a comparative evaluation on the symmetrical left and right sides when making a diagnosis or a plan for surgery or treatment. According to a display control program, by displaying medical 3-dimensional images to be displayed on the display screen in a pair on the left and right sides, and by rotating a pair of the displays on the left and right sides in opposite directions with respect to the vertical axis (Z axis) to form and display an image on the opposite side corresponding to one viewpoint direction, both the left and right sides of the patent can be displayed simultaneously and symmetrically. Further, according to this program, when a slice plane is specified in one of the 3-dimensional images on the left and right sides, a slice plane at the symmetrical position is automatically formed in the other image. It is thus possible to display the cross sections on both the left and right sides of the patient simultaneously and symmetrically. | 05-07-2009 |
| 20090116709 | Structure segmentation via MAR-cut - A method for segmenting image data includes creating a plurality of marching regions within the medical image data. Region-wise segmentation is performed on the plurality of marching regions. Region-wise segmentation may include a normalized cut performed on a graph wherein each marching region represents a node. Region-wise segmentation may also include or may alternatively include a min cut performed on a graph wherein each marching region represents a node. Voxel-wise segmentation is performed on a subset of the plurality of marching regions. | 05-07-2009 |
| 20090116710 | MEDICAL IMAGE MANAGEMENT DEVICE AND MEDICAL IMAGE SYSTEM - A medical image managing device can be used in a medical image system in which an image storage device storing medical images photographed by a photographing device as past images so as to specify an examination and a series and one or more image reference devices referring a user to the past images stored in the image storage device are connected to each other through a network. The medical image managing device includes examination correlating unit configured to correlate one past examination with the present examination, the correlated past examination being an examination on the past images satisfying two requirements that (1) the past examination is referred to by the image reference device correlated in advance with the photographing device among the one or more image reference devices and that (2) a patient to be photographed is the same, and series correlating unit configured to correlate series included in the present examination and the past examination correlated by the examination correlating unit with each other with reference to photographing conditions of the respective series. | 05-07-2009 |
| 20090116711 | METHOD FOR TRANSCATHETER INTRA-ARTERIAL PERFUSION MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING - A method to serially determine changes in perfusion to tissues is provided. This method involves injecting contrast material into a catheter that is positioned in the blood supply proximal to the targeted tissue of interest, acquiring a time series of images that depicts the uptake of this contrast material within the tissue, deriving semi-quantitative or quantitative perfusion metrics based upon the time series of perfusion images, altering perfusion to the targeted tissue by means of injecting pharmacologic agents or embolic agents into the blood vessels supplying the targeted tissue, repeating the acquisition of perfusion images to serially monitor changes in tissue perfusion after each alteration, and calculating changes in perfusion metrics after each series of perfusion images. This method is used to monitor changes in perfusion to various tissues, including a diverse array of tumors. The perfusion imaging method can be acquired using magnetic resonance, x-ray computed tomography, or radionuclide imaging. The perfusion metric is serially measured during an embolization procedure as a means of measuring changes in tissue perfusion or to target an endpoint based upon a specific alteration in the calculated perfusion metric. | 05-07-2009 |
| 20090116712 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR WOUND DIAGNOSIS - A configurable scanner ( | 05-07-2009 |
| 20090116713 | Method and system for human vision model guided medical image quality assessment - A method and system for image quality assessment is disclosed. The image quality assessment method is a no-reference method for objectively assessing the quality of medical images. This method is guided by the human vision model in order to accurately reflect human perception. A region of interest (ROI) of medical image is divided into non-overlapping blocks of equal size. Each of the blocks is categorized as a smooth block, a texture block, or an edge block. A perceptual sharpness measure, which is weighted by local contrast, is calculated for each of the edge blocks. A perceptual noise level measure, which is weighted by background luminance, is calculated for each of the smooth blocks. A sharpness quality index is determined based on the perceptual sharpness measures of all of the edge blocks, and a noise level quality index is determined based on the perceptual noise level measures of all of the smooth blocks. An overall image quality index can be determined by using task specific machine learning of samples of annotated images. The image quality assessment method can be used in applications, such as video/image compression and storage in healthcare and homeland security, and band-width limited wireless communication. | 05-07-2009 |
| 20090123042 | OPTIMAL CONVERSION OF 3D IMAGE SETS BETWEEN DIFFERENT SPACES - A multi-modality system ( | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090123043 | Method and System for Correlating Image and Tissue Characteristic Data - Capsule type endoscopes generate large amounts of in-vivo image data that requires review and analysis by a doctor or clinician. By not reviewing the images gathered from healthy tissue, and only focusing on images indicating potential abnormalities, the time it takes to review the data can be greatly reduced. By correlating the tissue images with a characteristic known to indicate a potential abnormality, only the suspect images need to be reviewed. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090123044 | Retinal Thickness Measurement by Combined Fundus Image and Three-Dimensional Optical Coherence Tomography - Disclosed are method and apparatus for mapping retinal thickness values to a movable measurement grid. A three-dimensional volume dataset acquired from three-dimensional optical coherence tomography is registered to a fundus image by rendering a two-dimensional composite image from the three-dimensional volume dataset and superimposing characteristic features in the two-dimensional composite image upon corresponding characteristic features in the fundus image. A measurement grid is displayed on the two-dimensional composite image. The measurement grid is moved to a region of interest, and retinal thickness values in the region of interest are mapped to sectors within the measurement grid. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090123045 | Lighting Compensated Dynamic Texture Mapping of 3-D Models - Methods, systems, and devices for generating textured 3D models are provided. The present disclosure describes methods, systems, and devices for combining multiple images onto a 3D model. In some instances, the textures of the images are applied to the 3D model dynamically so that the textured 3D model is viewable from different viewpoints in real time on a display. The present disclosure also describes methods, systems, and devices for selecting the images and, in particular, the portions of the selected images to map to defined portions of the 3D model. In addition, the present disclosure describes how to adjust the images themselves to remove the effects of directional lighting. Some aspects of the present disclosure are particularly useful in the context of a 3D modeling of dental preparations. In some instances, a 3D digitizer is used to produce 3D models of dental preparations that are rendered on a display in real time and are fully 3D dimensional, while accurately depicting the surface textures of the item(s) being digitized. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090129639 | System and method for object identification and anomaly detection - A system for identifying dental objects, visualizing a dental image, and method for identifying dental anomalies are described. The system for identifying dental objects comprises a 3-D dental image, a database, a digital processing component, and an interactive graphical user interface is described. The 3-D dental image is generated by a medical imaging device. The database has data fields that include locations for teeth, locations for each section of tooth, standard shapes associated with individual teeth, standard shapes associated with each of the sections of tooth, and bone density data for each section of tooth. The digital processing component is configured to process the 3-D image and is in operative communication with the database. The digital processing component is configured to identify an object by combining a plurality of voxels having a common density and tagging the object. The interactive graphical user interface (GUI) permits the user to interact with the object. | 05-21-2009 |
| 20090129640 | PORTABLE IMAGING SYSTEM HAVING A SEAMLESS FORM FACTOR - A portable imaging system is presented. The system includes at least a display panel. Further, the system includes a control panel, where the display panel and the control panel include a seamless form factor of a single unit box, and where the seamless form factor is configured to aid in cleaning the system. | 05-21-2009 |
| 20090129641 | System and Method for Additive Spatial/Intensity Decomposition of Medical Images - A method for decomposing digital medical images includes providing a digital medical image, segmenting the image into one or more biological structures, extracting one or more segmented biological structures from the image by extracting all voxels within a spatial extent of each of the biological structures to construct one or more new component volumes of the biological structures. For each of the one or more new component volumes, generate a sequence of 2-dimensional projective views by moving a projection viewpoint around each the biological structure in the one or more new component images, and generate a 2-dimensional projective view from each viewpoint, and display a cine loop of the sequence of projective views where the biological structures appear to be rotating in the display. | 05-21-2009 |
| 20090129642 | IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE AND A CONTROL METHOD AND CONTROL PROGRAM THEREOF - An image processing device that quickly performs suitable image processing by using an input device to point at an image displayed on the medical image processing device, and makes it possible to readily observe medical images needed for a medical procedure. The medical image processing device includes: an input element by which medical information that includes at least patient information, and the image processing type that uses the medical image data is input; an extraction element for extracting combinations of the medical image data that conform to the patient information and the image processing type; an evaluating unit for evaluating out combinations of medical image data that have the highest possibility of being used; an information reporting unit for reporting of the combinations of medical image data and evaluating result information; and a selection unit for prompting a user to select the combination of medical image data. | 05-21-2009 |
| 20090129643 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMAGE HANDLING AND PRESENTATION - Certain embodiments provide systems and methods for adaptive compression, transmission, and display of clinical images. Certain embodiments provide a method for adaptive compression of image data for transmission and display at a client workstation. The method includes identifying one or more images for display, the one or more images including a plurality of image slices. The method also includes determining a compression scheme for the one or more images based on at least one of bandwidth, processing power, and diagnostic modality. The method further includes transferring the one or more images for display at the client workstation. The method additionally includes adapting the compression scheme based on resource availability. | 05-21-2009 |
| 20090129644 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EFFICIENT WORKFLOW IN READING MEDICAL IMAGE DATA - A system provides methods to significantly improve the efficiency of reading medical image data. The workflow panel provides a grouping of tasks for reviewing and comparing medical images. Tablets are created for each task, consolidating the tools and associated hanging protocols to efficiently perform the actions for that task. The 3D navigation point keeps the current spatial focus point within the field of view as the user transitions between series, orientations, hanging protocols, and zoom levels. The spatial zoom method provides consistent zooming of series with varying fields of view and spatial resolution. Having the ability to overlay the parametric map on any series, regardless of its orientation or field of view, allows the user to correlate the parametric map with features on the non-temporal series. Integrating all of these methods with the workflow panel allows users to quickly step through the tasks in a workflow with minimal user actions. | 05-21-2009 |
| 20090129645 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING STRESS IN AN ANATOMICAL STRUCTURE - A method of determining wall stress in an abdominal aortic aneurysm is disclosed. The method comprises determining, from anatomical image data, respective first stress values at locations on the wall, based on the aorta having substantially uniform stiffness. The primary direction of stress those locations are determined, and the locations of calcified regions ( | 05-21-2009 |
| 20090129646 | HIGH RESOLUTION RADIO FREQUENCY MEDICAL IMAGING AND THERAPY SYSTEM - A method for imaging includes directing a plurality of radio frequency (RF) beams toward a target organ from a plurality of angles. The RF beams include one or more first pairs of the RF beams, each first pair including two of the RF beams that impinge on the target organ from opposite directions. RF signals reflected from the target organ are received responsively to the RF beams, the RF signals including one or more second pairs of the RF signals engendered respectively by the one or more first pairs of the RF beams. Local tissue parameters at multiple points in the target organ are extracted by jointly processing the RF signals in each of the second pairs. Images of the target organ are produced using the extracted local tissue parameters. Other embodiments described herein include methods for passive imaging, motion vector analysis, ablation, local heating and application of electromagnetic pressure. | 05-21-2009 |
| 20090136096 | SYSTEMS, METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR SEGMENTATION OF DATA INVOLVING A HIERARCHICAL MESH - Systems, methods and apparatus are provided through which in some embodiments, user interactions of adding, removing and selecting scale, within a mesh framework to improve repeatability and reproducibility of an arbitrary process in a three-dimensional medical space. In some embodiments, a multiple-mesh framework further improves performance of an arbitrary segmentation process. | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090136097 | MARKING APPARATUS, MARKING METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR MARKING A LOCATION IN A MEDICAL IMAGE - Methods and apparatus provide for marking a location in a medical image, including: providing a first marker within a first medical image, which shows an object, at a first location, determining a second location, which corresponds to the first location, within a second medical image showing the same object, marking the second location with a second marker, which is different to the first marker, and presenting the first medical image, the first marker, the second medical image and the second marker. | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090136098 | CONTEXT SENSITIVE PACING FOR EFFECTIVE RAPID SERIAL VISUAL PRESENTATION - A system and method of efficiently and effectively triaging an image that may include one or more target entities are provided. The image is divided into a plurality of individual image chips that each have a determinable image complexity. The image complexity of each image chip is determined, and each image chip is successively displayed to a user for a presentation time period that, for each image chip, varies based on the determined image complexity of the image chip. | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090136099 | Image guided surgery with dynamic image reconstruction - A method may include processing two or more fiducials included in a three-dimensional medical image and included in a current image to generate two or more transform coefficients of a transform, and applying the transform to the three-dimensional medical image to form a present image. | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090136100 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CREATING RETINAL FUNDUS MAPS - A device has means for computing and obtaining blood vessel extraction images by extracting blood vessel portions from two or more fundus images, means for computing and obtaining a corner data image having corner portions of the blood vessel portions detected from the obtained blood vessel extraction image, means for computing and obtaining a probability distribution diagram for the corner data image by convolving the corner data image with a window function, means for computing a matching probability score when executing a matching processing between two or more fundus images on the basis of the probability distribution diagram corresponding to each fundus image obtained and the corner data image, and means for creating a retinal fundus map by superimposing two or more fundus images on the basis of the obtained matching probability score. | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090136101 | Method and System for Analyzing Skin Conditions Using Digital Images - The embodiments of the present invention include a method and system for analyzing skin conditions using digital images. The method comprises acquiring a white-light image and an ultraviolet (UV) image of a portion of a body surface, such as a person's face, each of the white-light and UV images including a plurality of pixels and each pixel in the UV image corresponding to a respective pixel in the white-light image. The method further comprises identifying skin-pixels in the white-light and UV images, and obtaining results associated with at least one skin condition using information in the skin pixels in the first white light and UV images. | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090136102 | IMAGE PROCESSING OF MEDICAL IMAGES - An image processing method and system are described for processing medical images. The method comprises using a new coordinate system for representing combined image data of said plurality of medical images based on correlation information between image data of a plurality of medical images. The method further may comprise extracting such correlation information, and after said representing, mapping obtained image data to an antagonist colour space, thus resulting in visualisation with a fused image with high contrast and luminance and with particular human vision parameters relating to equalities and differences in the plurality of medical images studied. | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090136103 | System and methods for image segmentation in N-dimensional space - A system and methods for the efficient segmentation of globally optimal surfaces representing object boundaries in volumetric datasets is provided. An optical surface detection system and methods are provided that are capable of simultaneously detecting multiple interacting surfaces in which the optimality is controlled by the cost functions designed for individual surfaces and by several geometric constraints defining the surface smoothness and interrelations. The present invention includes surface segmentation using a layered graph-theoretic approach that optimally segments multiple interacting surfaces of a single object using a pre-segmentation step, after which the segmentation of all desired surfaces of the object are performed simultaneously in a single optimization process. | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090136104 | Noise Reduction Apparatus, Systems, and Methods - This document describes a general system for noise reduction, as well as a specific system for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance (NQR). The general system, which is called Calculated Readout by Spectral Parallelism (CRISP), involves reconstruction and recombination of frequency-limited broadband data using separate narrowband data channels to create images or signal profiles. A multi-channel CRISP system can perform this separation using (1) frequency tuned hardware, (2) a frequency filter-bank (or equivalent), or (3) a combination of implementations (1) and (2). This system significantly reduces what we call cross-frequency noise, thereby increasing signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR). A multi-channel CRISP system applicable to MRI and NQR are described. | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090136105 | RETRIEVAL SYSTEM AND RETRIEVAL METHOD FOR RETRIEVING MEDICAL IMAGES - A retrieval system for retrieving medical images is provided. The retrieval system includes an archive for storing medical images, a routing device for determining selected medical images stored in the archive and for routing the selected medical images based on routing rules, and a plurality of end-user devices for use with the medical images for medical diagnosis, the selected medical images stored in the archive being automatically routed via the routing device from the archive to respective one or ones of the end-user devices. | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090141953 | IMAGING SYSTEM - The present invention relates to an imaging system for displaying image data representative of a structure. The imaging system comprises display rendering means for processing data representative of the configuration of the structure and rendering a display representative of the configuration of the structure. The display comprises image view panes displaying different image views. The rendering means are responsive to user interaction to display synchronously a predetermined sequence run of images at the view panes, in response to a user input stimulus. | 06-04-2009 |
| 20090141954 | Peak Reassembly - In differential and non-differential analyses, composite images derived from replicates of liquid-chromatography/mass-spectrometry processes can provide scientists with a better signal-to-noise ratio in discovering biological features of interest. Certain distinct peaks in composite images point to distinct biological features but some distinct peaks in composite images may also point to biological features that have common chemical species ancestry. A peak reassembly process is used to indicate whether two adjacent peaks should point to a biological feature using complementation analysis and collision analysis. | 06-04-2009 |
| 20090141955 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND PROGRAM FOR THE SAME - Improving diagnosis performance by matching the appearances of images while maintaining difference arising from the difference in tissue structure without being influenced by a non-interest region. Two medical images are divided into a plurality of tissue regions, each with each tissue imaged therein, and a similarity level is calculated for each corresponding pair of the plurality of tissue regions between the two medical images based on the form of each tissue region. An interest level is set for each corresponding pair and a weigh is obtained for each corresponding pair according to the similarity level and interest level. An image processing condition is set such that the matching level of an image characteristic of each corresponding pair is varied according to the weight, and image processing is performed on at lest either one of the two medical images according to the set image processing condition. | 06-04-2009 |
| 20090141956 | Systems and Methods for Analyzing Skin Conditions of People Using Digital Images - Systems and methods are provided for analyzing skin conditions using digital images. The method comprises acquiring a white-light image and an ultraviolet (“UV”) image of at least a portion of a body surface, such as a person's face, each of the white-light and UV images including a plurality of pixels and each pixel in the UV image corresponding to a respective pixel in the white-light image. The method further comprises identifying skin-pixels in the white-light and UV images, and obtaining results associated with at least one skin condition using information in the skin pixels in the first white light and UV images. | 06-04-2009 |
| 20090148007 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATED DETECTION AND SEGMENTATION OF TUMOR BOUNDARIES WITHIN MEDICAL IMAGING DATA - A method for segmenting regions within a medical image includes evaluating a set of candidate segmentations generated from an initial segmentation. Based on distance calculations for each candidate using derivative segmentations, the best candidate is recommended to clinician if it is better than the initial segmentation. This recommender realizes a most stable segmentation that will benefit follow-up computer aided diagnosis (i.e. classifying lesion to benign/malignant). | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090148008 | PLANAR ANGULAR VISUALIZATION OF THE BRONCHIAL TREE | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090148009 | IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING IMAGES DURING INTERVENTIONAL PROCEDURES - To reduce the contrast fluid and X-ray load on patients during interventional procedures, a real-time visualisation architecture is proposed to combine 2D live images with 3D reconstructed volume information. In general, 2D X-ray images arc recorded from below (Posterior Anterior) and presented head up (Anterior Posterior) by applying a mirroring operation on the image data. In order to ensure a correct alignment of the 2D live images within the reconstructed 3D volume, as is proposed to display the 3D information under the same inverse viewing angle as the 2D live images by applying a mirroring around the Y-axis to the 3D information and by presenting the 3D information in a reverse sorting order. Furthermore, transparent surface/volume rendering may be combined with silhouette rendering to maintain the contrast in the 2D information while preserving the 3D impression. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090148010 | FALSE POSITIVE REDUCTION IN COMPUTER-ASSISTED DETECTION (CAD) WITH NEW 3D FEATURES - A method for computer aided detection (CAD) and classification of regions of interest detected within HRCT medical image data includes post-CAD machine learning techniques applied to maximize specificity and sensitivity of identification of a region/volume as being a nodule or non-nodule. The regions are identified by a CAD process, and automatically segmented. A feature pool is identified and extracted from each segmented region, and processed by genetic algorithm to identify an optimal feature subset, which subset is used to train the support vector machine to classify candidate region/volumes found within non-training data. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090148011 | IN-SITU DATA COLLECTION ARCHITECTURE FOR COMPUTER-AIDED DIAGNOSIS - Automated diagnostic decision support ( | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090148012 | ANATOMICAL MODELING FROM A 3-D IMAGE AND A SURFACE MAPPING - A method of medical imaging includes creating an anatomical map of an inner wall of a cavity in a body of a subject by inserting a probe into the body and collecting data using the probe. A three dimensional (3-D) contour is delineated in a 3-D image of the cavity based on the map. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090148013 | System and Methods for Generating Three-Dimensional Images From Two-Dimensional Bioluminescence Images and Visualizing Tumor Shapes and Locations - A system and methods for generating 3D images ( | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090148014 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM PRODUCT - An image processing apparatus includes an edge intensity calculator which calculates an edge intensity of a pixel in an image; and a correlation value calculator which calculates a correlation value between the calculated edge intensity and a bubble model set in advance based on characteristics of a bubble image. The apparatus also includes a bubble area detector which detects a bubble area based on the calculated correlation value. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090148015 | Method and device for noise suppression in medical images - The invention relates to a method for noise suppression in medical images comprising steps of measuring the gradient field strength of an image pixel and selecting a suitable filter mask for noise suppression as a function of the gradient field strength, with the value of the gradient field strength being compared with a predetermined threshold value. The method is repeated when an additional image pixel is selected. A decision is made per read-in image pixel as to which type of filter mask is used for filtering. A selection can be made between filter masks of different sizes or isotropic or anisotropic or directional filter masks. The decision is based on the measured gradient field strength of the respective pixel. The use of different filter masks allows the signal-to-noise ratio to be improved, without distorting structures like edges for instance and without generating artificial structures in homogenous noise regions. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090148016 | Method and system for second bend plane detection of ear canal surfaces - A method and system for detecting the second bend plane of an ear canal surface is disclosed. A region of interest of the ear canal is defined between the first bend plane and the ear canal tip. A set of curves is defined in the region of interest and a set of high curvature points is detected from the set of curves. The second bend plane is detected using the set of high curvature points. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090148017 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - Main parts of an endoscope system of the present invention include a medical observation apparatus, a medical image processing apparatus, and a monitor. A CPU of the medical image processing apparatus is constituted by function units including a three-dimensional model estimating unit, a detection target area setting unit, a shape feature value calculating unit, a three-dimensional shape detecting unit, a threshold determining unit, and a polyp determining unit. Such a configuration enables to execute a process appropriately adapted to an observation state of a targeted two-dimensional image and to improve the detection accuracy in the detection of a lesion with locally elevated shape as compared to the past. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090154781 | Characterizing a Texture of an Image - Among other things, a texture of an image is characterized by deriving lacunarity measures from the image based on a wavelet analysis. | 06-18-2009 |
| 20090154782 | DUAL-MAGNIFY-GLASS VISUALIZATION FOR SOFT-COPY MAMMOGRAPHY VIEWING - This invention provides a dual-magnify-glass viewing method for a mammography workstation. In particular, the invention includes a method that registers regions of interest on a pair of mammography images and provides a user interface to visualize the paired full resolution or magnified images in a synchronized style. The paired images are two views that can be either left and right bilateral mammogram views; two alternative projection mammogram views, or corresponding current and prior same mammogram views. The paired images can also be two views from different modalities, such as, X-ray and ultrasound images. This invention can be used to aid the radiologist to more effectively view mammography or other breast images. | 06-18-2009 |
| 20090161925 | Method for acquiring the shape of the iris of an eye - The invention concerns a method of acquiring the shape of the iris of an eye, comprising:
| 06-25-2009 |
| 20090161926 | Semi-automatic Segmentation of Cardiac Ultrasound Images using a Dynamic Model of the Left Ventricle - A method for segmenting a sequence of images includes developing an autoregressive model using training data including segmented images of a same type as the sequence of images. The sequence of images showing a progression of a subject through a cycle is acquired. At least two images from the sequence of images are identified. A region of interest is manually segmented from the identified images. The manually segmented images are parameterized. The autoregressive model is adapted to the parameterized segmented images. The autoregressive model is used to perform segmentation on the region of interest for a plurality of images of the sequence of images. | 06-25-2009 |
| 20090161927 | Medical Image Observation Assisting System - [Means for Achieving the Object] Medical image observation assisting system | 06-25-2009 |
| 20090161928 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR UNSUPERVISED DETECTION AND GLEASON GRADING OF PROSTATE CANCER WHOLE MOUNTS USING NIR FLUORSCENCE - A method for unsupervised classification of histological images of prostatic tissue includes providing histological image data obtained from a slide simultaneously co-stained with NIR fluorescent and Hematoxylin-and-Eosin (H&E) stains, segmenting prostate gland units in the image data, forming feature vectors by computing discriminating attributes of the segmented gland units, and using the feature vectors to train a multi-class classifier, where the classifier classifies prostatic tissue into benign, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), and Gleason scale adenocarcinoma grades 1 to 5 categories. | 06-25-2009 |
| 20090161929 | BIOLOGICAL SPECIMEN OBSERVATION METHOD - When a biological specimen, such as living cells, biological tissue, or a small animal, is quantitatively observed, the specimen is observed for a long time or over a long period, while maintaining the quantitative properties. Provided is an observation method of observing luminescence or fluorescence emitted from a biological specimen. The observation method includes a referring step of referring to image data previously acquired; an intensity determining step of determining whether the intensity of the image data previously acquired is saturated; an exposure dividing step of dividing the exposure of the image data previously acquired one time into a plurality of exposures when the intensity is determined as being saturated in the intensity determining step; an image acquiring step of acquiring images the same number of times as the number of divided exposures; and an integrating step of integrating the images separately acquired multiple times into a single image. | 06-25-2009 |
| 20090161930 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING AND READING INFORMATION ON A BIOLOGICAL SPECIMEN SLIDE - A method for processing an image of a biological specimen slide, the image comprising a plurality of characters associated with the biological specimen slide. In one such embodiment, the method includes representing the plurality of characters as respective objects, grouping the objects into a plurality of respective groups of objects based on their locations relative to each other, selecting at least one of the groups of objects, and performing optical character recognition on characters corresponding to the objects of each selected group. | 06-25-2009 |
| 20090169073 | COMPUTER IMPLEMENTED METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING IMAGES - A computer implemented method and system modifying image processing parameters based on user feedback are disclosed herein. The method comprises: obtaining user preferences on a set of displayed images, based on user feedback on a plurality of queries related to at least one domain-specific descriptor and a plurality of corresponding response options indicating a change in at least one image attribute. The set of displayed images are processed by a known set of image processing parameters. The plurality of corresponding response options are being selectable by a user as user preference in response to the plurality of queries. The method further includes translating the changes in the image attributes to a modified set of image processing parameters. | 07-02-2009 |
| 20090169074 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMPUTER ASSISTED ANALYSIS OF MEDICAL IMAGE - In one embodiment, a computer assisted method for displaying a medical image is provided. The method comprises steps of determining authorization status of a user accessing an image database, suppressing the information content in a first image, commensurate with the authorization status, to obtain a second image and displaying the second image to the user. | 07-02-2009 |
| 20090169075 | Image processing method and image processing apparatus - The value of the pixel at the same position of each of the training input image as well as a plurality of training feature images is inputted into the discrimination device, which learns in such a way as to reduce the error between the output value obtained from the discrimination device and the value of the pixel at the aforementioned pixel position in the training output image. At the time of enhancement processing, the feature image is produced from the image to be processed, and the values of the pixels of these images at the same position are inputted into the discrimination device, thereby outputting the enhanced image wherein the value outputted from this discrimination device is set as the value of the pixel at the aforementioned pixel position. | 07-02-2009 |
| 20090169076 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR RELATING MEDICAL 3D DATA IMAGE VIEWING PLANES TO EACH OTHER - A method of relating medical data image viewing planes to each other is provided. The method comprises defining at least two non-orthogonal two-dimensional (2D) image viewing planes in at least one three-dimensional (3D) medical image data set, and linking said 2D image viewing planes with a fixed relation to each other, such that when a first of said 2D image viewing planes is altered, the remaining 2D image viewing planes are automatically changed by said fixed relation with reference to said first 2D image viewing plane. | 07-02-2009 |
| 20090169077 | Apparatus and method for labeling rows and columns in an irregular array - The apparatus and method of the invention provide for assigning coordinates to samples in an array. The method is based on a hierarchical pattern matching to a local lattice structure that is used as a template. Starting from the best local match, the pattern is expanded hierarchically to encompass the entire array. | 07-02-2009 |
| 20090169078 | Noninvasive living body measuring device and a noninvasive living body measuring method - A noninvasive living body measuring device in which image pick-up section is easily able to be adjusted. Concretely, the device | 07-02-2009 |
| 20090175514 | STRATIFICATION METHOD FOR OVERCOMING UNBALANCED CASE NUMBERS IN COMPUTER-AIDED LUNG NODULE FALSE POSITIVE REDUCTION - A method for computer aided detection (CAD) and classification of regions of interest detected within HRCT medical image data. The method includes post-CAD machine learning techniques applied to maximize specificity and sensitivity of identification of a region/volume as being a nodule or non-nodule. The regions are identified by a CAD process, and automatically segmented. A feature pool is identified and extracted from each segmented region, and processed by genetic algorithm to identify an optimal feature subset, wherein a data stratification method is used to balance the number of cases in different classes. The subset determined by GA is used to train the support vector machine to classify candidate region/volumes found within non-training data. | 07-09-2009 |
| 20090175515 | METHOD, DEVICE, AND COMPUTER PROGRAMME FOR EVALUATING IMAGES OF A CAVITY - The invention relates to a device, a method and a computer programme for evaluating images of the heart that have been captured by means of a medical imaging method. According to said method, at least two data records containing functional values, which describe the ventricular wall activity, are produced in a random format, are converted into a uniform format and the data records in the uniform format are compared with one another or calculated. | 07-09-2009 |
| 20090175516 | Computer analysis of a breast shape to assist breast surgery - Various methods, techniques or modules are provided to allow for the automated analysis of the 3-D representation of the upper front torso (i) to recognize 3-D anatomical features, (ii) to orient the subject with reference to their anatomy or a display, (iii) to determine dimensional analysis including direct point-to-point lines, 3-D surface lines, and volume values, (iv) to simulate the outcome with the addition of breast implants including breast and nipple positioning, (v) to assist in the selection of the breast implants, and/or (vi) to assist in the planning of breast surgery. The automated analysis is based on the analysis of changes in a 3-D contour map of the upper torso, orientation analysis of 3-D features and planes, color analysis of 3-D features, and/or dimensional analysis of 3-D features and positions of the upper torso. | 07-09-2009 |
| 20090175517 | Anatomical recognition and dimensional analysis of breast measurements to assist breast surgery - Various methods, techniques or modules are provided to allow for the automated analysis of the 3-D representation of the upper front torso (i) to recognize 3-D anatomical features, (ii) to orient the subject with reference to their anatomy or a display, (iii) to determine dimensional analysis including direct point-to-point lines, 3-D surface lines, and volume values, (iv) to simulate the outcome with the addition of breast implants including breast and nipple positioning, (v) to assist in the selection of the breast implants, and/or (vi) to assist in the planning of breast surgery. The automated analysis is based on the analysis of changes in a 3-D contour map of the upper torso, orientation analysis of 3-D features and planes, color analysis of 3-D features, and/or dimensional analysis of 3-D features and positions of the upper torso. | 07-09-2009 |
| 20090175518 | MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING MEDICAL GUIDE IMAGE - A medical system includes: an image signal acquiring portion for acquiring a signal to generate an image corresponding to a picture of a subject; an image generating portion for generating a real-time image of an inside of the test subject based on the acquired signal; a detecting portion for outputting a position and an orientation of an image position and orientation detecting element as a detection value; a reference image data storage portion for storing reference image data made up of anatomical images of the test subject; a guide image generating portion for generating a guide image to provide guide information about at least one of an anatomical position and orientation within the test subject of the real-time image, based on the detection value and the reference image data; and a detection state notification information generating portion for generating information to notify a detection state of the detection value. | 07-09-2009 |
| 20090175519 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM STORAGE MEDIUM - An image processing apparatus has an obtaining unit configured to obtain a region from a medical image, and a generating unit configured to generate a display image by superimposing, on the basis of a position being in a schema image and corresponding to the region, an image of the region on a diagram representing a human body structure. | 07-09-2009 |
| 20090180674 | MICROCALCIFICATION DETECTION IN MAMMOGRAPHY CAD USING A CLASSIFIER - A system is disclosed that is configured for microcalcifications (mcc) detecting by forming a plurality of true mcc clusters and a plurality of normal clusters, gathering spot and cluster features from said clusters, extracting linear structure features, and using said spot, cluster and linear structure features in mcc detector algorithm training. | 07-16-2009 |
| 20090185727 | Photo Pod Imaging Portal - Methods, apparatus, devices and systems of full body imaging of a patient to diagnose and examine all front, sides, and rear surfaces of the patient. A single vertical stack tower of digital cameras located in an enclosed booth/kiosk can selectively take pictures of the front, left side, rear, and right sides of the patient. Another version has two vertical stacks of digital cameras facing the first vertical stack. Software and computers can automatically gather patient information, take pictures, compile and process the pictures, and allow for customized viewing of the pictures. The methods and systems have application for examining skin features for medical applications and law enforcement. | 07-23-2009 |
| 20090185728 | Method for temporally registering image series datasets - A method for temporally registering two image series datasets, each of which images a preferably periodically moving object and consists of time-resolved single images each composed of pixels or voxels, with a single image, recorded at a first instant, in the first image series dataset being in each case assigned to a single image, recorded at the same or another instant, in the second image series dataset, with the specific single image in the second image series dataset exhibiting maximum similarity to the single image in the first image series dataset being determined for registering a single image in the first image series dataset. | 07-23-2009 |
| 20090185729 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - A medical image processing apparatus includes a selection unit which selects a combination of images acquired in substantially equal time phases in a cycle from a first image group including a plurality of first images acquired at different time points in a first period by imaging an organ whose shape cyclically varies and a second image group including a plurality of second images acquired at different time points in a second period different from the first period by imaging the organ based on a characteristics value indicative of characteristics of the shape of the organ measured from the first and second image groups, and a generation unit which generates combination information indicative of the combination selected by the selection unit. | 07-23-2009 |
| 20090190806 | Method for tracking of contrast enhacement pattern for pharmacokinetic and parametric analysis in fast-enhancing tissues using high -resolution mri - A method for performing a high-resolution pharmacokinetic analysis for calculation of tissue parameters for a fast-enhancing tissue enables medical personnel to accurately determine pharmacokinetic parameters in fast-enhancing tissues. The method includes obtaining mask image data of the tissue when it is in a steady state condition, obtaining a time series of image data of the tissue when the contrast agent is flowing in the tissue, and increasing a spatial resolution of the time series of image data using the mask image data to obtain a time series of increased spatial resolution image data. The method further includes performing a pharmacokinetic analysis to obtain data including at least one parameter that characterizes the tissue, providing a multi-parameter look-up table derived from a combination of two or more parameters, and providing a display including one parameter or a parametric image, where the parametric image is derived from the look-up table. | 07-30-2009 |
| 20090190807 | Reconstruction Stabilizer and Active Vision - A method for stabilizing the reconstruction of an imaged volume is presented. The method includes the steps of performing an analysis of the reliability of reconstruction of a radioactive-emission density distribution of the volume from radiation detected over a specified set of views, and defining modifications to the reconstruction process and/or data collection process to improve the reliability of reconstruction, in accordance with the analysis. | 07-30-2009 |
| 20090190808 | USER ADJUSTMENT MEASUREMENT SCALE ON VIDEO OVERLAY - A method and system for superimposing a ruler on a visual representation of a surgical procedure is presented. The design includes providing a reference object while recording the visual representation of the surgical procedure, scaling the ruler to correspond to the reference object within the visual representation of the surgical procedure, and superimposing the ruler from the scaling on the visual representation for subsequent viewing. | 07-30-2009 |
| 20090190809 | Method and Apparatus for Efficient Automated Re-Contouring of Four-Dimensional Medical Imagery Using Surface Displacement Fields - A technique is disclosed for generating a new contour and/or a 3D surface from contour data using a surface displacement field. The technique is preferably applied to un-contoured target images within a 4D image sequence for which contour data is desired. The technique can be initialized with contour data related to a reference image that has already been contoured, e.g. by a doctor who manually enters contour information into a computer. Image registration (calculation of correspondence between the reference image and target image) can be performed simultaneously with segmentation (identifying regions of interest in the target image). This allows one to make use of segmentation information in a reference image to improve the accuracy of contouring within the target image. | 07-30-2009 |
| 20090190810 | SEMIAUTOMATIC MYOCARDIAL REGION OF INTEREST DEFINITION - A method of identifying a myocardial region of interest in cardiac medical image data is disclosed. The method includes identifying myocardial tissue ( | 07-30-2009 |
| 20090190811 | Method and system for left ventricle endocardium surface segmentation using constrained optimal mesh smoothing - A method and system for left ventricle (LV) endocardium surface segmentation using constrained optimal mesh smoothing is disclosed. The LV endocardium surface in the 3D cardiac volume is initially segmented in a 3D cardiac volume, such as a CT volume, resulting in an LV endocardium surface mesh. A smoothed LV endocardium surface mesh is generated by smoothing the LV endocardium surface mesh using constrained optimal mesh smoothing. The constrained optimal mesh smoothing determines an optimal adjustment for each point on the LV endocardium surface mesh by minimizing an objective function based at least on a smoothness measure, subject to a constraint bounding the adjustment for each point. The adjustment for each point can be constrained to prevent adjustments inward toward the blood pool in order to ensure that the smoothed LV endocardium surface mesh encloses the entire blood pool. | 07-30-2009 |
| 20090190812 | PATHOLOGICAL TISSUE IMAGE CAPTURING SYSTEM, PATHOLOGICAL TISSUE IMAGE CAPTURING METHOD, AND PATHOLOGICAL TISSUE IMAGE CAPTURING PROGRAM - A pathological tissue image capturing system includes a pathological image acquirer | 07-30-2009 |
| 20090196470 | METHOD OF IDENTIFICATION OF AN ELEMENT IN TWO OR MORE IMAGES - The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for identification of an element in two or more images. The method comprises the steps of, identifying, in an image an integral three-dimensional element visible in the image, and identifying in a first image the three-dimensional element, identifying in a second image the three-dimensional element. Subsequently, collating is performed based on the first image and the second image and based on a determination of the position of the three-dimensional element in the first image and the position of the three-dimensional element in the second image. Thereby, a position and/or an extension in three dimensions of a bodily matter of interest within the human body or the animal body may be established. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090196471 | CHARACTERIZATION OF ELECTRICAL STIMULATION ELECTRODES USING POST-IMPLANT IMAGING - In general, the disclosure is related to characterization of implanted electrical stimulation electrode arrays using post-implant imaging. The electrode arrays may be carried by implanted leads. Characterization of implanted electrode arrays may include identification of the type or types of leads implanted within a patient and/or determination of positions of the implanted leads or electrodes carried by the leads relative to one another or relative to anatomical structures within the patient. In addition, the disclosure relates to techniques for specifying or modifying patient therapy parameters based on the characterization of the implanted electrode arrays. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090196472 | ELECTRODE-TO-LEAD ASSOCIATION USING POST-IMPLANT IMAGING - In general, the disclosure is related to electrode-to-lead association using post-implant imaging. An image analysis unit may calculate distances between representations of electrodes in an electronic image and identify groups based on the calculated distances. Each identified group may include a plurality of electrode representations. The distance between a first electrode representation and a second electrode representation may be substantially a same distance between the second electrode representation and a third electrode representation. A characterization unit may determine one or more lead types based on the identified groups. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090196473 | IMAGE DISPLAY APPARATUS AND IMAGE DISPLAY SYSTEM - A storage unit stores data of a plurality of previous images of a plurality of regions generated during a previous catheter procedure. A route map generating unit arranges a plurality of first catheter images or blood vessel images included in the plurality of previous images according to the positional relationship between the plurality of regions to generate a route map indicating the distribution of the plurality of first catheter images or blood vessel images. A specifying unit specifies a specific portion of a second catheter image included in a current image generated during a current catheter procedure. A calculating unit calculates the position of the specified specific portion on the route map on the basis of the positional relationship between the current image and the previous image. A display unit displays a specific previous image corresponding to the calculated position. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090196474 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD THEREOF - A position specifying unit specifies three diagnostic positions corresponding to respective vertexes of a reference triangle on a myocardial boundary in a diagnostic image, a calculating unit matches three training positions with the three diagnostic positions for each of a plurality of training images and compares the diagnostic image with training myocardial area boundary data to obtain a similarity, and an output unit outputs training myocardial area boundary data having the highest similarity. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090196475 | AUTOMATIC MASK DESIGN AND REGISTRATION AND FEATURE DETECTION FOR COMPUTER-AIDED SKIN ANALYSIS - Methods and systems for automatically generating a mask delineating a region of interest (ROI) within an image containing skin are disclosed. The image may be of an anatomical area containing skin, such as the face, neck, chest, shoulders, arms or hands, among others, or may be of portions of such areas, such as the cheek, forehead, or nose, among others. The mask that is generated is based on the locations of anatomical features or landmarks in the image, such as the eyes, nose, eyebrows and lips, which can vary from subject to subject and image to image. As such, masks can be adapted to individual subjects and to different images of the same subjects, while delineating anatomically standardized ROIs, thereby facilitating standardized, reproducible skin analysis over multiple subjects and/or over multiple images of each subject. Moreover, the masks can be limited to skin regions that include uniformly illuminated portions of skin while excluding skin regions in shadow or hot-spot areas that would otherwise provide erroneous feature analysis results. Methods and systems are also disclosed for automatically registering a skin mask delineating a skin ROI in a first image captured in one imaging modality (e.g., standard white light, UV light, polarized light, multi-spectral absorption or fluorescence imaging, etc.) onto a second image of the ROI captured in the same or another imaging modality. Such registration can be done using linear as well as non-linear spatial transformation techniques. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090196476 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - A medical image processing device of the present invention has an image dividing unit which divides an image into a plurality of regions, a feature value calculating unit which calculates a color tone feature value which is a feature value based on a color tone of the image in each of the plurality of regions, a first color tone reference value calculating unit which calculates a color tone reference value based on the color tone feature value which each of the plurality of regions has, a lesion detection reference calculating unit which properly calculates a lesion detection reference for detecting a lesion finding in accordance with the color tone reference value, and an image region detecting unit which detects a region in which an image of the lesion finding is picked up among the respective plurality of regions, based on the lesion detection reference and the color tone feature value which each of the plurality of regions has. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090202116 | METHOD FOR MEASURING THE CONCENTRATION OF A SUBSTANCE USING ADVANCED IMAGE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES - A method and system for non-invasively measuring the concentration of an optically-active substance in a subject are provided. The system includes a light source adapted to transmit light towards a subject or object having a concentration of an optically-active substance, a polarizer positioned between the light source and the subject, an image capturing device, and a processor. The image capturing device is positioned to receive light reflected from the subject and create a measured image therefrom. The measured image defines measured light intensity data. The processor is configured to calculate a concentration of the optically-active substance based on a selected portion of the measured light intensity data. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090202117 | DEVICE, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MEASUREMENT AND ANALYSIS OF CONTRACTILE ACTIVITY - A method and system for determining intestinal dysfunction condition are provided by classifying and analyzing image frames captured in-vivo. The method and system also relate to the detection of contractile activity in intestinal tracts, to automatic detection of video image frames taken in the gastrointestinal tract including contractile activity, and more particularly to measurement and analysis of contractile activity of the GI tract based on image intensity of in vivo image data. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090202118 | Method and apparatus for wireless image guidance - A method of guiding a spatial procedure in a space comprises: a) obtaining spatial information in a first coordinate frame; b) transforming the obtained spatial information into a second coordinate frame; and c) indicating the transformed spatial information in the second coordinate frame. A system for guiding a spatial procedure in a space comprises: a) a first device configured to provide spatial information in a first coordinate frame; b) a second device configured to provide a second coordinate frame; and c) means for indicating the spatial information in the second coordinate frame. Computer software programs that can be used with the method and/or the system are also described herein. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090202119 | Method for analyzing and processing fluorescent images - A method for analysis and processing of fluorescent images. Fluorescent light is emitted by tumor tissue in an illuminated surgical area detected by an image detection device and is forwarded to an image processing system. After determination of a maximal intensity, the image processing system determines a threshold value as a predefined fraction of the maximal intensity. With basic morphological operations of image processing, limit intensity lines which separate the tumor tissue of intensities above the threshold value and normal tissue of intensities below the threshold value are generated and imaged in a line profile image, wherein the line profile image can be superimposed on the fluorescent image. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090202120 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT - An image processing apparatus uses an estimation operator to estimate a spectroscopic property. The image processing apparatus includes an effect extent analyzing unit which analyzes, based on the estimation operator, a relative extent of an effect on the spectroscopic property against a noise in a wavelength axis. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090202121 | METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AN IMAGE DATA ACQUISITION AND/OR EVALUATION PROCEDURE IN MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS - In a method to control the acquisition and/or evaluation procedure of image data in medical examinations, in a previously acquired planning image data set entirely or partially covering a target volume, spatial information of the target volume is determined automatically using a statistical model of the target volume based on data about real anatomy. The acquisition and/or evaluation operation is controlled using the spatial information. A statistical model of at least one greyscale value distribution in the region of the surface of the target volume is used to calculate the location information. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090202122 | VERTEBRA CENTER DETECTION APPARATUS, METHOD AND RECORDING MEDIUM STORED THEREIN PROGRAM - A plurality of medical images showing transverse cross-sections of vertebrae that have been imaged in advance are obtained. A spinal-cord region in at least one of the plurality of medical images is detected. A spinal-cord center-line based on a center point in the detected spinal-cord region is generated. A longitudinal cross-sectional image of the vertebrae is generated. Further, a center-line of the vertebrae is obtained based on a positional relationship between the spinal-cord center-line and the vertebrae. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090202123 | METHOD FOR REMOTELY CONTROLLING MEDICAL APPARATUSES AND DEVICE THEREFOR - A method for remotely controlling medical apparatuses and the method thereof are proposed. The medical apparatuses are used to take internal images of the human body, and have control command sets that comply with the DICOM specifications. In this method, a server is first built and connected to the medical apparatuses. A remote device is then built and connected to the server. Next, the remote device executes a remote control program to generate at least one DICOM control command, which is then sent to the server. The server then executes a communication program to perform control communications with the medical apparatuses. The medical apparatuses can thus be controlled to take images of the inside of human body for generating of digital image data complying with the DICOM specifications. The object of remote control for integrating medical apparatuses can thus be accomplished. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090202124 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT - An image processing apparatus for performing an image processing on a body cavity image captured in a living body includes: a storage unit which stores information including image information of the body cavity image; a change amount calculator which reads out the image information of the body cavity image from the storage unit and calculates, in the read body cavity image, a pixel value change amount of a pixel of interest with a plurality of surrounding pixels located around the pixel of interest; and a candidate lesion region detector which detects a candidate lesion region in the body cavity image based on calculation result of the change amount calculator. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090208071 | Medical Image Processing Apparatus, Luminal Image Processing Apparatus, Luminal Image Processing Method, and Programs for the Same - There is provided a medical image processing apparatus including an image-extracting section extracting a frame image from in vivo motion picture data picked up by an in vivo image pickup device or a plurality of consecutively picked-up still image data, and an image analysis section analyzing the frame image extracted by the image-extracting section to output an image analysis result. The image analysis section includes a first biological-feature detection section detecting a first biological feature, a second biological-feature detection section detecting, based on a detection result obtained by the first biological feature detection section, a second biological feature in a frame image picked up temporally before or after the image used for detection by the first biological feature detection section; and a condition determination section making a determination for a biological condition based on a detection result obtained by the second biological feature detection section to output the determination. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090208072 | 3D IMAGING OF LIVE CELLS WITH ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION - A method for 3D imaging of cells in an optical tomography system includes moving a biological object relatively to a microscope objective to present varying angles of view. The biological object is illuminated with radiation having a spectral bandwidth limited to wavelengths between 150 nm and 390 nm. Radiation transmitted through the biological object and the microscope objective is sensed with a camera from a plurality of differing view angles. A plurality of pseudoprojections of the biological object from the sensed radiation is formed and the plurality of pseudoprojections is reconstructed to form a 3D image of the cell. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090208073 | Brain stimulation models, systems, devices, and methods - This document discusses, among other things, brain stimulation models, systems, devices, and methods, such as for deep brain stimulation (DBS) or other electrical stimulation. In an example, volumetric imaging data representing an anatomical volume of a brain of a patient can be obtained and transformed to brain atlas data. A patient-specific brain atlas can be created using the inverse of the transformation to map the brain atlas data onto the volumetric imaging data and a volume of influence can be calculated using the patient-specific brain atlas. In certain examples, the volume of influence can include a predicted volume of tissue affected by an electrical stimulation delivered by an electrode at a corresponding at least one candidate electrode target location. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090208074 | 3D real-time tracking of human anatomy using combined kV and MV imaging - A medical imaging-based system and method uses both kV and MV images captured during a treatment period for organ motion tracking. 3D geometric locations of internal features are computationally tracked as a function of time from internal features, such as natural biological features or implanted fiducials, which are computationally extracted from the captured kV and MV images. A partial information method allows 3D tracking to be maintained in the event that imaging information is temporarily not available. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090208075 | ERROR ADAPTIVE FUNCTIONAL IIMAGING - A method for use in functional medical imaging includes adaptively partitioning functional imaging data as a function of a spatially varying error model. The functional image data is partitioned according to an optimization strategy. The data may be visualized or used to plan a course of treatment. In one implementation, the image data is partitioned so as to vary its spatial resolution. In another, the number of clusters is varied based on the error model. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090208076 | MEDICAL NETWORK SYSTEM, AND IMAGE-INTERPRETATION SUPPORT APPARATUS AND METHOD - Even though a client hospital has made an urgent image-interpretation request, if a designated radiologist is out of an image-interpretation center, a data center transfers the request to a portable terminal of the radiologist. Upon receiving the urgent request, the radiologist accesses the data center to download an image to be interpreted. An application server in the data center forms a whole image by subjecting the original image to a data amount reduction process, and delivers it to the portable terminal. The application server also forms a detailed image by cropping a desired area out of the original image, and delivers it to the portable terminal if necessary. The detailed image has higher resolution than the whole image because it is not subjected to the data amount reduction process. The radiologist makes a medical report with observing the image by the portable terminal and uploads it to the data center. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090208077 | IMAGING SYSTEM - The present invention relates to an imaging system for imaging a field of interest, in particular to a computed tomography system. The imaging system comprises an irradiation unit ( | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090214088 | TISSUE SAMPLE IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM AND APPARATUS - A method an apparatus for identifying slides is disclosed, where samples such as tissue sample mounted to slides are labeled with information, and an image of the information is captured by a processing instrument. The image is analyzed, for example using optical character recognition, and information extracted from the image is used to determine the test to be applied to the slide by the processing instrument. Where information about the slide cannot be extracted from the image, the image is presented to a user to that the slide information, such as its identity or the test to be applied, may be selected by the user to allow the slide to be processed. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090214089 | System and Method for Data Analysis And Capture - A system for capture and analysis of dental demineralization information. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090214090 | Method for processing medical image data and magnetic resonance apparatus for recording and processing medical image data - A method is disclosed for processing medical image data which image a structure layer by layer, the image data for at least some layers respectively including a plurality of layer images. In at least one embodiment, the method includes segmentation of the structure in the layer images and determination respectively of a position of a point in a layer image. In at least one embodiment, at least one layer image set is furthermore compiled on the basis of the representative points in the layer images. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090214091 | ALIGNMENT APPARATUS AND PROGRAM THEREFOR - An alignment apparatus and a program that improve the accuracy of alignment between two radiation images are provided. For each of portions of the two radiation images, evaluation means calculates an evaluation value that evaluates an amount of positional shift regarding a tissue radiographed in the radiation images, and search condition setting means sets for each of the portions a condition of search for corresponding positions between the two radiation images based on the evaluation value. According to the search condition having been set, alignment means searches for the corresponding positions between the two radiation images, and aligns the two images by warping at least one of the radiation images. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090214092 | METHOD OF ASSESSING A BODY PART - A method of assessing a body part includes obtaining two or more types of data through a combination of two or more of the following four imaging modalities: (1) obtaining surface topography data of the body part, (2) obtaining thermographic data of the body part, (3) obtaining range of motion data for the body part, and (4) obtaining spectral data of light reflected from the body part. The two or more types of data are integrated to allow them to be interacted with simultaneously, and the body part is assessed based on the integrated data. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090214093 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ULTRASONIC IMAGING IN MMODE - An mmode imaging method and apparatus for an ultrasonic diagnostic device is provided to increase the continuity of displayed mmode images. An mmode imaging method performed by an ultrasonic diagnosis device selects sample points on frames of bmode images, converts bmode data of the sample points obtained from the frames of bmode images into converted mmode data, produces interpolated mmode data based on the echo data of corresponding sample points on at least two different frames, and images at least a portion of the mmode data in time sequence. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090220129 | SYSTEM FOR IMAGE RECONSTRUCTION - A method for imaging, including counting quanta of energy emitted into a range of angles from particles of an energy emitter distributed over a volume ( | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090220130 | METHOD FOR LOCALIZING LABELS IN A SAMPLE - The invention relates to a method in which labels are introduced in a sample, a flat surface is prepared on the sample and a series of images is made of the sample surface with e.g. a scanning electron microscope. The labels may be gold labels or e.g. fluorescent labels. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090220131 | AUTOMATIC DETECTION OF A SURGICAL TOOL ON AN IMAGE PROVIDED BY A MEDICAL IMAGING SYSTEM - A device for detecting a surgical tool in an image, the surgical tool going through an incision made in a patient's skin or one of his organs, the device including: means for storing shape parameters of the surgical tool, means for determining the position of the projection of the incision in the image plane and means for determining points and/or straight lines characteristic of the projection of the surgical tool on the image based on the shape parameters and on the position of the projection of the incision. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090220132 | METHOD FOR PROCESSING IMAGES OF INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY - An image processing method for interventional imaging in which a region of interest of a patient is viewed. The method comprises acquiring a succession of images of a region of interest of the patient. The method also comprises detecting and tracking, on the successive images, at least one surgical instrument introduced inside the region of interest of the patient, in order to isolate said instrument therein; and comparing two successive images on which the surgical instrument has been isolated in order to identify at least one common shape therein. The method further comprises estimating the displacement of said common shape between both of these successive images; and re-alignment processing of the different successive images depending on the thereby determined estimations of displacements, these displacement estimations being considered as corresponding to the displacement caused by the physiological movement of the patient with the exception of any other movement. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090220133 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - A medical image processing apparatus of the present invention includes: a three-dimensional model estimating section for estimating a three-dimensional model of an object based on a two-dimensional image of an image of the object which is inputted from a medical image pickup apparatus; an image dividing section for dividing the two-dimensional image into a plurality of regions each of which includes at least one or more pixels; a feature value calculation section for calculating a feature value according to a grayscale of each pixel in one region for each of the plurality of regions; and a lesion detection reference setting section for setting lesion detection reference for detecting a locally protruding lesion in the regions of the three-dimensional model which correspond to each of the plurality of regions, based on the feature value according to the grayscale. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090220134 | METHOD OF MERGING ANATOMICAL DATA AND SURFACE DATA OF A PATIENT'S DENTITION - A method of obtaining and merging volumetric data and surface data of a patient's dentition for use in designing and/or manufacturing a prosthodontic component, such as a drill guide, an implant, or other prosthodontic appliance, for example. A plurality of radio-opaque markers are temporarily secured directly to a patient's dentition. Surface data is then obtained, such as by scanning the patient's dentition with the markers or alternatively, by taking an impression of the patient's dentition with the markers, forming a physical model that includes analogs of the markers, and scanning the physical model. Either before or after the surface data is obtained, an anatomical, volumetric image data set of the patient's dentition is obtained via a volumetric scan of the patient's dentition with the markers appearing in the image data set. The markers appearing in both the volumetric data set and the surface data set are used by suitable computer software to merge the volumetric and surface data sets to form a merged image data set and to generate a combined model of the patient's dentition from which a surgical drill guide or other prosthodontic appliance may be designed and manufactured. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090220135 | SYSTEM, SERVER, METHOD AND PROGRAM FOR IMAGE TRANSFER - When an image group to be displayed and compared is transferred to a terminal during viewing and processing of an image in an image group on the terminal that enables viewing of a plurality of image groups, an image corresponding to the currently displayed image is promptly transferred and displayed. In response to determination of the image group to be displayed and compared with the image group currently displayed on the terminal, a server determines the image that belongs to the image group to be displayed and compared and corresponds to the image in the image group being displayed, and determines a range and order of transfer of images that are to be transferred and include the corresponding image in the determined image group. The server transfers the determined image group according to the range and order of transfer. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090232369 | METHOD, A SYSTEM AND A COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR INTEGRATION OF MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC INFORMATION AND A GEOMETRIC MODEL OF A MOVABLE BODY - The system | 09-17-2009 |
| 20090232370 | METHOD OF, AND APPARATUS AND COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR, IMAGING BIOLOGICAL OBJECTS - A method of imaging one or more biological objects using imaging apparatus capable of capturing an image across an imaging area. The method includes: placing the one or more biological objects ( | 09-17-2009 |
| 20090232371 | Automatic Recovery of the Left Ventricular Blood Pool in Cardiac Cine Magnetic Resonance Images - An exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a method of detecting a left ventricle blood pool. The method includes: localizing a region of interest (ROI) in a three-dimensional temporal (3D+T) image based on motion information of each slice of the 3D image over time, thresholding the ROI to determine pixels of the ROI that correspond to blood, extracting connected components from the determined pixels, clustering the extracted connected components into groups based on criteria that are indicative of a blood pool of a left ventricle, and selecting one of the groups as the left ventricle blood pool. | 09-17-2009 |
| 20090238420 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PREDICTING PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF AN ANEURYSM FROM A THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODEL THEREOF - A three-dimensional rotational angiography (3DRA) system, in which a finite element method (FEM) package is incorporated which can read in surface meshes ( | 09-24-2009 |
| 20090238421 | IMAGE NORMALIZATION FOR COMPUTER-AIDED DETECTION, REVIEW AND DIAGNOSIS - A method and apparatus for processing medical images from one of a plurality of digital acquisition modalities or manufacturers with different imaging condition is proposed for creating consistent appearance of the images. The method comprises (1) tissue segmentation to isolate the region of interest; (2) dynamic extraction of the optimal parameters for image transformation from the segmented region; (3) generation of a transformation function from the individual image optimized parameters; and (4) use of the transformation function to produce images that have consistent image characteristics. This method also applies to multiple images from a single study or multiple studies. The transformed images can be used for computer-aided lesion detection, review and diagnosis. | 09-24-2009 |
| 20090238422 | COMMUNICATIVE CAD SYSTEM FOR ASSISTING BREAST IMAGING DIAGNOSIS - This invention provides a computational intelligence method and system that can be used interactively by a radiologist in a “concurrent read” model to aid diagnosis from medical images. In particular, the invention operates more like a very patient, indefatigable knowledge accumulating and communicating companion for the radiologist, rather than a second “expert” whose advice is sought after a normal review. The system works interactively with the radiologist during image reading, prompting areas to review in more detail, providing computer generated features and interpretation, and suggesting potential diagnoses for areas of suspicion that are identified either by the machine or the human. In addition, the human can obtain more information from the system—the radiologist can query as to why a particular region is highlighted, or why a particular diagnosis is postulated for an area. Conversely, the system learns from the human—the radiologist identifies areas that should be marked, and updates the computer's knowledge of what the diagnosis should be for that area. | 09-24-2009 |
| 20090238423 | Mobile Device for Particle Analysis by Image Correlation - The present invention refers to a mobile device for measuring dynamic parameters of particles, e.g. spermatozoa, such as the translation speed and the rotational speed of particles. | 09-24-2009 |
| 20090238424 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - A storage unit stores data of a first image associated with a contrast-enhanced cardiac region. A specification unit specifies a specific region included in the cardiac region on the basis of a distribution of pixel values of the data of the first image. A setting unit contracts the specified specific region, and set an ROI to the contracted specific region. A calculation unit calculates an index concerning the set ROI. The index is associated with a function of the specific region. | 09-24-2009 |
| 20090238425 | DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING SUPPORT PROCESSING APPARATUS AND DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING SUPPORT PROCESSING PROGRAM PRODUCT - A diagnostic imaging support processing apparatus includes a nodular region determination unit which determines a nodular region included in an image showing the inside of a subject, a polygonal line approximation processing unit which obtains a plurality of nodes constituting a polygonal line that approximates a contour of the nodular region, a reference position determination unit which determines a position of a reference point, and a circularity computation unit which computes the degree of circularity by using areas of a plurality of regions determined based on the plurality of nodes and the reference point. | 09-24-2009 |
| 20090238426 | System and Methods for Identifying an Object within a Complex Environment - A signal processing technique includes extracting object features, an object response classification, and a reconstruction of the object estimate. In selected embodiments, an optional step that improves the estimate of the object response is included in the signal processing technique. In one implementation of the signal processing technique, reflections from the surrounding environment are removed from the response of a target object to permit the identification, localization, and imaging of the target. In select implementations, the technique can be used to image tumors located within breast tissue. | 09-24-2009 |
| 20090245598 | Methods for Assessing Molecular Expression of Subcellular Molecules - The present techniques provide fully automated methods for quantifying the location, strength and percent of expressed target molecules or other biological markers in immunohistochemically stained biological samples. The samples may be automatically segmented, for example into subcellular compartments, from images of compartmental markers. Then, the distribution of a target molecule on each of these compartments is calculated that includes the percentage and strength of expression. This is different than existing intensity or ratio based methods where abundant low expression levels are indistinguishable from scarce high expression levels. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090245599 | METHOD FOR CREATING A PIXEL IMAGE FROM SAMPLED DATA OF A SCANNED BEAM IMAGER - A method for creating a pixel image in a two-dimensional display coordinate system from sampled data derived from a collector of a scanned beam imager adapted to transmit a beam of radiation which traces a trajectory in a two-dimensional acquisition coordinate system. The trajectory contains datum locations in the acquisition coordinate system associated with the sampled data. The method includes receiving the sampled data. The method also includes adjusting a mathematical model of the trajectory based on a function of at least one of rotation, translation, and desired scaling of the model of the trajectory. The method also includes constructing the pixel image in the display coordinate system from the adjusted model of the trajectory. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090245600 | AUTOMATED PANNING AND DIGITAL ZOOMING FOR ROBOTIC SURGICAL SYSTEMS - In one embodiment of the invention, a digital zoom and panning system for digital video is disclosed including an image acquisition device to capture digital video images; an image buffer to store one or more frames of digital video images as source pixels; a display device having first pixels to display images; a user interface to accept user input including a source rectangle to select source pixels within frames of the digital video images, a destination rectangle to select target pixels within the display device to display images, and a region of interest within the digital video images to display in the destination rectangle; and a digital mapping and filtering device to selectively map and filter source pixels in the region of interest from the image buffer into target pixels of the display device in response to the user input. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090245601 | Locating Blood Vessels - Several systems and methods for locating blood vessels are described in the present disclosure. One of the implementations of a blood vessel locating system comprises an image capture device and processing circuitry. The image capture device is configured to capture a first image of a region of the skin of a subject when the region is illuminated by a first light and to capture a second image of the region of the skin when the region is illuminated by a second light. The processing circuitry is configured to calculate the difference between the first image and the second image to obtain a differential image. The processing circuitry is further configured to enhance the differential image to obtain an enhanced image of blood vessels located under the surface of the skin of the subject. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090245602 | Device and Method for Recording and Documenting Three-Dimensional Images of the Ocular Fundus - The present invention is directed to a solution for ophthalmologic diagnostics in which stereo images of the human fundus are evaluated. The device according to the invention comprises a plane-parallel plate of known thickness which is arranged in front of the front objective of an ophthalmologic device, an adjusting mechanism, an image recording device, and a control unit. The plane-parallel plate can occupy any angular positions. After determining an optimal deflection angle α | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090245603 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ANALYSIS OF LIGHT-MATTER INTERACTION BASED ON SPECTRAL CONVOLUTION - In embodiments of the present invention, systems and methods of a method and algorithm for creating a unique spectral fingerprint are based on the convolution of RGB color channel spectral plots generated from digital images that have captured single and/or multi-wavelength light-matter interaction. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090245604 | NUCLEIC ACID ANALYZING APPARATUS - The present invention provides a nucleic acid analyzing apparatus which achieves highly accurate analytical ability even in single molecule DNA analysis. The nucleic acid analyzing apparatus detects locations of fluorescent bright spots in image information about light emission, deletes defective bright spots, and thereby creates intensity trace data about proper bright spots. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090245605 | SPECTRAL IMAGING OF BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES - The invention features a method including: (i) providing spectrally resolved information about light coming from different spatial locations in a sample comprising deep tissue in response to an illumination of the sample, wherein the light includes contributions from different components in the sample; (ii) decomposing the spectrally resolved information for each of at least some of the different spatial locations into contributions from spectral estimates associated with at least some of the components in the sample; and (iii) constructing a deep tissue image of the sample based on the decomposition to preferentially show a selected one of the components. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090252389 | Signal processing apparatus, signal processing method and computer readable medium - A signal processing apparatus includes an optical intensity detecting section that detects an intensity of light from a subject at a first wavelength and a second wavelength, where the first wavelength is different from the second wavelength, a pigment component identifying section that identifies a pigment component in the light from the subject, based on (i) a difference between a first absorptance of the subject at the first wavelength and a second absorptance of the subject at the second wavelength and (ii) a difference between the intensity at the first wavelength and the intensity at the second wavelength that are detected by the optical intensity detecting section, and an illumination light component identifying section that identifies an illumination light component in the light from the subject, based on a subject image obtained by image-capturing the subject and the pigment component identified by the pigment component identifying section. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20090252390 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - An image processing apparatus for extracting images from a continuous image sequence includes a storage unit that stores image information about images constituting the image sequence; an image reading unit that reads the image information from the storage unit; and an image change amount calculating unit that calculates a predetermined image change amount between at least two images using the image information read by the image reading unit. The apparatus also includes an image change amount information adding unit that adds information about the image change amount calculated by the image change amount calculating unit to a corresponding image; and an image extracting unit that extracts a preset number of images from the image sequence based on the information added to each image by the image change amount information adding unit. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20090257627 | SYSTEMS, METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTION OF ORGAN WALL THICKNESS AND CROSS-SECTION COLOR-CODING - Systems, method and apparatus in which some implementations of respiratory structure imaging includes tracking a portion in a organ, determining wall contours in the portion and color-coding confidence in the wall contours. Some implementations of the color-coding includes selecting a cross section of a portion, determining average intensity of a wall in the organ from equally space ray vectors, determining confidence from a distribution of the average intensity, labeling sections of an organ image in reference to the average intensity, and color coding sections of the image in the memory according to the confidence. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20090257628 | STANDARDIZED NORMAL DATABASE HAVING ANATOMICAL PHASE INFORMATION - A method for detecting a disease state is presented. In accordance with aspects of the present technique, a method for detecting a disease state is presented. The method includes creating a normal standardized data repository, where the normal standardized data repository includes one or more normal reference surface projections, where the normal reference surface projections include anatomical information obtained from one or more groups at different phases corresponding to one or more regions of interest in a normal organ, where each of the one or more groups includes one or more subjects having normal organs, and where the normal standardized data repository may be configured to aid in the detection of a disease state. Systems and computer-readable medium that afford functionality of the type defined by this method are also contemplated in conjunction with the present technique. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20090257629 | ARTIFACT SUPPRESSION IN MULTI-COIL MRI - A magnetic resonance imaging system ( | 10-15-2009 |
| 20090257630 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTERACTIVE LIVER LOBE SEGMENTATION - Methods and systems for separating a 3D liver object are disclosed. A 3D liver object and selected associated vascular and other anatomic structures are displayed in a 3D space which is rendered on a 2D display screen. One or more 3D separating surfaces are placed in the 3D space based on anatomic structural landmarks that are segmented automatically or interactively, where each of the 3D separating surfaces intersects with the 3D liver object at a corresponding 3D pose. The 3D liver object into at least two sub-segments based on the 3D separating surfaces, which can be individually and independently adjusted directly in the 3D space, in real-time, and interactively by a user based on 3D and/or 2D information related to the 3D liver object, and the selected associated vascular and other anatomic structures. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20090257631 | System for Generation of a Composite Medical Image of Vessel Structure - A system reduces artifacts introduced by patient or table motion during generation of a composite image visualizing contrast agent flow. A system for generation of a composite medical image of vessel structure, includes an imaging device for acquiring multiple sequential images of vessel structure of a portion of patient anatomy in the presence of a contrast agent. An imaging processor aligns individual images of the multiple sequential images with a single particular mask image containing background detail of the portion of patient anatomy in the absence of contrast agent. The imaging processor forms data representing multiple digitally subtracted images by subtracting data representing the single particular mask image from aligned individual images of the multiple sequential images. The imaging processor associates different individual images of the multiple digitally subtracted images with different corresponding visual attributes and combines data representing the digitally subtracted images to form a composite image. A reproduction device presents the composite image to a user. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20090257632 | METHOD FOR MEASURING THE AREA OF A SAMPLE DISPOSED WITHIN AN ANALYSIS CHAMBER - A method for determining the area of an analysis chamber covered by a biologic fluid sample quiescently residing within the chamber is provided. The chamber has a first panel with an interior surface, and a second panel with an interior surface, both of which panels are transparent. The method includes the steps of: a) illuminating the sample residing within the analysis chamber at one or more wavelengths operable to highlight interfaces between the sample and air, and to highlight a constituent within the sample; b) imaging the sample along the one or more wavelengths, and producing image signals representative of the interaction of the one or more wavelengths with the sample; c) determining a location of at least one interface between the sample and air, using the image signals; d) determining a location of one or more constituents within the sample relative to the at least one sample-air interface using the image signals; and e) determining an area of the chamber containing the sample, using the location of the one or more constituents and the at least one sample-air interface. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20090262991 | Streaming Repetition Coded Compression - A method for transmitting a compressed image via a network, the method comprising: converting ( | 10-22-2009 |
| 20090262992 | Method And Apparatus For Mapping A Structure - An area of a patient can be mapped with a system operable to identify a plurality of locations and save a plurality of locations of a mapping instrument. The mapping instrument can include one or more electrodes that can sense a voltage that can be correlated to a three dimensional location of the electrode at the time of the sensing or measurement. Therefore, a map of an area or volume can be determined based upon the sensing of the plurality of points without the use of an imaging device. An implantable medical device can then be navigated relative to the mapping data. | 10-22-2009 |
| 20090262993 | Pathological tissue mapping - Embodiments of the present invention are directed to quantitative analysis of tissues enabling the measurement of objects and parameters of objects found in images of tissues including perimeter, area, and other metrics of such objects. Measurement results may be input into a relational database where they can be statistically analyzed and compared across studies. The measurement results may be used to create a pathological tissue map of a tissue image, to allow a pathologist to determine a pathological condition of the imaged tissue more quickly. | 10-22-2009 |
| 20090262994 | MODEL-BASED FUSION OF SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPIC IMAGES FOR DETECTION AND IDENTIFICATION OF MOLECULAR STRUCTURES - In certain embodiments of the invention, a plurality of images of one or more subjects may be captured using different imaging techniques, such as different modalities of scanning probe microscopy. Parameters may be estimated from the plurality of images, using one or more models of known molecular structures to provide a model-based analysis. The estimated parameters may be fused, with further input from physical models of known molecular structures. The fused parameters may be used to characterize the subjects. Such characterization may include the detection and/or identification of specific molecular structures, such as proteins, peptides and/or nucleic acids of known sequence and/or structure. In some embodiments of the invention the structural characterizations may be used to identify previously unknown properties of a subject molecule. | 10-22-2009 |
| 20090262995 | SYSTEM FOR ASSISTING PREPARATION OF MEDICAL-IMAGE READING REPORTS - A report-data collecting unit retrieves and collects a character string in accordance with the prescribed character-string retrieval condition and the character string of annotation data. An image data display unit displays the character string and a list showing a medical image referred to while the object is being photographed. When the user selects the character string by designating the medical image shown in the list, both the character string and the medical image are associated by an image-data acquisition/process unit and then pasted at a prescribed position in a medical-image reading report preparation screen. Further, the data representing the medical image thus pasted is archived in an image database. | 10-22-2009 |
| 20090268952 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY DEVELOPING A HIGH PERFORMANCE CLASSIFIER FOR PRODUCING MEDICALLY MEANINGFUL DESCRIPTORS IN MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS IMAGING - A method for determining the presence or absence of malignant features in medical images, wherein a plurality of base comparison or training images of various types of lesions taken of actual patient is examined by one or more image reading experts to create a first database array. Low-level features of each of the lesions in the same plurality of base comparisons or training images arc determined using one or more image processing algorithms to obtain a second database array set. The first and second database array set are combined to create a training database array set which is input to a learning system that discovers/learns a classifier that maps from a subset of the low-level features to the expert's evaluation in the first database array set. The classifier is used to determine the presence of a particular mid-level feature in an image of lesion in a patient based solely on the image. | 10-29-2009 |
| 20090268953 | Method for the automatic adjustment of image parameter settings in an imaging system - A system, method, and computer readable medium for facilitating the automatic adjustment of image parameter settings in an imaging system having a sensor subsystem. An imaging mode of operation of the imaging system is selected and entered. A current set of digital image data of an imaging phantom device is acquired with the imaging system via the sensor subsystem and processed to generate a current set of image-processed data using the imaging system. The current set of image-processed data is automatically compared to a previous set of image-processed data or a target set of specifications, representing a standard of image quality and corresponding to the selected imaging mode of operation. At least one image parameter setting may be automatically adjusted to account for a difference in at least one image parameter between the current set of image-processed data and the previous set of image processed data or target set of specifications. | 10-29-2009 |
| 20090268954 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND PROGRAM - An image processing apparatus includes a storage unit which stores volume data associated with an area including a contrast-enhanced artery as an examination target, a first calculation unit which calculates a plurality of partial atherosclerotic indexes associated with a plurality of portions of the artery on the basis of morphological information associated with the artery which is obtained from the volume data, a second calculation unit which calculates a whole atherosclerotic index associated with the entire artery including the plurality of portions on the basis of the morphological information associated with the artery, and a display unit which displays evaluation information based on the calculated whole atherosclerotic index. | 10-29-2009 |
| 20090268955 | Systems, Methods and Devices for Correlating Reference Locations Using Image Data - A variety of embodiments relate to systems, methods, circuits and devices are implemented to perform location-based correlations. One such embodiment relates to a circuit-implemented method for use with an actual probe within an anatomical structure. For a virtual probe at a virtual location within a model of the anatomical structure, virtual image data captured by the virtual probe is generated. The virtual image data is assessed through a probabilistic comparison of the virtual image data to actual image data captured by the actual probe at an actual location. Based upon the assessment, a correlation is updated between the actual location of the actual probe and a sensed location of the actual probe to provide synchronicity between the sensed location and actual location. For maintaining the synchronicity between a subsequently sensed location and subsequent actual location, the assessment is used to select a new virtual location for the virtual probe. | 10-29-2009 |
| 20090274347 | SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR DETERMINATION OF PROCEDURE TERMINATION - This invention relates to a system and methods for determining the initiation and/or the termination of an autonomous in vivo imaging procedure, such as by a capsule imaging the gastro intestinal tract. | 11-05-2009 |
| 20090274348 | IMMUNODIAGNOSTIC TEST APPARATUS HAVING AT LEAST ONE IMAGER TO PROVIDE AGGLUTINATION EVALUATIONS DURING CENTRIFUGRATION CYCLE - An immunodiagnostic testing apparatus includes a centrifuge and an imager disposed in relation to the centrifuge wherein at least one image is captured of at least one test element in advance of a complete centrifugation period in order to provide predictive data concerning the presence of an agglutination reaction or failure mode of the apparatus or test element. | 11-05-2009 |
| 20090274349 | METHOD FOR PROCESSING BIOMEDICAL IMAGES - The present invention relates to a method for highlight and to diagnose regions of interest in biomedical radiographic images, useful in the context of a CAD tool processing operating as second reader during the normal clinical and screening routine, so reducing the costs of management of the “double reading” procedure. | 11-05-2009 |
| 20090274350 | System and method for image segmentation in generating computer models of a joint to undergo arthroplasty - Systems and methods for image segmentation in generating computer models of a joint to undergo arthroplasty are disclosed. Some embodiments may include a method of partitioning an image of a bone into a plurality of regions, where the method may include obtaining a plurality of volumetric image slices of the bone, generating a plurality of spline curves associated with the bone, verifying that at least one of the plurality of spline curves follow a surface of the bone, and creating a 3D mesh representation based upon the at least one of the plurality of spline curve. | 11-05-2009 |
| 20090274351 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT - An image processing apparatus includes a spectral-characteristic estimating unit that estimates, based on a pixel value of a pixel of a stained sample image, a spectral characteristic value of each wavelength at a corresponding point on a stained sample corresponding to the pixel, the stained sample image being obtained by imaging the stained sample that is stained with a plurality of dyes. The image processing apparatus also includes a weight setting unit that sets a weight value of each wavelength based on the spectral characteristic value of each wavelength estimated by the spectral-characteristic estimating unit; and a weighted dye-amount estimating unit that estimates an amount of dye at the corresponding point on the stained sample as a weighted dye amount based on the spectral characteristic value of each wavelength estimated by the spectral-characteristic estimating unit using the weight value of each wavelength. | 11-05-2009 |
| 20090279752 | DETERMINING HAZARD OF AN ANEURYSM BY CHANGE DETERMINATION - Systems, methods and apparatus are provided through which in some implementations changes in an aneurysm in a patient over time are identified by determining temporal differences between segmented aneurysms in a plurality of longitudinal exams and visually presenting the temporal differences. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20090279753 | MEDICAL IMAGE DISPLAY PROCESSING APPARATUS AND MEDICAL IMAGE DISPLAY PROCESSING PROGRAM - An medical image display processing apparatus capable of easily displaying an axial image of a body part desired by a user from among one series of axial images acquired by imaging an object to be inspected with a modality. The medical image display processing apparatus includes a part recognition unit for recognizing a body part shown in each of one series of axial images; and a display processing unit for causing the display unit to display an axial image included in the one series of axial images, and causing, when receiving a body part change instruction, the display unit to display an axial image showing a different part from the part of the axial image being displayed on the display unit based on a recognition result of the part recognition unit. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20090279754 | METHOD FOR INTERACTIVELY DETERMINING A BOUNDING SURFACE FOR SEGMENTING A LESION IN A MEDICAL IMAGE - A method of bounding an anatomical object of interest in a 3-dimensional volume image includes displaying an image of at least a portion of the object, selecting a plurality of points in the displayed image, at least a first and second point of the plurality of points spanning the object, forming a non-rectilinear surface bounding the plurality of points, identifying a seed point within the surface and extracting a plurality of statistical values corresponding to image voxels disposed proximate the seed point, and classifying image voxels within the surface into a first class and a second class based on the plurality of statistical values. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20090279755 | STATISTICS COLLECTION FOR LESION SEGMENTATION - A method of collecting information regarding an anatomical object of interest includes displaying an image characterized by a first region and a second region, wherein the first and second regions are mutually exclusive and the object is displayed within the second region, selecting first and second points spanning the object in the displayed image, at least one of the points being within the first region, and extracting a plurality of statistical values from image voxels, lying on a line segment between the first and second points, that correspond to the object. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20090279756 | METHOD FOR EDITING 3D IMAGE SEGMENTATION MAPS - A digital image editing method includes receiving a three-dimensional volume image of an anatomical object of interest, wherein the volume image is characterized by first and second mutually exclusive segmentation classes. The method also includes deriving a two-dimensional slice image from the volume image, selecting a single point on the slice image within the second segmentation class, and defining a plane in response to the selection of the single point, the plane dividing the second segmentation class into a target portion corresponding to the object and a remainder portion. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20090279757 | Texture quantification of medical images - A method for texture quantification is provided. Data indicative of a complex-valued local spatial frequency distribution in space-frequency domain are determined by processing a multi-dimensional image data set based on a Stockwell transform with a phase term corresponding to spatial locations of respective frequency components being expressed in terms of radial distance and angle of orientation. The complex-valued local spatial frequency distribution is indicative of a feature of the object. Data indicative of a low frequency energy distribution are determined by filtering the data indicative of a complex-valued local spatial frequency distribution using a band-pass filter having a predetermined low frequency energy bandwidth. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20090279758 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR 3D VESSEL SEGMENTATION WITH MINIMAL CUTS - A method for segmenting tubular structures in digital medical images includes extracting a subregion from a 3-dimensional (3D) digital image volume containing a vessel of interest, identifying potential vessel centerpoints for each voxel in the subregion by attaching to each voxel a tip of a 3D cone that is oriented in the direction of the voxel's image gradient and having each voxel within the cone vote for those voxels most likely to belong to a vessel centerline, selecting candidates for a second vote image that are both popular according to a first vote image, as well as being consistently voted upon by a radius image, reconfiguring the subregion as a graph where each voxel is represented by a node that is connected to 26 nearest neighbors by n-link edges, and applying a min-cut algorithm to segment the vessel within the subregion. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20090279759 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VIRTUAL SUBTRACTION OF STOOL FROM REGISTRATION AND SHAPE BASED ANALYSIS OF PRONE AND SUPINE SCANS OF THE COLON - Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method for identifying stool particles in virtual dissection data for a colon. A shape classification may be determined for a segmented colon by three-dimensional filtering of a prone data set and a supine data set. The shape classification may be mapped onto a prone virtual dissection image and a supine virtual dissection image. The prone data set and the supine data set may be registered using one-dimensional registration to determine a registration. Shapes may be localized based on the shape classification and the registration for the prone virtual dissection and the supine virtual dissection. A distance metric may be applied to the localized shapes to identify stool particles. The identified stool particles may be suppressed. A prone virtual dissected image and a supine virtual dissected image may be displayed having the stool particles suppressed. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20090279760 | METHOD FOR DISPLAYING MEASUREMENTS AND TEMPORAL CHANGES OF SKIN SURFACE IMAGES - A method and system can provide a way for a person to objectively screen himself or herself for increased skin cancer risks using ABCD parameters in conjunction with a digital photograph and a computer. A digital photograph of a skin lesion can be obtained and the lesion can be segmented from the image. Next, several features of the lesion can be measured and these measurements can be displayed graphically in a manner which is understandable to a user who may not have any medical training. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20090285460 | REGISTRATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, REGISTRATION METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM - A registration processing apparatus generates a polynomial to calculate a value corresponding to a distance from the surface of a target object in a first image, and acquires a plurality of position coordinates on the surface of the target object in a second image. Then the apparatus respectively calculates a value corresponding to the distance from the surface of the target object in the first image using the polynomial, for position coordinates obtained by coordinate conversion of the plurality of position coordinates. The apparatus coordinate-converts the position coordinates of the second image by a coordinate conversion method for the plurality of position coordinates determined based on the calculated values. | 11-19-2009 |
| 20090285461 | METHOD FOR SETTING AT LEAST ONE CONTROL VARIABLE OF A FILTER FOR NOISE REDUCTION IN MEDICAL IMAGES - A method for setting a control variable of a filter for noise reduction in medical images is provided. Image data of the medical images is classified into at least one noise region and at least one structure region. A variance measurement is performed either for all the image pixels or a subset of them to determine the edge thicknesses. A histogram is generated from the edge thicknesses. The maximum of the histogram is determined and a Gaussian curve is fitted to the histogram. A threshold value for noise and structure is determined as a function of the standard deviation of the Gaussian curve. The noise and structure are measured in the regions. The standard noise and structure deviations are determined and compared. The control variable is setup as a function of the comparison of noise and structure. The invention can be used for reduction of temporal noise in bandpass images. | 11-19-2009 |
| 20090285462 | Image texture characterization of medical images - A method for texture characterization is provided. Multi-dimensional spectrum data are determined by transforming multi-dimensional image data into Fourier domain. The multi-dimensional spectrum data are partitioned into a plurality of partitions, wherein each partition is associated with a predetermined set of orthogonal voice frequencies. The partitioned multi-dimensional spectrum data are then transformed into Stockwell domain resulting in discrete orthonormal Stockwell transform data. The discrete orthonormal Stockwell transform data are then processed to determine data associated with image texture, which are indicative of a feature of the object. | 11-19-2009 |
| 20090290765 | Neurodegenerative Disease Detection Method, Detecting Program, and Detector - A method of detecting a neurodegenerative disease includes (a) a standardization step of creating a first image by applying anatomical standardization to a brain nuclear medical image; (b) a conversion step of creating a second image by converting the pixel value of each pixel of an image based on the first image into a z score or a t value; (c) an addition step of calculating the sum of the pixel values of individual pixels in a predetermined region of interest in the second image; and (d) a detection step of obtaining the results of the detection of the neurodegenerative disease through an operation of comparison of the sum with a predetermined threshold. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20090290766 | Automated placental measurement - A method for analyzing the placenta and histology slides of placental tissue comprising: selecting a placental sample to be analyzed; obtaining a digital image of the placental sample; and performing an analysis on the digital image, wherein a mathematical algorithm is applied to the digital image. The results of the analysis are correlated with data on health outcomes in infants, children, or adults and are used to assess future physiological risks to a patient. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20090290767 | Determination of extent of congruity between observation of authoring user and observation of receiving user - A computationally implemented method includes, but is not limited to: acquiring a result of an observation of an authoring user; acquiring a result of an observation of a receiving user; comparing the result of the observation of the authoring user with the result of the observation of the receiving user; and presenting data indicative of an extent of congruity between the result of the observation of the authoring user and the result of the observation of the receiving user based at least in part on said comparing. In addition to the foregoing, other related method/system aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20090290768 | Remote interpretation of medical images - A remote view station is communicatively coupled to an image server and receives a compressed version of source medical images. The remote view station uncompresses and displays the received medical image. A medical professional, such as a pathologist, can select a region of the displayed medical image. Region information is transmitted back to the image server that applies image analysis operations on a region of the source medical image that corresponds to the selected region of the compressed medical image. In this manner, the data loss that occurs during image compression does not effect the image analysis operations. As such, the image analysis operations produce more accurate results than if the operations were applied by remote view station to the uncompressed image. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20090290769 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - The present disclosure relates to a medical image processing method for manipulating a curve using a pointing device. The method includes: (a) accepting a first point on the curve specified by the pointing device; (b) reading a first time; (c) reading a second time when a point specified by the pointing device is moved to a second point from the first point; (d) determining a new curve based on a position of the second point, the second time, and the first time; (e) displaying said new curve; (f) reading a third time and a third point specified by the pointing device; (g) determining a further new curve based on a position of the third point, the third time, and the first time or the second time; and (h) displaying said further new curve. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20090290770 | MRI METHODS USING DIFFUSION TENSOR IMAGING TECHNIQUES AND MRI SYSTEMS EMBODYING SAME - Featured is a method for automatically evaluating acquired MRI data, determining the quality of the acquired images and removing the image data when it is determined that an image is corrupted so the imaged data for the corrupted image is removed from the subsequent tensor fitting. In further embodiments, such determining includes judging the quality of the image data to determine if the image data satisfies a quality threshold criteria and if determined not to be satisfied adjudging the image to be corrupted. Such methods include performing said evaluating, determining and removing in real time and in the case where an image is determined to be corrupted, such methods further includes re-acquiring additional image data corresponding to each of the one or more images removed as being corrupted. Also featured are MRI systems embodying such methods. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20090290771 | Method and Apparatus for Performing 2D to 3D Registration - A method and apparatus for performing 2D to 3D registration includes an initialization step and a refinement step. The initialization step is directed to identifying an orientation and a position by knowing orientation information where data images are captured and by identifying centers of relevant bodies. The refinement step uses normalized mutual information and pattern intensity algorithms to register the 2D image to the 3D volume. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20090296998 | Assessing Tumor Response to Therapy - Systems, methods and computer program products identify first biologic data in a region of interest in a first image and calculate a first biologic volume histogram from the first biologic data. Second biologic data in the same region of interest is identified in a second image and a second biologic volume histogram is calculated from the second biologic data. A difference in intensity for the region of interest is determined using the first biologic volume histogram and the second biologic volume histogram. | 12-03-2009 |
| 20090296999 | Breast Tissue Density Measure - Mammogram images are processed by computer to derive automatically a value for a parameter useful in detecting differences in breast tissue in subsequent images of the same breast or relative to a control group of such images, said derived parameter being a parameter that changes alongside changes in breast density and is hence useful in assessing cancer risk. The method comprises the steps of processing each image of at least part of a breast by: computing for pixels of the image a quotient value representative of the aspect ratio of tissue structures depicted in the image; using a trained classifier to classify said pixels according to their respective said quotient values and assigning a score to the respective pixels representing their classification with respect to at least two classes; deriving said parameter that changes alongside changes in breast density based on the aggregate pixel membership scores of said classes. The classifier may be trained either by unsupervised learning or by supervised learning. | 12-03-2009 |
| 20090297000 | NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL SPATIOTEMPORAL PATTERN RECOGNITION - Systems and methods for identifying and analyzing neuropsychological flow patterns, include creating a knowledge base of neuropsychological flow patterns. The knowledge base is formed by obtaining signals from multiple research groups for particular behavioral processes, localizing sources of activity participating in the particular behavioral processes, identifying sets of patterns of brain activity for the behavioral processes and neuropsychologically analyzing the localized sources and the identified patterns for each of the research groups. The neuropsychological analysis includes identifying all possible pathways for the identified sets of patterns, ranking the possible pathways based on likelihood for the particular behavioral process and reducing the number of ranked possible pathways based on additional constraints. A system for comparison of obtained signals from an individual to the created knowledge base is provided. These obtained signals are then used to further update the existing knowledge base. | 12-03-2009 |
| 20090297001 | Method And Apparatus For Mapping A Structure - An area of a patient can be mapped with a system operable to identify a plurality of locations and save a plurality of locations of a mapping instrument. The mapping instrument can include one or more electrodes that can sense a voltage that can be correlated to a three dimensional location of the electrode at the time of the sensing or measurement. Therefore, a map of an area or volume can be determined based upon the sensing of the plurality of points without the use of an imaging device. An implantable medical device can then be navigated relative to the mapping data. | 12-03-2009 |
| 20090297002 | COMPUTER AIDED DETECTION OF MICROCALCIFICATION CLUSTERS - A method for computer-aided detection of microcalcification clusters obtains digital mammography data for a single view image and normalizes and filters the image data to reduce noise. A first mask is generated and applied to the image data for defining the breast structure, forming a first cropped image. A second mask is generated and applied to the image data for defining muscle structure, forming a second cropped image. An artifact mask corresponding to vascular calcifications and known imaging artifacts is generated and applied to the first and second cropped images, defining first and second artifact-masked cropped images. In a repeated sequence, portions of each artifact-masked cropped image are processed using an enhancement algorithm and reducing edge effects to obtain a set of microcalcification cluster candidates and suspected microcalcification clusters. Image processing algorithms remove false positives from the listing of microcalcification clusters and classify candidate microcalcification clusters to identify true positives. | 12-03-2009 |
| 20090297003 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTION OF CARIES - A method for obtaining an image of tooth tissue directs incident light toward a tooth ( | 12-03-2009 |
| 20090304242 | IMAGE ANALYZING SYSTEM AND METHOD - An image analysis system that analyzes an image of an object's organ having an anatomically symmetric shape includes:
| 12-10-2009 |
| 20090304243 | IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR ALIGNING SKIN FEATURES FOR EARLY SKIN CANCER DETECTION SYSTEMS - Embodiments of an image processing system and methods for aligning features suitable for use in early skin-cancer detection systems are described herein. Corresponding skin features between a reference image and a later-captured image are precisely aligned. Curvatures are used to align body outlines of corresponding images using body-background masks. An initial-displacement flowfield map, generated from the aligned body outlines, may be applied to a filtered version of the later-captured image to generate a pre-warped image. The pre-warped image and a filtered version of the reference image are divided into a plurality of overlapping chips and a correlation is performed between corresponding chips. A transformation map may be generated based on the chip correlations. This chipping process may be iterated for successively smaller chip sizes to generate a final transform map which may be applied to the later-captured image to generate a registered image having its skin features aligned with the reference image. | 12-10-2009 |
| 20090304244 | Method and a system for presenting sections of a histological specimen - A method for presenting at least one structure of a histological specimen. The method comprises providing a plurality of images of a plurality of sections of a single histological specimen having a plurality of structures, segmenting a plurality of segments of the plurality of structures in each the image, associating among respective the segments of a common structure of the plurality of structures, and presenting the association in relation to at least some of the plurality of images. | 12-10-2009 |
| 20090304245 | Method and simulation device for structurally individualized simulation of the introduction of a wall support element into a section of a tubular structure - A method is described for structurally individualized simulation of the introduction of a wall support element into a section of a tubular structure. To this end, image data of the interior of the section of the tubular structure are provided. A start point and an end point of the section of the tubular structure are then determined, and a lumen and a profile line of the tubular structure are determined between the start point and the end point. Furthermore, an individual elastic structure model for the section of the tubular structure is identified by adapting a tubular elastic initial model to the section of the tubular structure on the basis of the identified lumen and the profile line, and a tubular elastic wall support element model which is positioned inside the individual structure model is provided. In at least one embodiment, the wall support element model is then virtually expanded stepwise, a check for collisions between the wall support element model and the individual structure model being carried out in each expansion step. At the positions where a collision is identified, the wall support element model and the individual structure model are modified at least locally while taking into account the elasticity of the individual structure model. A method for driving an image display device, by using such a simulation method, and a simulation device are furthermore described. | 12-10-2009 |
| 20090304246 | REDUCTION OF ECHO DECORRELATION FACILITATING MOTION ESTIMATION - Methods systems and computer readable media are provided for extracting information pertaining to at least one moving target. A set of signal data are inputted to a principal components processor, wherein the set of signal data comprise signal data corresponding to at least one waveform acquired from the at least one moving target. A complex representation of the set of signal data is formed and, using a principal components processor, at least one complex principal component of the complex representation is calculated. At least one of the calculated complex principal components is automatically selected and each of the at least one automatically selected complex principal component is applied to extract information about the at least one moving target. Methods systems and computer readable media are provided extracting information pertaining to at least one moving target. A set of signal data comprising signal data corresponding to at least one waveform acquired from the at least one moving target are inputted to a principal components processor. A complex representation of the set of signal data is formed, and at least one complex principal component of the complex representation is calculated. An estimated value of a physical characteristic of the at least one moving, target is then calculated, using a phase of at least one of the at least one complex principal components. | 12-10-2009 |
| 20090304247 | MEASUREMENT SYSTEM WITH OPTICAL REFERENCING - A system is described for determining the concentration of an analyte in a liquid by absorption measurement comprising a test element with a detection area which contains at least one reaction area with reagents for detecting the analyte which cause a change in the absorption behavior upon reaction with the analyte. The detection area contains at least one reference area in which the absorption behavior is substantially not changed when wetted by a sample having the analyte. Furthermore, the system contains a detection unit for the spatially resolved detection of light intensities which are received from the detection area and an evaluation unit for evaluating signals from the detection unit. Further embodiments of the system comprise reaction areas and reference areas arranged alternately in two dimensions. | 12-10-2009 |
| 20090310832 | Medical Image Processing Method - It has been desired to provide a method for accurately identifying a medical imaging marker mapped on a display image in correlation with an actual object. According to the present invention, one specific point (e.g., | 12-17-2009 |
| 20090310833 | Determining Orientation of Cilia in Connective Tissue - The present invention provides methods and apparatus for determining an orientation of a cilium relative to a characteristic of the shape of the cell from which the cilium projects. Three-dimensional microscopy data may be used to determine an orientation of a cilium relative to a specified axis, which is determined from a profile for each cell. Such orientation may be used to forecast alter, or otherwise study the growth process of chondrocytes. Results indicate that the shape of chondrocytes, the position of the ciliary basal body, the incidence of cilia, and the orientation of cilium, are not random through the growth plate. | 12-17-2009 |
| 20090310834 | PORTAL/NON-PORTAL IMAGE REGISTRATION SYSTEM - A portal/non-portal image registration system for registering portal and non-portal images includes a user interface, an image preprocessing unit, a contour detecting unit, and an image registration unit. The user interface is operable for selecting points on portal and non-portal images. The image preprocessing unit is operable, with reference to the selected points, so as to adjust orientations and scales of the portal and non-portal images to obtain preprocessed portal and non-portal images. The contour detecting unit is operable so as to reconstruct contours of the preprocessed portal and non-portal images to obtain reconstructed portal and non-portal contours. The image registration unit includes a registering module operable so as to conduct image registration based upon feature information of the reconstructed portal and non-portal contours using Generalized Hough Transform. | 12-17-2009 |
| 20090310835 | EFFICIENT USER INTERACTION WITH POLYGONAL MESHES FOR MEDICAL IMAGE SEGMENTATION - An apparatus for delineating a structure of interest includes: a plane selection interface ( | 12-17-2009 |
| 20090310836 | Automatic Learning of Image Features to Predict Disease - A method for training a computer system for automatic detection of regions of interest includes receiving patient records. For each of the received patient records a text field and a medical image are identified from within the patient record and the medical image is automatically segmented to identify a structure of interest. The text field is searched for one or more keywords indicative of a particular abnormality associated with the structure of interest. The medical image is added to a grouping representing the particular abnormality when the text field indicates that the patient has the particular abnormality and the medical image is added to a grouping representing the absence of the particular abnormality when the text field does not indicate that the patient has the particular abnormality. The groupings of medical images are used to automatically train a computer system for the subsequent detection of the particular abnormality. | 12-17-2009 |
| 20090310837 | Method and System for Automatic Detection and Measurement of Mitral Valve Inflow Patterns in Doppler Echocardiography - A method and system for segmentation of mitral valve inflow (MI) patterns in Doppler echocardiogram images is disclosed. Trained root detectors are used to detect left root candidates, right root candidates, and peak candidates in an input Doppler echocardiogram image. Two global structure detectors, a single triangle detector for non-overlapping E-waves and A-waves and a double triangle detector for overlapping E-waves and A-waves, are used to detect single triangle candidates and double triangle candidates based on the left root, right root, and peak candidates. A shape profile is used to determine a shape probability for each of the single triangle candidates and each of the double triangle candidates. The best single triangle candidate and the best double triangle candidate are selected based on shape probability and detection probability. One of the best single triangle candidate and the best double triangle candidate is selected as the final segmentation result based on a shape probability comparison. | 12-17-2009 |
| 20090310839 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO PERFORM INHIBITION DIAGNOSTIC TESTING - System and methods to perform inhibition diagnostic testing utilizing a Petri dish based packaged applied materials kit to conduct growth inhibition testing of essential oil compositions, herbs, antibiotics, antifungals, anti-parasititic compounds applied to fungi, bacteria or other biological materials having confluent growth patterns that are derived from a patient's inoculum grown in a personal incubator. Resulting inhibition patterns are generated by at least one essential oil and/or a panel of essential oils or other applied materials distributed in fixed concentrations or concentration gradients to confluent lawns of bacterial and/or fungal lawns derived from the patient's clinical specimen. Images are acquired during the incubation periods to measure inhibition areas or zones that developed around applied the applied material compositions and the optimal therapeutic treatment is ascertained from analysis of the developing or generated inhibition zones. | 12-17-2009 |
| 20090316964 | System and Methods for Computer Aided Analysis of Images - Certain embodiments of the present technology provide systems, methods and computer instructions for computer aided analysis of images. In certain embodiments, for example, such a method includes: isolating a motion area in an image; segmenting the image; utilizing a support vector machine to identify a region of interest in the image; utilizing a graph-cut algorithm to refine the region of interest; and verifying the region of interest. In certain embodiments, for example, such a method further includes: aligning a set of images and/or outputting a set of aligned images sequentially. In certain embodiments, the systems, methods and computer instructions disclosed herein can be used to aid analysis of cardiac images, for example. In certain embodiments, the systems, methods and computer instructions disclosed herein can be used to aid analysis of four dimensional images, for example. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20090316965 | Method of Preparing a Medical Restraint - A method for preparing a clinical restraint for a subject, the method comprises scanning the portion of the subject to be restrained to produce a 3D image data set, generating a three dimensional replica of the portion of the subject from the 3D image data set and preparing a clinical restraint using the three dimensional replica. A scanning system for generating the 3D image data set comprising one or more projectors ( | 12-24-2009 |
| 20090316966 | Method and apparatus for combining 3D dental scans with other 3D data sets - By matching a first data set including digital, three-dimensional, dental models with a second data set including digital, cranio-facial 3D medical scan records, missing or inaccurate portions of the cranio-facial 3D medical scan record can be improved. Example methods for matching the data sets include automatically positioning the dental model with respect to the 3D medical scan record and automatically eliminating common (i.e., overlapping) portions from one of the data sets. Two-dimensional images can be mapped onto images generated from either of the first and second data sets to enhance accuracy and/or photo-realism. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20090316967 | HELP SYSTEM FOR IMPLANTING A HIP PROSTHESIS ON AN INDIVIDUAL - A system and method are provided for helping implant a hip prosthesis in an individual, which includes an acetabulum intended to be placed in the hip bone of the patient and a femoral part intended to be integrally connected to the femur of the individual. The method includes: obtaining, before the operation, images issued by a device that images a human body and locates a position of images in space. The images are taken in at least three reference positions: standing; recumbent; and sitting. Before the operation, the method determines a pelvis version of the individual in different positions by analyzing the images. During the operation, the method measures a position of the acetabulum with relation to the pelvis of the individual, and simultaneously restores information representative of prosthetic mobility of the hip with relation to each of the reference positions, for a current position of the acetabulum. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20090324029 | METHOD OF AND SYSTEM FOR RECONSTRUCTING A DIGITAL OPTICAL IMAGE - According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a system of and method for processing a digitized image derived from detector instrumentation ( | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090324030 | Instantaneous Visualization of Contrast Agent Concentration in Imaging Applications - An embodiment of a system is proposed for imaging a body part including a tissue, the body part being perfused with a contrast agent. The system includes means for providing a sequence of original images offering a digital representation over time of the body-part, each original image including a plurality of original values each one indicative of a response to an interrogation signal of a corresponding location of the body-part possibly including the contrast agent with a contribution of the tissue substantially reduced. The system further includes means for generating an overlaid image for each one of a set of selected original images, for each one of a set of selected locations the overlaid image including an overlaid value consisting of a) a linearized value derived from the corresponding original value to be substantially proportional to a concentration of the contrast agent in the selected location when the linearized value reaches a predefined threshold, or otherwise b) a compressed value depending non-linearly on the corresponding response to the interrogation signal; and means for displaying the overlaid images in succession. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090324031 | IMAGE REGISTRATION METHOD FOR MEDICAL IMAGE SEQUENCES - Image registration of low contrast image sequences is provided. In one aspect, a desired region of an image is automatically segmented and only the desired region is registered. Active contours and adaptive thresholding of intensity or edge information may be used to segment the desired regions. A transform function is defined to register the segmented region, and sub-pixel information may be determined using one or more interpolation methods. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090324032 | System and Method For Test Tube and Cap Identification - A system for identifying test tube types and properties in a sample handling machine using visual information automatically obtained by an optical imager and then processed using vision processing methods. The system includes an optical imager positioned to capture images containing one or more test tubes in a rack and a microcontroller programmed to extract predetermined regions of interest and interpret the optical information in the image to decipher the dimension of the test tubes, determine the presence or absence of caps on the test tubes, decode any encoded data, and interpret custom symbologies. The system may then determine the nature of the test tubes or other containers presented before the image and provide that information to the sample handling machine to assist with processing of samples. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090324033 | Signal Processing Systems and Methods for Determining Slope Using an Origin Point - The present disclosure relates to signal processing and, more particularly, relates to determining the slope of a signal. In embodiments, slopes between an origin point of the plot and at least two points in the signal may be determined. The slopes may be used to generate a histogram, and a desired slope of the signal corresponding to a preferred value in the histogram may be selected. In an embodiment, a two-dimensional Lissajous figure may be selected from a three-dimensional Lissajous figure and a histogram of the slopes within the selected Lissajous figure may be created to determine the desired slope. The desired slope may have clinical relevance (e.g., it may be used to determine a patient's blood oxygen saturation level). The three-dimensional Lissajous figure may be derived from surface signals related to two scalograms. Each scalogram may be the result of performing a continuous wavelet transform on a signal. A confidence measure may be generated with respect to determining the desired slope. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090324034 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RIDGE SELECTION IN SCALOGRAMS OF SIGNALS - According to embodiments, systems, devices, and methods for ridge selection in scalograms are disclosed. Ridges or ridge components are features within a scalogram which may be computed from a signal such as a physiological (e.g., photoplethysmographic) signal. Ridges may be identified from one or more scalograms of the signal. Parameters characterizing these ridges may be determined. Based at least in part on these parameters, a ridge density distribution function is determined. A ridge is selected from analyzing this ridge density distribution function. In some embodiments, the selected ridge is used to determine a physiological parameter such as respiration rate. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090324035 | METHOD OF COMBINING BINARY CLUSTER MAPS INTO A SINGLE CLUSTER MAP - This invention relates to a method of combining multiple binary cluster maps into a single cluster map; where each respective binary cluster map represents characteristic information and the single cluster map represent the sum of the characteristic information. Initially, each respective binary cluster map is assigned with a reliability factor for indicating the reliability of the binary cluster map. These factor values are then used to determine a reliability vector comprising reliability factor elements, where each respective reliability factor element is associated to certain cluster map area in the single cluster map and indicates the reliability of cluster map are. In that way, the single cluster map can be viewed with respect to the reliability. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090324036 | METHOD FOR ANALYZING IMAGE DATA RELATING TO AGGLUTINATION ASSAYS - A method for acquiring a digital image of an agglutination result comprising performing an agglutination assay on a reaction substrate having a set of dimensions and characteristics which permit a pattern of agglutination in a result of said assay. The image of the result is developed. The image has a colored background which maximizes a signal to noise ratio. Further, the image has been passed through a filter that complements an action of the colored background and enhances the agglutinates in the image while additionally increasing the signal to noise ratio. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090324037 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MONITORING THE AMPLIFICATION AND DISSOCIATION BEHAVIOR OF DNA MOLECULES - The present invention relates to systems and methods for monitoring the amplification of DNA molecules and the dissociation behavior of the DNA molecules. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20100002916 | IMAGE RECORDING APPARATUS, IMAGE RECORDING METHOD AND IMAGE RECORDING PROGRAM - There is provided an image recording apparatus for assisting an observer who observes an observed person. The image recording apparatus includes an image-capturing section that captures an image of the observed person, an observation result input section that inputs a result of the observation done on the observed person by the observer, an observer's point of sight position judging section that judges whether the observer looks at the observed person when the image-capturing section captures the image of the observed person, an image extracting section that extracts an image of the observed person for which the observer's point of sight position judging section judges that the observer looks at the observed person, a physical status quantifying section that quantifies a physical status of the observed person by analyzing the image of the observed person which is extracted by the image extracting section, for an observation result which is input by the observation result input section and corresponds to the image of the observed person which is extracted by the image extracting section, and a physical status data storing section that stores thereon physical status quantified data which is generated by the quantification by the physical status quantifying section, in association with the corresponding observation result. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100002917 | MEDICAL IMAGE SEGMENTATION APPARATUS AND MEDICAL IMAGE SEGMENTATION PROGRAM - A medical image segmentation apparatus for segmenting one series obtained by continuous imaging of plural parts into plural series with respect to each part for easy interpretation of an image interpreter. The medical image segmentation apparatus includes an image segmenting unit for segmenting one series into a first series and a second series to thereby generate first image data representing the first series and second image data representing the second series, and a segmentation information adding unit for adding adjacent image information, which includes information for identification of the second series and information representing a positional relationship of the second series with the first series, to the first image data, and adding adjacent image information, which includes information for identification of the first series and information representing a positional relationship of the first series with the second series, to the second image data. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100002918 | System and method for finding regions of interest for microscopic digital montage imaging - A system for determining tissue locations on a slide. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100002919 | Auto-Deletion of Image Related Data in an Imaging System - A system for auto-deletion of image related data in an imaging system, includes an imaging system. The imaging system comprises a repository for storing image representative data, and is capable of archiving image representative data in the repository, and deleting image representative data from the repository. The system also includes an archiving system, coupled to the imaging system, for receiving image representative data from the imaging system and archiving the received data. The imaging system automatically deletes image representative data which has been archived from the repository. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100002920 | Mitotic Figure Detector and Counter System and Method for Detecting and Counting Mitotic Figures - A method and system for detecting and counting mitotic figures in an image of a biopsy sample stained with at least one dye, includes color filtering the image in a computer process to identify pixels in the image that have a color which is indicative a mitotic figure; extracting the mitotic pixels in the image that are connected to one another in a computer process, thereby producing blobs of mitotic pixels; shape-filtering and clustering the blobs of mitotic pixels in a computer process to produce mitotic figure candidates; extracting sub-images of mitotic figures by cropping the biopsy sample image at the location of the blobs; extracting two sets of features from the mitotic figure candidates in two separate computer processes; determining which of the mitotic figure candidates are mitotic figures in a computer classification process based on the extracted sets of features; and counting the number of mitotic figures per square unit of biopsy sample tissue. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100002921 | MEDICAL IMAGE ACQUISITION APPARATUS AND OPERATING METHOD THEREFOR - In a medical image acquisition device, and a method for operating such a device, before acquiring a current planning image data set from a subject, a statistical atlas is generated that is a statistical compilation concerning at least one part of the human body, the statistical compilation including an average image data set electronically associated, in the statistical atlas, with association information that identifies anatomy of the human body represented by the statistical compilation. The statistical atlas is compiled from multiple planning image data sets acquired using a specific measurement protocol. After the current planning image data set is acquired, the stored average image data set is transformed into the current planning image data set, so that the association information associated with the average image data set are accurately also associated with the current planning image data set. A diagnostic image acquisition of the subject is then controlled using the association information that is now associated with the current planning image data set. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100002922 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR INDICATING LIKELY COMPUTER-DETECTED FALSE POSITIVES IN MEDICAL IMAGING DATA - A data structure for use by a computer system ( | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100002923 | LINEARLY POLARIZED LIGHT IMAGING METHOD AND DEVICE - A device includes an incident arm, a detection arm, a sample stage, and an image processing computer. The incident arm includes a light source and a first polarizing element, and is disposed on one side of the sample stage. The detection arm includes a second polarizing element and a photoelectric detector, and is disposed on a light-detection path. The photoelectric detector is connected to the computer. The device further includes a device for adjusting polarization angles of the first and second polarizing elements. A method includes: illuminating a sample surface using linearly polarized light with a certain polarization angle; detecting outgoing polarized light by a photoelectric detector; adjusting polarization angles of the incident and detected polarized light, and repeating the above two steps to obtain a series of polarized images, each image corresponding to incident and detected polarization angles; and computer processing the obtained images to obtain sample information. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100008553 | Structured Medical Data Mapping System - A system creates DICOM Structured Report (SR) mapping information for a medical software executable application using a GUI. A system enables use of DICOM compatible medical imaging related data by different computer systems. The system includes an input processor for receiving DICOM structured report representative data including multiple DICOM structured report data items comprising medical observations associated with medical images of a patient. A o user interface initiates generation of at least one display image including, first image elements representing the multiple DICOM structured report data items and second image elements. The second image elements represent candidate medical observation data items for storage in a repository. The at least one display image enables user selection of an individual DICOM structured report data item for association with a candidate medical observation data item to support automatic transfer of a value of the individual DICOM structured report data item to a data field for containing the candidate medical observation data item. A data interface automatically transfers a value of the individual DICOM structured report data item to a data field for containing the candidate medical observation data item in response to the user selection. | 01-14-2010 |
| 20100014722 | METHODS INVOLVING OPTIMIZING AND MAPPING IMAGES - A method for optimizing images, the method comprising, receiving a designation of a first feature of interest, receiving a designation of a second feature of interest, receiving a target image, receiving an atlas image including labels of first and second features of interest of the target image and a first optimization parameter associated with the first feature of interest and a second optimization parameter associated with the second feature of interest, mapping the atlas image onto the target image resulting in a global mapped image, defining an area of the first feature of interest and an area of the second feature of interest, mapping the reference image onto the area of the first feature of interest on the global mapped image using the first optimization parameter, and mapping the reference image onto the area of the second feature of interest on the global mapped image using the second optimization parameter. | 01-21-2010 |
| 20100014723 | SIGNAL PROCESSING SYSTEMS AND METHODS USING MULTIPLE SIGNALS - According to embodiments, techniques for signal processing using multiple signals are disclosed. A first scalogram may be generated from a first signal and a second scalogram may be generated from a second signal. A modified or masked scalogram may then be generated based on the first and second scalograms. The modified scalogram may then be used to determine at least one physiological parameter. In some embodiments, one or both of the first signal and the second signal may be photoplethysmograph (PPG) signals obtained from a pulse oximeter. | 01-21-2010 |
| 20100014724 | SIGNAL PROCESSING SYSTEMS AND METHODS USING BASIS FUNCTIONS AND WAVELET TRANSFORMS - According to embodiments, systems and methods are provided that use continuous wavelet transforms and basis functions to provide an optimized system for the determination of physiological information. In an embodiment, the basis functions may be used to refine an area of interest in the signal in frequency or in time, and the continuous wavelet transform may be used to identify a maxima ridge in the scalogram at scales with characteristic frequencies proximal to the frequency or frequencies of interest. In another embodiment, a wavelet transform may be used to identify regions of a signal with the morphology of interest while basis functions may be used to focus on these regions to determine or filter information of interest. In yet another embodiment, basis functions and continuous wavelet transforms may be used concurrently and their results combined to form optimized information or a confidence metric for determined physiological information. | 01-21-2010 |
| 20100014725 | Systems And Methods For Filtering A Signal Using A Continuous Wavelet Transform - According to embodiments, systems and methods for reducing noise in a signal are provided. A signal may be transformed using a continuous wavelet transform and a corresponding scalogram may be generated. Regions of noise may be identified from the resulting scalogram. These regions may be masked by, for example, removing, altering, or appropriately tagging the regions. After masking the regions of noise, the scalogram may be converted to a filtered signal using an inverse wavelet transform. Alternatively or additionally, desirable regions of non-noise may instead be identified from the resulting scalogram. These desirable regions may be extracted from the scalogram and an inverse wavelet transform performed on the extracted regions in order to generate a filtered signal. | 01-21-2010 |
| 20100014726 | HIERARCHICAL MOTION ESTIMATION - In three-dimensional rotational x-ray coronary imaging problems may arise when estimating the motion of small vessels. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an examination apparatus is provided which is adapted for performing a hierarchical motion estimation by global affine transformation for every heart phase, followed by vessel branch selective affine and non-affine transformations. This may provide for an improved image quality. | 01-21-2010 |
| 20100014727 | METHODS AND DEVICES FOR PRODUCING THE PARAMETERS OF THE BRAIN TISSUES AND ASSESSING DATA OF THE SUITABILITY FOR THROMBOLYSIS OF A PATIENT - This invention provides a method and a device for producing the parameters of the brain tissue of a patient quickly by using suitable magnetic resonance imaging, utilizing image processing and computer technology, achieving parameters pertaining to the infarction and the ischemic penumbra. This invention also provides a method and a device for producing and assessing data of the suitability for thrombolysis of a patient quickly and properly by using suitable magnetic resonance imaging, utilizing image processing and computer technology, achieving parameters pertaining to the infarction and the ischemic penumbra and predicting the suitability for thrombolysis. | 01-21-2010 |
| 20100021025 | Method, Apparatus and Computer Program for Quantitative Bifurcation Analysis in 3D Using Multiple 2D Angiographic Images - A computer-implemented method (and corresponding data processing facility and computer program) for creating a 3D bifurcation healthy model from multiple 2D angiographic images comprises the following: | 01-28-2010 |
| 20100021026 | COMPUTER-AIDED DETECTION AND DISPLAY OF COLONIC RESIDUE IN MEDICAL IMAGERY OF THE COLON - Methods and systems are presented that improve a radiologist's ability to identify polyps by automatically and more accurately detecting and displaying colonic residue such as tagged or untagged stool or colonic fluid in medical images of the colorectal region. A virtual colonography imaging system obtains medical imagery of the colon. Improved computer-aided detection (CAD) algorithms identify colonic residue in the imagery by calculating feature vectors of and using statistical classification methods to classify regions of colonic residue to distinguish them from false positives. | 01-28-2010 |
| 20100021027 | IMAGE DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS - A data management system for managing medical imaging data comprises a memory storing a workflow data set defining a plurality of tasks to be performed on the imaging data and a processing system arranged to: receive input data including the imaging data; control the performance of each of the tasks on the input data; and make amendments to the workflow data set recording the results of each of the tasks and an audit trail of the amendments made to the imaging data during the tasks. | 01-28-2010 |
| 20100021028 | SPOT QUANTIFICATION APPARATUS, SPOT QUANTIFICATION METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM - A spot quantification apparatus includes an image input unit, a filtering unit, and a spot quantification unit. The image input unit receives an image including a spot. The filtering unit filters the image input through the image input unit a plurality of times while changing a parameter of a kernel within a predetermined range. The spot quantification unit quantifies a feature of the spot based on the luminance distribution in each image which has been filtered a plurality of times by the filtering unit. | 01-28-2010 |
| 20100021029 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CHARACTERIZING SPATIAL DISTORTION IN 3D IMAGING SYSTEMS - Systems and methods for characterizing spatial distortions in location data determined by an imaging system, for example as employed in imaged guided therapy. A three dimensional phantom is custom formed for a desired imaging space of a given imaging system. The phantom includes a large plurality of control points fixed rigidly in space to a high degree of known accuracy. The phantom is fixed to a stereotactic frame defining a known calibrated reference or zero and imaged. An algorithm customized for the phantom determines the spatial locations of the control points. A comparison is made between the known and the determined spatial locations for at least a subset of the control points. The comparison results in indicia for any determined spatial distortions observed. The raw image data can be manipulated to compensate for any spatial distortion. The control points can have fixed locations known to an accuracy of 100μ or better. The algorithm can determine an initial estimate for the detected location of a control point accurate to ±0.5 pixel or better. | 01-28-2010 |
| 20100021030 | AUTOMATED LESION CHARACTERIZATION - A method and system that provides users with additional information regarding imagery analyzed by computer-aided detection (CAD) systems is described. A user selects a region of the analyzed imagery. Information is then derived from computational measurements of the region obtained during CAD processing. The region selected by the user does not necessarily have to include a displayed CAD system detection. The information includes a description of the computational measurement and the value of the measurement, both of which are provided in clinically relevant terms. | 01-28-2010 |
| 20100021031 | Method of Selecting and Visualizing Findings Within Medical Images - A method of processing regions of interest (ROI) obtained using computed-aided detection (CAD) along with reference image data to assist in evaluation of disease within an anatomical volume. After obtaining ROIs and reference image data, additional information related to each ROI is automatically computed. Subsets of ROIs are selected for use in visualization. ROIs are then presented to an observer in interactive, linked views, each view presenting optimally certain aspects of the ROIs and mapping ROI inclusion within the subsets to visual parameters. | 01-28-2010 |
| 20100027856 | Method for Pre-focus of Digital Slides - Methods and apparatus are provided for computing focus information prior to scanning digital microscope slides with a line scan camera. The methods include a point-focus procedure that works by moving the slide to the desired measurement location, moving the objective lens through a predefined set of height values, acquiring imagery data at each height, and determining the height of maximum contrast. The methods also include a ribbon-focus procedure whereby imagery data are acquired continuously, while the slide and objective lens are in motion. Both methods may be applied with either a static or a dynamic implementation. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100027857 | IN VIVO STRUCTURAL AND FLOW IMAGING - Embodiments of the present invention include but are not limited to methods and systems for optical coherence imaging. A method for optical coherence imaging may comprise scanning a sample with an incident beam from a light source; detecting one or more spectral interference signals from the sample; modulating the one or more spectral interference signals by a linear translation of a reference mirror while scanning the sample in a cross-sectional direction; and obtaining at least one image of the sample from the modulated one or more spectral interference signals, the at least one image including a selected one of a full range structural image of the sample and a separated structure/flow image of the sample. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100027858 | DEVICE, SYSTEM AND METHOD OF IN-VIVO VARIX DETECTION - Devices, systems and methods of in-vivo varix detection. For example, a system may include a processor to automatically detect a varix in an in-vivo image. The processor may automatically identify a protrusion into a lumen of a gastro-intestinal tract. The processor may automatically identify substantially blue areas of the protrusion. The processor may generate an indication to a user that a varix was detected in an in-vivo image. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100027859 | Method for Processing Findings Entered in a Mammogram - A method for processing findings entered in a mammogram. A digital mammogram is displayed via an evaluation device. Via an input device the findings are entered directly into the displayed mammogram and are automatically transferred from the mammogram into a findings input mask. To transfer the findings from the mammogram into the findings input mask, a contour line of an object area surrounding an object of the mammogram is determined. An object area of the mammogram is divided into two partial areas. Each partial area is imaged onto an allocated mask region of the findings input mask. The entered findings are allocated to one of the partial areas and are transferred into the findings input mask with reference to the allocated partial area. In this manner, a location of findings entered in a mammogram relative to the nipple can reliably be determined and transferred into a findings input mask. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100027860 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING PHASE-CORRECTED AMPLITUDES IN NMR RELAXOMETRIC IMAGING - A method for determining phase-corrected amplitudes in a multiple echoes imaging experiment, wherein a Fast Fourier Transform reconstruction is applied to the echo signals generated by a CPMG sequence; for each pixel, the pixel being the same through the echo images, the method including the steps of: plotting the amplitudes of at least two echo images in a complex plane, defining a linear fit from the plot; determining a rotation angle α which is the angle between the linear fit and the real axis of the complex plane; determining the rotation angle α | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100034435 | IMAGING SYSTEM SAG CORRECTION METHOD AND APPARATUS - An apparatus for use with a single modality imaging system configured to generate uncorrected imaging data of a patient, the single modality imaging system includes two gamma cameras and a patient stretcher disposed between the two gamma cameras, the apparatus for compensating for downward stretcher deflection at the extended end of the patient stretcher that occurs during stretcher extension. The apparatus includes a single sag sensor for sensing the downward deflection of the patient stretcher, a subtracting device configured to generate a sag correction factors based on a baseline stretcher height and an input received from the sag sensor, and a compensator configured to modify at least a portion of the uncorrected imaging data to compensate for sag using the using the sag correction factor to generate a unified image. | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100034436 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - An image processing apparatus includes a motion-vector calculating unit that calculates motion vectors among images taken by an imaging device; a candidate-center calculating unit that calculates candidate centers of a movement of the imaging device and/or candidate centers of a movement of an imaging subject seen on each of the images based on the motion vectors calculated by the motion-vector calculating unit; a reliability calculating unit that calculates a reliability of each of the candidate centers based on a distance between the candidate centers calculated by the candidate-center calculating unit; and a motion-information obtaining unit that obtains information for detecting a motion change among the images taken by the imaging device based on the reliability calculated by the reliability calculating unit. | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100034437 | System and method for reconstructing a diagnostic trajectory - A system and method for reconstructing a diagnostic trajectory. | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100034438 | OUTPUT DEVICE, AND METHOD, PROGRAM, AND STORAGE MEDIUM THEREFOR - An output device that outputs a schematic view showing a position of a diseased part of a human body, comprises: a read-out unit adapted to read out a plurality of schematic views output from a storage unit adapted to store the schematic views, and a control unit adapted to output the plurality of schematic views read out by the read-out unit to an output unit, wherein the read-out unit selects a schematic view to be read out based on an output format that has been set by a user. | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100034439 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - A projected image generating unit generates a projected image of a two-dimensional image that expresses three-dimensional information, based on three-dimensional data stored in an original image storing unit. A position information storage unit records therein three-dimensional position information of a target pixel that has been detected by the projected image generating unit and the coordinates of the target pixel within the projected image, while keeping them in correspondence with each other. A user inputs a position of a specified point within the projected image by using an input unit. By referring to the position information storage unit, a position obtaining unit obtains three-dimensional position information of the specified point. An area extracting unit extracts a three-dimensional image of a target area containing the specified point, based on the three-dimensional position information of the specified point that has been obtained by the position obtaining unit. | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100034440 | Anatomical Primitive Detection - A method of detecting an anatomical primitive in an image volume includes detecting a plurality of transformationally invariant points (TIPS) in the volume, aligning the volume using the TIPs, detecting a plurality landmark points in the aligned volume that are indicative of a given anatomical object, and fitting a target geometric primitive as the anatomical primitive based using the detected landmark points. | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100034441 | FILTERING OF IMAGE SEQUENCES - Method of image processing, the method comprises providing a sequence ( | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100034442 | REPORT GENERATION SUPPORT APPARATUS, REPORT GENERATION SUPPORT SYSTEM, AND MEDICAL IMAGE REFERRING APPARATUS - A first display displays a medical image based on medical image data. A second display displays a generation screen for generating a string of a medical imaging report. A display controller causes the first display and the second display to display images. An operation part is for operating a pointer displayed on the first display and the second display. An annotation generator receives designation of a position on the medical image displayed on the first display by using the pointer, and attaches sign data representing a position specification sign to the medical image data. An address information acquiring part acquires address information for reading out the medical image data to which the sign data is attached. A linking part links the address information to a link object such as a string designated by using the pointer and displayed on the generation screen displayed on the second display. | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100034443 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - A medical image processing apparatus of the present invention includes an edge extraction portion that extracts an edge in a two-dimensional image of a living body tissue, a three-dimensional model estimation portion that estimates a three-dimensional model of the living body tissue, based on the two-dimensional image, a local region setting portion that sets a local region centered on a pixel of interest in the two-dimensional image, a determination portion that determines whether the local region is divided by at least part of the edge extracted a shape feature value calculation portion that calculates a shape feature value of the pixel of interest using predetermined three-dimensional coordinate data based on a result of determination by the determination portion, and a raised shape detection portion that detects a raised shape, based on a result of calculation by the shape feature value calculation portion. | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100040263 | Methods for enhancing vascular patterns in cervical imagery - A method of contrast enhancement for improved visualization of diagnostically important tissue structures, such as blood vessels. A texture analysis algorithm is applied to identify regions with a high likelihood of disease. Mathematical morphology operations are applied to identify areas of high and low brightness (intensity). The low intensity areas are then subtracted, and controllably variable amounts of the high intensity areas are added, controlled by a selectable tuning parameter, to produce an image with controllably variable visualization enhancement. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100040264 | REGISTERING BRAIN IMAGES BY ALIGNING REFERENCE ELLIPSES - In a method of registering three-dimensional brain images, a reference slice for a midsagittal plane of each image is constructed. The reference slice comprises image points forming a cortical edge. Edge points are selected from these image points such that an ellipse fit to the edge points approximates the cortical edge. The reference ellipse in each image that fits the edge points is determined. The images are registered in a same coordinate system such that the reference ellipses in the images are aligned with one another. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100040265 | REGISTRATION DEVICE, VERIFICATION DEVICE, AUTHENTICATION METHOD AND AUTHENTICATION PROGRAM - A registration device, verification device, authentication method and authentication program that can improve the accuracy of authentication are proposed. A predetermined process is performed for an image signal obtained as a result of taking a picture of a image-capturing target which is given as an object for biometrics authentication and which is a predetermined part of a living body; a characteristic part of the image-capturing target is extracted from the image signal; the Hough transform is carried out by characteristic extraction means for the extracted characteristic part; a plurality of characteristic parameter points are extracted from a parameter point obtained as a result of the Hough transform under a predetermined extraction condition; and a determination is made as to whether the plurality of characteristic parameter points are those to be registered or to be compared with the registered one according to an angle component of the plurality of the characteristic parameter points. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100040266 | System for and method of intelligently directed segmentation analysis for automated microscope systems - The present disclosure includes systems and techniques relating to intelligently directed segmentation analysis for automated microscope systems. In general, in one implementation, the technique includes obtaining an image of at least a portion of a scan region including a biological specimen, partitioning the obtained image into zelles, determining one or more parameters of the zelles, performing a cluster analysis on the one or more parameters of the zelles, differentiating tissue of greater interest from tissue of lesser interest in the obtained image based on the cluster analysis and based on a test being performed for the biological specimen, and storing more information for the tissue of greater interest than information for the tissue of lesser interest. The cluster analysis can be a multivariate statistical cluster analysis, and the zelles can be test-dependent zelles (e.g., having dimensions defined according to the test being performed for the biological specimen). | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100040267 | METHOD FOR OPTICALLY IMAGING AN INTERIOR OF A TURBID MEDIUM, METHOD FOR RECONSTRUCTING AN IMAGE OF AN INTERIOR OF A TURBID MEDIUM, DEVICE FOR IMAGING AN INTERIOR OF A TURBID MEDIUM, MEDICAL IMAGE ACQUISITION DEVICE AND COMPUTER PROGRAM - The invention relates to a method of imaging an interior of a turbid medium, a device for imaging an interior of a turbid medium, and a medical image acquisition device. A turbid medium is accommodated in a receiving volume ( | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100040268 | METHOD AND CONTROL DEVICE TO CONTROL A SLICE IMAGE ACQUISITION SYSTEM - In a method and control device to control a slice image acquisition system, a scan protocol is initially selected from a number of scan protocols, and then an automatic control of the slice image acquisition system ( | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100040269 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR VERIFYING DETECTION OF A LUNG NODULE - Detected lung nodules are presented in a chest radiographic sub-image. A curve is matched to pixels in the sub-image and confidence values for individual pixels is determined. A confidence image is generated consisting of the confidence values at the position of the respective pixel. Separated regions of pixels within the confidence image are identified which have a confidence value greater than a threshold confidence value. A filtered confidence image is generated consisting of the separated regions of the confidence image which are larger than a threshold area. A histogram of values characteristic for the matching of the curve is determined, wherein the filtered confidence image is used as a mask, such that only values are considered for the histogram which correspond to the separated regions of the filtered confidence image. A statistical measure of the histogram is determined and the lung nodules are verified based on the statistical measure. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100046813 | Systems and Methods of Analyzing Two Dimensional Gels - Systems and methods of analyzing two dimensional gels are provided, in one embodiment, a method is provided for analyzing a 2-dimensiαnal gel. The method comprises receiving a first image of a gel based on a first protein sample labeled with a first fluorophore, receiving a second image of the gel based on a second protein sample labeled with a second fluorophore, applying linear normalization to image intensity values of the second image to provide a linear normalized image, and comparing image intensity values of the linear normalized image from image intensity values of the first image to provide a compared image. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100046814 | Method for Mass Candidate Detection and Segmentation in Digital Mammograms - A basic component of Computer-Aided Detection systems for digital mammography comprises generating candidate mass locations suitable for further analysis. A component is described that relies on filtering either the background image or the complementary foreground mammographic detail by a purely signal processing method on the one hand or a processing method based on a physical model on the other hand. The different steps of the signal processing approach consist of band-pass filtering the image by one or more band pass filters, multidimensional clustering, iso-contouring of the distance to centroid of the one or more filtered values, and finally candidate generation and segmentation by contour processing. The physics-based approach also filters the image to retrieve a fat-corrected image to model the background of the breast, and the resulting image is subjected to a blob detection filter to model the intensity bumps on the foreground component of the breast that are associated with mass candidates. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100046815 | MODEL-BASED CORONARY CENTERLINE LOCALIZATION - The invention relates to a system ( | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100046816 | METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC CLASSIFICATION OF IN VIVO IMAGES - A method for automatically detecting a post-duodenal boundary in an image stream of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The image stream is sampled to obtain a reduced set of images for processing. The reduced set of images is filtered to remove non-valid frames or non-valid portions of frames, thereby generating a filtered set of valid images. A polar representation of the valid images is generated. Textural features of the polar representation are processed to detect the post-duodenal boundary of the GI tract. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100054554 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE ANALYSIS OF DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING DATA - A system and method for analyzing three-dimensional image data are disclosed herein. The system includes a processor configured to generate an overview image of at least a portion of a patient. The processor is configured to generate a cross-sectional image including a cross-sectional view of the overview image. The processor is also configured to generate a statistical image showing a parameter value relating to the portion of the patient shown in the overview image. The system also includes a visual output device connected to the processor. The visual output device is configured to display the overview image, the cross-sectional image, and the statistical image generally simultaneously. Also, the overview image, the cross-sectional image, and the statistical image are interconnected such that an update, change, or input applied to any one of the images results in an update to one or more of the other images. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100054555 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR USE OF IMAGE RECOGNITION FOR HANGING PROTOCOL DETERMINATION - Certain embodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems for determining a hanging or display protocol to display an image study. Certain embodiments provide a method for determining a protocol for display of an image study. The method includes comparing at least one query image from an image study to a database of reference images to identify at least one resultant image. The method additionally includes extracting one or more characteristics from the at least one resultant image. The method also includes applying a series of filters to a set of display protocols based on the one or more characteristics to determine a subset of the set of display protocols, at least one of the series of filters including an image recognition filter. The method further includes providing a display protocol from the subset of the set of display protocols for display of the image study. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100054556 | SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR APPLYING IMAGE PRESENTATION CONTEXT FUNCTIONS TO IMAGE SUB-REGIONS - System and methods for applying image presentation context functions to image sub-regions are disclosed. An example method includes displaying a first medical image in a user interface, receiving a selection of a first image sub-region within the first medical image, receiving a selection of a first image presentation context function and a selection of an amount of a parameter of the first image presentation context function for the selected first image sub-region, applying the received first image presentation context function by the amount of the received parameter of the first image presentation context function to the received first image sub-region, and displaying the first sub-region with the applied first image presentation context function within the first medical image. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100054557 | Apparatus for aiding photographing of medical image and computer program product for the same - An apparatus for aiding photographing of a medical image, including an image acquiring device for acquiring a medical image obtained by radiation-photographing of a part including a diagnosis target region of a test subject; a positioning evaluating device for analyzing the acquired medical image and evaluating positioning of the test subject at a time of the radiation-photographing; a positioning cautions creating device for creating positioning cautions based on an evaluation result by the positioning evaluating device; and a positioning cautions presenting device for presenting the positioning cautions created by the positioning cautions creating device. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100054558 | Method and Apparatus for Generating Virtual Teeth, and Recording Media Storing Program Performing the Method - The present invention relates to a recording medium a method and an apparatus for generating virtual teeth and recording media storing a program performing the method. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for generating virtual teeth includes (a) acquiring a tooth image having three-dimensional information from teeth including a damaged tooth; (b) determining an image of a virtual tooth to be inserted into a position of the damaged tooth in a tooth image library having predetermined three-dimensional information and inserting the determined virtual tooth image into the acquired tooth image; and (c) modifying the virtual tooth image by considering tooth images positioned at upper and lower sides or right and left sides of the virtual tooth image. According to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to produce a prosthesis most suitable for the state of patient's teeth only once and an operator can minimize post-processing of the produced prosthesis. Further, a patient can minimize a clinic time and decrease the number of times of hospital visits. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100054559 | IMAGE GENERATION BASED ON LIMITED DATA SET - A method, signal processor, device, and system for estimating a parametric or functional image | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100054560 | BREAST CANCER PATHOLOGICAL IMAGE DIAGNOSIS SUPPORT SYSTEM, BREAST CANCER PATHOLOGICAL IMAGE DIAGNOSIS SUPPORT METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM RECORDING BREAST CANCER PATHOLOGICAL IMAGE DIAGNOSIS SUPPORT PROGRAM - A breast cancer pathological image diagnosis support system for supporting a diagnosis of breast cancer based on a pathological image is provided. The breast cancer pathological image diagnosis support system includes an image obtaining unit which obtains an HE-stained image and an IHC image as pathological images to be diagnosed; an information obtaining unit which obtains information of a tumor area in the HE-stained image; a matching unit which calculates a matching position of the HE-stained image and the IHC image obtained by the image obtaining unit; a specifying unit which specifies a tumor area in the IHC image based on the information of the tumor area in the HE-stained image obtained by the information obtaining unit and information of the matching position calculated by the matching unit; and a calculating unit which calculates a staining positive cell content rate in the tumor area based on information of the tumor area in the IHC image specified by the specifying unit. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100061603 | SPATIALLY VARYING 2D IMAGE PROCESSING BASED ON 3D IMAGE DATA - It is described a 2D image processing of an object under examination in particular for enhancing the visualization of an image composition between the 2D image and a 3D image. Thereby, (a) a first dataset representing a 3D image of the object is acquired, (b) a second dataset representing the 2D image of the object is acquired, (c) the first dataset and the second dataset are registered and (d) the 2D image is processed. Thereby, based on image information of the 3D image, within the 2D image processing there is at least identified a first region ( | 03-11-2010 |
| 20100061604 | MEDICAL SYSTEMS AND METHODS - This disclosure generally relates to medical systems and methods. In one aspect of the invention, a method includes determining a fluorescent light intensity at one or more points on each of multiple recorded images, and producing an image based on the determined fluorescent light intensity at the one or more points. | 03-11-2010 |
| 20100061605 | ANALYZING LARGE DATA SETS USING A COMPUTER SYSTEM - A method and/or system for making determinations regarding samples from biologic sources. A computer implemented method and/or system can be used to automate parts of the analysis. | 03-11-2010 |
| 20100061606 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DATA DEPENDENT MULTI PHASE VISUALIZATION - A method and system for data dependent multi phase image visualization, includes: acquiring a plurality of series of image data acquisitions; registering the plurality of series of image data acquisitions to a same reference series to create a plurality of registered series; combining information from the registered series to create a new series; creating a further new series by a selection decision based on combination rules from information from the plurality of registered series and the new series; and displaying the further new series. | 03-11-2010 |
| 20100061607 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING AMOUNT OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL TO ADMINISTER TO A PATIENT - In one embodiment, a computerized system and method are provided for determining an optimum amount of radioactivity to administer to a patient, comprising: assuming an activity retention limit; utilizing the activity retention limit to determine a dose rate for a phantom category; utilizing the dose rate for the phantom category to determine the dose rate for a second phantom category; and utilizing the dose rate for a second phantom category to find information regarding the second phantom category. In other embodiments, a computerized system and method are provided for determining an optimum amount of radioactivity to administer to a patient, comprising: obtaining at least one image relating to anatomy of a particular patient; obtaining multiple images regarding radioactivity distribution over time in the particular patient; combining the radioactivity images with the anatomy images; running a Monte Carlo simulation to obtain dose image information; and using the dose image information to obtain BED and/or EUD information. | 03-11-2010 |
| 20100061608 | Medical Image Data Processing and Interventional Instrument Identification System - A system processes pixel representative image data of medical images of patient anatomy to automatically identify an interventional instrument. The system includes an acquisition processor that receives pixel luminance data comprising multiple sequential medical images of a patient anatomical portion and luminance data of an individual image comprises multiple pixel luminance representative values of multiple individual pixels of the individual image. An image data processor detects and subtracts background image data from the pixel luminance data comprising the multiple sequential medical images to provide processed pixel luminance data comprising multiple processed sequential medical images. The image data processor computes gradient components of individual pixels of the processed pixel luminance data. The image data processor modifies the computed gradient component data by suppressing computed gradient components lacking symmetry about an interventional instrument width dimension and filters the modified computed gradient component data for use in providing image representative data showing the interventional instrument. | 03-11-2010 |
| 20100067753 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR IMAGING A BLOOD VESSEL - A method for imaging a blood vessel ( | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100067754 | COMPUTER-AIDED DETECTION AND CLASSIFICATION OF SUSPICIOUS MASSES IN BREAST IMAGERY - Methods, a system, and a computer readable medium are presented that detect and classify mass-like regions exhibiting spiculated and/or dense characteristics with high sensitivity and at acceptable false positive rates. One or more suspicious masses are identified in medical imagery of the breast. In accordance with certain embodiments, for each suspicious mass located, a quantitative measure of spiculation and quantitative measure of density are computed. At least one classification scheme is then selected for each suspicious mass according to both quantitative measures. Each classification scheme is developed using true positives and false positives with similar quantitative measures. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100067755 | REGISTRATION OF ELECTROANATOMICAL MAPPING POINTS TO CORRESPONDING IMAGE DATA - A method for identifying a structure in a volume of interest is provided. The method comprises acquiring a plurality of points related to the structure in a continuous mode, and subsequently registering at least one of the points to a previously acquired imaging dataset of the structure. An apparatus, system and a computer-readable medium are also provided. The present invention provides faster acquisition of EAM points by modifying the mapping system so that catheter tip locations are automatically and continuously recorded without requiring explicit navigation to and annotation of fiducial landmarks on the endocardium. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100067756 | IMAGING TRAY WITH MEDIUM DISPOSED THEREIN - The attenuation and other optical properties of a medium are exploited to measure a thickness of the medium between a sensor and a target surface. Disclosed herein are various mediums, arrangements of hardware, and processing techniques that can be used to capture these thickness measurements and obtain three-dimensional images of the target surface in a variety of imaging contexts. This includes general techniques for imaging interior/concave surfaces as well as exterior/convex surfaces, as well as specific adaptations of these techniques to imaging ear canals, human dentition, and so forth. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100067757 | IMAGE ACQUISITION APPARATUS AND BIOMETRIC INFORMATION ACQUISITION APPARATUS - An image acquisition apparatus includes an image pickup device that includes a plurality of pixels, and a filter layer that blocks propagation of an incident light ray which comes from an object side to the pixel side in accordance with an increase in incident angle of the incident light ray. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100067758 | Point Spread Function Radial Component Implementation in Joseph's Forward Projector - Point spread function (PSF) radial filtering in a line of response space. Modeling a radial component, R, of a point spread filter as a function of at least a radial projection index ρ, a radial image space coordinate r, and an azimuth θ. The index ρ is characterized by an asymmetrical Gaussian distribution having where σleft(r) and σright(r) derived from point source measurements, and an adjustment σ | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100067759 | System and Method for Remote Navigation of a Specimen - A method of providing remote navigation of a specimen includes receiving a command to remotely control a microscope and a camera coupled with the microscope to view a portion of a specimen disposed on the microscope, capturing a digital image of the portion with the camera in response to the command, representing the digital image as a plurality of digital image components, each of the digital image components providing a different level of detail of the image, and transmitting the components in sequential order of increasing level of detail from least detailed to most detailed. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100074480 | DEVICE FOR GENERATING ALTERNATIVE OF NORMAL BRAIN DATABASE | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100074481 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ANALYZING GROWTH OF COMPUTER DETECTED PATTERNS ON DIGITAL MEDICAL IMAGES - Methods and systems are provided for displaying the change in size of a CAD identified pattern over time. Patterns on medical images stored in a medical imaging database are identified and measured using a CAD system. A user interface provides users with access to the medical images stored in imaging database via a network. A medical image belonging to a patient historical exam category and having at least one CAD identified pattern is displayed to a user via the user interface. The size of the CAD identified image pattern and the medical exam date associated with the medical image is compiled for each of the medical images belonging to the patient historical exam category. A graphic is then generated showing the sizes of the CAD identified image pattern and the medical exam dates associated with the medical image. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100074482 | Method for detecting bio signal features in the presence of noise - A computer-based method for detecting features in a digitally sampled biological (bio) signal includes the steps of applying a wavelet transform to the bio signal to generate a list of wavelet transform coefficients, ranking the coefficients according to value or frequency, and removing at least one low value or low frequency coefficient. The method further includes the steps of performing an inverse wavelet transform using the remaining coefficients to generate a reconstructed signal, and detecting feature locations using the reconstructed signal. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100074483 | Imaging System for Compensating for Mask Frame Misalignment - An imaging system compensates for mask frame misalignment with non-mask frames in an image sequence of patient anatomy. The system includes an image data processor. The image data processor determines a compensation zoom factor for individual image frames of an image sequence of an object of interest in response to data indicating distance between the object and a radiation detector for the individual image frames. The processor then associates individual zoom factors with corresponding individual image frames of the image sequence. The individual zoom factors associated with corresponding individual image frames of the image sequence are stored in a repository. An individual determined zoom factor is applied to align an associated corresponding image frame with a mask frame to provide an aligned image frame. Data representing an image difference frame, comprising a difference between data representing the aligned image frame and a mask frame, is determined. A user interface generates data representing a display image presenting the image difference frame. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100074484 | IMAGE COMPRESSION METHOD, IMAGE COMPRESSION DEVICE, AND MEDICAL NETWORK SYSTEM - Volume data ( | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100074485 | CARDIAC PHASE DETERMINATION - For the reconstruction of the coronary arteries from rotational coronary angiography data, a crucial point is the selection of the optimal cardiac phase for data reconstruction. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an automatic approach for deriving optimal reconstruction windows is provided by fully automatically selecting the optimal cardiac phase on the basis of a delayed acquisition protocol where at least one heart phase needs to be acquired in a static projection geometry. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100074486 | RECONSTRUCTION AND VISUALIZATION OF NEURONAL CELL STRUCTURES WITH BRIGHT-FIELD MOSAIC MICROSCOPY - A method of reconstructing an image of a neuronal cell structure from a recorded image includes an image stack of image layers recorded with a bright field microscope, including forming a corrected image by deconvoluting the recorded image, wherein deconvoluting includes applying a linear deconvolution to the image stack on the basis of a point spread function of the bright field microscope, which point spread function is calculated on the basis of measured features of the bright field microscope, and extracting a cell structure image from the corrected image. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100074487 | CARDIAC FUNCTION DISPLAY APPARATUS AND PROGRAM THEREFOR - Using first voxel data of a three-dimensional medical image obtained by photographing a subject, a functional image representing a function of a heart in at least one position is generated, and using a portion of second voxel data of a three-dimensional medical image obtained by photographing the subject corresponding to an area which includes a blood vessel along an outer myocardial wall of the heart, a morphological image depicting morphology of the blood vessel is generated. Then, the functional image and the morphological image are displayed in a superimposing manner such that at least one position of the heart in the functional image corresponds to at least one position of the heart in the morphological image. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100074488 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - A plurality of sets each including part information representing a human body part and a schema image serving as the schematic view of the human body part are held. A captured image representing the interior of the body of a patient is acquired. Hierarchical structure information is acquired, which contains part information globally representing a part corresponding to a designated portion on the captured image and part information locally representing the part corresponding to the designated portion. A set including the part information contained in the hierarchical structure information is acquired. A schema image included in the acquired set is output. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100074489 | FOCUSABLE VIRTUAL MICROSCOPY APPARATUS AND METHOD - A virtual microscope slide includes images of a specimen for a given level of optical magnification which are associated and stored in a data structure. The forming of the data structure having the multiple Z-plane images preferably includes automatically focusing at a principal reference focal plane and capturing and digitizing an optically magnified reference Z-image and then shifting the specimen relative to the lens system by a predetermined increment to capture and digitize another Z-plane image. Preferably, a multiple sequence of Z-plane images above and below the reference image and captured and digitized. For ease of retrieval and use, each reference image has its associated Z-plane images are formed in a stack that is sent over the Internet, or Intranet to a local computer storage for quick retrieval when a viewer wants to mimic a focusing up or down to better view a detail in an image. Thus, the resultant images are retrieved and displayed such that a virtual focusing capability is available to the user. The images can be formed with overlapping fields of depth, adjacent fields of depth, or wholly separated fields of depth. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100074490 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND X-RAY COMPUTER TOMOGRAPHY APPARATUS - An image processing apparatus includes a storage unit which stores the data of a plurality of images including an examination target organ of an object, a reference point determining unit which determines, from each of the images, a reference point which is located in or near a region of the examination target organ and undergoes a relatively small displacement accompanying respiratory motion or, heartbeat, and a moving amount calculation unit which determines the position of each of a plurality of points of interest included in the region of the examination target organ relative to the reference point for each of the images, and calculates, based on the determined positions, moving amounts that corresponding points of interest between the images move accompanying the respiratory motion or the heartbeat. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100074491 | COMPUTER-AIDED CLASSIFICATION OF ANOMALIES IN ANATOMICAL STRUCTURES - Candidate anomalies in an anatomical structure are processed for classification. For example, false positives can be reduced by techniques related to the anomaly's neck, wall thickness associated with the anomaly, template matching performed for the anomaly, or some combination thereof. The various techniques can be combined for use in a classifier, which can determine whether the anomaly is of interest. For example, a computed tomography scan of a colon can be analyzed to determine whether a candidate anomaly is a polyp. The technologies can be applied to a variety of other scenarios involving other anatomical structures. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100080426 | METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING IMPLANTED RECONSTRUCTIVE PROSTHETIC DEVICES - A method for identifying implanted reconstructive prosthetic devices comprising obtaining a digital radiographic image of a prosthetic implant that has been implanted in a person or animal for which the manufacturer and/or model is unknown; allowing a user to enter into a computer metadata relating to the implant for use as metadata feature values; cleaning up the unknown implant image; rotating, flipping and/or scaling the unknown implant image; extracting features from the unknown implant image according to one or more feature extraction algorithms; and comparing the metadata and extracted feature values for the unknown implant image to feature values for other implant images according to a comparison algorithm to create an overall likelihood score for each of the other implant images. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100080427 | Systems and Methods for Machine Learning Based Hanging Protocols - Certain embodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems for determining a hanging protocol for display of clinical images in a study. Certain embodiments provide a method for determining a hanging protocol for clinical image display. The method includes capturing one or more high level characteristics for an image study based on relationships between images in the study. The method also includes identifying one or more low level characteristics for individual images in the image study. The method further includes classifying the image study based on a combination of the high level characteristics and the low level characteristics. The method additionally includes determining a hanging protocol for the image study based on the classifying. The method includes providing the hanging protocol for display of images in the image study. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100080428 | Method for evaluating at least one image data record - A method is disclosed for evaluating at least one image data record, in particular a magnetic resonance image data record, of a region of a patient including at least one joint. In at least one embodiment of the method, at least one image data record of the region is first of all recorded, the image data record is segmented with respect to at least one mechanically relevant component of the joint in order to determine segmentation information, a patient movement model is generated on the basis of the segmentation information and/or the patient movement model is selected from a database of movement models, and joint information relating to the motions of the joint is determined from the patient movement model. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100086181 | Method and system for surgical modeling - A method of surgical modeling is disclosed. A set of related two-dimensional (2D) anatomical images is displayed. A plurality of anatomical landmarks is identified on the set of related 2D anatomical images. A three-dimensional (3D) representation of at least one prosthesis is scaled to match a scale of the 2D anatomical images based at least in part on a relationship between the anatomical landmarks. 3D information from the at least one prosthesis along with information based on at least one of the plurality of anatomical landmarks is utilized to create procedure-based information. A system for surgical modeling is also disclosed. The system has a prosthesis knowledge-based information system, a patient anatomical-based information system, a user interface, and a controller. The controller has an anatomical landmark identifier, a prosthesis-to-anatomical-feature relator, and a procedure modeler. | 04-08-2010 |
| 20100086182 | DIAGNOSTIC IMAGE PROCESSING WITH AUTOMATIC SELF IMAGE QUALITY VALIDATION - A method for medical diagnostic image processing obtains digital image data for a diagnostic image and extracts one or more image features from the image data, obtaining one or more image properties from the one or more extracted features. An image quality aim is obtained for rendered image appearance according to one or more stored viewer preferences. Rendering parameters are generated according to the obtained image quality aim and the one or more obtained image properties. The image is rendered according to the generated rendering parameters and the rendering validated against the selected image quality aim. | 04-08-2010 |
| 20100086183 | TREATMENT PLAN EVALUATION IN RADIOTHERAPY BY STOCHASTIC ANALYSIS OF DELINEATION UNCERTAINTY - The present application is directed to the idea of using sampling techniques to propagate segmentation uncertainty in order to evaluate variability in radiation planning. A radiotherapy planning apparatus ( | 04-08-2010 |
| 20100086184 | Method for Automatic Quality Control of Data in In-Vivo Images - A method for quality control assessment in single time-point in-vivo imaging data related to imaging of objects, includes acquiring an in-vivo image of the object with imaging apparatus, defining a background image corresponding to an imaged air of the in-vivo image, defining an object image corresponding to the in-vivo image from which the background image has been removed, obtaining the background and object images by atlas-based registration, reflecting an intensity distribution of the background image with a histogram, fitting a noise mathematical model to part of the histogram intensity distribution, deriving background quality characteristics from the noise mathematical model, reflecting an intensity distribution of the object image with a further histogram, fitting a signal mathematical model to the further histogram intensity distribution, deriving object quality characteristics from the signal mathematical model, and automatically deriving signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratios of in-vivo imaging data from the object quality and background quality characteristics. | 04-08-2010 |
| 20100092049 | Method of Precision Eye-Tracking Through Use of Iris Edge Based Landmarks in Eye Geometry - In the field of eye tracking, greater accuracy or resolution in monitoring movement of the eye can be gained by digitizing the eye, and tracking the movement of a landmark with fixed size and a fixed location relative to the eye's local coordinate system. The edge of the iris can be used as such a fixed landmark. Through the location and or establishment of at least a portion of the outer edge of the iris and/or an iris center point, both large and small scale eye movements, including but not limited to micro-tremors, can be traced with a higher degree of accuracy. This will aid in the diagnosis of diseases, assessing state of consciousness, and defining brainstem death. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20100092050 | METHOD OF PROCESSING A RADON DATA BASED IMAGE FUNCTION AND IMAGING METHOD - An image processing method for providing a digitized image as an approximation of an image function ƒ, wherein the digitized image comprises a plurality of pixels with a predetermined pixel size, comprises the steps of providing the image function ƒ from Radon data comprising a plurality of projection functions measured corresponding to a plurality of predetermined projection directions (ν), and determining pixel values from the image function, the pixel values representing the digitized image to be obtained, wherein the pixel values are determined in dependence on at least two image function values within the pixel size of the respective pixel. Furthermore, an imaging method and an imaging device using the image processing method are described. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20100092051 | METHODS OF ANALYZING AND CORRECTING MEDICAL IMAGING DATA - In a method and apparatus for analyzing and correcting medical imaging data of a subject, an image data set is obtained from a scan of the subject at a first time point with respect to a defined time origin. A measurement of a time-dependent variable is then determined for the data set, and an estimated value for the time-dependent variable at an estimate time point is extrapolated from the data set. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20100092052 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ANALYZING MEDICAL IMAGING DATA - In a method and apparatus for analyzing medical imaging data of a subject from an imaging modality using a tracer, data from detection of tracer emission events at least one region of a scanned imaging volume are obtained, and the data processed to establish sub-periods or time points within a scan period for the emission events. A rate of change of emission events per unit time for a given region is then calculated, for example by obtaining a number of emission events in each sub-period in the given region, and fitting a line through the values for the sub-periods. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20100092053 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSOR AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - A medical image processor includes: an extraction unit configured to extract a longitudinal line from three-dimensional volume data for a medical image, the longitudinal line representing how a tubular structure runs; a longitudinal cross-sectional image generator configured to generate multiple longitudinal cross-sectional images extending along the longitudinal line, the longitudinal cross-sectional images being cross-sectional images of the tubular structure; a short-axis cross-sectional image generator configured to generate multiple short-axis cross-sectional images intersecting the longitudinal line, the short-axis cross-sectional images being cross-sectional images of the tubular structure; a structure element detector configured to detect a specific structural element of the tubular structure from each of the plurality of short-axis cross-sectional images; and a correction unit configured to correct the specific structural element detected from each of the multiple short-axis cross-sectional images on a basis of the multiple longitudinal cross-sectional images. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20100092054 | Method and Apparatus for Endoscopic Examination of Lesions - An apparatus is provided, which utilizes an adjustment platform for supporting a subject during the endoscopic examination. Additionally, a method for performing an endoscopic examination is also provided in which an endoscope is inserted into a subject and the endoscope is maintained at a generally fixed position while the position of the subject is adjusted to advance the endoscope into the subject. Further still, a method is provided for estimating the size of sample tissue using an endoscope and a reference element. Based on known parameters of the reference element, the size of the area being examined can be estimated. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20100092055 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM PRODUCT, AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - An image processing apparatus includes a suspected-lesion-region extracting unit that extracts a suspected lesion region from an in-vivo image that is obtained by taking an image of inside of body; a groove determining unit that determines whether the suspected lesion region is a region corresponding to a shadow of a groove that is formed between in-vivo organ walls; and a lesion-region extracting unit that extracts a lesion region using the suspected lesion region and a result of determination by the groove determining unit. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20100098305 | MULTI-IMAGE CORRELATION - A technique for registering multiple image representations relating to a common region of interest may involve producing multiple displacements from the image representations for a key point. A final displacement for the key point may be determined from correlations of the multiple displacements. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100098306 | MALIGNANCY DIAGNOSIS USING CONTENT - BASED IMAGE RETREIVAL OF TISSUE HISTOPATHOLOGY - This invention relates to computer-aided diagnostics using content-based retrieval of histopathological image features. Specifically, the invention relates to the extraction of image features from a histopathological image based on predetermined criteria and their analysis for malignancy determination. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100098307 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING OBJECTS OF INTEREST IN SOCCER VIDEO BY COLOR - A method is disclosed for detecting and locating players in soccer video frames without errors caused by artifacts by a shape analysis-based approach to identify the players and the ball from roughly extracted foregrounds obtained by color segmentation and connected component analysis, by performing a Euclidean distance transform to extract skeletons for every foreground blob, by performing a shape analysis to remove false alarms (non-players and non-ball), and then by performing skeleton pruning and a reverse Euclidean distance transform to cut-off the artifacts primarily caused by playing field lines. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100098308 | Pulmonary Emboli Detection with Dynamic Configuration Based on Blood Contrast Level - A method for automatically detecting pulmonary embolism (PE) candidates within medical image data using an image processing device includes administering radiocontrast into a patient. A sequence of computed tomography (CT) images is acquired. A level of radiocontrast at a pulmonary artery trunk of the patient is determined. One or more PE candidates are detected within a pulmonary artery tree of the patient based on the determined level of radiocontrast at the pulmonary artery trunk. The one or more detected PE candidates are displayed. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100104148 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING SPICULATED MASSES IN MAMMOGRAPHY - A method and apparatus detects one or more spiculated masses in an image using a processor. The image is received in the processor. The received image is filtered using one or more Gaussian filters to detect one or more central mass regions. The received image is also filtered using one or more spiculated lesion filters to detect where the one or more spiculated masses converge. In addition, the received image is filtered using one or more Difference-of-Gaussian filters to suppress one or more linear structures. An enhanced image showing the detected spiculated masses is created by combining an output from all of the filtering steps. The enhanced image is then provided to an output of the processor. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100104149 | IMAGING OF A TURBID MEDIUM - An imaging system for imaging a turbid medium comprises a radiation source to illuminate an object to be imaged. A detection system to detect radiation from the object to produce a plurality of detected radiation levels at respective positions relative to the object. A distinction is made between (i) a central radiation component having passed mainly through an inner region of the object and (ii) a boundary radiation component having passed mainly through a boundary region of the object. On the basis of a comparison of the central radiation component and the boundary radiation component the optical properties, notably optical scattering and optical absorption are derived. From the detected radiation from the object and the optical properties an image of the interior or the object is reconstructed. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100104150 | MEASUREMENT OF GEOMETRIC QUANTITIES INTRINSIC TO AN ANATOMICAL SYSTEM - A method for measuring geometric quantities intrinsic to an anatomical system of a patient, based on two stereoscopic images. Registration data are received on each of the two stereoscopic images. By using geometric calibration information, a three-dimensional geometric primitive is determined defined by at least a portion of the received registration data. Based on the three-dimensional geometric primitive, a value of geometric quantity intrinsic to the anatomical system is computed. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100104151 | Method for Deriving Amount of Dense Tissue from Mammographic Image - A region of interest in the image is determined and for each pixel in each location (x,y) in that region of interest a value h | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100104152 | AUTOMATIC VASCULAR TREE LABELING - A method to label a vascular tree from an image of an organ or group of organs that is acquired by a medical imaging device. The method includes generating at least one vascular tree model of a determined organ including a database of labels corresponding to each branch of the vascular tree models. The method also includes determining an acquired vascular tree of the organ or group of organs by segmenting the previously acquired image. The method also includes comparing the acquired vascular tree with the vascular tree model(s) of said organ or group of organs. The method also includes displaying the acquired vascular tree and the labels corresponding to the vascular tree model having the closest similarity with the acquired vascular tree. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100104153 | ITERATIVE PROCESSING - A regional redefiner redefines a bounding area in sets of chromatographic/mass spectroscopic images. The redefiner defines and localizes peaks in the images which point to a common feature of interest. A redefined bounding area locates other peaks associated with the feature of interest. Peaks can be iteratively identified and extracted using constituent images or a composite image formed as a combination of a set of constituent images. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100104154 | Computerized Detection of Breast Cancer on Digital Tomosynthesis Mamograms - A method for using computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) for digital tomosynthesis mammograms (DTM) including retrieving a DTM image file having a plurality of DTM image slices; applying a three-dimensional analysis to the DTM image file to detect lesion candidates; identifying a volume of interest and locating its center; segmenting the volume of interest by a three dimensional method; extracting one or more object characteristics from the object corresponding to the volume of interest; and determining if the object corresponding to the volume of interest is a breast lesion or normal breast tissue. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100104155 | METHOD FOR DETECTION OF LINEAR STRUCTURES AND MICROCALCIFICATIONS IN MAMMOGRAPHIC IMAGES - A method for linear structure detection in mammographic images, comprising: locating a plurality of microcalcification candidate clusters in digital mammographic images; extracting a region of interest that encloses each of the candidate clusters; processing the region of interest to generate feature points that reveal geometric properties in the region; applying a line detection algorithm to the feature points to produce a line model; and analyzing the line model to determine whether a true linear structure is present in the first region of interest. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100104156 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - The medical image processing apparatus of the present invention includes: a three-dimensional model estimating section that estimates a three-dimensional model based on a two-dimensional image; a local region setting section that sets a plurality of local regions around a target pixel in the two-dimensional image; a shape feature value calculating section that uses three-dimensional coordinate data corresponding to the plurality of local regions and calculates shape feature values of respective voxels corresponding to the target pixel; a shape feature value selecting section that selects, as a shape feature value of a voxel corresponding to the target pixel, a shape feature value calculated according to one local region including an optimum three-dimensional coordinate data amount among the plurality of shape feature values; and an elevated shape detecting section that detects an elevated shape existing in the two-dimensional image based on a selection result of the shape feature value selecting section. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100119127 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AUTOMATED EXTRACTION OF HIGH-CONTENT INFORMATION FROM WHOLE ORGANISMS - Systems and methods for extracting information about an organism of interest, generally comprising, an atlas of the organism of interest; a storage device for at least temporarily storing an image of the organism of interest; and an operating device that automatically creates a map of the image of the organism of interest and automatically compares the map of the image to the atlas of the organism. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100119128 | CANCER DIAGNOSTIC METHOD AND SYSTEM - A method and system for classifying tissue suspected of being abnormal as being malignant or benign. The method includes generating a set of selection features, performing statistical applications to generate additional selection features, generating a feature vector for the abnormal tissue, feeding the feature vector into a neural network, and obtaining a result from the neural network as to whether the abnormal tissue is malignant or benign. The method and system may be used for determining the presence of breast cancer. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100119129 | Image processing method, image processing apparatus, and image processing program - Regions outside the surfaces of subject's bodies being emphasized is prevented when generating pseudo three dimensional medical images. An image processing apparatus is equipped with: an image obtaining section, for obtaining a plurality of medical images that represent transverse sections of a subject, which has been imaged in advance; a region classifying section, for classifying regions within each of the plurality of medical images as being one of a subject region that represents the interior of the surface of the subject's body, and a non subject region that represents the exterior of the surface of the subject's body; and a pseudo three dimensional medical image generating section, for generating a pseudo three dimensional medical image by executing an intensity projection method based on image information that represents the plurality of regions which are classified as being subject regions. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100119130 | BIOLOGICAL SIGNAL DRAWING APPARATUS AND BIOLOGICAL SIGNAL DRAWING METHOD - A biological signal drawing apparatus draws biological signals as drawing points in time series. The biological signal drawing apparatus includes: a thinner performing a thinning process to thin a first number of the drawing points corresponding to the biological signals sampled in each pixel zone, to obtain a second number of the drawing points for each pixel zone, the second number being smaller than the first number; a calculator, after the thinning process is performed, calculating a parameter based on at least one difference of values of adjacent two of the drawing points included in a group that includes: a first drawing point being a center in time series in the group and having a first value; and at least one second drawing point preceding or succeeding the first drawing point in time series and having a second value; and a processor performing a process of: performing a weighted moving average calculation using the first value, the second value and the calculated parameter, to obtain a third value; and replacing the first value with the third value. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100119131 | EXPERT SYSTEM AND METHOD WITH REGISTRY FOR INTERPRETING ADVANCED VISUALIZATION IMAGES - An expert system for interpreting advanced visualization images aids physicians in interpretation. A reading physician can enter any of thousands of commonly-occurring findings. An embodiment finds application in interpreting Cardiac CT Angiography. The expert program includes a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows the physician to enter his findings, the software automatically formatting the findings as a patient record. The expert system performs a rule-based analysis of the findings, incorporating expert knowledge captured from experts in the field of CCTA interpretation. Registry-aided diagnosis queries a patient registry based on the findings and reports the result of the query back to the reading physician, providing valuable diagnostic guidance, greatly increasing accuracy of the diagnosis. The rulebase is continually updated, adding rules as scientific discoveries shed light on clusters of findings. As patient data is generated, the data is anonymized and transmitted to a central server for deposit in the registry. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100119132 | AGGLUTINATION IMAGE AUTOMATIC JUDGING METHOD BY MT SYSTEM, DEVICE, PROGRAM, AND RECORDING MEDIUM - The present invention include a method of determining an agglutination pattern type of a pattern formed in a reaction vessel, comprising setting a reference space based on one or a plurality of types of typical reaction images setting one or a plurality of types of unit regions in each of the reference spaces and determining a Mahalanobis distance for each unit region setting a threshold value from each of the Mahalanobis distances obtained setting one or a plurality of unit regions for a reaction image as an object image and determining the Mahalanobis distance, and (E) determining a pattern type for the object image by comparing the threshold value with the distances. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100119133 | DEVICE, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MOTILITY MEASUREMENT AND ANALYSIS - A device, system and method for motility measurement and analysis. For example, a system includes a processor to determine contractile activity within a body lumen based on an analysis of data received from an autonomous in-vivo device. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100119134 | Method of Segmenting Anatomic Entities in Digital Medical Images - For each of a number of landmarks in an image an initial position of the landmark is defined. Next a neighborhood around the initial position, comprising a number of candidate locations of the landmark is sampled and a cost is associated with each of the candidate locations. A cost function expressing a weighted sum of overall gray level cost and overall shape cost for all candidate locations is optimized. A segmented anatomic entity is defined as a path through a selected combination of candidate locations for which combination the cost function is optimized. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100124364 | ASSESSMENT OF BREAST DENSITY AND RELATED CANCER RISK - A method for assessing breast density executed at least in part by a computer system, identifies breast tissue from the electronic image data for at least one mammographic image, then performs an initial segmentation of fibroglandular tissue within the breast tissue according to at least one of gradient and uniformity data that is derived from the image data. The initial segmentation is refined using a pixel clustering process. A localized segmentation is obtained from the refined segmentation by generating and combining a density probability mapping and a homogeneity mapping from the image data. A percent density value for the at least one image is calculated and stored in a memory. | 05-20-2010 |
| 20100124365 | IMAGE DISPLAY DEVICE, COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM STORING IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM, AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - An image processing device includes a feature value calculating unit that calculates a color feature value of each pixel or each segment inside at least one of a series of images captured by an image pickup device while moving inside a gastrointestinal tract; a color feature value estimating unit that, based on data distribution of the color feature value of each pixel or each segment, estimates color feature value data representing mucous membrane and color feature value data representing gastrointestinal contents; and a discrimination boundary setting unit that, based on the estimated color feature value data, sets a color feature value discrimination boundary between mucous membrane and gastrointestinal contents. | 05-20-2010 |
| 20100128940 | METHOD OF AUTOMATIC EXTRACTION OF THE PULMONARY ARTERY TREE FROM 3D MEDICAL IMAGES - An automated method ( | 05-27-2010 |
| 20100128941 | Method and System of Motion Artefact Compensation in a Subject - A method of compensating for motion artefact of a portion of a subject, wherein signal intensity data representing movement of the portion of the subject is recorded and plotted on a display means. The method includes selecting a region of interest (ROI) covering an edge of the moving portion, calculating and plotting data points representing the average signal intensity of the selected ROI at specific time instances, producing a smoothed curve representing the mean of the plotted data points. The method further includes measuring the difference between the plotted data points and the smoothed curve at particular time instances to produce a difference curve, detecting a set of critical points on the difference curve, and interpolating the detected set of critical points to form a curve of equal time intervals for subsequent processing. | 05-27-2010 |
| 20100128942 | Systems and Methods for Automated Diagnosis - Certain embodiments of the present invention provide systems, methods and computer instructions for detecting a pathological condition of a vasculature. Certain embodiments provide a method for detecting a pathological condition of a vasculature. The method includes accessing imaging data indicative of the vasculature and having a data type, selecting a detection process corresponding to the data type from among a plurality of detection processes, each of the detection processes processing data of a different data type. The method also includes processing the imaging data having the data type with the selected detection process, and superimposing the processed imaging data on the imaging data indicative of the pathological condition of the vasculature. | 05-27-2010 |
| 20100128943 | MEDICAL IMAGE GENERATION APPARATUS, MEDICAL IMAGE STORAGE APPARATUS, MEDICAL IMAGE DISPLAY APPARATUS, AND MEDICAL IMAGE DISPLAY SYSTEM - A medical image generation apparatus including: a 4D image data generation unit generating 4D image data composed of a plurality of 3D image data blocks each having information indicating a number in chronological order of the 3D image data blocks using image information acquired by taking images of an object; and an image generation unit generating movie data composed of a plurality of 2D image data blocks generated from the plurality of 3D image data blocks constituting the four-dimensional image data and generating relevant information associating each of the two-dimensional image data blocks constituting the movie data with one of the 3D image data blocks which is the source of the 2D image data block. | 05-27-2010 |
| 20100128944 | CYTOLOGICAL IMAGING SYSTEMS AND METHODS - The present invention relates to the analysis of specimens. Specifically, the invention relates to methods and apparatus for reviewing specimen slides, including apparatus for holding the slides. The invention also relates to an automatic focusing method for an imaging system and methods for accommodating vibration in the imaging system. In particular, the methods and apparatus may be applied to the automated analysis of cytological specimen slides. | 05-27-2010 |
| 20100135543 | MEDICAL IMAGE VIEWING PROTOCOLS - A method, computer program and device for creating a viewing protocol for medical images is described. At least a first site of interest is identified in a medical imaging data set captured from the patient. Patient record data or computer assisted detection information can be used to identify the site of interest, which may be a potential lesion. A viewing protocol for displaying medical images to a user is planned. The viewing protocol includes a viewing path along which an image of the site of interest will be displayed. The viewing protocol also includes a trigger associated with the site of interest. When the trigger event is encountered the dynamic mode of image display is reconfigured to dynamically highlight the site of interest. The viewing protocol can then be used to control the display of images so as to provide, for example, a virtual endoscope. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100135544 | Method of registering images, algorithm for carrying out the method of registering images, a program for registering images using the said algorithm and a method of treating biomedical images to reduce imaging artefacts caused by object movement - In a method for registering biomedical images such as at least a first and a second digital or digitalized image or set of cross-sectional images of the same object, within the first image or set of images a certain number of landmarks, so called features are individuated by selecting a certain number of pixels or voxels. The position of each pixel or voxel selected as a feature is tracked from the first to the second image or set of images by determining the optical flow vector from the first to the second image or set of images for each pixel or voxel selected as a feature. Registration of the first and second images or set of images is carried out by applying the inverse optical flow to the pixels or voxels of the second image or set of images. The invention provides for an automatic trackable landmark selection step consisting in defining a pixel or voxel neighbourhood around each pixel or voxel of the first image or first set of cross-sectional images; for each target pixel or voxel determining one or more characteristic parameters which are calculated as a function of the parameters describing the appearance of the said target pixel or voxel and of each or a part of the pixels or voxels of the window and as a function of one or more characteristic parameters of either the numerical matrix or of a transformation of the said numerical matrix representing the pixels or voxels of the said window. The pixels or voxels coinciding with validly trackable landmarks are determined as a function of the said characteristic parameters of the target pixels or voxels. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100135545 | IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM - Disclosed are an image processing method, an image processing apparatus, and an image processing program which perform appropriate gradation processing in each brightness region while gradation continuity is maintained. The image processing apparatus which applies image processing including gradation conversion processing to image data, the image processing apparatus having: an image processing section for applying image processing to the image data based on each of a plurality of different gradation conversion processing characteristics, thereby generating a plurality of image-processed image data; a synthesis ratio calculating section for calculating the synthesis ratios of the plurality of image-processed image data by referencing image information of the image data prior to image processing; and a synthesis section for synthesizing the plurality of image-processed image data based on the synthesis ratios, thereby generating image data to be outputted. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100135546 | LANDMARK GUIDES FOR REGISTRATION OF MULTI-MODALITY MEDICAL IMAGES - Systems, methods and apparatus are provided through which in some implementations a graphical user interface and flexible workflow in specifying landmarks in medical image volumes reduces effort in aligning different medical images of the volume into a same geometrical position and shape. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100135547 | OPTICAL SECTIONING MICROSCOPY - Systems and methods for optical sectioning microscopy with structured illumination are provided. A light source generates a light beam with a spatial pattern for successively illuminating a sample at each phase of a plurality of phases. A detector detects a first set of images of the sample at a first axial resolution and a first lateral resolution, each image being associated with a respective phase of the plurality of phases of the illumination. A processor processes the first set of images to generate an enhanced sectioned image of the sample. More specifically, the processor generates data representing a second set of images at a second axial resolution greater than the first axial resolution; and subsequently, performs spectral analysis on the data representing the second set of images to form data representing the enhanced sectioned image of the sample at a second lateral resolution greater than the first lateral resolution. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100135548 | Medical Imaging System - The invention relates to a medical imaging system. First, a sequence of images (SQ) of an organ (HRT) is acquired. Then, a region of tissue (PT) on said sequence of images and a parameter (P) characteristic of the motion of said region of tissue (PT) are defined. A set of phases (PH) characteristic of a cardiac cycle based on said parameter (P) is then defined. Finally, a local myocardial performance index (LMPI) for said region of tissue (PTR) based on said set of phases (PH) is computed. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100135549 | VERTEBRAL FRACTURE PREDICTION - A method of processing data derived from an image of at least part of a spine is provided for estimating the risk of a future fracture in vertebrae of the spine. Position data relating to at least four neighbouring vertebrae of the spine is processed. The curvature of the spine at least two of the neighbouring vertebrae is calculated. The different curvature values are computed to obtain a value representative of the degree of irregularity in curvature of the spine and using the degree of irregularity, an estimate of the risk of a future fracture in vertebrae of the spine is provided. A higher degree of irregularity indicates a higher risk of future fracture. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100135550 | METHOD, DEVICE AND SYSTEM FOR THERMOGRAPHY - A method of determining an internal three-dimensional thermally distinguishable region in the living body is disclosed. The method comprises obtaining a synthesized thermospatial image defined over a three-dimensional spatial representation of the living body and having thermal data arranged gridwise over a surface of the three-dimensional spatial representation in a plurality of picture-elements each represented by a intensity value over the grid. The method further comprises searching over the grid for at least one set of picture-elements represented by generally similar intensity values. For at least a few sets of picture-elements, the method defines a plurality of loci, each locus being associated with at least a pair of picture-elements of the set and defined such that each point of the locus is at equal thermal distances from individual picture-elements of the pair. The plurality of loci is used for determining the internal three-dimensional thermally distinguishable region. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100135551 | CARDIAC CONTOUR PROPAGATION - The invention relates to a method for analyzing a multidimensional cardiac image set, the multidimensional cardiac image set comprising: a first image set of a heart; and a second image set of a heart, wherein the first image set is segmented resulting into respective first cardiac contours for each image within the first image set; and the second image set is segmented resulting into respective second cardiac contours for each image within the second image set, the method comprising: determining resulting cardiac contours for each image within the first image set and for each image within the second image set from the first cardiac contours and the second cardiac contours. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100135552 | Medical Imaging with Accessible Computer Assisted Detection - Computer assisted detection (CAD) is made accessible to more medical offices. The CAD is provided as a service. Customers gain access to CAD service through a computer network but without the purchase of expensive software and/or hardware. The customers use software for extracting needed patient data to use the CAD service. The CAD service provider uses a server farm or third party server facilities, allowing growth without as substantial upfront costs. The CAD service provider collects patient data by providing the service. The aggregated patient data allows training of different or improved CAD algorithms. The service also identifies suspect data, such as associated with incorrect imaging settings, and provides help to the customers. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100135553 | IMAGE-BASED CHARACTERIZATION OF IMPLANTED MEDICAL LEADS - The disclosure relates to image-based characterization of implanted medical leads used for electrical stimulation therapy. Characterization of implanted leads may include determination of lead configuration and lead orientation. The lead characterization techniques may make use of two-dimensional (2D) lead imaging in combination with known three-dimensional (3D) lead configuration data for various lead types. Lead characteristics determined from 2D lead imaging may be compared to lead dimensions calculated from known 3D lead characteristics to characterize implanted leads in terms of lead configuration and orientation. The lead characterization may be used to automatically determine or verify led configuration and orientation, and to aid in programming electrical stimulation therapy parameters. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100135554 | Method and Apparatus for Determining Medical Image Position - A method and a corresponding apparatus for determining a position in an image, in particular a medical image enables a reliable determination of positions of interest in images of a variety of structures by displaying a volume rendering of image data acquired from an object, in particular a patient, pointing at a structure of interest displayed in the volume rendering of the image data, generating a viewing ray profile comprising information characterizing a ray running through said structure of interest, selecting a contextual profile from various contextual profiles, each of said contextual profiles comprising a representative ray profile representing a viewing ray profile of a structure, in particular an anatomical structure, and comprising profile information, and determining a position within said structure of interest based on said profile information of said selected contextual profile in the case that the representative ray profile of said selected contextual profile is matching with at least a part of said viewing ray profile. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100135555 | IMAGE DISPLAY DEVICE AND X-RAY CT DEVICE - Normal region with inner wall of a lumen estimated to be normal is searched; in the normal region, a standard depth position is obtained along with the phased depth positions; a determination is made as to whether the pixel values of image data related to the phased depth positions are the pixel values of a tumor region estimated to be a tumor; when the pixel values are those of the tumor region, the deepest depth position of the tumor region is searched at each position of the inner wall of the lumen; the tumor region at each position of the inner wall of the lumen is identified for each of the deepest depth positions of the tumor region based on the tumor region searched at each position of the inner wall of the lumen and on information on the deepest depth positions of the tumor region. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100142772 | Method and Device for Intelligent Recognition of Microorganisms - The present invention discloses a method for intelligent recognition of microorganisms comprising the following steps: a. making a sample; b. microscopic imaging: putting the sample in a photosensitive imaging device, getting an image covering the space of the sample, and importing the image into a central processing unit; c. image processing: implementing preprocessing the image imported into the central processing unit, and getting the sample characteristic; d. recognizing and judging: choosing a microorganism module unit, and comparing the digital information of the unit with the sample characteristic to get the recognition result. The present invention also discloses a device used by the above mentioned method. The method and device provided by the present invention has high rate of detection accuracy, and the function in early diagnosis to reproductive system is very obvious. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100142773 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ACCURATELY MEASURING VERY SMALL VOLUME OF BLOOD - A method and system for accurately measuring a very small volume of blood is used for accurate evaluation of an amount (volume) of blood collected by a lancing device, evaluation of a scientific very small amount of blood, and so on. The method includes the steps of collecting the very small volume of blood, absorbing the very small volume of collected blood into an absorption medium, drying the absorption medium, scanning the dried absorption medium using an image scanner connected to a computer to obtain a digital image, and calculating the very small volume of blood from the digital image using an analysis program. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100142774 | METHOD, A SYSTEM, AND AN APPARATUS FOR USING AND PROCESSING MULTIDIMENSIONAL DATA - A method for analyzing a functional map of at least one tissue of a patient. The method comprises managing a plurality of functional maps each being associated with a plurality of first biological activity indications, receiving a functional map which is associated with a plurality of second biological activity indications, identifying a matching set of the managed functional maps by matching between the plurality of first and second biological activity indications, and using the matching set for a member of a group consisting of: an image data acquisition, a diagnosis of the received functional map, a classification of the received functional map. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100142775 | METHOD, APPARATUS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR ANALYSING MEDICAL IMAGE DATA - Medical image data is analysed to produce a biomarker. The data is filtered with a plurality of band-pass filters each having a different bandwidth. A texture parameter is then determined from the filtered data from each filter and the biomarker is determined as at a ratio of the texture parameters. When the biomarker is obtained from a CT image of a liver, it can be predictive of poor survival, disease extent and liver physiology of a patient following resection of colorectal cancer. When obtained from a mammographic image, the biomarker can be indicative of cancer invasion and receptor status within mammographic abnormalities. When obtained from a CT image of a lung nodule, the biomarker can be predictive of tumour stage (or grading) and tumour metabolism of a patient with non-small cell lung carcinoma (lung cancer). When obtained from an MRI image of the brain, the biomarker can be indicative of schizophrenia and/or other brain disorders. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100142776 | OBLIQUE CENTERLINE FOLLOWING DISPLAY OF CT COLONOGRAPHY IMAGES - A method for displaying colonography images includes presenting a series of oblique images of the colon at sequential locations along the colon centerline. Each image is generally centered on the centerline, presents a field of view generally perpendicular to the centerline, and is oriented with the bottom of the colon down. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100142777 | Method and Device for Evaluating Fluorescence Image Records - The invention relates to a method and a device for evaluating fluorescence partial images representing the same object region, independently of stray light. Two partial images of the objects are produced in the red and in the green by a camera ( | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100142778 | MOTION COMPENSATED IMAGE AVERAGING - A method is provided for averaging a sequence of image frames. A noise-reducing filter is applied to the image frames to generate filtered frames. A deconvolution filter is applied to the filtered frames to generate corresponding deconvolved frames. The filtered frames are transformed by an affine transformation to align them, generating aligned frames. The aligned frames are motion corrected by non-linear transformation based on intensity rank matching, generating a sequence of motion-corrected frames. The motion-corrected frames are averaged to generate a resultant frame. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100142779 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LOCATING A PHYSIOLOGICAL FEATURE OF INTEREST IN IMAGE DATA - In a method and apparatus for locating a physiological or anatomical feature of interest in image data of a subject, intensity projection line along a specified axis of an image volume of the image data is generated from the image data. The projection line is compared to at least one predetermined reference projection line for that specified axis, and the comparison is used to delineate an estimated feature region, containing the feature of interest, within the image volume. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100150412 | ADAPTIVE PARALLEL ARTIFACT MITIGATION - An ultrasound imaging system applies multi-line artifact mitigation during scanning and determines relative motion between the subject being scanned and a transducer array ( | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100150413 | ABNORMAL SHADOW CANDIDATE DETECTING METHOD AND ABNORMAL SHADOW CANDIDATE DETECTING DEVICE - To restrict the number of false positives at the time of detecting an abnormal shadow candidate to improve detecting accuracy and shorten a processing time when detecting an abnormal candidate. An image processing device produces image data (D | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100150414 | GENE EXPRESSION IMAGE CONSTRUCTING METHOD AND GENE EXPRESSION IMAGE CONSTRUCTING SYSTEM - The present invention aims to provide a gene expression image constructing method and a gene expression image constructing system being able to three-dimensionally show expression patterns of a vastly larger number of genes (specifically, about 30,000 genes). In the present invention, a sample is cut, images of sections of the cut sample are picked up and a stereoscopic image of sample, which is a three-dimensional image of the sample, is constructed based on a plurality of picked-up section images, the amount of expression of genes present in the sample is measured based on a plurality of slices prepared when the sample is cut, and a gene expression image in which an expression state of genes present in the sample and a stereoscopic image of sample are associated with each other is constructed based on a predetermined image reconstruction technique from the constructed stereoscopic image of sample and the measured amount of expression. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100150415 | RETINAL SCANNING - A method and apparatus of producing a three-dimensional image of at least a part of the retina of an eye is provided. The method including obtaining a two-dimensional wide-field image of said part of said retina, determining a three-dimensional shape for said part of said retina and using the three-dimensional shape for said part of said retina to modify said two-dimensional image to produce a three-dimensional image of said part of said retina. The apparatus including an imaging system adapted to provide a two-dimensional wide-field image of said part of said retina, a three-dimensional shape determination module adapted to determine a three-dimensional shape for said part of said retina, and a two-dimensional image modification module adapted to modify said two-dimensional wide-field image of said part of said retina using said three-dimensional shape to produce a three-dimensional image of said part of said retina. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100150416 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING VISUAL IMAGES OF DIGESTIVE SYSTEM - The present invention provides a method and system for processing visual images of a digestive system. The method comprises: detecting visual images of a digestive system; storing the detected visual images; analyzing the stored visual images to identify corresponding event frames; and displaying the identified event frames quantitatively with respect to at least one reference. With the method and system, visual images of a digestive system can be processed more accurately, efficiently and conveniently for diagnostic purposes. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100150417 | PROCESSING MEDICAL IMAGES OF THE BREAST TO DETECT ANATOMICAL ABNORMALITIES THEREIN - Methods, systems and related computer program products are provided for processing a medical image of a breast to detect anatomical abnormalities therein, including anatomical abnormalities that may be associated with breast cancer. The medical image of the breast, which includes a background region bordering a breast tissue region along a skinline thereof, is processed to detect an inward-facing retraction along the skinline, which can be potentially indicative of an anatomical abnormality in the breast tissue. In one preferred embodiment, a display monitor displays first information representative of the medical image of the breast and second information identifying a location of the detected inward-facing retraction on the medical image of the breast. In another preferred embodiment, one or more metrics characterizing the detected inward-facing retraction are used as features in the classification of potential CAD detections in the breast tissue region. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100150418 | Image processing method, image processing apparatus, and image processing program - An image processing apparatus includes: an image obtaining section for obtaining medical images that represent transverse cross sections of a subject, and a division line setting section, for setting division lines within each medical image that divide subject regions representing the subject front to back, such that thoracic bones in the front to back direction of the projection direction of the subject are not displayed in an overlapping manner within the pseudo three dimensional images. A pseudo three dimensional medical image generating section generates a first pseudo three dimensional medical image based image data representing subject regions toward first sides of the division lines within the medical images, and generates a second pseudo three dimensional medical image based on image data representing subject regions toward second sides of the division lines within the medical images, by executing intensity projection methods. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100158330 | Medical Image Processing - A method of image processing, including:
| 06-24-2010 |
| 20100158331 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING ABSOLUTE POSITION USING A MULTIPLE WAVELENGTH SIGNAL - Various aspects of the present invention are shown and described, each of which has stand alone utility in a navigated medical environment. A receiver position calibration system and method facilitates calibration of a reference frame prior to each navigated procedure. A concept and application of confidence weights is introduced. Confidence weights can be applied to distance calculations to mitigate the effects of interference and increase the tolerance of the navigated medical system. Multi-path interference is minimized through the transmission of a signal having a pattern of unique frequencies and filtering of the distance calculations for each frequency to identify the ‘best’ distance in the presence of multi-path interference. A position determination method and system that transmits a signal having multiple frequency components permits positions to be identified with high resolution over a large area. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100158332 | METHOD AND SYSTEM OF AUTOMATED DETECTION OF LESIONS IN MEDICAL IMAGES - The invention provides a system and method for processing medical images. Input medical images are normalized first, utilizing pixel intensities of control point tissues, including subcutaneous fat. Clustered density map and malignance probability map are generated from a normalized image and further analyzed to identify regions of common internal characteristics, or blobs, that may represent lesions. These blobs are analyzed and classified to differentiate possible true lesions from other types of non-malignant masses often seen in medical images. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100166267 | COMPUTER-AIDED DIAGNOSIS AND VISUALIZATION OF TOMOSYNTHESIS MAMMOGRAPHY DATA - The present invention provides a method and system using computer-aided detection (CAD) algorithms to aid diagnosis and visualization of tomosynthesis mammography data. The proposed CAD algorithms process two-dimensional and three-dimensional tomosynthesis mammography images and identify regions of interest in breasts. The CAD algorithms include the steps of preprocessing; candidate detection of potential regions of interest; and classification of each region of interest to aid reading by radiologists. The detection of potential regions of interest utilizes two dimensional projection images for generating candidates. The resultant candidates in two dimensional images are back-projected into the three dimensional volume images. The feature extraction for classification operates in the three dimensional image in the neighborhood of the back-projected candidate location. The forward-projection and back-projection algorithms are used for visualization of the tomosynthesis mammography data in a fashion of synchronized MPR and VR. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100166268 | STORAGE SYSTEM FOR STORING THE SAMPLING DATA OF PATHOLOGICAL SECTION AND METHOD THEREOF - A storage system and method thereof for storing the sampling data of a pathological section, the steps of the method includes taking variously magnified tissue images from the pathological section; moreover, comparing respectively the variously magnified tissue images with an original image with matching magnification so as to generate the coordinates of the variously magnified tissue images corresponded to the original symptom image; furthermore, integrating the variously magnified tissue images and its corresponded coordinates into a sampling data, then storing the sampling data. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100166269 | AUTOMATIC BODY SILHOUETTE MATCHING FOR REMOTE AUSCULTATION - A system provides a means to detect and track a patient silhouette which may be used to instruct him/her in positioning a medical sensing device on his/her chest with guidance from a computer or from a remotely located physician. The medical sensing device may be, for example a stethoscope or other device. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100166270 | METHOD, APPARATUS, GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE, COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM, AND USE FOR QUANTIFICATION OF A STRUCTURE IN AN OBJECT OF AN IMAGE DATASET - The present invention describes a way to quantify the trapped-air disease and how to allow efficient user interaction for inspection via a graphical user interface. The results of the invention may also be used for rapid and accurate diagnosis of trapped air disease. An apparatus, graphical user interface, computer-readable medium and use are also provided. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100166271 | Method for Counting Colonies - Problem to be Solved There is provided a colony counting method capable of obtaining highly reliable and stable colony count values with easy and simple means by eliminating the variation in colony count due to image capturing conditions when the number of colonies is counted by performing data processing on an image obtained by image capturing means performing image capturing on a petri dish. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100166272 | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO DETECT A TRANSITION IN AN IMAGE STREAM - A system and method may detect a transition in an image stream captured within a body lumen. One or more parameters may be computed at points corresponding to a time scale of the image stream. Transition in the values of the parameters may be identified and may indicate a location along the body lumen. The image stream may be segmented at the transition points identified. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100172553 | LOCALIZATION OF BRAIN LANDMARKS SUCH AS THE ANTERIOR AND POSTERIOR COMMISSURES BASED ON GEOMETRICAL FITTING - A method of estimating the location of the anterior and posterior commissures in a brain scan image is proposed. Firstly, a geometrical object is constructed using points on a brain scan image of an individual which are on the surface of the brain, such as an ellipse fitting the cerebral surface of a sagittal image of the mid-sagittal plane, or an adjacent sagittal plane. The locations on the MSP of the AC and PC landmarks (and optionally other landmarks) are estimated using the five parameters which define the ellipse, plus numerical values obtained in advance from statistical analysis of other individuals. | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100172554 | IMAGE-BASED EXTRACTION FOR VASCULAR TREES - An accurate analysis of the spatial distribution and intravascular pattern of blood flow in any organ must be based on interpolated gradient located within back plane detailed morphometry (diameters, lengths, of cube defined by neighboring voxels vessel numbers, branching pattern, branching angles, etc.) of the organ vasculature. Despite the significance of detailed morphometric data, there is relative scarcity of database on vascular anatomy, mainly because the process is extremely labor intensive. Novel methods in the form of a segmentation algorithm for semi-automation of morphometric data extraction are provided. The extraction algorithm is based on a topological analysis of a vector field generated by the normal vectors of the extracted vessel wall. With this approach, special focus is made on achieving the highest accuracy of the measured values, with excellent results when compared to manual measurements of the main trunk of the coronary arteries with microscopy. | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100172555 | FEATURE QUANTITY SELECTION METHOD, FEATURE QUANTITY SELECTION APPARATUS, IMAGE CLASSIFICATION METHOD, IMAGE CLASSIFICATION APPARATUS, COMPUTER PROGRAM, AND RECORDING MEDIUM - A control unit ( | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100172556 | AUTOMATIC ENHANCEMENT OF AN IMAGE STREAM OF A MOVING ORGAN - Apparatus and methods are described for imaging a portion of a body of a subject that undergoes motion. A plurality of image frames of the portion are acquired. A stream of image frames is generated in which a vicinity of a given feature of the image frames is enhanced, by (a) automatically identifying the given feature in each of the image frames, (b) aligning the given feature in two or more of the image frames, (c) averaging sets of two or more of the aligned frames to generate a plurality of averaged image frames, and (d) displaying as a stream of image frames the plurality of averaged image frames. Other embodiments are also described. | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100172557 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RECONSTRUCTING BONE SURFACES DURING SURGERY - There is provided a method for intraoperatively presenting an approximate model of an anatomical structure by collecting a cloud of small surfaces. The cloud of small surfaces is gathered with a registration pointer having an adapted tip capable of making contact with the surface of an anatomical structure and registering the normal at the point of contact. | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100177941 | MEDICAL IMAGE DIAGNOSIS SUPPORT SYSTEM AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - A medical image diagnosis support system is configured to improve the processing efficiency and analysis accuracy of CAD processing. This invention is a medical image diagnosis support system which includes a CAD server and a PACS/viewer apparatus. This system includes a first processing path in which a processed image obtained by executing image processing including noise suppression processing or sharpening processing for a medical image obtained by the imaging apparatus is stored in the PACS/viewer apparatus, a second processing path in which a CAD result obtained by executing CAD processing for a medical image obtained by the imaging apparatus is stored in the PACS/viewer apparatus, and a processing unit configured to execute a process of associating the processed image with the CAD result in the first processing path and the second processing path. | 07-15-2010 |
| 20100177942 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ANALYZING IMAGERY DATA - According to an aspect of some embodiments of the present invention there is provided a method of analyzing imagery data pertaining to a biological sample. the method comprises: identifying structures of biological elements in the imagery data based on achromatic intensity values of the imagery data, and displaying the imagery data as a color-coded image. | 07-15-2010 |
| 20100183201 | Adaptive Software and Hardware System for Scientific Image Processsing - A modular software and hardware scientific image analysis and processing system adaptable to a wide variety of practical tasks in various specialties of the sciences. Modules and their interconnections are selected according to the specialty needs of users, permitting intermediate storage, transmission, or transport on external storage devices. Modules are included for (a) universal image acceptance from a wide variety of formats, including most DICOM formats, an otherwise tedious task in medical practice, (b) image evaluation through a variety of science-specific measurements, simulation of changes or interventions, or simulated implants or grafts, (c) management of supply logistics, also for implants or grafts, (d) semi-automatic report generation as required, for example, in medical practice, (e) organized storage of active images, including measurements, re-measurements, and intervention strategies for easy access from various locations or possible distribution, and (f) large scale, organized image archiving possibly permitting retrieval from various locations and image sharing. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100183202 | BRAIN-IMAGE DIAGNOSIS SUPPORTING METHOD, PROGRAM, AND RECORDING MEDIUM - To provide a brain-image diagnosis supporting method or the like. The method is a statistical evaluation method excluding the subjective judgment of an examiner, and enables image diagnosis. The method can present stable judgment criteria with respect to data on brain images imaged by a predetermined method in order to discriminate difficult diseases to diagnose. The method is also effective with respect to relationships which can not be always explained with a simple linear relationship, for example, the relationship between data on brain images imaged by a predetermined method and a disease which is a variable. By applying a predetermined nonlinear multivariate analysis method to data on brain images of a plurality of examinees imaged by a predetermined method and by classifying the data, image diagnosis support using a computer performed with respect to the data on brain images is performed. For example, SOM method is applied as a predetermined nonlinear multivariate analysis method. Data on brain images of a plurality of examinees imaged by SPECT or the like are handled as input data vectors x, which are presented to neurons on a two-dimensional lattice array in the SOM method so as to perform image diagnosis support based on the two-dimensional SOM after a predetermined training length. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100183203 | ISOTROPIC RESOLUTION IMAGE RECONSTRUCTION - A nuclear imaging system ( | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100183204 | Image processing device, image processing method, and computer readable storage medium storing image processing program - An image processing device includes a region-of-interest detecting unit that detects a region of interest from each of sequence images acquired in chronological order; a region dividing unit that divides a plurality of images temporally neighboring to each other into regions based on region-of-interest detection results obtained from the plurality of images; an inter-image variation calculating unit that calculates an inter-image variation between the plurality of images based on a variation in each region obtained by the division by the region dividing unit; and a display-condition setting unit that sets a display condition for each image based on the inter-image variation. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100183205 | METHOD FOR PERCEPTION MEASUREMENT - In a procedure for measuring perception, in particular for measuring the visual attention of an individual, whereby at least the first visual coordinates of a first point of vision ( | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100183206 | ADJUSTING ACQUISITION PROTOCOLS FOR DYNAMIC MEDICAL IMAGING USING DYNAMIC MODELS - The invention relates to automatically adjusting an acquisition protocol for dynamic medical imaging, such as dynamic CT, MRI or PET imaging. The protocols are adjusted based on anatomic and dynamic models ( | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100183207 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND X-RAY DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - An image processing apparatus includes a storage unit which stores data of X-ray projection images generated through a angiographic imaging sequence, a generation unit which, based on the data, generates a reference time density curve concerning a reference region which is set as a blood supply region, and time density curves concerning perfusion regions which are set as a blood supplied region, a measurement unit which measures delay times for which a contrast medium reaches the perfusion regions from the reference region, from relationships between the reference time density curve and the time density curves, a calculation unit which calculates, respectively for the perfusion regions, first indices expressing correlations of the time density curves to the reference time density curve within a period determined on the basis of the delay times, and a first image generation unit which generates a first image expressing spatial distribution of the first indices. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100183208 | IMAGE DISPLAY METHOD, MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING APPARATUS, AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS - Setting information in which a sequence with medical meaning is set as the sequence of viewing a plurality of medical image data is read from a portable medium. Moreover, in accordance with the sequence set in the setting information, a plurality of medical image data stored in the portable medium is replicated into a storage unit of a terminal device as replicated medical image data. Furthermore, before replication of all of the medical image data stored in the portable medium is finished, reception of an output instruction is started. Replicated medical image data corresponding to medical image data specified in the output instruction is then output to an output unit. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100189317 | SELECTION OF DATASETS FROM 3D RENDERINGS FOR VIEWING - The invention relates to a system ( | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100189318 | METHODS FOR CONSTRUCTING ASSOCIATION MAPS OF IMAGING DATA AND BIOLOGICAL DATA - A method for constructing an association map between imaging features and biological data is described. The method comprises combining one or more image features relating to a clinical subject with biological data and using an algorithm to make predictions based on the features and data. | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100189319 | IMAGE SEGMENTATION SYSTEM AND METHOD - An image analysis system is described. The image analysis system includes a computer apparatus programmed to access at least one image and to register a plurality of starting points. The starting points are positionally referenced to an image boundary of a region of interest of the image. The computer apparatus is further programmed to analyze and connect the starting points to form at least one contour line. Through multiple opposing iterations the contour line delineates the image boundary. | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100189320 | Method of Segmenting Anatomic Entities in 3D Digital Medical Images - For each of a number of landmarks in an image an initial position of the landmark is defined. Next a neighborhood around the initial position comprising a number of candidate locations of the landmark, is sampled and a cost is associated with each of the candidate locations. A cost function expressing a weighted sum of overall gray level cost and overall shape cost for all candidate locations is optimized. A segmented anatomic entity is defined as a path through a selected combination of candidate locations for which combination the cost function is optimized. During optimization towards the optimal segmented surface/volume graph traversal methods are exploited. | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100189321 | IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEM, IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE AND IMAGE PROCESSING TERMINAL - An image processing system includes an image processing device and an image processing terminal which are connected to each other via a network. The image processing device includes a dye-amount estimating unit that estimates a dye amount of a stained sample stained with a predetermined dye based on a stained sample image obtained by capturing a multiband image of the stained sample, for each pixel of the stained sample image; and a dye-amount transmitting unit that transmits the estimated dye amount of the stained sample to the image processing terminal. The image processing terminal includes a dye-amount receiving unit that receives a dye amount of the stained sample transmitted from the image processing device; a pixel-value calculating unit that calculates a pixel value of a display image of the stained sample by using a predetermined dye-amount correction coefficient based on the received dye amount of the stained sample; and an image display unit that displays a display image of the stained sample based on the calculated pixel value of the display image of the stained sample. | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100189322 | DIAGNOSTIC SUPPORTING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME - In a diagnostic supporting apparatus, a CPU inputs medical inspection data relating to a schema background image, and analyzes a user's operation performed on the medical inspection data. Then, the CPU performs processing for selecting a schema background image to be displayed from a plurality of schema background images stored in a storage unit, based on an analysis result of the operation performed on the medical inspection data. | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100189323 | COMPUTER-AIDED DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME - A computer-aided diagnosis apparatus includes a storage unit configured to store a plurality of schema background images and can support a diagnosis to be performed based on at least one of the schema background images. The computer-aided diagnosis apparatus includes an input unit configured to input medical inspection data of an inspection object, an analysis unit configured to analyze the medical inspection data, a selection unit configured to select a schema background image from the plurality of schema background images stored in the storage unit based on an analysis result obtained by the analysis unit, and an output unit configured to output the schema background image selected by the selection unit. | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100195876 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MEASURING LIGHT SCATTERING IN THE EYEBALL OR EYE REGION BY RECORDING AND PROCESSING RETINAL IMAGES - The invention relates to a system and method for measuring light diffusion in the eyeball or eye region, by recording and processing retinal images. The inventive system includes a double-pass ophthalmoscopic system having means for correcting low-order aberrations. Said system can be used to record images of the plane of the retina on a CCD camera, the outer part of said images containing information relating to ocular scattering. The aforementioned images can be used to obtain the objective scattering index (OSI), providing the ratio between the energy on the outer part of the image and the energy in the central part, or, alternatively, the modulation transfer function (MTF) area can be used for this purpose once the low frequencies have been filtered. According to the inventive method, the low-order aberrations are corrected before a retinal image or a temporal sequence of retinal images is captured and recorded. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100195877 | Embryo quality evaluation assistance system, embryo quality evaluation assistance apparatus and embryo quality evaluation assistance method - An embryo quality evaluation assistance system including an image pickup unit for picking up an image of the embryo, and a computer that communicates data with the embryo observing apparatus to assist quality evaluation of the embryo. The computer includes a time-series image storing unit that stores a time-series image picked up by the embryo observing apparatus, an embryo image extracting unit that extracts an embryo image from the time-series image, and an active site extracting unit that compares an embryo image based on a first time-series image with an embryo image based on a second time-series image picked up before or after a predetermined time from a pickup time of the first time-series image, and extracts as an active site a set of pixels when the difference between pixel values of corresponding pixels of the first and second time-series images is larger than a predetermined threshold value. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100195878 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR LABELING 3-D VOLUME IMAGES ON A 2-D DISPLAY OF AN ULTRASONIC IMAGING SYSTEM - An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system is disclosed for labeling 3-dimensional volumes displayed on a 2-dimensional image display. A 3-dimensional volume image of anatomy is created. A label for a point of interest on the 3-dimensional volume image is created. A curve connecting the label to the point of interest on the 3- dimensional volume is created in a 2-dimensional visual plane such that a projection of the label onto the 3-dimensional volume image is not coincident with the 3-dimensional volume. The label, curve and 3-dimensional volume are rendered for display on the image display so that the curve extends between the point of interest and the label and so that the curve is re-rendered as the 3-dimensional volume is re-rendered in response to changes in the orientation of the 3-dimensional volume. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100195879 | METHOD FOR ACTUATING AN IMAGE OUTPUT DEVICE, METHOD FOR DETERMINING TANGENTIAL SLICE PLANES, ACTUATION MODULE AND SLICE PLANE DETERMINATION UNIT - A method is disclosed for actuating an image output device for the output of slice images, obtained from volume data, of a tissue region including at least one hollow organ section. In at least one embodiment, tangential slice planes at observation points along at least one profile line section through the hollow organ section are determined on the basis of provided volume data. In the process, the profile line section is decomposed into shorter profile line sections such that the generated profile line sections are each situated at least approximately in a plane assigned to the respective profile line section as per a predetermined quality criterion. First tangential slice planes are each assigned to the possible observation points on the associated profile line sections on the basis of these planes. A first tangential slice image is then generated from the volume data for a current observation point on the profile line section on the basis of a first tangential slice plane determined for this observation point. Control commands for the image output device are generated for the output of this slice image and transmitted to the image output device. Moreover, at least one embodiment of the invention relates to an actuation module suitable for this purpose. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100195880 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS - A storage unit stores four-dimensional image data indicative of an aged change in perfusion in a three-dimensional region including at least a part of a subject including a body axis thereof. A control unit analyzes a distribution of a TTP value of the perfusion concerning the coronal slice. The control unit calculates a difference value between the TTP values on both sides sandwiching the body axis on a straight line orthogonal to the body axis in the coronal slice. The control unit analyzes at least one of a distribution of the TTP value and a distribution of a characteristic value different from the TTP value in regard to a axial slice orthogonal to the coronal slice at a position of the straight line on which a maximum value in a plurality of difference values calculated is calculated. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100202672 | Protein Layers And Their Use In Electron Microscopy - Protein layers ( | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100202673 | TARGET TRACKING USING SURFACE SCANNER AND FOUR-DIMENSIONAL DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING DATA - Tracking a pathological anatomy within a patient's body is described. A data model of a skin surface of the patient's body may be acquired using light reflected from the skin surface. The data model can be matched with skin surfaces reconstructed and/or interpolated from four-dimensional diagnostic imaging data, such as 4D CT data, to determine a temporal phase of the patient's respiratory motion. The identified temporal phase may then be used in conjunction with the diagnostic imaging data to identify a location of the pathological anatomy within the patient's body. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100202674 | VOTING IN MAMMOGRAPHY PROCESSING - Methods and systems are disclosed to aid in the detection of areas of interest in an image. Multiple image recognition processes analyze the image and identify areas of interest. The identified areas of interest are compared to determine confidence values for each identified area of interest using a voting process. The confidence values may be used in determining areas of increased interest which are highlighted on the image. In embodiments, identified areas of interest meeting a certain threshold requirement are selected as areas of increased interest. In other embodiments, new areas of increased interest are created by combining areas of interest. Embodiments of the disclosed methods and system may be used to aid in the detection of cancer in mammogram images. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100208955 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY ANALYZING BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES - The invention relates to a method for automatic analysis of biological samples, in particular tissue samples, comprising a device ( | 08-19-2010 |
| 20100208956 | ELECTRONIC COLON CLEANSING METHOD FOR VIRTUAL COLONOSCOPY - A method for electronically cleansing a virtual object formed from acquired image data converted to a plurality of volume elements is provided. The present method allows individual volume elements, or voxels, to represent more than one material type. The method includes defining a partial volume image model for volume elements representing a plurality of material types based, at least in part, on the measured intensity value of the volume element. The material mixture for each of the volume elements representing a plurality of material types can be estimated using the observed intensity values and the defined partial volume image model. The volume elements representing a plurality of material types can then be classified in accordance with the estimated material mixture. For electronic colon cleansing, the method includes removing at least one classification of volume elements when displaying the virtual object. | 08-19-2010 |
| 20100208957 | Respiratory Motion Compensated Cardiac Wall Motion Determination System - A cardiac wall motion compensation system quantitatively compares images acquired at different phases of cardiac and respiratory movement and excludes motion contributed by respiratory movement. A system compensates for respiratory motion induced tissue displacement in cardiac wall motion determination. The system includes an imaging device for acquiring multiple sequential cardiac images of a patient and a data processor. The data processor processes data representing first and second images selected from the multiple sequential cardiac images, to determine heart wall respiratory motion representative displacement from a ventricle wall positional difference indicated between the first and second images, in response to a respiratory motion representative signal and a heart electrophysiological signal. The data processor subtracts heart wall respiratory motion representative displacement from a heart wall displacement measurement to provide a respiration compensated heart wall displacement value. | 08-19-2010 |
| 20100208958 | IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE, IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEM, AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM - An image processing device includes an acquiring unit, an identification unit, a generating unit, an accepting unit, a preparing unit, and a control unit. The acquiring unit acquires image information that expresses plural radiation images. The identification unit identifies lesions. The generating unit generates three-dimensional information expressing positions of the lesions in a three-dimensional space. The accepting unit accepts a designation of an observation direction. The preparing unit prepares a first image for a right eye and a second image for a left eye. The first and second images are at a predetermined parallax angle when observing the lesions from the observation direction. The control unit controls an image display unit that displays the first image for the right eye and the second image for the left eye. | 08-19-2010 |
| 20100208959 | METHOD FOR MANAGING AND/OR PROCESSING MEDICAL IMAGE DATA - A method for managing and/or processing medical image data is disclosed, in particular for controlling a medical workflow. Furthermore, a computer system and a computer program product having a computer program product code for implementing the method are disclosed. One embodiment is directed to a method for managing and/or processing medical image data including inputting medical image data generated by one or several modalities, the image data including the description data according to a predefined structure; assigning the image data to a template as a function of the classification thereof, with the template specifying the respective processing of image data in one or several processing steps and being used for the classification preferably of lists of classification criteria; and extracting the classification criteria at least partially from the description data. | 08-19-2010 |
| 20100208960 | CULTURE APPARATUS, CULTURE INFORMATION MANAGEMENT METHOD, AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM STORING PROGRAM OF SAME - A temperature-controlled room accommodates an incubation container incubating a sample and maintains the inside thereof in a predetermined environment condition. An imaging section generates data of a plurality of observing images. An image analyzing section performs an image analyzing process on the data of the plurality of observing images obtained by imaging the incubation container at different times. Image analyzing data generated by the image analyzing section includes morphological information which indicates incubation states of the samples and rate-of-change information regarding the morphological information. A search processing section conducts a search for the incubation container which meets the first searching condition and the second searching condition based on the image analyzing data. | 08-19-2010 |
| 20100208961 | METHOD FOR ASSESSING IMAGE FOCUS QUALITY - A method for determining the quality of focus of a digital image of a biological specimen includes obtaining a digital image of a specimen using a specimen imaging apparatus. A measure of image texture is calculated at two different scales, and the measurements are compared to determine how much high-resolution data the image contains compared to low-resolution data. The texture measurement may, for example, be a Brenner auto-focus score calculated from the means of adjacent pairs of pixels for the high-resolution measurement and from the means of adjacent triples of pixels for the low-resolution measurement. A score indicative of the quality of focus is then established based on a function of the low-resolution and high-resolution measurements. This score may be used by an automated imaging device to verify that image quality is acceptable. The device may adjust the focus and acquire new images to replace any that are deemed unacceptable. | 08-19-2010 |
| 20100215225 | Image display apparatus and program - An image display apparatus according to the invention comprises reading section ( | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100215226 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMPUTER AIDED POLYP DETECTION - In the present methods, the automatic detection of polyps is converted into a 2D pattern recognition problem using conformal mapping and direct volume rendering. The colon surface is first segmented and extracted from the CT data set of the abdomen, which is then mapped to a 2D plane using conformal mapping. Ray casting is used to determine sub-surface density values and the flattened image is rendered using a volume rendering technique with a translucent electronic biopsy transfer function. Polyp candidates are detected by a clustering method which identifies regions of elevated sub-surface density. The potential for false positives is reduced by analyzing the volumetric shape and texture features of the polyp candidate regions. | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100215227 | FEATURE-BASED REGISTRATION OF SECTIONAL IMAGES - The present invention relates to a method and a system for obtaining and analysing image pairs, obtained as sections of specimen. The invention facilitates registration of two corresponding images, one from each section of the specimen. The invention includes performing a registration process of the two images thereby obtaining a mathematical transformation rule and afterwards using said transformation rule for each image field identified in one image allowing that the corresponding image field in the other image may be identified as well. After the corresponding image pairs have been obtained using the method of the present invention, the sections can be assessed, such as by identifying the counting events for at least one type of object on the image fields within at least one corresponding image pair, optionally using automatic means. | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100215228 | MEDICAL IMAGE DISPLAYING APPARATUS, MEDICAL IMAGE DISPLAYING METHOD, AND MEDICAL IMAGE DISPLAYING PROGRAM - A medical image display apparatus in accordance with the present invention includes a means ( | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100215229 | METHOD FOR INDICATING A CHARACTERISTIC OF BONE MINERAL DENSITY - A method of generating an indication of at least one characteristic of a patient's bone mineral density. The method comprises obtaining at least one measurement of a width of a patient's inferior mandibular cortex and generating said indication based upon said at least one measurement. The at least one measurement is obtained at a location along the inferior mandibular cortex between the ante-gonion and a point on the inferior mandibular cortex defined with reference to the mental foramen. | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100215230 | IMAGE QUALITY IN PHOTON COUNTING-MODE DETECTOR SYSTEMS - The current invention applies to photon counting silicon x-ray detectors with energy discriminating capabilities and applications in x-ray imaging systems. The overall image quality produced by such a system is improved by the presented novel methods for optimally using the energy information in Compton events and making selective use of counts induced from charges collected in neighboring pixels. The pile-up problem during high-flux imaging regimes is reduced by a novel method for signal reset, which improves the count efficiency by reducing the risk of losing event due to signal pile-up in the read out electronics chain. | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100215231 | System and method for real time identification of a drug - A system for managing a prescribed drug regimen for a user, the system including at least one electronic device (Pod) for interactive communication with at least one user, a Pod server coupled via a communication link to each Pod, said Pod server including an analysis unit, the analysis unit including a database of drug characteristics, and a processor for comparing sensed characteristics of a drug in one of the Pods with characteristics in the drug characteristics database, so as to identify the drug, and to provide to the Pod an indication of compatibility of the drug with the drug regimen. | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100220901 | Elastic Image Display Method and Elastic Image Display Device - [Problems] The accuracy in distinguishing between malignant and benign tissues in a gray zone of an elastic image is improved. | 09-02-2010 |
| 20100220902 | CORRELATION BETWEEN SETS OF DATA - The present invention relates to a method to perform an accurate correlation between a first set of data ( | 09-02-2010 |
| 20100220903 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTRAST ENHANCEMENT OF TIME-RESOLVED FLUORESCENCE IMAGES - A method of fluorescence imaging is provided. The method provides for simultaneously acquiring image data at a plurality of phases and a plurality of frequencies from a region of interest, identifying at least one desired signal and at least one background signal in the acquired image data associated with the region of interest, constructing a digital filter based upon the at least one desired signal and the at least one background signal, wherein the digital filter is configured to enhance image contrast and applying the digital filter to the acquired image data associated with the region of interest to enhance image contrast in the acquired image data. Systems and computer programs that afford functionality of the type defined by this method are also provided. | 09-02-2010 |
| 20100220904 | INTELLIGENT IMAGE SEGMENTATION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ACCURATE TARGET DETECTION - Methods and apparatus are provided for dividing an image into a plurality of image chips for presentation on a display. Potential objects of interest are detected within an image by detecting features therein that correspond to objects of interest. The image is uniformly divided into a plurality of preliminary image chips. Triage image chips are generated by automatically adjusting each preliminary image chip such that the potential objects of interest detected within each preliminary image chip are at least substantially centered in each preliminary image chip. | 09-02-2010 |
| 20100220905 | IMAGE DIAGNOSIS SUPPORT APPARATUS, RIGHT AND LEFT BREAST IMAGE POSITION CORRESPONDING METHOD AND PROGRAM - It is an object to make diagnostically corresponding positions in a pair of left and right breast images accurately correspond to each other. An image diagnosis support apparatus detects positions of nipples from a pair of left and right breast images, calculates a straight line l to show inclinations of the breasts based on the detected nipples, sets up a polar coordinate system with its origin at the position of the nipple and its axis on the straight line l in each of the left and right breast images, and makes the positions in the left and right breast images correspond to each other in the polar coordinate systems. | 09-02-2010 |
| 20100226547 | Multi-Modal Tone-Mapping of Images - A system for multi-modal mapping of images is described. Embodiments are described where the image mapping system is used for visualizing high dynamic range images such as medical images, satellite images, high dynamic range photographs and the like and also for compressing such images. In examples, high bit-depth images are tone-mapped for display on equipment of lower bit-depth without loss of detail. In embodiments, the image mapping system computes statistics describing an input image and fits a multi-modal model to those statistics efficiently. In embodiments, the multi-modal model is a Gaussian mixture model and a plurality of sigmoid functions corresponding to the multi-modal model are obtained. In an embodiment the sigmoid functions are added to form a tone-mapping function which is used to transform a high bit-depth image such as 16 or 12 bits per pixel to a low bit-depth image such as 8 bits per pixel. | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100226548 | Remote desktop protocol (RDP) Tile Image Classification for Improving Compression Efficiency and Quality - Systems, methods and computer readable media are disclosed for improving compression efficiency and quality in a remote session via tile image classification and variable encoding. A server determines a set of codecs that are shared by both the server and a corresponding client. Then, when it receives an image, it determines whether classification of the image is required. Where classification of the image is not required, the server sends the client the image, either uncompressed or compressed with a default codec and default fidelity. Where classification of the image is required, the server classifies the image (e.g. the image comprises either text or photograph), and based on that classification determines a codec with which to encode the image, and a fidelity to use on the encoding. The server performs that encoding with the codec and the fidelity, and then sends this encoded image to the client. | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100226549 | METHOD FOR CORRECTING A SPECTRAL IMAGE FOR OPTICAL ABERRATIONS USING SOFTWARE - A spectral image is corrected for optical aberrations. Tissue is exposed to a high-intensity, narrow band of light. The narrow band of light is scattered by at least one analyte in the tissue. Raman signals are optically collected from the scattered light. The Raman signals are directed to a wavelength-separating device. The Raman signals are detected as a function of intensity and wavelength to create the spectral image. The spectral image is corrected for optical aberrations using a software algorithm to spatially reassign intensity. The software may be adapted to use a reference image to make dynamic corrections. Fluorescence signals may also be collected. | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100226550 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD - This invention is directed to appropriately searching for case data similar in the process of a disease. A similar case search apparatus ( | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100226551 | MASS SEGMENTATION USING MIRROR IMAGE OF REGION OF INTEREST - A method and an apparatus for automatic segmentation of an image representing a mass of a tissue region based on dynamic programming that guarantees an accurate and closed contour of the mass is disclosed. The method according to one embodiment accesses digital image data representing an image including the mass of the tissue region, creates a mirror image of the digital image data, extracts a Region of Interest (ROI) which includes a portion of the mirror image containing the mass, transforms the ROI to polar space for obtaining a polar image of the ROI, assigns local cost to sub portions of the polar image, and finds a contour of the mass based on the assigned local cost. | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100232660 | BIOLOGICAL GROWTH PLATE SCANNER WITH AUTOMATED INTAKE - The invention is directed to a biological scanner for scanning biological growth plates. The biological growth plate is loaded into the biological scanner via motorized rollers, and an actuator presses the growth plate against a platen once the growth plate is drawn to a scanning position within the scanner. The biological scanner then generates one or more images of the growth plate. Moreover, sensors can be arranged to facilitate sensing and positioning of the growth plate in a plurality of locations for imaging different parts of the plate. Additional embodiments are directed to features such as a hinged door that facilitates access to the scanner, and footings disposed on various sides of the scanner to facilitate flip-over of the scanner for simplified use by right-handed or left-handed users. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100232661 | CASE IMAGE SEARCH APPARATUS, METHOD AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM - A case image search apparatus according to the presently disclosed subject matter includes: an input unit for inputting a diagnostic object image group from an imaging apparatus; an estimation unit for estimating attributes of a diagnostic object image included in the diagnostic object image group on the basis of the diagnostic object image; a calculation unit for calculating a first feature amount which is a feature amount of the diagnostic object image corresponding to the attribute estimated by the estimation unit; and a search unit for searching a database for a similar case image group similar to the diagnostic object image group by comparing the first feature amount with a second feature amount which is a feature amount of a case image included in the case image group stored in the database corresponding to the attribute estimated by the estimation unit. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100239134 | ARTIFACT CORRECTION FOR MOTION ARTIFACTED IMAGES - A diagnostic imaging system ( | 09-23-2010 |
| 20100239135 | Three-dimensional image capture system - Apparatus to capture three-dimensional images of a head comprises a plurality of image capturing device modules, each module comprises a plurality of image-capturing devices; and a rigid support structure supporting the plurality of image capturing device modules to define a space wherein an image of the head may be disposed. The rigid support structure supports all of the modules in predetermined relationship to each other and to the space. The rigid support structure further supports the modules in positions such that each module is positioned to capture a group of first images of a corresponding surface portion of a head disposed within the space such that each group of first images captured by the corresponding module captures a substantially different surface portion of the head disposed within the space. | 09-23-2010 |
| 20100239136 | Device for Determining the 3D Coordinates of an Object, In Particular of a Tooth - A scanner is used for scanning an object, in particular one or more teeth ( | 09-23-2010 |
| 20100239137 | Two Dimensional Imaging of Reacted Areas On a Reagent - A system for reading an assay includes a camera and a processor. The assay is used as a test for the presence or absence of a reaction between a sample and a reagent. The assay is defined by a test area and a background area. The test area is, preferably, substantially circular with a diameter between about 0.1 mm and about 5 mm. The camera simultaneously captures a two-dimensional image of the test area and the background area. The processor determines a first color response from the background area and a second color response from the test area. The processor then calibrates the second color response according to the first color response and generates a result of the test according to the second color response. The system may also include a uniform field illuminator that provides a substantially uniform level of illumination across the assay. | 09-23-2010 |
| 20100239138 | METHOD FOR POSITIONING BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES IN A MICROSCOPIC ARRANGEMENT - The invention relates to methods for positioning at least one preferably biological specimen in the specimen space of a microscope arrangement, and to devices for carrying out these methods. Methods and devices are proposed, wherein the specimen's orientation relative to a detection objective's optical axis can be repeatedly changed and, in doing so, the specimen is held so that a substantially unobstructed view of the specimen is ensured from every detection direction. In different constructional variants, the specimen is held at a supporting device by adhesive forces or by a flowing medium, the specimen is held at a capillary opening by capillary action, or at least one specimen is embedded in a body of transparent gel, and the gel body is fixed in the specimen space by means of a rotatable holding device, and the detection direction is changed by rotating the holding device by a given angle of rotation. | 09-23-2010 |
| 20100239139 | CENTROID PROCESSING - Hardware and software components are configured to image-process centroid data as if they were profile data to discover biological features. Proper mass/charge bin size are determined to raster centroid data into LC/MS images. To correct for the decrease in precision, the LC/MS images are re-evaluated in view of the original centroid data. Peak detection from the binned image is refined by re-considering the corresponding centroid data through cluster analysis. Additionally, some peaks that were merged through processing may be resolved into individual peaks by identifying more than one significant cluster masked by a peak from the binned image. | 09-23-2010 |
| 20100246907 | AOTF-BASED IMAGING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HYPERSPECTRAL AND MULTISPECTRAL IMAGING OF SPECIMENS INCLUDING MEDICAL TISSUE - An imaging system includes a platform for placement of a sample or an animal to be imaged, and at least one excitation light source for irradiating the sample or animal to stimulate an emission at a plurality of different center wavelengths. An acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) is provided that includes a piezoelectric transducer crystal for emitting an acoustic wave having a ground electrode disposed on one side of the piezoelectric crystal. A patterned electrode layer is disposed on a side of the piezoelectric crystal opposite the ground electrode. The patterned electrode layer includes a continuous region proximate to its center and a discontinuous region, a pattern in the discontinuous region comprising a plurality of spaced apart features electrically connected to the continuous region, and an AO interaction crystal receiving the acoustic wave attached to the ground electrode or the patterned electrode layer. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100246908 | Image Processing Apparatus, Image Processing Method, and Program - An image processing apparatus identifies tissues in respective parts of a tissue image. A tissue image subdivider subdivides a tissue image for identification into local regions. A detector detects texture feature values of the local regions. A determining unit compares the detected texture feature value of a local region to a learned feature value for identification associated with a predetermined tissue, and on the basis of the comparison result, determines whether or not the local region belongs to the predetermined tissue. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100246909 | MEDICAL IMAGING DEVICE AND METHOD TO EVALUATE A TEST BOLUS IMAGE SERIES - In a method and device to evaluate a time series of in particular two-dimensional images of a contrast agent flow in at least one blood vessel of the human body within the scope of a test bolus measurement, wherein the acquisition of the time series begins with administration of the contrast agent, the time series of two-dimensional images or a time series of images derived from this is used as a time series of evaluation images, and in at least one evaluation image exhibiting a contrast agent signal, at least one point associated with a blood vessel is determined semi-automatically or automatically and transferred to further evaluation images. For every blood vessel discovered in this way, a temporal contrast agent course curve is determined (in particular via a fit) automatically from the image signal of the evaluation images at the at least one point and/or in a region around the marked point in the blood vessel and at least one item of contrast agent information that affects the temporal workflow of a subsequent measurement is determined from at least one contrast agent course curve. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100246910 | METHOD OF AUTOMATICALLY CORRECTING MIS-ORIENTATION OF MEDICAL IMAGES - This invention relates to a method and image processing apparatus for automatically correcting mis-orientation of medical images. One or more image processing software modules are used to extract ( | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100254581 | DEVICE, METHOD, AND APPARATUS FOR BIOLOGICAL TESTING WITH A MOBILE DEVICE - Compositions, methods, and systems for the imaging and analysis of skin, hair and associated health conditions are described herein. The system includes a method and apparatus for analyzing skin and hair samples by taking a sample, identifying desired components of the sample, obtaining an image electronically using a mobile consumer device, storing and transmitting the image, analyzing the image using an analysis software on a remote server, and optionally sending the results of the analysis back to the consumer device. | 10-07-2010 |
| 20100260389 | Interactive security screening system - An interactive security screening system includes a main housing, a contact pad provided on the main housing and a sample sheet positioned upon the contact pad. A sensor is operatively connected to the contact pad to measure pressure applied to the contact pad during a sample collection process. A feedback system, operatively connected to the contact pad and the sensor, provides the subject or screener with at least one of a visual signal and an audio signal to indicate whether requisite pressure was applied to the contact pad. A sample processing system analyzes the sample collection sheet through series, parallel or image processing to determine whether the trace residue sample contains a threat residue. The screening system also employs a spatial recognition system that focuses the sample processing system on particular portions of the sample collection sheet to increase overall system accuracy. | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100260390 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REDUCTION OF FALSE POSITIVES DURING COMPUTER AIDED POLYP DETECTION - A computer aided detection (CAD) method for detecting polyps within an identified mucosa layer of a virtual representation of a colon includes the steps of identifying candidate polyp patches in the surface of the mucosa layer and extracting the volume of each of the candidate polyp patches. The extracted volume of the candidate polyp patches can be partitioned to extract a plurality of features, of the candidate polyp patch, which includes at least one internal feature of the candidate polyp patch. The features can include density texture features, geometrical features, and morphological features of the polyp candidate volume. The extracted features of the polyp candidates are analyzed to eliminate false positives from the candidate polyp patches. Those candidates which are not eliminated are identified as polyps. | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100260391 | BLOOD FLUIDITY MEASUREMENT SYSTEM AND BLOOD FLUIDITY MEASUREMENT METHOD - Blood fluidity is measured in a short time. A blood fluidity measurement system, which measures blood fluidity by flowing blood into a channel, is equipped with a TV camera which photographs the blood stream in the channel and an image processing part which detects the state of the blood stream in the channel as blood fluidity from the image taken by the TV camera. | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100260392 | CONSISTENCY METRIC BASED IMAGE REGISTRATION - A method includes registering a first sub-portion of a first image with a corresponding second sub-portion of a second image, and registering the second sub-portion of the second image with a corresponding third sub-portion of the first image. The first sub-portion encompasses a first object of interest, and the third sub-portion encompasses a third object of interest. The method further includes reducing a size of the first sub-portion when the first and third objects of interest are substantially similar. The method further includes repeating the steps of registering the first sub-portion, registering the second sub-portion, and reducing the size of the first sub-portion until the first and third objects are not substantially similar. | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100260393 | NAVIGATION GUIDE - The invention relates to a system ( | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100260394 | IMAGE ANALYSIS OF BRAIN IMAGE DATA - The present invention relates to analysis of image data, e.g. brain image data, where regions of interest are identified in patient specific image data based on non-image data. The brain image data is analyzed by correlating non-image data ( | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100260395 | GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR IN-VIVO IMAGING - A graphical user interface is provided which allows the user to perform numerous operations suitable for analysis of in-vivo images within a single display screen or a single window. Using the in-vivo GUI, the user may create and manipulate analysis tools such as rectangle and ellipse tools to define regions of interest and perform various measurements on an in-vivo image. In addition, the GUI allows the user to store measurement results in a dated electronic notebook, display testing information, manipulate image presentation and print while maintaining view of the image. | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100266170 | Methods and Systems for Fully Automatic Segmentation of Medical Images - Methods and systems dedicated to automatic object segmentation from image data are provided. In a first step a fuzzy seed set is generated that is learned from training data. The fuzzy seed set is registered to image data containing an object that needs to be segmented from a background. In a second step a random walker segmentation is applied to the image data by using the fuzzy seed set as an automatic seeding for segmentation. Liver segmentation, lung segmentation and kidney segmentation examples are provided. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100266171 | IMAGE FORMATION APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR NUCLEAR IMAGING - An image generating apparatus for image generation is provided. The image generating apparatus includes a movable detector for detecting nuclear radiation during a detection period and an evaluation system. The evaluation system includes an interface system for transmitting detector data to the evaluation system. The detector data include information about the detected radiation for image generation. The evaluation system further includes a data memory portion for storing the detector data. The evaluation system further includes a program memory portion with a program for repeatedly determining at least one quality value with respect to image generation during the detection period. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100266172 | DYNAMIC METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REPRESENTING A THREE DIMENSIONAL OBJECT NAVIGATED FROM WITHIN - A system and method for presenting a navigable view of a virtual model of a three dimensional object comprising a virtual three dimensional topographic framework and at least one visual representation of an internal region of the object imaged within a sample of the object. The visual representation is superimposed upon a view of the three dimensional topographic framework at a location corresponding to the internal region of the sample. In preferred embodiments, the three dimensional object comprises an anatomical specimen. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100266173 | COMPUTER-AIDED DETECTION (CAD) OF A DISEASE - The present invention relates to a method for performing computer-aided detection (CAD) of a disease, e.g. lung tumours, on a medical image data set ( | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100266174 | METHOD OF RETRIEVING DATA FROM A MEDICAL IMAGE DATA SET - The present invention discloses a method of retrieving a plurality of data slices from a medical image data set ( | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100266175 | IMAGE AND DATA SEGMENTATION - Approaches to segmentation or detection of objects and their boundaries in images (or other data sets) do not rely on machine learning approaches that aim to minimize pixel-level agreement between a computer and a human. Optimizing such pixel-level agreement does not, in general, provide the best possible result if boundary detection is a means to the ultimate goal of image segmentation, rather than an end in itself. In some examples, end-to-end learning of image segmentation specifically targets boundary errors with topological consequences, but otherwise does not require the computer to “slavishly” imitate human placement of boundaries. In some examples, this is accomplished by modifying a standard learning procedure such that human boundary tracings are allowed to change during learning, except at locations critical to preserving topology. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100266176 | DIAGNOSIS ASSISTING APPARATUS, DIAGNOSIS ASSISTING METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM HAVING A DIAGNOSIS ASSISTING PROGRAM RECORDED THEREIN - A cardiac cavity region is extracted from a three dimensional functional image that represents evaluation index data of cardiac functions, and a cardiac function bulls eye image that represents the functions of the cardiac cavity is generated. Coronary artery image data are extracted from three dimensional anatomical images that represents the structures of the heart and the coronary artery, and coronary article closed surfaces that include the extracted coronary artery image data are calculated. A coronary artery bulls eye image is generated form the extracted coronary artery image data, and distances from the boundary surface of the cardiac cavity region to the coronary artery closed surfaces are calculated. Display output is controlled such that the cardiac function bulls eye image, the coronary artery bulls eye image, and data representing the distances are displayed simultaneously on the screen of a display device. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100272330 | ANATOMICALLY CONSTRAINED IMAGE REGISTRATION - The invention relates to a system ( | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100272331 | METHOD FOR ASSESSING MEASUREMENT QUALITY AND DEVICE FOR IMAGING THE INTERIOR OF MEDIA - A method for assessing measurement quality in acquisition of an image of the interior of a medium ( | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100272332 | Method and System for Characterization of Knee Joint Morphology - A method and system for characterizing a knee joint in terms of its skeletal morphology. A plurality of loci associated with a model of skeletal structure of a knee joint are fitted and used to parameterize positions of the plurality of loci in a given subject and, thereby, to derive parameters of a deformable statistical template. The skeletal morphology is then characterized on the basis of the derived parameters of the deformable statistical template. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100272333 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHARACTERIZING PIGMENT SPOTS - A method involving filters of an extracted plane from a digital image of an area of skin to obtain a first ripple image and a second roughness image, from which appropriate computation devices are used to calculate different types of gray levels to characterize a pigment spot, notably with regard to the uniformity or disparity of the spot. A method measures the effectiveness of a cutaneous pigment spot treatment by an active pigmenting or depigmenting agent. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100272334 | Microscope System, Specimen Observation Method, and Computer Program Product - A microscope system includes an image acquisition unit for acquiring a spectral image of a specimen by using a microscope, a structure specifying unit for specifying an extraction target structure in the specimen, a display method specifying unit for specifying a display method of the extraction target structure, a structure extraction unit for extracting an area of the extraction target structure in the spectral image by using a reference spectrum of the extraction target structure on the basis of pixel values of each pixel included in the spectral image, a display image generator for generating a display image that represents the extraction target structure in the specimen by the display method specified by the display method specifying unit on the basis of an extraction result of the structure extraction unit, and a display processing unit for performing process for displaying the display image on a display unit. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100278398 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ASSIGNING A CONFIDENCE METRIC FOR AUTOMATED DETERMINATION OF OPTIC DISC LOCATION - A method for assigning a confidence metric for automated determination of optic disc location that includes analyzing a retinal image and determining at least two sets of coordinates locating an optic disc in the retinal image. The sets of coordinates can be determined using first and second image analysis techniques that are different from one another. An accuracy parameter can be calculated and compared to a primary risk cut-off value. A high confidence level can be assigned to the retinal image if the accuracy parameter is less than the primary risk cut-off value and a low confidence level can be assigned to the retinal image if the accuracy parameter is greater than the primary risk cut-off value. The primary risk cut-off value being selected to represent an acceptable risk of misdiagnosis of a disease having retinal manifestations by the automated technique. | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100278399 | METHOD OF FLUORESCENCE IMAGING - Method of fluorescence imaging including: illuminating a sample to excite its fluorescence and acquiring an image thereof; based on fluorescence spectral and spatial information from the sample's fluorescence image, segmenting the image into regions of similar spectral properties; for each image segment, exciting the fluorescence of the corresponding sample region, and detecting the corresponding fluorescence; based on modelling, determining expected fluorescence parameters from the fluorescence signals detected for each region; scanning the sample and determining final fluorescence parameters based on said expected fluorescence parameters. | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100278400 | THREE-DIMENSIONAL SINGLE-MOLECULE FLUORESCENCE IMAGING BEYOND THE DIFFRACTION LIMIT USING A DOUBLE-HELIX POINT SPREAD FUNCTION - Embodiments of the present invention can resolve molecules beyond the optical diffraction limit in three dimensions. A double-helix point spread function can be used to in conjunction with a microscope to provide dual-lobed images of a molecule. Based on the rotation of the dual-lobed image, the axial position of the molecule can be estimated or determined. In some embodiments, the angular rotation of the dual-lobed imaged can be determined using a centroid fit calculation or by finding the midpoints of the centers of the two lobes. Regardless of the technique, the correspondence between the rotation and axial position can be utilized. A double-helix point spread function can also be used to determine the lateral positions of molecules and hence their three-dimensional location. | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100278401 | WIDEBAND BIO-IMAGING SYSTEM AND RELATED METHODS - An imaging and recordation system is provided. The system includes a high-power, focusing antenna for illuminating biological tissue. The system further includes a power source for powering the antenna. The system further includes a data acquisition module, for recording the dielectric properties of tissues illuminated by the high-power, focusing antenna. The system illuminates the tissues using ultrashort electrical pulses. | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100278402 | METHODS FOR MAPPING TISSUE WITH OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY DATA - Various methods are disclosed for mapping optical coherence tomography (OCT) data to facilitate review and diagnosis. In one aspect, high resolution 2D line scans are obtained along with lower density 3D cube scans and displayed in a manner to provide context to the clinician. In another aspect, QCT data is analyzed to provide information about non-uniformities of the tissue. Binary image maps of maps useful for determining tautness of membranes are also disclosed. | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100278403 | Lumen Tracking in Computed Tomographic Images - A lumen tracking method and system automatically extracts a colon from CT image data by locating landmarks in the image data, based on known anatomic features or other predictable features. If the colon is segmented, the method and system may use the landmarks to evaluate candidate segments for inclusion in the extracted colon. | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100278404 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND MEDICAL IMAGE PICKUP SYSTEM - A medical image processing apparatus of the present invention is a medical image processing apparatus to which a plurality of color components corresponding to frame-sequentially picked-up images of an object are time-sequentially inputted while maintaining periodicity thereof, including a color component storage section that can store a first color component inputted to the medical image processing apparatus at one timing and a second color component, which is a component of the same wavelength band as that of the first color component inputted to the medical image processing apparatus at timing preceding the one timing by one cycle or more, and an image correction processing section that simultaneously reads the first color component and the second color component stored in the color component storage section and performs image correction processing. | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100284579 | ABNORMAL SHADOW CANDIDATE DETECTING METHOD AND ABNORMAL SHADOW CANDIDATE DETECTING APPARATUS - It is possible to improve processing efficiency and detection accuracy during detection of an abnormal shade candidate. In an image processing device ( | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100284580 | TISSUE VISUALIZATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR USING THE SAME - Tissue visualization systems having image processing modules configured to generate an alert signal are provided. Image processing modules of systems of the invention are configured to receive image data of an internal region of interest. The image processing module is further configured to compare the received image data with a reference that includes at least one of color descriptor data and anatomical descriptor data to make a determination as to whether an alert signal should be generated. Also provided are methods of visualizing internal tissue of a subject using the tissue visualization systems. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100284581 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR ACQUIRING AND PROCESSING DATA FOR DETECTING THE CHANGE OVER TIME OF CHANGING LESIONS - This method for acquiring and processing data for detecting the change over time of changing lesions includes: successive data acquisitions according to different acquisition methods, so that, at each moment of acquisition, the user forms a set of data obtained according to respective acquisition methods; storage of the acquired data in a database; and displaying the data by selecting and displaying the selected data on a display screen. During displaying an item of data, the user inserts into an image being displayed at least one matching data item extracted from the database. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100284582 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR ACQUIRING AND PROCESSING IMAGES FOR DETECTING CHANGING LESIONS - This method for the detection of lesions includes: forming successive images of a surface to be analyzed; generating at least one profile of change as a function of the time of a parameter of the formed images; and comparing at least one generated profile with a lesion detection threshold value. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100284583 | READ-OUT METHOD AND APPARATUS - A read-out method for a diagnostic point-of-care assay device, the device including a read-out substrate having at least one response area capable of producing a coloured indication of a response, the response area including a marker at least one marker whose colour changes in response to binding of an analyte thereto and which is used for indication of response. The method includes registering an image of the response area; calculating a colour saturation value S for the image using at least two distinct wavelengths; using the S-value for determining a result of the assay. A read-out system ( | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100284584 | IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD AND IMAGE PROCESSOR - An image processing apparatus includes: a cutoff frequency table storing information on a relation between a parameter related to a radial intensity distribution of two-dimensional frequency components of a projection image and a Butterworth filter cutoff frequency to be applied to the projection image concerned; a projection image data input unit for inputting projection image data; an FFT unit for applying a two-dimensional Fourier transform to the projection image to obtain a spatial frequency of the projection image; a radial intensity distribution calculation unit for calculating a radial intensity distribution of frequency components of the projection image; a cutoff frequency setting unit for setting a cutoff frequency corresponding to a parameter related to the radial intensity distribution determined for the projection image, with reference to the cutoff frequency table; and a Butterworth filter for filtering the projection image data with the set cutoff frequency. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100284585 | Method for Searching and Constructing 3D Image Database - The present invention relates to methods for searching and constructing a 3D motif image database, wherein said 3D motif image database can be used to understand the connection relationship of a 3D network, e.g. a neural network comprising biological neural networks or artificial neural networks. The searching and constructing methods are applied on the 3D motif image database, a proper computer-aided graphic platform. The database not only facilitates the management of the huge amount of categorized data but also rationally excavates the hidden information cloaked within. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100284586 | SEGMENTATION OF MICROCALCIFICATIONS IN A MAMMOGRAPHIC IMAGE - Apparatus for segmenting microcalcifications in a mammographic image having a bandpass filter for bandpass filtering the mammographic image obtaining the filtered mammographic image, a marker and a processor for individual processing. The marker marks image points in the filtered mammographic image as potential regions of microcalcifications when a they exceed or fall below a predetermined threshold. The processor for individual processing processes one of the regions of adjacent marked image points for changing an extension of the one region for illustrating a segmentation of microcalcifications. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100284587 | ANEURYSM DETECTION - An approach to automatically detecting, classifying and/or highlighting abnormal structures such as brain aneurysms is based on three-dimensional studies of the brain vessels. The approach is applicable to effectively all currently available modalities of acquisition of the cerebral vessels, including magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), computed tomography angiography (CTA), and conventional catheter-based three-dimensional rotational angiography (3DRA). | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100284588 | System and Method for Candidate Generation and New Features Designed for the Detection of Flat Growths - A method for generating candidates from a digital image includes considering at least one point x that may lie on a polypoid structure, determining whether the point x satisfies a first predetermined set of conditions, for each point x that satisfies the predetermined set of conditions, identifying each neighbor point y within a predetermined distance of point x that satisfies a second predetermined set of conditions, determining a gradient vector v | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100284589 | METHOD FOR OPTICAL MEASUREMENT OF OBJECTS USING A TRIANGULATION METHOD - A method for optically measuring an object by means of an optical recording apparatus includes a triangulation method. A first shutter means is used to produce a first pattern and to project the first pattern as a first projection beam onto the object to be measured. At least one further shutter means is used to produce a further pattern and to project the further pattern as a further projection beam onto the object to be measured. The first pattern and the further pattern are passed back from the object as observation beams and are recorded by at least one recording means in order to obtain a three-dimensional data record of the object. The projected first pattern and the further pattern are recorded at the same time in at least one triangulation recording using the at least one recording means. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100284590 | Systems and Methods for Robust Learning Based Annotation of Medical Radiographs - Systems and methods for performing a medical imaging study include acquiring a preliminary scan. A set of local feature candidates is automatically detected from the preliminary scan. The accuracy of each local feature candidate is assessed using multiple combinations of the other local feature candidates and removing a local feature candidate that is assessed to have the lowest accuracy. The assessing and removing steps are repeated until only a predetermined number of local feature candidates remain. A region of interest (ROI) is located from within the preliminary scan based on the remaining predetermined number of local feature candidates. A medical imaging study is performed based on the location of the ROI within the preliminary scan. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100284591 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REGISTRATION OF IMAGING DATA - A method of obtaining imaging data from a tissue region is provided. The method is effected by associating imaging data with a surface contour of the tissue region and utilizing a model of contour changes in the tissue region to transform the data to reflect changes in the surface contour. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100284592 | METHOD APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR ANALYZING THERMAL IMAGES - A method of analyzing a thermal image of a body section is disclosed. The method comprises obtaining a thermospatial representation of the body section, calculating a surface integral of the thermal data over the surface, and determining the likelihood that a thermally distinguishable region is present in the body section, based on a value of the surface integral. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100290678 | AUTOMATIC FLY THROUGH REVIEW MECHANISM - A novel and useful mechanism for generating a fly-through review for digital images such as tissue sample scans. A fly-through path based on the sample image is determined and one or more fly-through curves are generated. Two-dimensional image manipulations are applied to the sample image in accordance with the one or more fly-through curves and any user preferences to generate a sequence of frame images to be displayed. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100290679 | AUTOMATIC GEOMETRICAL AND MECHANICAL ANALYZING METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TUBULAR STRUCTURES - A method and system for analyzing tubular structures, such as vascular bodies, with respect to their geometrical properties and mechanical loading conditions is disclosed. To this end, geometrical and structural models of vascular bodies are generated from standard sets of image data. The method or system works automatically and the tubular structure is analyzed within clinical relevant times by users without engineering background. Most critical in that sense is the integration of novel volume meshing and 3D segmentation techniques. The derived geometrical and structural models distinguish between structural relevant types of tissue, e.g., for abdominal aortic aneurysms the vessel wall and the intra-luminal thrombus are considered separately. The structural investigation of the vascular body is based on a detailed nonlinear Finite Element analysis. Here, the derived geometrical model, in-vivo boundary/loading conditions and finite deformation constitutive descriptions of the vascular tissues render the structural biomechanical problem. Different visualization concepts are provided and allow an efficient and detailed investigation of the derived geometrical and mechanical data. In addition, this information is pooled and statistical properties, derived from it, can be used to analyze vascular bodies of interest. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100290680 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CALIBRATING MEDICAL IMAGE DATA - In a method and apparatus for calibrating image data from a given medical imaging protocol, reference image data is obtained from a scan of a reference object using the medical imaging protocol, and the obtained reference image data of the reference object is compared to standard reference image data for the reference object. The obtained reference image data is then modified to reduce an error between the obtained reference image data and the standard reference image data. Subject image data id then obtained from a scan of a subject using the medical imaging protocol, and modified based on the modified reference image data. A value of a variable is obtained from the modified subject image data, for display with unmodified subject image data. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100296709 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR BLOOD VESSEL SEGMENTATION AND CLASSIFICATION - A method of analyzing structure of a network of vessels in a medical image, comprising:
| 11-25-2010 |
| 20100296710 | MEASURING BODY FOR AN IMPLANT AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A 3D MEASUREMENT DRAWING - A measuring body for an implant, having a measuring geometry that can be captured by a measuring camera and a connection geometry on the implant. Said measuring geometry is arranged on a test part and the connection geometry is arranged on a bearing part, both parts being embodied as separate components. Said bearing part comprises a bearing for the test part and the test part comprises a counter bearing to the bearing and the measuring geometry is provided on a free end of the test part. Also provided is a method for capturing a 3D-measurement drawing of a measuring body that is arranged on an implant. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100303312 | IMAGE RECONSTRUCTION FOR UNORDERED MICROWELL PLATES - The present invention is embodied in an image reconstruction method for analyzing unordered microwell plates, including acquiring a digital image of a microwell plate showing unordered visible compound concentration effects, creating a dispensing log listing the dispensing log information for an unordered microwell plate, establishing one or more rules to govern the reorganization of the unordered visible digital image, creating a reordered log with well input locations reordered by test compound identity and quantity levels dispensed order corresponding reordered log well output locations, assigning ordered output locations to reordered input compound and concentration levels order and copying test well digital image pixels from well input locations to reordered output locations in a reconstructed digital image for visualization of visible compound effects in the microwell plates in ordered compound concentrations. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100303313 | Methods and Compositions for Articular Repair - Disclosed herein are methods and compositions for producing articular repair materials and for repairing an articular surface. In particular, methods for providing articular repair systems. Also provided are articular surface repair systems designed to replace a selected area cartilage, for example, and surgical tools for repairing articular surfaces. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100303314 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING AND VISUALIZING CORRESPONDENCE CORRIDORS ON TWO-DIMENSIONAL AND VOLUMETRIC MEDICAL IMAGES - A method is provided for detecting a corresponding region of interest in digital medical images, the method including receiving a plurality of digital images including a primary image, at least one of the images being a projective image, identifying anatomical landmarks and structures within each of the images and correlating the images based on the identified anatomical landmarks and structures identifying a location of interest in the primary image, and automatically identifying a region of interest in the rest of the images, the region of interest corresponding to the identified location of interest in the primary image. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100303315 | Dental Color Analyzing Device and Methof of Use - The invention relates to a dental color analyzing device comprising a housing, a computer device having a storage unit, and a display on which a reference object together with at least one tooth and/or a gingival area is represented, wherein at least one first image section that shows the reference object as well as at least one second image section that displays the tooth, a tooth region or a gingival area, may be detected with the aid of the computer device, characterized in that the reference object is mounted on a tooth and in particular is attached thereto and comprises a smaller size than the represented tooth, wherein the reference object is a dental color key comprising color samples that are arranged next to one another and that each represent a dental color, and in that the color of the second, in particular selectable image section, is comparable to the represented color samples with the aid of the computer device such that the color sample that matches the color of the second image section best, may be displayed on the display. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100303316 | Mehod of designing and fabricating patient-specific restorations from intra-oral scanning of a digital impression - Taking a digital implant or abutment level digital impression by means of intra-oral, computed tomography or other imaging method provides the restorative doctor and laboratory accurate and effective data for determining the implant position, angulation and locking feature orientation without a physical impression. Such data is correlated with a digital library to produce an output which enables design and fabrication of an accurate restorative device such as a prosthetic tooth or crown. In this way the time-consuming, costly and error prone mechanical replication of the relevant dental anatomy is obviated. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100303317 | Methods for Determining Meniscal Size and Shape and for Devising Treatment - The present invention relates to methods for determining meniscal size and shape for use in designing therapies for the treatment of various joint diseases. The invention uses an image of a joint that is processed for analysis. Analysis can include, for example, generating a thickness map, a cartilage curve, or a point cloud. This information is used to determine the extent of the cartilage defect or damage and to design an appropriate therapy, including, for example, an implant. Adjustments to the designed therapy are made to account for the materials used. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100310138 | FINDING PAIRED ISOTOPE GROUPS - A technique for finding paired isotope groups of peptides, metabolic materials, or other materials is executed without having to identify features. Any suitable isotopic labeling methods, such as SILAC or ICAT, can be used. The technique can identify isotope pairs by pairing heavy and light labeled peptides based on mono-isotopes. The technique searches for isotope groups that have retention time and mass/charge within given tolerances, adjustable by users. Multiple label sites are supported as well as reverse-labeling to inhibit or reduce biases. Multiple replicates can be merged into a composite image. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20100310139 | Biological observation apparatus - Detailed fluorescence observation is performed without losing a biological specimen from a viewing range. Provided is a biological observation apparatus that includes a light source that radiates illumination light onto an observation region that includes a biological specimen; a CCD that acquires a macro image of the observation region by capturing transmitted light from the observation region; a light source that radiates excitation light onto the biological specimen; a micro-image acquisition unit that acquires a micro image of the biological specimen by detecting fluorescence generated at a position in the biological specimen irradiated by the excitation light; an identification-information storing unit that stores identification information of the biological specimen; a biological-specimen specifying unit that extracts identification information of the biological specimen by performing image processing on the macro image and that specifies a biological specimen for which the extracted identification information corresponds to the identification information stored in the identification-information storing unit; and a pan controller that moves a capturing range of the micro-image acquisition unit such that the biological specimen is included in the viewing range of the micro image. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20100316266 | MEDICAL IMAGE DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND REMOTE MAINTENANCE SYSTEM - A remote maintenance system for medical image diagnostic apparatuses capable of preventing leak of personal information on the patient attached to a medical image. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100316267 | SEGMENTATION - A computer program product, segmentation algorithm, display image product, workstation and PACS system are disclosed, all allowing the closing of holes, or gaps, in failed segmentation algorithms. This is achieved by identifying at least one data point not included in the collection of data points identified by the segmentation algorithm and deriving a measure of the percentage of radial directions around that data point which intersect at least one detected data point in the segmentation, further including the newly identified data point into the segmentation only if the calculated percentage of radial directions is above a pre-determined threshold. The problem of holes and gaps in segmented lesions was previously only solved by amending the steps of the segmentation algorithm or by morphological reconstruction, which latter method requires use of structuring elements themselves not suitable for large holes. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100316268 | SYSTEM, METHOD, APPARATUS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR INTERACTIVE PRE-OPERATIVE ASSESSMENT - A procedure for pre-operating assessment of one or more anatomical structures generated from medical images and provided in a rendered 3D space, and an imaging system, apparatus, and computer program, that operate in accordance with the procedure. The procedure comprises providing one or more safety margin indicators in the rendered 3D space, each having a shape corresponding to that of a respective one of the anatomical structures within an organ and having a predetermined size of safety margin from the respective one of the anatomical structures. The procedure also comprises manipulating at least one of the shape and predetermined size of safety margin of at least one of the safety margin indicators in the rendered 3D space, and immediately providing a rendering in the 3D space of a manipulated version of the at least one safety margin indicator. Also provided is a procedure for defining at least one cutting surface to resect one or more medical anatomical structures using an imaging system. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100316269 | SUB-DIFFRACTION LIMIT IMAGE RESOLUTION AND OTHER IMAGING TECHNIQUES - The present invention generally relates to sub-diffraction limit image resolution and other imaging techniques. In one aspect, the invention is directed to determining and/or imaging light from two or more entities separated by a distance less than the diffraction limit of the incident light. For example, the entities may be separated by a distance of less than about 1000 nm, or less than about 300 nm for visible light. In one set of embodiments, the entities may be selectively activatable, i.e., one entity can be activated to produce light, without activating other entities. A first entity may be activated and determined (e.g., by determining light emitted by the entity), then a second entity may be activated and determined. The entities may be immobilized relative to each other and/or to a common entity. The emitted light may be used to determine the positions of the first and second entities, for example, using Gaussian fitting or other mathematical techniques, and in some cases, with sub-diffraction limit resolution. The methods may thus be used, for example, to determine the locations of two or more entities immobilized relative to a common entity, for example, a surface, or a biological entity such as DNA, a protein, a cell, a tissue, etc. The entities may also be determined with respect to time, for example, to determine a time-varying reaction. Other aspects of the invention relate to systems for sub-diffraction limit image resolution, computer programs and techniques for sub-diffraction limit image resolution, methods for promoting sub-diffraction limit image resolution, methods for producing photoswitchable entities, and the like. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100316270 | 3D RECONSTRUCTION OF A BODY AND OF A BODY CONTOUR - The invention proposes a 3D reconstruction of a body and a body contour from transversally truncated projections using a polyhedral object model. Possible clinical applications arise in the field of guided biopsies on acquisition systems equipped with a flat panel detector, where truncated projections cannot be avoided in thorax and abdominal scan protocols. From, for example, a rotational run both a 3D volume reconstruction and a surface mesh reconstruction of a patient's shape is generated and then visualized simultaneously in order to help the physician guide the biopsy device and judge the distance from the patient's skin to the tissue of interest inside the reconstructed volume. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100316271 | System and Method for Diagnosing Onset of Osteoarthritis - The present invention relates to a method of diagnosing/predicting a degenerative disease in the hip of a subject. The method including the steps of applying a compressive force on at least one hip joint of the subject and calculating a compression index value for at least one hip joint, wherein a non-zero compression index value for the at least one hip joint is indicative of the subject developing/having a degenerative disease. The present invention also relates to a diagnostic test for determining incongruity in a hip joint of a subject, where the test includes the steps of applying a compressive force on at least one hip joint of the subject and calculating a compression index value, wherein a non-zero compression index value for the hip joint is indicative of at least mild hip joint incongruity. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100316272 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING A MODIFIED INTENSITY PROJECTION IMAGE - In methods and an apparatus for generating a modified intensity projection image from captured medical image data of a subject, an intensity projection image data set and a secondary image data set are obtained from the image data. A region of interest is determined in the secondary image data set, and a surface of this region of interest is then determined. The intensity projection image data set and the region of interest surface are then combined to generate the modified intensity projection image for display. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100316273 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD AND IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM - A hemorrhage edge candidate area extraction section extracts a candidate area for the outline part of a hemorrhage area, based on an image signal of a medical image constituted by multiple color signals obtained by capturing an image of a living body. A feature quantity calculation section calculates a feature quantity of the hemorrhage area based on calculation of the amount of change in the image signal in a small area including the candidate area, among multiple small areas obtained by dividing the medical image. A hemorrhage edge determination section determines whether or not the candidate areas are the outline part of the hemorrhage area based on the feature quantity. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100322488 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ISOLATING A REGION IN AN IMAGE - A system, method, and apparatus includes a computer readable storage medium with a computer program stored thereon having instructions that cause a computer to access a first anatomical image data set of an imaging subject acquired via a morphological imaging modality, access a functional image data set of the imaging subject acquired via a functional imaging modality, register the first anatomical image data set to the functional image data set, segment the functional image data set based on the functional image data set, define a binary mask based on the segmented functional image data set, and apply the binary mask to the first anatomical image data set to construct a second anatomical image data set and an image based thereon. The second anatomical image data set is substantially free of image data of the first anatomical image data set correlating to an area outside the region of physiological activity. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100322489 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMAGE SEGMENTATION - A method of segmenting images receives an image (such as a medical image) and a segment in relation to the image, displays them to an observer, receives a modification to the segment from the observer, and generates a second segment in relation to a second image, responsive to the modification. An image segmentation system includes a learning scheme or model to take input from an observer feedback interface and to communicate with a means for drawing an image segment to permit adjustment of at least one image segmentation parameter (such as a threshold value). The learning scheme is provided with a knowledge base which may initially be created by processing offline images. The learning scheme may use any scheme such as a reinforcement learning agent, a fuzzy inference system or a neural network. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100322490 | METHOD FOR QUANTIFYING CARIES - A method for quantifying caries, executed at least in part on data processing hardware, the method comprising generating a digital image of a tooth, the image comprising intensity values for a region of pixels corresponding to the tooth, gum, and background; extracting a lesion area from sound tooth regions by identifying tooth regions, extracting suspicious lesion areas, and removing false positives; identifying an adjacent sound region that is adjacent to the extracted lesion area; reconstructing intensity values for tooth tissue within the lesion area according to values in the adjacent sound region; and quantifying the condition of the caries using the reconstructed intensity values and intensity values from the lesion area. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100322491 | Calibration of volume acquired images - A method is disclosed whereby a prior reference image is used as a calibration source for a volume image prepared using less accurate apparatus, such as during therapy. Thus, a volume image of a patient is prepared by acquiring a reference image of the patient suitable for treatment planning purposes, acquiring a subsequent image of the patient, selecting a plurality of voxels in one of the subsequent image and the reference image, and preparing a histogram of the voxel values in a region around each selected voxel, to form a first set of histograms, identifying the corresponding regions in the other image and preparing a histogram of the voxel values in each of those corresponding regions, to form a second set of histograms, for each histogram in the first set, identifying a transformation that transforms it to be substantially the same as the corresponding histogram of the second set,; thereby to derive a set of transformations, and applying a transformation to voxels in the subsequent image based on the set of transformations. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100322492 | Apparatus And Method For Controlling A Multi-Color Output Of An Image Of A Medical Object - In a method for controlling a multi-color output of an image of a medical object for assisting medical personnel, the medical object is illuminated with light with an illumination spectrum. By means of an image sensor, image data are acquired for a group of one or more color channels. Image information concerning an additional color channel, which is not among the group of one or more color channels, is generated depending on the acquired image data. An image output device for multi-color output of the image is controlled depending on the acquired image data and the acquired image information. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100322493 | SYSTEMS, METHODS, APPARATUSES, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR COMPUTER AIDED LUNG NODULE DETECTION IN CHEST TOMOSYNTHESIS IMAGES - A procedure for image segmentation of a lung in tomosynthesis images includes determining a focal plane image of a lung from among a plurality of tomosynthesis images, determining boundaries of the lung in the focal plane image based on a sequence of best-path algorithms cascaded together, assembling the tomosynthesis images to obtain a 3D image of the lung, determining a boundary of a rib in the 3D image of the lung , and segmenting the lung based on the boundaries of the lung and the boundary of the rib. A procedure for detecting nodules in tomosynthesis images includes generating a blurred nodule template, generating a blurred vessel template and a blurred rib template, determining, based on the blurred nodule template, a nodule candidate in 3D image of a lung, and determining, based on the blurred vessel template and a blurred rib template, that the nodule candidate is a nodule. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100329521 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CARDIAC VIEW RECOGNITION AND DISEASE RECOGNITION - A method for recognizing heart diseases in a cardiac echo video of a heart with an unknown disease using a spatio-temporal disease model derived from a training echo video, comprising the steps of: generating a plurality of training models for heart diseases, wherein the cardiac echo videos are each derived from a known viewpoint and the disease of the heart is known; analyzing the video of the heart with the unknown disease by fitting a model of shape and motion for each frame and combining the results across the frames; and, reporting the disease using a classification method for choosing among the diseases of interest. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20100329522 | MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS SUPPORT DEVICE, VIRTUAL MICROSCOPE SYSTEM, AND SPECIMEN SUPPORT MEMBER - The present invention provides a medical diagnosis support device which enables a user to acquire the most appropriate information to support medical diagnosis without causing the user so much trouble. Specifically, the medical diagnosis support device comprises: an image processing method storage portion | 12-30-2010 |
| 20100329523 | METHOD FOR COMPUTING A COLOR-CODED ANALYSIS IMAGE - A method for computing a color-coded analysis image of an examination area of an examination object from a temporal sequence of fluoroscopic images of the examination area comprising a vascular system containing arteries and/or veins is provided. An acquisition time instant has been assigned to each of the fluoroscopic images representing a given distribution of a material embolizing some of the vascular system. The fluoroscopic image spatially corresponds to an analysis image pixel by pixel. A computer receives the fluoroscopic images with a color attribute assigned to each pixel of the analysis image at an image point and a time instant. If a pixel differs from a pixel at a preceding time instant, the color attribute assumes a color attribute of the time instant and the difference. If a pixel corresponds to a background color of the analysis image, the color attribute assumes a background color. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20100329524 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRE-TREATMENT PLANNING OF PHOTODYNAMIC LIGHT THERAPY - A system for providing interstitial photodynamic and/or photothermal therapy on a region of tissue in a body, comprising at least one light source adapted to deliver a therapeutic light to the region of tissue, such that the light source is interstitially inserted into the tissue for interaction with a photosensitizer agent and/or for providing a controlled thermal environment of the tissue; and a unit for determining an optimized number of the light sources and individual position of each of the light sources in the region of tissue as well as individual control parameters for each of the light sources. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20100329525 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF COSMETIC ANALYSIS AND TREATMENT DIAGNOSIS - A method and system is provided for performing cosmetic analysis of a subject. Assessment data of observable characteristics of each of a plurality of defined body areas of a subject is converted to weighted data for each of the plurality of defined body areas. This weighted data is analysed to generate cosmetic analysis data. This cosmetic analysis data can include an apparent age of the subject. The cosmetic analysis data is then provided to a user such as a cosmetic surgeon, beauty therapist or the subject themself. The system and method can be further adapted to perform treatment diagnosis for the subject based on the cosmetic analysis data. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20110002512 | INFORMATION PROCESSOR, METHOD OF DETECTING FACTOR INFLUENCING HEALTH, AND PROGRAM - Provided is an information processor which detects factors, in a video, influencing health, and which includes: an image input unit which receives a series of image data to process a plurality of consecutive still images constituting the video; a feature-quantity calculation unit which calculates a feature quantity of each still images on the basis of the image data; a conditional-expression storing unit which stores a conditional expression, for each factor, to determine whether each of the still images produces the factor on the basis of the corresponding feature quantity; a factor determination unit which determines, for each factor, whether each of the still images produces the factors on the basis of the corresponding feature quantity and the corresponding conditional expression; and an image-list display unit which displays, for each factor, a list of information indicating the still images determined to produce the factor. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110002513 | Medical apparatus and method of using the same for generating a virtual road map guide of a patient's anatomy and annotate the images - An apparatus for displaying and recording medical images and producing by sketching or drawing line segments creating an electronic virtual road map of a patient's anatomy for use by a physician during an intra-body medical procedure. The apparatus includes among its essential elements, an interventional device providing real time images of body structure of the patient; a medical image acquisition system computer adapted for acquisition of a plurality of medical imaging video signals wherein signals are acquired from a transmitting medical device in the medical device's native resolution having a central processing unit, a display, at least one input device, a storage device, an output device wherein the medical image is displayed on the display; and an image generating device, wherein physician uses the input device to sketch or draw line segments creating virtual road map of patient's anatomy over the medical image. The drawing features can also be used as a teaching tool, directing physicians as to what the plan for the procedure is. It can also be used to document the planned procedure. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110002514 | DETERMINATION AND MONITORING OF LASER ENERGY - The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for determining the energy of a laser. In particular, the invention relates to an initial determination of a laser energy and the monitoring of the laser energy preferably of an excimer laser for use in a refractive laser system for treatment of any eye. An apparatus for determining an energy of an excimer laser comprises a tool comprising an area being ablated with a plurality of laser pulses of said excimer laser using at least one predetermined multi spot ablation pattern, said ablation area comprising a specific ablation area being as large as the ablation area or smaller, an image capturing means for capturing at least one image comprising at least said specific ablation area of the tool; an analyzing means for analyzing said at least one image, wherein the size of the specific ablation area provides a measure of the energy of the excimer laser. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110002515 | MEDICAL IMAGE INTERPRETATION SYSTEM - In embodiments, a medical image interpretation system has at least a medical image storing part, a medical image referring part, a medical record storing part, a process controlling part, an information extraction processing part, an image region specifying part, and an image processing part. The process controlling part specifies a medical image and extracts a medical record of a patient of the medical image. The information extraction processing part classifies terms on a sentence written in the medical record into predetermined types to structure the sentence, and extracts a region term from the structured sentence. The image region specifying part specifies the range of images showing a region corresponding to the region term from the medical image and specifies the position and range of the region. The image processing part displays at least the region position and range in a visually recognizable manner. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110002516 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DIVIDING AREA OF IMAGE OF PARTICLE IN URINE - An objective is to provide a method and an apparatus for accurately extracting a region of an object particle from a urine particle image obtained by taking an image of urine particles in a urine specimen having varying properties. First, a first object region is extracted using one or more of an R image, a G image, and a B image of a urine particle image taken by an image input optical system configured to input particle images. Then, a density distribution and a size of the first object region of one or more of the R image, the G image, and the B image are calculated. Based on these feature parameters, the first object region is classified into a predetermined number of groups. A second object region is extracted from a local region including the first object region, by using one or more of the R image, the G image, and the B image, depending on each of the groups. This configuration allows stable region segmentation for each particle image even for a urine specimen in which urine particles having different sizes and tones coexist. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110007952 | Enhanced Visualizations for Ultrasound Videos - A method estimates a pattern of change of a patient, specifically a change in the respiration pattern. An ultrasound video is segmented into groups of pictures (GOPs). Pixels from the first GOP are used to initialize a change model. Based on the change model, a change pattern for a next GOP is estimated, and the change model is changed to fit the change pattern. The estimating and the updating are repeated until a termination condition is reached. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110007953 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR POST-PROCESSING MEASURED VALUES REGISTERED BY WAY OF AN IMAGING SYSTEM - A method is disclosed for post-processing measured values of a tissue region including at least part of a heart, which measured values were registered by way of an imaging system. In at least one embodiment, the method includes at least: generating an at least three-dimensional data record from the measured values; analyzing the at least three-dimensional data record and generating parameter maps in respect of at least two of the following parameters: thickness and/or change in thickness of a myocardial wall, movement of the myocardial wall, local blood-supply values for defined spatial regions of the heart; automatically generating a results parameter map on the basis of the generated parameter maps according to fixed rules; and outputting the results parameter map. Moreover, at least one embodiment of the invention relates to a correspondingly designed device. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110007954 | Method and System for Database-Guided Lesion Detection and Assessment - A method and system for automatically detecting lesions in a 3D medical image, such as a CT image or an MR image, is disclosed. Body parts are detected in the 3D medical image. Anatomical landmarks, organs, and bone structures are detected in the 3D medical image based on the detected body parts. Search regions are defined in the 3D medical image based on the detected anatomical landmarks, organs, and bone structures. Lesions are detected in each search region using a trained region-specific lesion detector. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110007955 | Apparatus and Method for Barcoded Magnetic Beads Analysis - A Light Transmitted Assay Beads or digital magnetic microbead having a digitally coded structure that is partially transmissive and opaque to light. When hundreds or thousands of LITAB are settled down to the bottom of a microwell in a microplate or a planar surface, the barcode can be decoded by image processed accurately and reliable. Microplate is a standard bioassay format; each plate can have 96, 384, or 1536 patient samples. Therefore, a large number of targets in a sample can be analyzed in one single microwell. The image decoding algorithms comprise of four main processes (1) enhancement of image (2) segmentation of beads (3) extraction of barcode slits, and (4) decoding of barcodes. The bead image is taken from the bottom of an optically clear microplate, and barcode pattern can be decoded by image software. Therefore, the whole bead bioassay experiment can be performed in the microplate without taking the beads out. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110013815 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PROVIDING A SEGMENTED VOLUME DATA RECORD FOR A VIRTUAL COLONOSCOPY, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT - A method and a device are disclosed for providing a segmented volume data record for a virtual colonoscopy, the volume data record having image information relating to the intestines of a creature, which intestines have been labeled by a first and a second contrast agent. In at least one embodiment, voxels representing the first contrast agent, voxels representing stool remains labeled by the second contrast agent and voxels representing intestinal tissue are segmented, the segmentation taking place in a volume data record recorded of the body region of the creature having the intestines, which have been labeled by a first and a second contrast agent. In at least one embodiment, at least sections of the intestinal wall are displayed on the basis of the segmentation in the virtual colonoscopy, even if these sections of the intestinal wall are, in the segmented volume data record, covered by stool remains labeled by the second contrast agent. Further, a computer program product having a computational program for carrying out the method is also disclosed. | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110013816 | RESPIRATION DETERMINATION APPARATUS - The present invention relates to a respiration determination apparatus and method for determining respiration of a person ( | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110019882 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD - A report concerning the contents obtained by interpretation based on a medical image can be efficiently created without any constraints of expression. An information processing apparatus according to this invention includes an image analysis unit which acquires information concerning a region name or disease name based on an analysis result on the input medical image, an input unit which inputs the result obtained by interpreting the medical image as character information, a conversion candidate prediction unit which outputs conversion candidates concerning the input character information, and a display control unit which displays the input character information upon converting the character information into character information selected from the conversion candidates. The apparatus further includes a priority level setting unit which sets priority levels in advance for character information output as the conversion candidates. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110019883 | IMMUNOASSAY ANALYSIS METHOD - A method and system for analysis of immunoassays, and more specifically to an improved analysis of chromatographic assays, often referred to as a lateral flow assay is disclosed. These assays commonly employ a test strip utilizing visible particles as the labels for the analytes to be detected, where, as an additional feature, the analytical strip is removable for reading the quantity of analytes captured therein and for archival purposes. An image of the test strip is analysed automatically. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110019884 | Stereotactic Computer Assisted Surgery Based On Three-Dimensional Visualization - A computer assisted surgical system that includes an apparatus ( | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110019885 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR REGISTRATION OF MEDICAL IMAGES - In methods and an apparatus for registering two medical images of a subject, a first image is compared with a first anatomical atlas and a second image with a second anatomical atlas, to generate labels for anatomical features in each image. The first anatomical atlas has at least two anatomical features in common with the second, and each label includes a suggested location of the anatomical feature to which it relates. A number of labels are identified for each image, and a value of a similarity function between labels of the respective images is calculated. The two images are registered based on the value of the similarity function. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110019886 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, METHOD, AND PROGRAM - A method of detecting a pleural plaque candidate from a medical image, which includes the steps of obtaining a medical image representing a subject, extracting a lung field area from the obtained medical image, comparing a contour of the extracted lung field with a comparison contour obtained by causing an active curve, having an initial shape in the lung field area and repeats deformation according to a certain deformation trend, to converge after repeating the deformation and detecting a depressed portion of the lung field, and determining the detected depressed portion as a first pleural plaque candidate. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110019887 | Displaying And Navigating Computer-Aided Detection Results On A Review Workstation - Display and navigation for multiple computer-aided detection (CAD) detections is described. A medical image is displayed to a viewer, and a request is received to instantiate CAD-assisted viewing. A timewise presentation sequence for the CAD detections is automatically computed according to a predetermined sequencing criterion. For each CAD detection, an expanded presentation window is displayed for its associated location in the medical image, the expanded presentation windows being displayed according to the timewise presentation sequence. Also described is a navigational tool comprising a plot of an operating curve onto which a computed feature associated with the CAD algorithm can be mapped, the operating curve characterizing an application of the CAD algorithm to a reference database of mammographic cases having known diagnoses. The navigational tool further comprises a plurality of CAD pointer icons spatially distributed therealong according to mappings of the computed feature for the CAD detections onto the operating curve. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110019888 | REDUCING NOISE IN DIGITAL IMAGES - A target digital image is received from an image sensor. The image is contaminated by noise of unknown magnitude that is represented by a reference digital image. A process is applied that uses statistical analysis of the target digital image and of the reference digital image to estimate a magnitude of the noise for at least some pixels of the target digital image. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110026784 | Systems And Methods For Determining Physiological Information Using Selective Transform Data - According to embodiments, a pulse band region is identified in a wavelet scalogram of a physiological signal (e.g., a plethysmograph or photoplethysmograph signal). Components of the scalogram at scales larger than the identified pulse band region are then used to determine a baseline signal in wavelet space. The baseline signal may then be used to normalize the physiological signal. Physiological information may be determined from the normalized signal. For example, oxygen saturation may be determined using a ratio of ratios or any other suitable technique. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110026785 | Method of Segmenting Anatomic Entities in Digital Medical Images - For each of a number of landmarks in an image an initial position of the landmark is defined. Next a neighborhood around the initial position, comprising a number of candidate locations of the landmark is sampled and a cost is associated with each of the candidate locations. A cost function expressing a weighted sum of overall gray level cost and overall shape cost for all candidate locations is optimized. A segmented anatomic entity is defined as a path through a selected combination of candidate locations for which combination the cost function is optimized. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110026786 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING AN IMAGE GUIDED MEDICAL PROCEDURE - A method for facilitating an image guided medical procedure, utilizing images relating to the procedure, wherein the method includes performing a planning stage, including: obtaining a plurality of pre-procedural images, registering and fusing together the plurality of pre-procedural images, and extracting entities, or data objects, based on the pre-procedural images; performing an intervention stage, including: obtaining intra-procedural images, registering and fusing the pre-procedural and intra-procedural images, registering and fusing the entities with the intra-procedural images, and segmenting selected ones of the entities, based on the intra-procedural images; and performing an assessment stage, including: obtaining post-procedural images, registering and fusing the pre-procedural, the intra-procedural, and the post-procedural images, registering and fusing the entities with the post-procedural images, segmenting selected ones of the entities based on the post-procedural images. Supporting the planning, intervention, and assessment stages of the procedure is via a unified workflow and user interface. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110026787 | METHOD FOR DEALING WITH SINGULARITIES IN GRAVITY REFERENCED ENDOSCOPIC IMAGING - A method for avoiding rapid or sudden image rotation or reversal in a gravity leveled endoscopic imaging system is disclosed. A mathematical neighborhood of a singular viewing configuration is defined and within this neighborhood the endoscopic image orientation follows specified rules. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110026788 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR THE SEGMENTATION OF A LESION - In a method and a device for the segmentation of a lesion, a quantity of candidate regions for the lesion is determined proceeding from a starting region by means of a candidate unit. The candidate regions are arranged substantially concentrically to the starting region. A candidate region closest to the lesion is selected automatically by means of a selection unit or manually by means of a correction unit from the quantity of candidate regions. The selected candidate region is a reliable and robust basis for a classification of the lesion. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110026789 | RETINAL IMAGE ANALYSIS SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A platform is proposed for automated analysis of retinal images, for obtaining from them information characterizing retinal blood vessels which may be useful in forming a diagnosis of a medical condition. A first aspect of the invention proposes that a plurality of characteristics of the retina are extracted, in order to provide data which is useful for enabling an evaluation of cardiovascular risk prediction, or even diagnosis of a cardiovascular condition. A second aspect uses fractal analysis of retinal images to provide vascular disease risk prediction, such as, but not limited to, diabetes and hypertension. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110033093 | System and method for the graphical presentation of the content of radiologic image study reports - The present invention is directed in general to imaging technologies, and more specifically to a diagrammatic reporting methodology. A system and method are provided for graphically presenting the content of radiological image study reports. Even further, a system and method are provided for presenting the content of structured radiological reports including multiple imaging studies and their corresponding findings in a symbolic color-coded graphical diagram. Further still, the present invention may utilize an ontology of radiological knowledge to interpret report content to generate the information to be diagrammatically displayed in a symbolic color-coded graphical diagram. | 02-10-2011 |
| 20110033094 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR NAVIGATING A THERAPEUTIC DEVICE TO A LOCATION - A method and apparatus for navigating a therapeutic device to a location in a moving organ. A feature is identified in one reference image, such as a calcified spot. Then the target location for the device is determined. If the feature and the target location are not shown on the same frame, registration is performed, and the geometric relation between the feature and the target location is determined. On the positioning stage, the feature is identified in a positioning image, then the target location is indicated on the image. The user then manipulates the device, also visible on the positioning image to the target location. If the feature is not identified automatically in the positioning image, the target location is assumed at the current location, and the feature is marked, which assists the user in identifying the real location of the feature, and manipulating the device to the target location. | 02-10-2011 |
| 20110038514 | METHOD FOR CHECKING A PREPARATION OF A PREPARED TOOTH WITH CAD METHODS - The invention relates to a method for checking a preparation ( | 02-17-2011 |
| 20110038515 | DEVELOPMENT OF FULLY-AUTOMATED CLASSIFIER BUILDERS FOR NEURODIAGNOSTIC APPLICATIONS - Methods for constructing classifiers for binary classification of quantitative brain electrical activity data is described. The classifier building methods are based on the application of one or more evolutionary algorithms. In one embodiment, the evolutionary algorithm used is a genetic algorithm. In another embodiment, the evolutionary algorithm used is a modified Random Mutation Hill Climbing algorithm. In yet another embodiment, a combination of a genetic algorithm and a modified Random Mutation Hill Climbing algorithm is used for building a classifier. The classifier building methods are fully automated, and are adapted to generate classifiers (for example, Linear Discriminant Functions) with high sensitivity, specificity and classification accuracy. | 02-17-2011 |
| 20110038516 | UNCERTAINTY MAPS FOR SEGMENTATION IN THE PRESENCE OF METAL ARTIFACTS - When performing model-based segmentation on a 3D patient image ( | 02-17-2011 |
| 20110038517 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FOUR DIMENSIONAL ANGIOGRAPHY AND FLUOROSCOPY - A method for generating time-resolved 3D medical images of a subject by imparting temporal information from a time-series of 2D medical images into 3D images of the subject. Generally speaking, this is achieved by acquiring image data using a medical imaging system, generating a time-series of 2D images of a ROI from at least a portion of the acquired image data, reconstructing a 3D image substantially without temporal resolution from the acquired image data, and selectively combining the time series of 2D images with the 3D image. Selective combination typically involves registering frames of the time-series of 2D images with the 3D image, projecting pixel values from the 2D image frames “into” the 3D image, and weighting the 3D image with the projected pixel values for each frame of the time-series of 2D images. This method is particularly useful for generating 4D-DSA images (that is, time-resolved 3D-DSA images) from a time-series of 2D-DSA images acquired via single plane or biplane x-ray acquisitions with 3D images acquired via a rotational DSA acquisition. 4D-DSA images can be generated either by using multiple injections or by using a single injection by combining a time-series of 2D-DSA images generated from individual projections from a rotational x-ray acquisition with a 3D image reconstructed from substantially all of the projection views acquired during the rotational x-ray acquisition. These DSA images may have a spatial resolution on the order of 512 | 02-17-2011 |
| 20110038518 | Roadmap method for the superimposed representation of images - A method for superimposed representation of images is provided. A first original image is detected in a system dose regulation phase and a second original image is detected during a filling phase in which the vessels are filled with contrast agent by a detector for generating images having pixels arranged in a matrix. Two roadmap images are generated by processing the original images. The roadmap images are alternately represented. A temporal “superimposition” is achieved with the alternate representation of a diagnostic image, for instance a vessel tree and of live images of the interventional phase, for instance those of a moving guide wire so that no complicated connections are needed. No contrast of the individual images gets lost. | 02-17-2011 |
| 20110044515 | DEVICE, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC DETECTION OF CONTRACTILE ACTIVITY IN AN IMAGE FRAME - A device, system and method for automatic detection of contractile activity of a body lumen in an image frame is provided, wherein image frames during contractile activity are captured and/or image frames including contractile activity are automatically detected, such as through pattern recognition and/or feature extraction to trace image frames including contractions, e.g., with wrinkle patterns. A manual procedure of annotation of contractions, e.g. tonic contractions in capsule endoscopy, may consist of the visualization of the whole video by a specialist, and the labeling of the contraction frames. Embodiments of the present invention may be suitable for implementation in an in vivo imaging system. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110044516 | CONTRAST IMPROVEMENT METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PHOTOACOUSTIC IMAGING - A contrast improvement method and system for photoacoustic imaging decomposes a photoacoustic image into a plurality of subband images using a set of filters, and integrates the subband images to form an integrated image. The subband images may be pseudo colored and weighted to improve contrast of the photoacoustic image. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110044517 | APPARATUS FOR ACQUIRING MULTILAYER PANORAMIC IMAGES AND METHOD FOR ACQUIRING PANORAMIC IMAGES - The present invention relates to a panoramic image acquisition apparatus and method, and, more particularly, to a multilayer panoramic image acquisition apparatus and method, which is capable of acquiring images of a plurality of image layers at a single time by synchronizing sections where X-rays are radiated onto the plurality of image layers located in the areas of interest of a subject. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110044518 | Data Management in a Linear-Array-Based Microscope Slide Scanner - Systems and methods for processing, storing, and viewing extremely large imagery data rapidly produced by a linear-array-based microscope slide scanner are provided. The system receives, processes, and stores imagery data produced by the linear scanner as a series of overlapping image stripes and combines the data into a seamless and contiguous baseline image. The baseline image is logically mapped into a plurality of regions that are individually addressed to facilitate viewing and manipulation of the baseline image. The system enables dynamic imagery data compression while scanning and capturing new image stripes that eliminates the overhead associated with storing uncompressed image stripes. The system also creates intermediate level images, thereby organizing the baseline image into a variable level pyramid structure referred to as a virtual slide. The system facilitates the use of virtual slides in applications such as telemedicine, telepathology, microscopy education, and analysis of high value specimens like tissue arrays. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110044519 | Multi-Function, Foot-Activated Controller for Imaging System - A foot-activated controller ( | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110052016 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD FOR THE SAME, AND PROGRAM - An information processing apparatus comprises a storage unit storing, for each identification information that identifies medical testing, a test information that indicates a state of progress of the medical testing. The apparatus notifies the information system of the state of progress of medical testing indicated by a test information; receives, from the image capturing apparatus, a test reservation information request that requests test reservation information and that includes an identification information; and determines whether the image capturing apparatus that has transmitted the test reservation information request can perform offline image capturing. If a determination is made that the image capturing apparatus that has transmitted the test reservation information request can perform offline image capturing, the information processing apparatus notifies, according to reception of the test reservation information request, the information system that the medical testing identified by the identification information included in the test reservation information request is in progress. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110052017 | Processor for Pathologic Diagnosis and Processing System for Pathologic Diagnosis - The object is to enable a pathologist to appropriately conduct a diagnosis as well as enabling the pathologist to quickly proceed with the pathologic diagnosis. A processor for pathologic diagnosis comprises: a diagnosis receiver unit which receives identification information of a patient and diagnosis request information; a pathologist information storage unit which stores information of pathologists; a pathologist selection unit which makes an inquiry to the pathologist information storage unit based on the diagnosis request information received by the diagnosis receiver unit, and selects a pathologist suitable for the diagnosis request information; an image transmission, commander unit which issues a command to send digital image data of the patient stored in an image storage server, to a local server connected to a second network belonged to by a pathologist terminal used by the pathologist selected by the pathologist selection unit; and a diagnosis requesting unit which sends a request for diagnosis of the specimen of the patient, to the pathologist selected by the pathologist selection unit, after the digital image data has been sent to the local server by the image transmission commander unit. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110052018 | APPARATUS FOR SEGMENTING AN OBJECT COMPRISING SUB-OBJECTS - The present invention relates to an apparatus ( | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110052019 | Analyzing Objects Via Hyper-Spectral Imaging and Analysis - Analyzing and classifying an object via hyper-spectral imaging and analysis. Generating, collecting respective reference objects and object hyper-spectral image data and information, of: (i) a set of reference objects related to or/and associated with the object, and (ii) the object, via a hyper-spectral imaging and analysis system. Forming, storing: (i) global reference database associated with reference objects hyper-spectral image data and information, and (ii) object database associated with object hyper-spectral image data and information, respectively, by processing and analyzing reference objects and object hyper-spectral image data and information, via a data-information processing and analyzing unit. Forming, storing a sub-global reference database associated with a sub-set of reference objects hyper-spectral image data and information and with a sub-set of the global reference database, by processing and analyzing reference objects and object hyper-spectral image data and information, and, the global reference database and the object database. Identifying, storing an object classification, by processing and analyzing the object database and the sub-global reference database, via the data-information processing and analyzing unit. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110052020 | Lens Capsule Size Estimation - Methods of estimating the size of an ocular lens capsule. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110058715 | METHOD FOR THE CREATION OF PANORAMIC IMAGES OF THE EYE FUNDUS - A method for creating or calculating panoramic images of the eye fundus particularly from images of a fundus camera. In the method a pre-positioning process is carried out in which a first variable is determined for geometrically associating the images with each other. An anchor image is determined as a reference for the first variables for the geometric association; areas that are associated with each other are determined in the anchor image and the other images by a block-matching algorithm; transformation parameters for a geometric transformation between the anchor image and the other images are determined from the mutual position of the associated areas; and the other images are transformed onto the anchor image by transformation parameters and are superimposed onto the anchor image and among each other. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110058716 | IMAGING DEVICE FOR DENTAL TREATMENT, AND INSTRUMENT UNIT FOR DENTAL TREATMENT WITH IMAGING DEVICE - An imaging device for dental treatment for use in an instrument for dental treatment with a head to which a rotary cutting tool can be attached. The imaging device for dental treatment comprises: an imaging module with an imaging element; and a mounting section through which the imaging module is detachably attached to the instrument for dental treatment such that the imaging module is on the bottom side or on the lateral side of the head, and that the imaging module is in a posture that causes the imaging axis of the imaging module and the rotary axis of the rotary cutting tool to be substantially parallel. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110058717 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ANALYZING HARD TISSUES - A method and system employing image analysis may provide an objective measure of property values related to hard tissue or teeth in the oral cavity. A region of analysis on an image of hard tissue may be divided into pixels. Each pixel may have an associated color characteristic (e.g., R, G and B, multispectral) which is used to quantify a hard tissue property value of interest (e.g., percent plaque coverage, L*a*b* tooth color, percent stain). Hard Tissues Regions of Interest may be divided into indexed registration cells that allow for combining and/or comparing property values between images on a localized cell-by-cell basis. Results of cell-level property value analyses may be displayed by color-coding hard tissue pixels of a display image. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110058718 | EXTRACTING METHOD AND APPARATUS OF BLOOD VESSEL CROSSING/BRANCHING PORTION - It is an object of the invention to provide a method of extracting a crossing/branching portion of a blood vessel from a fundus image of the eye at a high probability. The crossing/branching portion of the blood vessel is extracted from the fundus image under such conditions that three or more blood vessels run on an outer circumferential portion of an extraction candidate region and that a coordinate average of a plurality of blood vessels in the outer circumferential portion exists in a center portion of the extraction candidate region. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110064283 | OCR INTERFACE TO SINGLE RESULT DIAGNOSTIC INTERFACE - A method and apparatus are provided. The method includes the steps of an imaging device capturing an image of a display of a medical instrument, an image processor determining a location of a patient biometric measurement within the image, an optical character recognition module recognizing a set of alphanumeric characters within the determined location and a communication processor sending the recognized characters to a remotely located healthcare database. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110064284 | METHODS, APPARATUS AND ARTICLES OF MANUFACTURE TO PROCESS CARDIAC IMAGES TO DETECT HEART MOTION ABNORMALITIES - Example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture to process cardiac images to detect heart motion abnormalities are disclosed. A disclosed example method includes adapting a state of a state-space model based on a plurality of cardiac images to characterize motion of a heart, computing an information-theoretic metric from the state of the state-space model, and comparing the information-theoretic metric to a threshold to determine whether the motion of the heart is abnormal. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110064285 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MULTI-IMAGE BASED STENT VISIBILITY ENHANCEMENT - A method for enhancing stent visibility in digital medical images includes providing a time series of 2-dimensional (2D) images of a stent in a vessel, estimating motion of the stent in a subset of images of the time series of images, estimating motion of clutter in the subset of images, where clutter comprises anatomical structures other than the stent, estimating a clutter layer in the subset of images from the estimated clutter motion, estimating a stent layer in the subset of images from the clutter layer and the estimated clutter motion, and minimizing a functional of the estimated stent motion, the estimated stent layer, the estimated clutter motion, and the estimated clutter layer to in calculate a refined stent layer image, where the refined stent layer image has enhanced visibility of the stent. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110064286 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SURFACE CAPTURING AND VOLUMETRIC ANALYSIS OF MULTIDIMENSIONAL IMAGES - A method and apparatus for volumetric image analysis and processing is described. Using the method and apparatus, it is possible to obtain geometrical information from multi-dimensional (3D or more) images. As long as an object can be reconstructed as a 3D object, regardless of the source of the images, the method and apparatus can be used to segment the target (in 3D) from the rest of the structure and to obtain the target's geometric information, such as volume and curvature. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110064287 | CHARACTERIZING A TEXTURE OF AN IMAGE - Among other things, a texture of an image is characterized by deriving entropy-based lacunarity parameters from density distributions generated from the image based on a wavelet analysis. In some examples, lacunarity descriptors are extracted from textured regions using wavelet maxima. The distributions of the local wavelet maxima density in a sliding window over the region of interest are compared using different methods in order to generate lacunarity parameters. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110064288 | Systems and Methods for Computer-aided Fold Detection - Described herein is a computer-aided technology for facilitating detection of folds of an object surface. In one implementation, image data is processed to determine curvature characteristics at one or more points of the surface of a region of interest. If the curvature characteristics of one of the one or more points correspond to a hyperbolic curvature, the point is identified as a seed point. A region of a predetermined thickness is grown around the seed point so as to detect the presence of any fold feature within the grown region. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110064289 | Systems and Methods for Multilevel Nodule Attachment Classification in 3D CT Lung Images - Automated and semi-automated systems and methods for detection and classification of structures within 3D lung CT images using voxel-level segmentation and subvolume-level classification. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110069873 | MEDICAL IMAGE DATA ALIGNMENT APPARATUS, METHOD AND PROGRAM - An object of the present invention is to provide a medical image data alignment apparatus, method and program capable of aligning different kinds of image data on a tissue to be objected at high precision and in a short time. According to the present invention, a patient SPECT and a patient CT are aligned via atlas data. The atlas data is a standard of SPECT image data, and is created based on SPECT image data of a plurality of patients. The patient SPECT and the atlas data are aligned based on the correlation of image signal values thereof, and a first transformation matrix T | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110069874 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE, MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM - A medical image processing device etc. which supports work for precisely identifying the area of a diagnosis object from a medical image scanned by a medical imaging apparatus is provided. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110075896 | COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM, SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MEDICAL IMAGE ANALYSIS USING MOTION INFORMATION - Motion information generated by comparing one or more clinical volume data may be used in a variety of applications. Examples of applications described herein include 1) generation of interpolated volume data at a time point somewhere between two received instance of volume data; 2) propagation of geometric information from one instance of volume data to another based on the motion information; and 3) adjustment of volume data to fix one or more features at a same location in a series of rendered instances of volume data. Combinations of these effects may also be implemented. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110075897 | Stain-based optimized compression of digital pathology slides - A novel and useful method and system of optimized image compression of digital pathology slide images. The optimized image compression mechanism exploits the special color properties of the stained tissue represented by the digital pathology slides and provides an image compression algorithm having improved rate-distortion performance. Optimized color transforms are pre-computed using training sets of pathology slide image scan data for each stain type. The optimized color transforms are used to compress input slide image scans resulting in more efficient image streaming enabling users to review extremely large digital slide scans from any connected location, such as in a hospital, satellite center, home or on a mobile telephone. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110075898 | MEDICAL IMAGE INTERPRETING APPARATUS AND CURSOR-MOVING METHOD - In the medical image interpreting apparatus having a pointing device for moving a cursor, medical image, interpretation report, and cursor are displayed on a display screen, and initial movement information and information on the destination of movement of the cursor are linked and stored, via the pointing device when the cursor begins to move, said initial movement information relevant to the initial movement is retrieved to obtain the linked information on the destination of movement and the cursor is moved to the destination of movement indicated in the obtained information on the destination of movement. Due to this, just by slightly moving the cursor, the cursor jumps to the desired destination of movement, therefore, it becomes possible to omit an operation of the pointing device in between. Due to this, the operation load of the pointing device is reduced, thus preventing an operator's thought in creating an interpretation report from being destructed, and the enhancement in interpreting efficiency and the reduction of interpretation mistakes are achieved. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110075899 | Efficient correction of polychromy effects in image reconstruction - A method for determining absorption coefficients corrected with polychromy artifacts for an object composed of a plurality of material types differentiated with absorption attributes is provided. A plurality of x-ray beam projections of the object are recorded with monochrome x-rays from different positions. The recorded projections are reconstructed to determine a first set of absorption coefficients. The projections are calculated by reprojection. The recorded projections are corrected by the calculated projections. A second set of absorption coefficients corrected with polychromy artifacts is finally determined by reconstructing the corrected projections. A formula-based description of a rule taking account of polychromy is used in the calculation. The rule includes parameters to be determined by the reprojection in the course of the calculation of projections. The method combines steps of conventional methods and is thus more efficient. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110075900 | DIAGNOSIS ASSISTING SYSTEM, COMPUTER READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM HAVING DIAGNOSIS ASSISTING PROGRAM RECORDED THEREON, AND DIAGNOSIS ASSISTING METHOD - A plurality of sets of volume data obtained by imaging a subject on different imaging dates or different imaging times are analyzed, to calculate at least one type of index value that represents the state of the subject within each set of volume data. Transition data that represent transitions in the index values are generated for each type of index value, based on the calculated index values. At least one subject map that includes a region in which transitions are detected is generated. Specified data from among the calculated index values and the generated transition data are correlated with regions within each subject map where transitions are detected, and output to a predetermined screen. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110075901 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM - A target-viewpoint position in a first-medical-image having multiple viewpoints is determined. Information about an anatomical structure and/or a lesion in the first-medical-image is obtained, as first information. Further, information about an anatomical structure and/or a lesion in a finding with respect to at least one second-medical-image of the same examined person as the first-medical-image, the information being related to the first information, is obtained, as second information, from image-reading-report information including the finding. Each of the at least one second-medical-image has multiple viewpoints, and was obtained at different time from the first-medical-image. The image-reading-report information is correlated with an image of a viewpoint position at which the finding was prepared. An image of a corresponding viewpoint position, which corresponds to the target-viewpoint position, is determined based on the viewpoint position of the image correlated with the image-reading-report information from which the second information has been obtained. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110075902 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MULTI-SEGMENT CENTER POINT TRAJECTORY MAPPING - A computer implemented method of mapping of multiple regional center point trajectory movements of cavity walls is provided in which images are acquired and a region-of-interest is identified in each of the images. The region-of-interest is divided into a plurality of distinct regions and a regional center point for each of the regions is located in the images. For each regional center point, a center point trajectory is determined based on variances in position of the center points from each other in the images. The center point trajectory of each regional center point is decomposed into radial and circumferential components so as to isolate radial component of the center point trajectory for each regional center point in each of the images and radial motion versus time curves are displayed for each regional center point based on the determined radial component for each regional center point in each of the images. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110081054 | MEDICAL IMAGE ANALYSIS SYSTEM FOR DISPLAYING ANATOMICAL IMAGES SUBJECT TO DEFORMATION AND RELATED METHODS - A medical image analysis system is for first and second anatomical image data of a same body area and subject to deformation. The medical image analysis system may include a processor cooperating with a memory to generate a deformation vector array between the first and second anatomical image data. The processor may also display, on a display, first and second anatomical images respectively based upon the first and second anatomical image data. A first cursor may be displayed on the first anatomical image, and a second cursor may be displayed on the second anatomical image based upon a mapping of the first cursor using the deformation vector array. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110081055 | MEDICAL IMAGE ANALYSIS SYSTEM USING N-WAY BELIEF PROPAGATION FOR ANATOMICAL IMAGES SUBJECT TO DEFORMATION AND RELATED METHODS - A medical image analysis system is for first and second anatomical image data of a same body area and subject to deformation, with the first and second anatomical image data including respective first and second sets of voxels. The medical image analysis system may include a processor cooperating with a memory and configured to generate a plurality of cost arrays, with each cost array based upon probabilities of a subset of voxels of the second anatomical image data matching voxels of the first anatomical image data. The processor may also solve each cost array using three-dimensional, N-way belief propagation to thereby generate a deformation vector array between the first and second anatomical image data, where N is an integer greater than or equal to six. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110081056 | AUTOMATED PLACENTAL MEASUREMENT - A method for analyzing the placenta in two or three dimensions comprising: selecting one or more placental samples to be analyzed; obtaining a digital image of each placental sample; and performing an analysis on the digital images, wherein a mathematical algorithm is applied to the digital image. The results of the analysis are correlated with data on health outcomes in infants, children, or adults and are used to assess future health risks to a patient. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110081057 | APPARATUS FOR STENOSIS ESTIMATION - Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA) is widely used in the diagnosis and treatment of coronary arterial diseases such as arterial stenosis. However, the application of DSA for the assessment of stenosis severity is limited by the high intraobserver and interobserver variabilities associated with the visual assessment of stenosis severity from a cineangiogram (e.g., a sequential series of images after injection of a contrast media). The advent of Quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) has significantly reduced this limitation. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110081058 | Reconstructing Three-Dimensional Current Sources from Magnetic Sensor Data - Magnetic source imaging (MSI) involves the reconstruction of the current sources in a portion of a body, such as an organ, from measured magnetic field data. The measured magnetic field data may be from one-dimensional or three-dimensional sensors. Aspects of the present invention include systems and methods for reconstructing the electrical current of an organ given magnetic data. In embodiments, reconstruction of three-dimensional current sources is accomplished knowing or estimating the position, or offset, of the sensor plane with respect to the patient in order to form a set of linear equations. Alternatively, reconstruction of three-dimensional current sources is accomplished without knowing the offset of the sensor plane with respect to the patient. In embodiments, the linear and nonlinear systems of equations are iteratively used to obtain the current source information. In embodiments, multi-scale strategies are employed. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110081059 | AUTOMATED PLACENTAL MEASUREMENT - A method for analyzing the placenta in two or three dimensions comprising: selecting one or more placental samples to be analyzed; obtaining a digital image of each placental sample; and performing an analysis on the digital images, wherein a mathematical algorithm is applied to the digital image. Three dimensional scanning is also used to measure the 3-D placental shape. The results of the analysis are correlated with data on health outcomes in infants, children, or adults and are used to assess future health risks to a patient. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110081060 | Pathological-Diagnosis Support Device and Pathological-Diagnosis Support System - An object is to reduce the burden on pathologists and to improve the efficiency of pathologist's diagnoses. Provided is a pathological-diagnosis support device including a reference-information storing portion in which reference information referred to by a pathologist when making a pathological diagnosis is stored in association with the names of illnesses and the names of tissue sites; a diagnosis-request-information acquisition portion that acquires diagnosis request information including the name of the illness of a patient and the name of the tissue site; a diagnosis-content extracting portion that extracts the name of the illness and the name of the tissue site from the diagnosis request information acquired by the diagnosis-request-information acquisition portion; and a reference-information searching portion that searches the reference information stored in the reference-information storing portion using the name of the illness and the name of the tissue site extracted by the diagnosis-content extracting portion. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110085712 | Method For Imaging Biomaterial Erosion In Vivo - A method for imaging the erosion of a biomaterial is disclosed. More specifically, the present invention provides a method for imaging a labeled biomaterial so that the erosion of the biomaterial is measured in vivo over a period of time. A biomaterial such as, for example, a hydrogel including polyethylene glycol (PEG) is labeled with a fluorescent or bioluminescent marker. The labeled biomaterial is then employed in the construction of an implanted medical device such as, for example, an endovascular stent. Furthermore, the labeled biomaterial may be utilized to form a drug delivery system that releases a controlled amount of a drug into a local region within a patient. The erosion of the biomaterial is monitored through a noninvasive imaging method. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110085713 | METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING A TOOTH REGION - A method for identifying tooth regions. The method includes generating a first threshold image from a first tooth image by selecting intensity data values higher than a first predetermined threshold value c | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110085714 | METHOD FOR EXTRACTING A CARIOUS LESION AREA - A method for extracting a carious lesion area from sound regions of a tooth. In one embodiment, the method includes generating a digital image of the tooth; identifying tooth regions; extracting a suspicious lesion area by using a marker-controlled watershed algorithm or by using a morphological bottom-hat based method along with a multi-resolution surface reconstruction method; and removing false positives. In another embodiment, the method includes generating a digital image of the tooth comprising obtaining a fluorescence image of the tooth, obtaining a reflectance image of the tooth, and combining image data for the fluorescence and reflectance images; identifying tooth regions; extracting suspicious lesion areas; and removing false positives. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110085715 | METHOD FOR LOCATING AN INTERPROXIMAL TOOTH REGION - A method for locating one or more interproximal tooth regions in a digital tooth image. The method can be executed at least in part on data processing hardware. The method includes generating the digital tooth image from a fluorescence image of one or more teeth and a reflectance image of the one or more teeth, so as to combine image data from the fluorescence and reflectance images. The digital tooth image has intensity values for pixels corresponding to the one or more teeth and background. The method identifies one or more tooth regions by processing the digital tooth image and locates the one or more interproximal tooth regions according to the one or more identified tooth regions. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110085716 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VERIFYING REGISTRATION ACCURACY IN DIGITAL MEDICAL IMAGES - A method of verifying a registration of a digital image includes receiving a reference image and a moving image registered to the reference image representing the same object, selecting one or more landmarks in the images, defining a neighborhood in the domain of each image near each selected landmark, extracting feature sets from the neighborhoods for the reference image and the registered moving image, calculating a total quality measure of the registration of the moving image from a distance metric applied to the feature sets extracted from the neighborhoods of the reference image and the registered moving image, comparing the total quality measure to a threshold determined from a reference atlas for the object represented in the image, and determining whether to accept or reject the registration of the moving image based on the comparison result. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110085717 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM RECORDING MEDIUM, AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - An image processing apparatus includes: a model estimator that models gradient variations of pixel values in an image of a captured object, which is an in-vivo image, according to the pixel values in the image; and an abnormality candidate detector that detects an abnormality candidate area on the object shown in the image according to a difference between a pixel value of each pixel constituting the image and an estimated pixel value of each pixel, the estimated pixel value being determined according to the modeled gradient variations of the pixel values. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110091081 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ANALYZING THE EXPRESSION OF BIOMARKERS IN CELLS IN SITU IN THEIR TISSUE OF ORIGIN - The present application discloses a technique for obtaining and storing data on expression of multiple biomarkers in individual cells or the compartments of individual cells in a tissue specimen and methods of utilizing that data to create groups, the members of which share some degree of similarity greater than the general population from which the data is drawn, by an analysis of digital images of a portion of the tissue specimen which has been iteratively stained to generate optical signals, typically fluorescent, reflective of the amount of each of the biomarkers examined. The analysis of the images involves a segmentation routine whereby each pixel of the examined images is assigned to an individual cell or a compartment of an individual cell, the intensity of the signal representative of each biomarker is measured for each pixel, a dataset is created in which each cell or compartments of each cell is associated with a signal intensity for each biomarker examined, and the dataset is interrogated with appropriate numerical tools to create groups. It also discloses the display of such groups on images of the tissue examined such that the individual cells belonging to a particular group are marked or indicated on one of the images examined. It further discloses examining the biomarker data for each group for possible association with a biological condition or process in cases in which tissue specimens drawn from different subjects or different portions of the tissue of a subject have been examined. It also discloses using this examination in the diagnoses, prognoses or assessment of the response to therapy of a condition or disease. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110091082 | MEDICAL IMAGE HANDLING SYSTEM AND METHOD - A medical image handling system includes a monitor for displaying a medical image, an input device for inputting an image reading report corresponding to the medical image displayed on the monitor, and a processor. The processor judges the presence or absence of an image reading report corresponding to the medical image displayed on the monitor, and restricts a change of the medical image in a case where the image reading report is judged as being absent. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110091083 | AUTOMATIC CUP-TO-DISC RATIO MEASUREMENT SYSTEM - A two-dimensional retinal fundus image of the retinal fundus of an eye is processed by optic disc segmentation ( | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110091084 | AUTOMATIC OPACITY DETECTION SYSTEM FOR CORTICAL CATARACT DIAGNOSIS - A method performed by a computer system for detecting opacity in an image of the lens of an eye. The method includes detecting a region of interest in a picture of the lens, and processing the region of interest to produce a modified image using an algorithm which emphasizes opacity associated with a cortical cataract relative to opacity caused by other types of opacity, such as opacity caused by posterior sub-capsular cataracts (PSC). The modified image may be used for grading the level of cortical opacity, by measuring, in the modified image, the proportion of opacity in at least one area of the region of interest. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110096963 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CUSTOMIZING MEDICAL IMAGES BASED ON PATIENT PREFERENCE - A method and system for customizing medical images based on patient preference is disclosed herein. The method comprises: receiving patient preference on displaying patient identification information in a medical image; and providing customized patient identification information on the image based on the patient preference. The image with customized patient information is stored in a media. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110096964 | Method and System for Automatic Extraction of Personalized Left Atrium Models - A method and system for automatic extraction of personalized left atrium models is disclosed. A left atrium chamber body is segmented from a 3D image volume. At least one pulmonary venous ostium is detected on the segmented left atrium chamber body. At least one pulmonary vein trunk connected to the left atrium chamber body is segmented based on the detected pulmonary venous ostia. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110096965 | ULTRASOUND IMAGE ENHANCEMENT AND SPECKLE MITIGATION METHOD - A method for enhancing an ultrasound image is provided, wherein the ultrasound image is segmented into a feature region and a non-feature region, while sufficiently utilizing features contained in the ultrasound image, in particular including some inconspicuous features. the enhanced image according to present invention is not susceptive of the image segmentation and avoid dependence of the enhancement effect on the segmentation template, so as not to produce an evident artificial boundary between the feature region and the non-feature region but to highlight some special information in the image and to remove or mitigate invalid information. Thus the enhanced ultrasound image is particularly suitable for the visual system of the human beings. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110096966 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING BONE VARIABILITY WITH ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT - A method and apparatus for assessing the time since demise of one or more tissue components, comprising a source of radiation to generate excitatory radiation toward a tissue component, the tissue component generating responsive radiation in response to the excitatory radiation, a sensor to receive the responsive radiation from the tissue component and create a signal indicating the rate of change (over time) of the responsive radiation, a processor connected to the sensor to receive the signal from the sensor, and wherein the processor evaluates the received signal and provides information whereby a user can assess the time since demise of the tissue component based on responsive radiation generated by the tissue component as a result of excitation of at least one intrinsic tissue component metabolic product. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110096967 | Biological Imaging Device - Optical waveguide paths to observe a sample on a sample holder from a plurality of directions while guiding an image of light in each direction which is emitted out of the sample toward a direction of a two dimensional detector via a main imaging lens include an optical waveguide path which never receives the light directly from the sample. The optical waveguide path which never receives the light directly from the sample forms an image of the sample within a substantial focus range of the main imaging lens, and includes optical elements arranged such that a light beam after formation of the image proceeds toward a direction of the main imaging lens. Optical elements on at least one optical waveguide path are those for forming real images. Therefore, the main imaging lens images the sample and those real images in block on the two dimensional detector. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110103654 | BONE IMAGERY SEGMENTATION METHOD AND APPARATUS - There is described an apparatus and method for recovering a contour of a bone from an input image of the bone with its surrounding tissues. The method comprises receiving the input image; applying in parallel at least three image processing functions to the input image to obtain at least three resulting images indicative of respective features of the input image, at least one of the at least three image processing functions pertaining to a spatial domain, and at least another one of the at least three image processing functions pertaining to a frequency domain; combining the at least three resulting images together to form a compounded image, the compounded image identifying at least two regions based on the respective features; identifying the contour of the bone based on the at least two regions of the compounded image; and outputting an output image for display, the output image comprising the contour identified. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110103655 | FUNDUS INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND FUNDUS INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD - The present inventions relates to a fundus imaging device integrated with a computer processing to comprise a fundus information processing apparatus and method for executing the same in order to produce a panoramic fundus image and to obtain blood vessel information of the fundus. The apparatus and method processes a first fundus image and a second fundus image acquired with a fundus imaging device. The fundus information processing apparatus and method extracts blood vessel shapes from the first and second fundus images, and identifies branching points of the blood vessel of the blood vessel shape through image processing. Further, a plurality of line segments are obtained by interconnecting two predetermined branching points and thereafter identification of two common line segments of the first and second fundus images. The apparatus and method determines relative positional relationship between the branching points constituting at least two of the line segments and thereafter performs comparison operation followed by an alignment operation. By the alignment a panoramic image of the plurality of fundus images is produced along with blood vessel information of the fundus. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110103656 | Quantification of Plaques in Neuroimages - A system and method for determining the location and density of plaques in a neuroimage is disclosed according to one embodiment of the invention. In some embodiments, catchment basins are identified as potential plaque areas (candidate regions) in the neuroimage. The Laplacian of each element within the catchment basins can be calculated and the highest Laplacian in the catchment basin identified as a candidate feature. The local contrast can be computed as the ratio between the local minimum of the catchment basin and the average (or some other statistic like the maximum or minimum) intensity of the neighboring watersheds can be used as another candidate feature. In some embodiments, a classifier can be used to discriminate the candidates into plaques or non-plaques, since plaques tend to have a larger Laplacian and larger local contrast than other brain structures. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110103657 | METHODS OF OBTAINING GEOMETRY FROM IMAGES - In one aspect, a method of detecting at least on feature associated with a blood vessel in at least one image of at least one blood vessel using a matched filter adapted to respond to the at least one feature is provided. The method comprises applying a scale detection filter to selected voxels in the at least one image to determine a scale for the matched filter at each of the selected voxels, determining an orientation for the matched filter at each of the selected voxels, wherein determining the orientation is assisted by using the scale determined at each of the selected voxels, applying the matched filter at each of the selected voxels at the scale and the orientation determined at each of the selected voxels to obtain a filter response at each of the selected voxels, and analyzing the filter response at each of the selected voxels to determine if the respective voxel corresponds to the at least one feature. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110103658 | ENHANCED IMAGING FOR OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY - An imaging device to obtain images, comprising: an optical source; an x-y scanner receiving light from the optical source and directing it onto a sample; a detector receiving reflected light from the scanner; and a computer receiving a signal from the detector and providing a 3D data set containing voxels with a given voxel resolution of a sample, the computer further executing instructions for finding values other than a single axes sum to represent a set of voxels; composing a 2D image using the values. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110103659 | MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM AND DATA TRANSMISSION METHOD - A medical diagnostic system and a data transmission system are disclosed. The medical diagnostic system includes a medical examination apparatus generating and providing two and three-dimensional image data as a result of diagnosing a target, at least one user terminal, and an image storage-transmission system storing the two and three-dimensional image data provided by the medical examination apparatus and providing the two and three-dimensional image data to the user terminal. The image storage-transmission system provides, in response to a search query about a certain lesion input through the at least one user terminal, at least one thumbnail corresponding to two or three-dimensional image data related to the search query to the user terminal and then provides, in response to selection of a certain thumbnail through the at least one user terminal, two or three-dimensional image data corresponding to the selected certain thumbnail to the user terminal. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110103660 | SHOWING SKIN LESION INFORMATION - Among other things, on a two-dimensional electronic display, a representation is shown of a scanned image of a lesion on the skin of a real human. On the two-dimensional electronic display, a recommendation is indicated of a next diagnostic or treatment step to be taken, based on a computer-implemented analysis of the scanned image. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110103661 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR SEGMENTING MEDICAL IMAGE DATA - The present invention relates to a method and device for automatical segmentation of medical images of a non-planar surface of an object, in particular of a heart valve, including detecting a surface boundary which delimits the non-planar surface of the object, creating a model surface, which is spanned between the surface boundary, correcting the model surface by means of distance information containing information about the distance between the model surface and the non-planar surface of the object, until a corrected model surface is generated, and depicting the corrected model surface, where the correction of the model surface is preferably carried out by means of three- or four-dimensional image data sets, by orienting the three-dimensional volume-rendering of the object essentially perpendicular to the model surface, so that the information about the distance between the model surface and the non-planar surface of the object can be evaluated, until the corrected model surface has been produced. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110110565 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CHECKING THE DIAGNOSTIC QUALITY OF A MEDICAL SYSTEM - A system and a method are provided that may be used to determine the suitability of a client for use in medical diagnosis. Multimedia content may be presented on the client and used to elicit responses from a user indicative of the suitability of the client for use in medical diagnosis. The elicited responses may be used to determine the suitability of the client for medical diagnosis. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20110110566 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING IMAGE NOISE - A method and apparatus are provided for reducing noise in a medical diagnostic image. The method includes obtaining an image data set of a region of interest in an object, defining a first area that includes a plurality of pixels surrounding a pixel in the image data set, rotating and reflecting the first area to identify at least one different second area that includes a structure that is similar to a second structure defined in the first area, and generating an image having reduced noise using the rotated and reflected area. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20110110567 | Methods and Apparatus for Visually Enhancing Images - The invention provides methods of enhancing tissue sample images by filtering luminance values from an input image and transforming the filtered values to produce an enhanced image for use in diagnostic applications. Preferred methods of the invention provide image enhancement by filtering luminance values of an image that correspond to sample regions that are obstructed or are otherwise not of diagnostic interest, and applying a mathematical transformation based on luminance values from regions that are not filtered out. In this way, image correction is substantially based on portions of the image that are of diagnostic relevance. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20110110568 | WEB ENABLED MEDICAL IMAGE REPOSITORY - A system and method for acquiring, hosting and distributing medical images for healthcare professionals. In one illustrative embodiment, the system can include a database for storing private health information split from a medical imaging record. The system can also include a repository for storing at least one anonymized image split from the medical record. The anonymized images are parsed into a schema upon request with the schema provided in response to the request. The schema can define a structure mapping the anonymized images into a study. The personal information can be joined with the anonymized images to form medical imaging records into the study according to the structure. The anonymized images can be parsed into a browser compatible format and metadata associated with the format. The database and the repository can both be provided on cloud services. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20110110569 | DISCOVER BIOLOGICAL FEATURES USING COMPOSITE IMAGES - An image processing system extracts parts or characteristics of interest from prepared biological samples One suitable use of the image processing system is to find biomarkers. But many other suitable uses are possible. Some components of the system include image preprocessing (data interpolation, retention time alignment, image noise filtering, background estimation, and formation of a composite image); image feature extraction (peaks, isotope groups, and charge groups); and computation of feature characteristics and expression statistics, differential expression, and non-differential expression. Outputs of the system include a candidate list of parts or characteristic of interest for aiding further discovery. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20110116691 | FACIAL SKIN DEFECT RESOLUTION SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT - A facial skin defect resolution system, method and a computer program product are presented. The system includes a storage module, a feature definition module, and a skin analysis module. The storage module stores at least one facial image of a user, at least one skin defect condition, and at least one of a plurality of facial feature conditions. The skin analysis module analyzes the facial image by using the facial feature conditions to obtain at least one facial skin area image, and then analyzes the facial skin area image according to the skin defect condition so as to mark a skin defect image in the facial skin area image. | 05-19-2011 |
| 20110116692 | VIRTUAL ENDOSCOPY - In a virtual endoscopy method, an unfolding axis substantially along an elongated lumen is divided into axis segments. Ray casting directions are selected extending generally radially from the axis segments. At least some of the ray casting directions are tilted away from a camera position. Ray casting is performed along the tilted ray casting directions to define pixel values that are arranged into an unfolded view. The ray casting employs at least one of (i) volume rendering and (ii) computing a statistical characteristic of voxels over a preselected distance (d | 05-19-2011 |
| 20110116693 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CORRECTION OF FLUOROSCOPE IMAGE DISTORTION - Certain embodiments of the present invention provide for a system and method for modeling S-distortion in an image intensifier. In an embodiment, the method may include identifying a reference coordinate on an input screen of the image intensifier. The method also includes computing a set of charged particle velocity vectors. The method also includes computing a set of magnetic field vectors. The method also includes computing the force exerted on the charged particle in an image intensifier. Certain embodiments of the present invention include an iterative method for calibrating an image acquisition system with an analytic S-distortion model. In an embodiment, the method may include comparing the difference between the measured fiducial shadow positions and the model fiducial positions with a threshold value. If the difference is less than the threshold value, the optical distortion parameters are used for linearizing the set of acquired images. | 05-19-2011 |
| 20110116694 | RAPID CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY TO SUPPORT SURGICAL PROCEDURES - One embodiment of techniques for confocal microscopy includes illuminating a spot on a surface of a biological sample. A first emission intensity from the spot is detected in a first range of optical properties; and a second emission intensity in a second range. A pixel that corresponds to the spot is colored using a linear combination of the first and second emission intensities. Sometimes, the pixel is colored to approximate a color produced by histology. In some embodiments, a surface of a sample is contacted with a solution of acridine orange. Then, a spot is illuminated with a laser beam of wavelength about 488 nanometers (nm). Fluorescence emission intensity is detected above about 500 nm. Sometimes, a certain illumination correction is applied. In some embodiments, a sample holder that compresses a sample is removable from a stage that is fixed with respect to a focal plane of the microscope. | 05-19-2011 |
| 20110123073 | MAMMOGRAPHY STATISTICAL DIAGNOSTIC PROFILER AND PREDICTION SYSTEM - A method and system for analyzing and retrieving breast tissue abnormality tracking data, providing a tool for a radiologist that includes a report summarizing the statistical frequency of diagnosed patients, both locally and nationally, with mammogram region-of-interest classifications similar to the mammogram images taken of the anatomy of an individual patient. In one embodiment, a computer aided diagnostic program can be tested or verified against the mammography images and the region-of-interest classifications that have been validated by definitive patient diagnosis. Another embodiment allows the efficient collection of all of the mammogram abnormalities for a given medical facility in order to provide trending data or radiologist performance analysis. In yet another embodiment, the region-of-interest abnormalities in a single location in a patient's tissue are correlated across a variety of imaging modalities including X-rays, mammogram, CT, ultrasound, MRI, or other imaging technologies. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110123074 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SUPPRESSING ARTIFICIAL OBJECTS IN MEDICAL IMAGES - A system and method are provided for altering the appearance of an artificial object in a medical image. An artificial object is first identified in the medical image, such as identifying a breast implant in a mammography image. The prominence of the artificial object is then reduced, for example by suppressing the brightness or masking the artificial object out altogether. The resulting medical image with the altered artificial object is then displayed to a user so that the medical image can be more accurately analyzed without requiring the user to adjust the image on his or her own. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110123075 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MARKING A MEDICAL IMAGE WITH A DIGITAL INDICATOR - A system and method is provided for automatically detecting and marking a region of interest in a medical image. A region of interest is first identified in the medical image, such as a nipple of a breast region in a mammography image. The identified nipple is then marked with a digital indicator, such as a bright circle, so that a user viewing the image can easily identify the nipple. The digital indicator can be temporarily removed so that no portion of the region of interest is obscured by the digital indicator. A region of interest corresponding to another anatomical feature may also be marked, such as a pectoral muscle, which may be marked by placing a digital outline around the border of the pectoral muscle. A user viewing the medical image with the digital indicators can easily identify the marked regions of interest. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110123076 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING SPECIFIC HUMAN BODY PARTS IN IMAGE - An apparatus for detecting specific human body parts in an image includes: a texture energy analysis unit for analyzing energy distribution in the image and generating texture energy maps; a candidate region-of-interest extraction unit for extracting candidate regions-of-interest for the specific body parts on a given texture energy map by applying a threshold to the given texture energy map, the given texture energy map being selected among the texture energy maps; a candidate mask application unit for performing convolution between candidate masks for the specific body parts and the candidate regions-of-interest and selecting candidate body parts based on results of the convolution; and a body part detection unit for detecting the specific body parts on the image by performing verification on the candidate body parts. The verification is performed by using machine-learning models for the specific body parts. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110123077 | IMAGE DISPLAY DEVICE, METHOD AND PROGRAM - A pair of static magnetic field generating means disposed so as to sandwich a space in which an examination target is disposed, magnetic field generating means that applies high-frequency magnetic field and gradient magnetic field to an examination target disposed in the static magnetic field, and reception means that receives a nuclear magnetic resonance signal generated by the examination target are provided. The reception means has a predetermined coil pattern, and contains a reception coil which can be formed in a cylindrical shape. The reception coil has a flexible portion and a rigid portion which are alternately arranged along the peripheral direction when it is designed in a cylindrical shape, and the flexible portion has a flexible board on which a part of the predetermined coil pattern is mounted, and a bubble-containing organic resin portion covering both the surfaces of the flexible board. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110129129 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTEGRATED QUANTIFIABLE DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS AND MONITORING OF DISEASE USING POPULATION RELATED DATA FOR DETERMINING A DISEASE SIGNATURE - A system and method for detecting, diagnosing, and monitoring a disease and determining a disease signature including accessing patient deviation scores indicative of differences between patient data and reference data representative of a population segment, the patient deviation scores derived from longitudinal patient data such that the patient deviation scores include a plurality of sets of patient deviation scores, each set indicative of differences between patient data collected at a respective point in time and the reference data. The system and method also includes identifying a trend in the patient deviation scores for at least one clinical parameter, generating a report including a visual indication of the trend, and outputting the report. The report includes one or more views including Z, T, D, DT, and D feedback on T views, using image and non-image data. | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110129130 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTEGRATED QUANTIFIABLE DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS AND MONITORING OF DISEASE USING POPULATION RELATED TIME TREND DATA - A system and method for detecting, diagnosing, and monitoring a disease and determining a disease signature including accessing patient deviation scores indicative of differences between patient data and reference data representative of a population segment, the patient deviation scores derived from longitudinal patient data such that the patient deviation scores include a plurality of sets of patient deviation scores, each set indicative of differences between patient data collected at a respective point in time and the reference data. The system and method also includes identifying a trend in the patient deviation scores for at least one clinical parameter, generating a report including a visual indication of the trend, and outputting the report. The report includes one or more views including Z, T, D, DT, and D feedback on T views, using image and non-image data. | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110129131 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTEGRATED QUANTIFIABLE DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS AND MONITORING OF DISEASE USING POPULATION RELATED TIME TREND DATA AND DISEASE PROFILES - A system and method for detecting, diagnosing, and monitoring a disease and determining a disease signature including accessing patient deviation scores indicative of differences between patient data and reference data representative of a population segment, the patient deviation scores derived from longitudinal patient data such that the patient deviation scores include a plurality of sets of patient deviation scores, each set indicative of differences between patient data collected at a respective point in time and the reference data. The system and method also includes identifying a trend in the patient deviation scores for at least one clinical parameter, generating a report including a visual indication of the trend, and outputting the report. The report includes one or more views including Z, T, D, DT, and D feedback on T views, using image and non-image data. | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110129132 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PATIENT POSITIONING FOR NUCLEAR MEDICINE IMAGING - Systems and methods for nuclear medicine (NM) imaging using different radiopharmaceuticals are provided. One method includes generating images of a region of interest (ROI) from radioactive emissions from a localization radiopharmaceutical to position the ROI in a field-of-view (FOV) of a gamma camera based on the generated images of the ROI. The method further includes performing an imaging scan of the ROI using an imaging radiopharmaceutical to acquire image data of the ROI, wherein the imaging radiopharmaceutical is different than the localization radiopharmaceutical. | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110129133 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DETECTION OF RETINAL CHANGES - An image analysis system allows users to import digital color fundus images over time, and group such images for processing so as to generate analyses. Analyses are information modules based on a selected group of images and, optionally, related information. An analysis tool allows users to view and manipulate the analyses via a graphical user interface for aid in identifying and classifying microaneurysms and other symptoms related to retinopathy and, more generally, to allow for the detection of retinal changes over time. | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110129134 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DETECTION OF RETINAL CHANGES - An image analysis system allows users to import digital color fundus images over time, and group such images for processing so as to generate analyses. Analyses are information modules based on a selected group of images and, optionally, related information. An analysis tool allows users to view and manipulate the analyses via a graphical user interface for aid in identifying and classifying microaneurysms and other symptoms related to retinopathy and, more generally, to allow for the detection of retinal changes over time. | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110129135 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND PROGRAM - In one example embodiment, an information processing apparatus, for an observed image associated with an observation target object (e.g., a section of biological tissue), associates and stores position information and observation magnification information. In this embodiment, the information processing apparatus causes a display device to: (i) display an image associated with the observation target object; (ii) indicate the first positional information of the first observed image; and (iii) indicate the first observation magnification information of the first observed image. | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110129136 | Method And System For Screening Of A To-Be-Analyzed Candidate As A Skin-Whitening Agent - A method for screening of a to-be-analyzed candidate as a skin-whitening agent, includes the steps of: (a) setting a first feature parameter corresponding to a first group of zebrafish that are bred under a predetermined set of breeding conditions; (b) administering the to-be-analyzed candidate to a second group of zebrafish that are bred under the predetermined set of breeding conditions; (c) capturing images of the zebrafish in the second group; (d) determining, from the images captured in step (c), a second feature parameter corresponding to the second group of zebrafish; and (e) concluding that the to-be-analyzed candidate is suitable as a skin-whitening agent if a difference between the first and second feature parameters has statistical significance. A system for implementing the method is also disclosed. | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110135170 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISPLAY SPEED CONTROL OF CAPSULE IMAGES - Systems and methods are provided for display speed control of images captured from a capsule camera system. For capsule systems, with either digital wireless transmission or on-board storage, the captured images will be played back for analysis and examination. During playback, the diagnostician wishes to find polyps or other points of interest as quickly and efficiently as possible. The present invention discloses systems and methods for display speed based on image complexity. A higher visual complexity will result in longer display time so that the diagnostician can examine the underlying images longer. Conversely, a lower visual complexity will result in shorter display time. The visual complexity may be derived from image contours/edges or spatial frequencies. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110135171 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IN VITRO ANALYSIS OF THE PHYSICAL RESPONSE OF BLOOD-VESSELS TO VASO-ACTIVE AGENTS - A method includes determining, with a computing device, one or more of a hue value, a saturation value, and an intensity value of a pixel in a region of interest of an image of a blood vessel sample. A physical response of the blood vessel sample to a vaso-active agent is determined based at least in part on one or more of the hue value, the saturation value, and the intensity value. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110135172 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM - [Objective] To improve detection performance of target tissues formed by linear structures within three dimensional images. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110135173 | METHOD FOR 3D SPINE AND FULL 3D TRUNK IMAGING FUSION IN STANDING POSITION - A method for merging (or fusing) three dimensional images or reconstruction of set of bone joints and the full three dimensional image of the related external shape. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110135174 | IMAGE REPORTING METHOD AND SYSTEM - A method and system are provided to report the findings of an expert's analysis of image data. The method and system are based on a reporting system that forms the basis of an image management system that can efficiently and systematically generate image reports, facilitate data entry into searchable databases for data mining, and expedite billing and collections for the expert's services. The expert identifies a significant finding on an image and attaches a location:description code to the location of that finding in order to create a significant finding and an entry into a database. Further descriptions of that finding, such as dimensional measurements, may be automatically appended to the finding as secondary attributes. After the evaluation, the system sorts the findings in the database and presents the findings by prioritized categories. The expert edits and approves a multimedia report which may be delivered by electronic means to an end-user. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110135175 | USER INTERFACE FOR SELECTING PATHS IN AN IMAGE - A method, performed by a computer, of facilitating selection by a user of one path from a set of directed paths in an image, partly overlapping but not constituting a directed tree structure, each path beginning at a root and ending at an end point, the method comprising:
| 06-09-2011 |
| 20110142301 | ADVANCED COMPUTER-AIDED DIAGNOSIS OF LUNG NODULES - Methods are herein provided for decision support in diagnosis of a disease in a subject, and for extracting features from a multi-slice data set. Systems for computer-aided diagnosis are provided. The systems take as input a plurality of medical data and produces as output a diagnosis based upon this data. The inputs may consist of a combination of image data and clinical data. Diagnosis is performed through feature selection and the use of one or more classifier algorithms. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110142302 | Chaotic Watermarking for a Digital Image - Examples of encoding and decoding a watermark for a digital image and to using the watermark for authenticating the digital image are disclosed. The examples may include embedding a chaotic watermark in a digital image and using parameters associated with source and capture information for the digital image to both generate the chaotic watermark and to authenticate the digital image. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110142303 | IMAGE LABELING USING PARALLEL PROCESSING - Image data which includes a feature is labeled. The image data is comprised of pixel data in an N×M array. At least one pixel is designated and flagged. Asynchronous processes are executed, where each process corresponds to exactly one pixel. Each process sets a flag only for the owner pixel and only if a connected neighbor pixel in the pre-defined path is flagged. Each process inspects pixel data for all neighbor pixels of the owner pixel to determine if a neighbor pixel is a connected pixel and if the neighbor pixel is flagged, and continues until it sets the flag for the owner pixel or until all connected horizontal and vertical neighbor pixels have been inspected without encountering a connected neighbor pixel whose flag is set. The asynchronous processes are repeated until a pre-defined condition has been satisfied. All flagged pixels are labeled. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110142304 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FAULT-TOLERANT RECONSTRUCTION OF IMAGES - A method and system for reconstructing an image of an object. The method includes acquiring an image dataset of an object of interest, identifying valid data and invalid data in the image dataset, determining a time period that includes the valid data, weighting the valid data based on the determined time period, and reconstructing an image of the object using the weighted valid data. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110142305 | TARGETED IMAGE TRANSFORMATION OF SKIN ATTRIBUTE - Targeted attribute transformation involves obtaining a digital image of the skin, selecting an individual skin attribute (an imperfection, such as a blemishes, pores, or wrinkles), extracting the individual skin attribute from the digital image by linear digital filtering on all the color channels, to obtain a contrast map in all three channels of the individual attribute, and adding or subtracting a fraction of the contrast map to the initial image, to obtain the skin image with transformed selected skin attribute. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110142306 | Method and system for generating a medical image - A method and system for generating a medical image are disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the method involves providing a 3D dataset of a heart and generating a 2D representation of a curved surface of the 3D dataset by flattening out the curved surface of the heart. In at least one embodiment, the 2D representation corresponds to a surface area of the heart covering more than 180 degrees around a circumference of the heart. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110142307 | VERTEBRAL FRACTURE PREDICTION - The risk of future fracture or deformity of vertebrae of a spine may be estimated by processing an image of at least one vertebra of a spine to compare data representing the appearance of the at least one vertebra with a statistical model of a corresponding part of a spine, the statistical model being formed from data representing images of spines for which information about the degree of fracture or deformity of each spine at a subsequent time is known, and deriving a measure of the similarity between the at least one vertebra of the spine and the model, which measure is representative of the likelihood that the spine will subsequently sustain a fracture or become deformed. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110142308 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM - An information processing apparatus and an information processing method including a deformation shape model generation unit configured to generate, from information about a first shape and a first position of a feature region in a target object under a first deformation condition, a deformation of the first shape with the position of the feature region as a reference as a model, and a deformation estimation unit configured to, based on information about a second shape and a second position corresponding to the feature region in the target object under the second deformation condition, align the first position with the second position to estimate deformation from the first shape to the second shape using the model. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110142309 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MEASURING POTENTIAL EYESTRAIN OF STEREOSCOPIC MOTION PICTURES - A system and method for measuring the potential eyestrain felt by audiences while watching a 3D presentation, e.g., a stereoscopic motion picture, are provided. The eyestrain measurement system and method of the present disclosure is based on the measurement of disparity (or depth) and disparity transition of stereoscopic images of the 3D presentation. The system and method of the present disclosure provide for acquiring a first image and a second image from a first segment, estimating disparity of at least one point in the first image with at least one corresponding point in the second image, estimating disparity transition of a sequence of first and second images, and determining potential eyestrain felt while viewing the 3D presentation based on the disparity and the disparity transition of the sequence of the first and second images. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110142310 | Systems and Methods for Minimizing Aberrating Effects in Imaging Systems - A biometric optical recognition system includes optics, including a wavefront coding mask, for imaging a wavefront of object to be recognized to an intermediate image, and a detector for detecting the intermediate image. A modulation transfer function detected by the detector contains no zeros such that subsequent task based image processing recognizes the object. A biometric recognition system includes optics for imaging a wavefront of an object to be recognized to a first intermediate image, and a detector for detecting the first intermediate image. The optics include a phase changing element configured for modifying the wavefront such that a modulation transfer function characterizing detection of the first intermediate image contains no zeros such that subsequent task based image processing recognizes the object. In an optical imaging system that includes a solid state detector, a phase-modifying element reduces reflected power from electromagnetic energy incident upon the detector without introducing aberrations. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110158487 | MEDICAL IMAGE DISPLAY DEVICE AND IMAGE DISPLAYING METHOD - A reference landmark extracting and pairing unit extracts reference landmarks from each of two three-dimensional medical images and forms reference landmark pairs, while a general landmark extracting unit extracts general landmarks. The landmark pair forming unit forms general landmark pairs using of a distance between each of the reference landmarks and the general landmarks, and also forms general landmark pairs from the remaining general landmarks using the distances from the general landmarks included in the general landmark pairs. A coordinate transformation parameter calculating unit calculates coordinate transformation parameters, based on the positional information of the reference landmark pairs and the general landmark pairs. A corresponding sectional view creating unit creates corresponding sectional views for the two three-dimensional medical images based on the coordinate transformation parameters, and by the display controlling unit the two corresponding sectional views are displayed on a displaying unit. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110158488 | COMPENSATION OF MOTION IN A MOVING ORGAN USING AN INTERNAL POSITION REFERENCE SENSOR - An apparatus for displaying a moving region of interest located within a body includes a positioning system to determine a position and orientation (P&O) of a medical device as well as to track, using an internal position reference sensor, the motion of the region of interest over time. A compensation function block generates a motion compensation function based on the motion of the region of interest, which is configured to compensate for the motion of the region of interest between a first time, for example a time at which an image was acquired and a second time, for example a time at which a P&O of the device was measured. The measured P&O is corrected using the compensation function. A representation of the medical device is superimposed on the image in accordance with the corrected P&O. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110158489 | DETECTION DEVICES AND DETECTION METHOD - A detection device for detecting specific operation information of a subject is provided and includes an image capturing unit, an image processing unit, a signal processing unit, and a detection unit. The image capturing unit captures pictures of the subject to generate image signals respectively. Each of the image signals has gray-level values. The image processing unit sums the gray-level values of each of the image signals to obtain a brightness value of the corresponding image signal. The signal processing unit generates an action signal according to the brightness values, removes a non-periodic component of the action signal, and calculates a spectrum of the action signal whose non-periodic component is removed. The detection unit checks the spectrum according to a detection rule to obtain the specific operation information of the subject. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110158490 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING AND MEASURING OBJECT OF INTEREST FROM AN IMAGE - A method and an apparatus for extracting an object of interest from an image and measuring parameters of the object of interest are provided. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110158491 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LESION SEGMENTATION - A method and system for acquiring information on lesions in dynamic 3D medical images of a body region and/or organ, having the steps: applying a registration technique to align a plurality of volumetric image data of the body region and/or organ, yielding multi-phase registered volumetric image data of the body region and/or organ; applying a hierarchical segmentation on the multi-phase registered volumetric image data of the body region and/or organ, the segmentation yielding a plurality of clusters of n-dimensional voxel vectors of the multi-phase aligned volumetric image; determining from the plurality of clusters a cluster or set of clusters delineating the body and/or organ; identifying the connected region(s) of voxel vectors belonging to the body region and/or organ; refining/filling the connected region(s) corresponding to the body region and/or organ; reapplying the segmentation step to the refined/filled connected region(s) corresponding to the body region and/or organ, to obtain a more accurate segmentation; and acquiring information on the presence of lesions in cluster of set of clusters of said plurality of clusters. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110158492 | HIGH EFFICIENCY COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY - A system including: one or more transmitters to transmit an excitation energy into an object under observation; one or more detectors to generate projection space data encoding an energy received by the one or more detectors in response to the transmitted excitation energy into the object under observation; a controller to control the one or more transmitters to transmit the excitation energy and the one or more receivers to generate the projection space data; and an image reconstructor to receive the projection space data and to process the projection space data by: computing a first quantity characterizing a difference between the projection space data and predicted projection data; computing a second quantity corresponding to at least one impulse response, each impulse response corresponding to a reference voxel of unit-intensity; computing an update value using the first quantity and an inverted function of the second quantity; and reconstructing an object space image representing the object under observation using the update value. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110158493 | ANALYSIS METHOD, RADIATION IMAGING APPARATUS USING ANALYSIS METHOD, AND ANALYSIS PROGRAM FOR EXECUTING ANALYSIS METHOD - An analysis method for use in a radiation imaging apparatus employing intensity information of interference fringes of radiation rays that have passed through a detected object includes the steps of generating first phase information of the detected object wrapped into a range of 2π from the intensity information of the interference fringes; generating information on an absorption intensity gradient of the detected object from the intensity information of the interference fringes; generating a weighting function on the basis of an absolute value of a gradient in the information on the absorption intensity gradient; and generating second phase information by unwrapping the first phase information by using the weighting function. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110164794 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR COLOR FLOW DYNAMIC FRAME PERSISTENCE - Methods and systems for color flow dynamic frame persistence in ultrasonic imaging are provided. | 07-07-2011 |
| 20110164795 | METHOD OF DETECTING SPECIFIC POLYMER CRYSTAL - In a specific macromolecule crystal detecting method according to the present invention, ultraviolet light is irradiated to sample solution, and a fluorescent image emitted from a sample in the sample solution is detected to detect specific macromolecules in the sample solution. Furthermore, by detecting the outline of the sample from the visible light image of the sample contained in the sample solution, the crystal is discriminated from other materials on the basis of the outline. By integrating the detection results of the fluorescent image and the visible light image, the specific macromolecule crystal is detected from the sample solution. | 07-07-2011 |
| 20110164796 | CARDIAC VISUALIZATION SYSTEMS FOR DISPLAYING 3-D IMAGES OF CARDIAC VOXEL INTENSITY DISTRIBUTIONS WITH OPTIONAL PHYSICIAN INTERACTIVE BOUNDARY TRACING TOOLS - Physician interactive workstations with global cardiac voxel distribution visualization may also include one or more of a 3-D color scale image of a population of voxel in the heart and/or an electronic boundary-tracing tool configured to accept user input to electronically define at least one boundary of a target region of a heart in a medical image of a patient on a display. The workstation may be configured to evaluate intensity of voxels associated with tissue within the defined boundary of the target region of the heart whereby cardiotoxicity is evaluated. | 07-07-2011 |
| 20110170751 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING RETINAL ABNORMALITIES - The invention relates to methods and systems for detecting retinal abnormalities in fundus images by interdependently smoothing and segmenting the image, identifying retinal features in the smoothed and segmented image and analyzing the identified retinal features in the smoothed and segmented image to identify a retinal abnormality. | 07-14-2011 |
| 20110170752 | MEDICAL TRAINING METHOD AND APPARATUS - There is disclosed a method of simulating the output of a medical imaging device, the medical imaging device being operable to image an anatomical structure, and the method including: accessing model data representing a model of the anatomical structure; accessing selection data representing a selected region of the anatomical structure to be imaged; and processing the selection data and the model data to generate output data representing a simulation of the output of the medical imaging device when imaging the selected region. | 07-14-2011 |
| 20110170753 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND ITS CONTROL METHOD AND DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM - In order to provide a technology which allows efficient understanding of images of a disease locus and diagnosis supporting information for the images, an information processing apparatus comprises: an input unit which inputs object identification information for identifying an object; an acquiring unit which acquires one or more schemas related to the object and medical image data related to the schema, an identification unit which identifies a disease locus region in medical image data respectively related to each of the one or more schemas, a time-series schema generating unit which generates a time-series schema of the disease locus, a time-series image data generating unit which generates time-series image data of the disease locus, and a display output unit which synchronizes and outputs the time-series schema of the disease locus and the time-series image data of the disease locus. | 07-14-2011 |
| 20110170754 | SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR HISTOPATHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS, SUPPORT PROGRAM FOR HISTOPATHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS AND SUPPORT METHOD FOR HISTOPATHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS - A support system for histopathological diagnosis includes a cell nucleus uniformity evaluation unit evaluating a uniformity of a plurality of cell nuclei included in a ductal region in an image. With this configuration, there is provided a support system, a support method and a support program for histopathological diagnosis, which enables realization of highly accurate cancer differentiation in a pathological diagnosis. | 07-14-2011 |
| 20110170755 | SELECTION OF SNAPSHOTS OF A MEDICAL IMAGE SEQUENCE - A system is provided for automatic selection of medical images. The system comprises an input ( | 07-14-2011 |
| 20110176710 | Method and system for automatic processing and evaluation of images, particularly diagnostic images - Method for automatic processing and evaluation of images, particularly diagnostic images, comprising an image processing tool in the form of a software program which is executable by the computer hardware and which image processing tool processes image data of a digital input image generating a modified digital output image whose image data are outputted in a graphical and/or alphanumerical format highlighting certain predetermined features or qualities of the corresponding regions of an imaged body or object, characterized in that the image processing tool comprises a first image detecting module which is an image processing module based on image processing non expert algorithms and which furnishes at its output a modified image file which modified image data are further processed by a classification or evaluation module which is a second image processing module comprising an image processing tool consisting in an expert image processing algorithm such as a classification or prediction algorithm the output of which is a further modified image file in which the pixels or voxels are highlighted corresponding to imaged object having a predetermined feature or quality. | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110176711 | METHODS, APPARATUSES & COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR FACILITATING PROGRESSIVE DISPLAY OF MULTI-PLANAR RECONSTRUCTIONS - An apparatus is provided for efficiently receiving a set of medical images from a device. The apparatus includes a processor configured to receive a selection for a medical image(s) of a set of medical images and send a request to a device for transfer of the medical images of the set. The request includes information instructing the device to transfer a subset of the set of images first. The processor is also configured to receive the subset of images in a reduced-quality based on information in the request and display the subset of images. Additionally, the processor is configured to subsequently receive the medical images of the set in a high quality based on an order specifying a sequence that the medical images of the set are to be transferred and display the high quality medical images of the set. Corresponding computer program products and methods are also provided. | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110176712 | IMAGE DATA FRAUD DETECTION SYSTEMS - A system is described for detecting fraud from medical imaging data comprising image data and associated meta-data. The system comprises input means arranged to receive image data from at least one source, and processing means arranged to analyse the imaging data to determine whether it meets a fraud criterion, and if it does to generate a fraud indicator output. | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110176713 | BIOLOGICAL LIGHT MEASUREMENT DEVICE AND POSITION DISPLAY METHOD OF LIGHT IRRADIATION POSITION AND LIGHT DETECTION POSITION OR MEASUREMENT CHANNEL - There is provided a biological light measurement device capable of simply displaying a light irradiation position and a light detection position or a three-dimensional position of a measurement channel without measuring the light irradiation position and the light detection position or the three-dimensional position of the measurement channel. The biological light measurement device includes a display unit, which displays a two-dimensional head image selected from the data regarding the head shape and a two-dimensional probe, and a control unit that has a coordinate transformation section, which performs coordinate transformation of the positional information regarding the two-dimensional probe set on the displayed two-dimensional head image and calculates the light irradiation position and the light detection position or the position of the measurement channel on a three-dimensional head image. | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110182489 | METHOD FOR RETRIEVING A TUMOR CONTOUR OF AN IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEM - The present invention related to a method for retrieving a tumor contour of an image processing system that includes a memory storing a grayscale image and a processor, comprising: receiving an input tumor contour of the grayscale image; defining a tumor contour annular region and a plurality of reference segments of the grayscale image, wherein the input tumor contour is in the tumor contour annular region, and each of the plurality of reference segments is across the tumor contour annular region and includes a plurality of measured points; retrieving a tumor contour suggestion point on each of the plurality of reference segments; and linking all the tumor contour suggestion points on all of the reference segments, for forming the tumor contour. Accordingly, by applying the method of the present invention, a doctor can rapidly and accurately identify the contour of a tumor in a grayscale image. | 07-28-2011 |
| 20110182490 | VISUALIZATION OF STAINED SAMPLES - Methods and systems are disclosed that include: applying an immunohistochemical stain, eosin, and a counterstain to a sample; obtaining a plurality of images of the sample, each of the plurality of images corresponding to radiation from the sample in a different wavelength band; decomposing the plurality of images of the sample to obtain component images corresponding to the immunohistochemical stain, eosin, and the counterstain; and generating a sample image based on the component images, where the sample image includes contributions from the counterstain and from one of the immunohistochemical stain and eosin, and substantially not from the other of the immunohistochemical stain and eosin. | 07-28-2011 |
| 20110188715 | Automatic Identification of Image Features - Automatic identification of image features is described. In an embodiment, a device automatically identifies organs in a medical image using a decision forest formed of a plurality of distinct, trained decision trees. An image element from the image is applied to each of the trained decision trees to obtain a probability of the image element representing a predefined class of organ. The probabilities from each of the decision trees are aggregated and used to assign an organ classification to the image element. In another embodiment, a method of training a decision tree to identify features in an image is provided. For a selected node in the decision tree, a training image is analyzed at a plurality of locations offset from a selected image element, and one of the offsets is selected based on the results of the analysis and stored in association with the node. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110188716 | INTRAVAGINAL DIMENSIONING SYSTEM - An intravaginal monitoring device and its supporting network infrastructure; wherein the intravaginal monitoring device generates scaling and dimensioning, using infrared, ultraviolet or laser signals, in conjunction with a supporting software at the server and/or client sides. The scaling and dimensioning are performed using one or more of many possible algorithmic and hardware based techniques. Reproductive health care management web pages or system interfaces present scaling and dimensioning and emphasis changes over time. The generations scaling and dimensioning, including color and shade variation identifications, incorporate various schemes for a woman's cervix during routine checkup, cervix and aperture openings during pregnancy checkup, and cervix containing an artifact during checkup and treatments. The artifact may represent, for example, stages of ovulation, pregnancy, infections, sexually transmitted diseases and cancer. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110188717 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR READING AN EMULSION - A method for reading an emulsion ( | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110188718 | IMAGE DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS - A system for admitting medical imaging data comprising image data and associated metadata comprises input means arranged to received image data from at least one source, a memory having stored therein consistency data defining at least one consistency criterion, and processing means arranged to analyse the imaging data to determined whether it meets the consistency criterion, and if it does not to amend the imaging data so that it does. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110188719 | TECHNIQUE FOR DETECTING NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDERS - In one embodiment of the present invention, a significance test of pixel values is performed between a region where functions could be deteriorated in a disease-specific manner and a region where functions could be preserved even in cases of diseases using brain functional images. Then, the mean pixel value of the functionally preserved site is significantly greater than the mean pixel value of the functionally deteriorated site according to the significance test is determined as an a image including a neurodegenerative disorder. According to this embodiment, it becomes possible to objectively detect images of neurodegenerative disorders without using a database for healthy subjects. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110194739 | IMAGE ANALYSIS - A computer-implemented method for identifying features in an image. The method comprises fitting a plurality of second models to the image, the plurality of second models together modelling a region of interest, wherein each part of the region of interest is modelled by at least two of the plurality of second models; and identifying the features in the image based upon the fit of the plurality of second models. | 08-11-2011 |
| 20110194740 | Displaying Computer-Aided Detection Results Associated With A Medical Image Volume - Methods, systems, and related computer program products for processing and displaying computer-aided detection (CAD) results in conjunction with breast x-ray tomosynthesis data are described. For one preferred embodiment, as a user pages through a notional stack of tomosynthesis reconstructed slice images (Tr images), including a detection-containing Tr image on which a CAD marker is to be displayed at an identified coordinate location, one or more CAD proximity markers is displayed at that coordinate location on one or more neighboring Tr images. While not themselves indicative of CAD findings on their respective Tr images, the CAD proximity markers encourage user attention toward the coordinate location of the CAD detection marker of the detection-containing Tr image. Preferably, the CAD proximity markers are of noticeably different size from each other and from the CAD detection marker to promote their perception in the peripheral vision of the user during the paging process. | 08-11-2011 |
| 20110194741 | BRAIN VENTRICLE ANALYSIS - A system for analyzing a brain ventricle ( | 08-11-2011 |
| 20110194742 | ONE-CLICK CORRECTION OF TUMOR SEGMENTATION RESULTS - When adjusting parameters of a segmentation protocol for segmenting a volume of interest in an anatomical image, a user selects a superparameter ( | 08-11-2011 |
| 20110200238 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING SKINLINE IN DIGITAL MAMMOGRAM IMAGES - Method and system for determining skinline in digital mammogram images. The method includes smoothening a digital mammogram image to yield a smoothened image. The method also includes determining gradient in the digital mammogram image to yield a gradient map. Further, the method includes extracting breast region from the digital mammogram image based on the smoothened image and the gradient map using fuzzy rule based pixel classification to yield a binary image. Moreover, the method includes filtering the binary image to remove noise and to yield a filtered image. The method also includes extracting boundary of the breast region in the filtered image. Furthermore, the method includes detecting the skinline based on the boundary of the breast region. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110200239 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REMOTELY PERFORMING HEMATOLOGIC ANALYSIS UTILIZING A TRANSMITTED IMAGE OF A CENTRIFUGED ANALYSIS TUBE - An apparatus for and method of analyzing hematologic samples deposited within a capillary tube is provided. The method includes the steps of: a) imaging a region of sample centrifuged within a capillary tube using a first analysis device, which region is defined by substantially all of the radial width and axial length of the sample residing within the internal cavity of the tube where the float resides after centrifugation, and producing signals representative of the image; b) communicating the signals representative of the image to a second analysis device independent of, and remotely located from, the first analysis device; c) processing the signals representative of the image using the second analysis device and producing analysis data based on the signals; and d) displaying the image of the region of the sample using the second analysis device. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110200240 | COLOUR MANAGEMENT FOR BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES - A method of determining a colour transformation for images of biological material comprises—preparing a first set ( | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110206247 | Imaging system and methods for cardiac analysis - Imaging systems and methods for viewing medical images of human anatomy and, in particular, to a 3-dimensional imaging system that allows a user to efficiently and accurately detect and view coronary artery calcification as displayed graphically on a computer screen. In one aspect, a method for displaying medical images comprises obtaining an image dataset comprising anatomical image data (step | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110206248 | IMAGING METHOD FOR SAMPLING A CROSS-SECTION PLANE IN A THREE-DIMENSIONAL (3D) IMAGE DATA VOLUME - Automated Vessel Analysis (AVA) allows qualitative and quantitative feedback to the user, regarding vessel pathologies (such as stenosis), with a minimum of user input. However, present algorithms may be unsuitable for large datasets, especially because of the rather long pre-processing time. Here an imaging method for placing probes on the vessel tree is presented that does not require any pre-processing time at 5 all, and performs very well on (very) large datasets, both in terms of speed and memory consumption. The method comprises the steps: classifying voxels of a 3D data volume as voxels of the first, the second or further types, determining a starting voxel in a tubular structure of voxels of the first type, determining the centre line in the proximity of the starting voxel, and fitting a plane through the starting voxel, perpendicular to the 10 centre line. Further the contour of the vessel cross-section on the plane can be determined, as well as its maximum, minimum and average diameter, and the area of the vessel cross-section. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110206249 | TRANSMISSION OF MEDICAL IMAGE DATA - Transmission of a medical image such as a DICOM-formatted image which is formatted into a plurality of data sets including a data set for the image data and a data set for embedded information which identifies the nature of the medical image. A region of interest in the medical image is identified automatically by using the embedded information. Image data for the region of interest is transmitted, and image data for a region other than the region of interest is transmitted. Transmission of the image data for the entirety of the region of interest is completed before transmission of the image data for the entirety of the region other than the region of interest. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110206250 | SYSTEMS, COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIA, AND METHODS FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF ANOMALIES IN VIRTUAL COLONOGRAPHY MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING - This discloses methods and systems for the processing of medical image data of a colon acquired with an imaging device, such as a computerized tomography (“CT”) scanner and more particularly, to methods and systems for the classification of structures or objects in said medical image data. The disclosed methods and systems analyze image data for objects such as rectal tubes or stools, or for clusters of suspicious regions, and may eliminate such objects from further analysis prior to presenting potential polyps to a user. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110206251 | METHOD OF CHARACTERIZING AN IMAGE SOURCE UTILIZING PREDETERMINED COLOR SPACES - A system and method for identifying objects of interest in image data is provided. The present invention utilizes principles of Iterative Transformational Divergence in which objects in images, when subjected to special transformations, will exhibit radically different responses based on the physical, chemical, or numerical properties of the object or its representation (such as images), combined with machine learning capabilities. Using the system and methods of the present invention, certain objects that appear indistinguishable from other objects to the eye or computer recognition systems, or are otherwise almost identical, generate radically different and statistically significant differences in the image describers (metrics) that can be easily measured. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110206252 | Radiotherapeutic Treatment Planning Apparatus and Methods - A treatment planning apparatus comprises a means for receiving a three dimensional representation of a patient, a means for displaying at least a part of the representation, a means for user-designation of sub-regions of the representation, and a computing means adapted to segment the representation into a region within an anatomical structure and a region outside the anatomical structure on the basis of the locations of the sub-regions and the degree of similarity of voxels to neighbouring voxels in the representation. The treatment planning apparatus preferably further comprises means for designating sub-regions as being inside the structure, means for designating sub-regions as being outside the structure, and/or means for designating sub-regions as being at a border of the structure. In the latter case, we prefer that the size of border sub-regions is adjustable. The computing means can segment the representation by minimising a cost function. We also prefer that the initial values of the function in sub-regions designated as being in a border region are constrained to a different preset value. In an particularly useful aspect of this invention, after minimisation of the function the values in sub-regions designated as being in a border region are then un-constrained, the remaining values are constrained, and the function is then minimised a second time. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110206253 | Region-Growing Algorithm - A technique for automatically generating a virtual model of a branched structure using as an input a plurality of images taken of the branched structure. The technique employs an algorithm that avoids inaccuracies associated with sub-optimal threshold settings by “patching” holes or leaks created due to the inherent inconsistencies with imaging technology. By “patching” the holes, the algorithm may continue to run using a more sensitive threshold value than | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110206254 | REFLECTANCE IMAGING AND ANALYSIS FOR EVALUATING TISSUE PIGMENTATION - Methods and apparatus are described that provide the ability to estimate the diffuse reflection component of an image of tissue such as skin captured without cross-polarization. It is thereby possible to estimate skin pigmentation information from an image of skin captured conventionally, such as, for example, a total reflection image, obtained in a conventional manner by shining white light on the skin and capturing the reflected light. The image may also be a partially diffuse reflection image, such as a low quality cross-polarized image. The diffuse reflection component of a captured image can then be further processed to obtain Red and Brown pigmentation images, useful for indicating the distribution of hemoglobin and melanin, the primary chromophores of skin. Additionally, a standard captured image of skin can be analyzed to obtain an estimate of the surface reflection component of the reflected light. The surface reflection component can then be used to generate a surface reflection image, useful for showing the distribution of light on the skin and to highlight superficial features such as wrinkles, fine lines, folds, pores, texture, and visible spots. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110206255 | ANALYZING AN AT LEAST THREE-DIMENSIONAL MEDICAL IMAGE - A system for analyzing an at least three-dimensional medical image comprises a lesion detector ( | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110206256 | VISUALIZATION OF PHYSIOLOGICAL DATA FOR VIRTUAL ELECTRODES - Systems and methods can be utilized to visualize physiological data relative to a surface region (e.g., an organ) of a patient. A computer-implemented method can include storing electroanatomic data in memory representing electrical activity for a predetermined surface region of the patient and providing an interactive graphical representation of the predetermined surface region of the patient. A user input is received to define location data corresponding to a user-selected location for at least one virtual electrode on the graphical representation of the predetermined surface region of the patient. A visual representation of physiological data for the predetermined surface region of the patient is generated based on the location data and the electroanatomic data. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110211741 | EVALUATION APPARATUS OF FLUORESCENCE POPULATION, EVALUATION METHOD OF FLUORESCENCE POPULATION AND COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM - Statistical data of a fluorescence population is obtained easily with high accuracy. To achieve this, an evaluation apparatus of fluorescence population of the present application includes an input unit inputting a fluorescence observation image (If) of a fluorescence population and a transillumination observation image (It) having a same field of view as the fluorescence observation image, a first detecting unit (Mt) detecting, as a first area, an area in which a cellular image exists on the transillumination observation image being input, a setting unit (If′) setting, as a reference area, an area corresponding to the first area on the fluorescence observation image being input, and an obtaining unit obtaining fluorescence intensity data of a fluorescence image from the reference area in the fluorescence observation image. | 09-01-2011 |
| 20110211742 | PERFUSION IMAGING - A system includes a perfusion information determiner ( | 09-01-2011 |
| 20110216949 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DEFINING A BREAST WINDOW - A computer implemented method for defining a breast window within an image for a breast, said image containing a breast image having a breast boundary, the method comprising: identifying a center region of the breast image, where the center region is coincident with an edge of the image; defining the edge of the image as the first border of the breast window; searching from the center region along the edge of the image for the breast boundary, the breast boundary informing a second border of the breast window; searching from the center region along the edge of the image in an opposite direction for the breast boundary, the breast boundary informing a third border of the breast window; and repeatedly searching from the center region in a direction orthogonal to the edge of the image for a point on the breast boundary most distant from the edge of the image, the point on the breast boundary informing a fourth border of the breast window. In some embodiments, the image may be rotated/flipped and/or subsampled and/or thresholded to form a binary image before a breast window is searched. A method of thresholding the image is also disclosed. | 09-08-2011 |
| 20110216950 | Method And Apparatus For Preprocessing And Storing Image Attributes For The Accelerated Display Of Medical Images In Medical Applications - A method and apparatus are disclosed for preprocessing and storing image attributes for the accelerated display of medical images in medical applications. In at least one embodiment, the method includes: assigning image attributes to a medical image, which are characteristic of a medical application which generates a specific visual display of the medical image; adjusting the medical image in accordance with the image attributes; storing the adjusted medical image together with the image attributes; calling up a further or the same medical application, which requires a visual display of the medical image; checking whether the required image attributes for the visual display correspond to the stored image attributes; calling up the stored, modified medical image in the case of a similar or identical correspondence of the image attributes; and visually displaying the recalled medical image. | 09-08-2011 |
| 20110216951 | Medical Image Processing - A computer-implemented method of detecting an object in a three-dimensional medical image comprises determining the values of a plurality of features at each voxel in at least a portion of the medical image. Each feature characterises a respective property of the medical image at a particular voxel. The likelihood probability distribution of each feature is calculated based on the values of the features and prior medical knowledge. A probability map is generated by using Bayes' law to combine the likelihood probability distributions, and the probability map is analysed to detect an object. | 09-08-2011 |
| 20110216952 | Method and Apparatus for Processing Mass Analysis Data - The present invention aims at providing a method and apparatus for presenting, based on an enormous amount of data collected by an imaging mass analysis, information which is significant for understanding the tissue structure and other information of a biological sample and which is intuitively easy to understand to analysis operator. For each pixel | 09-08-2011 |
| 20110216953 | VISUAL-SERVOING OPTICAL MICROSCOPY - The present invention provides methods and devices for the knowledge-based discovery and optimization of differences between cell types. In particular, the present invention provides visual servoing optical microscopy, as well as analysis methods. The present invention provides means for the close monitoring of hundreds of individual, living cells over time; quantification of dynamic physiological responses in multiple channels; real-time digital image segmentation and analysis; intelligent, repetitive computer-applied cell stress and cell stimulation; and the ability to return to the same field of cells for long-term studies and observation. The present invention further provides means to optimize culture conditions for specific subpopulations of cells. | 09-08-2011 |
| 20110222746 | DISPLAYING RADIOLOGICAL IMAGES - The subject matter of this specification can be implemented in, among other things, a system for interfacing with multiple medical imaging modalities that includes a normalization module for normalizing hanging protocols for displaying medical images. The normalization can be executed as a function of similar image characteristics shared between multiple sequences of medical images. | 09-15-2011 |
| 20110222747 | IMAGE CLASSIFICATION BASED ON IMAGE SEGMENTATION - The invention relates to a system ( | 09-15-2011 |
| 20110222748 | IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE, METHOD AND PROGRAM - A second order partial derivative matrix and at least one first order partial derivative value of a pixel value at each pixel position in an image are calculated. Based on values of the calculated second order partial derivative matrix, an evaluation value of a likelihood of being a line-like structure and/or an evaluation value of a likelihood of being a plate-like structure for the pixel position are calculated, such that the larger the first order partial derivative value, the smaller the evaluation values. | 09-15-2011 |
| 20110222749 | HYBRID SEGMENTATION OF ANATOMICAL STRUCTURE - An image of an anatomical structure can be analyzed to determine an enclosing three-dimensional boundary when the anatomical structure is filled with two substances, such as air and a fluid. Various techniques can be used to determine the enclosing boundary including: analyzing the virtual structure to segment the structure into air and fluid pockets, determining if there are multiple fluid pockets whose surface touches a single air-fluid boundary, determining a separate threshold for respective fluid pockets, resegmenting the virtual anatomical structure using the separate threshold for different fluid pockets, forming a hierarchical pocket tree which represents the relationship between the fluid and air pockets, pruning the pocket tree based on various criteria which corresponds to deleting those pruned portions from the virtual anatomical structure, and resegmenting the remaining virtual anatomical structure using one or more of fuzzy connectedness, two-dimensional gap filling, and level set segmentation. | 09-15-2011 |
| 20110228992 | Method and System for Guiding Catheter Detection in Fluoroscopic Images - A method and system for detecting a guiding catheter in a 2D fluoroscopic image is disclosed. A plurality of guiding catheter centerline segment candidates are detected in the fluoroscopic image. A guiding catheter centerline connecting an input guiding catheter centerline ending point in the fluoroscopic image with an image margin of the fluoroscopic image is detected based on the plurality of guiding catheter centerline segment candidates. | 09-22-2011 |
| 20110228993 | AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE TIME SELECTION FOR IMAGING TISSUE - The invention relates to a system for automatically adjusting an exposure time to improve or otherwise optimize a dynamic range of a digital image. The system includes a camera configured to capture an image of a subject within the field of view at a first exposure time. The captured image is composed of multiple pixels, with each pixel having a respective intensity value. The system further includes a shutter or suitable control configured to control an exposure time of the camera. A controller configured to carryout the following steps including: (a) querying a frequency distribution of pixel intensity values; (b) determining an effective “center of mass” of such a distribution, or histogram, to determine an adjusted exposure time; and (c) capturing a second image of the subject at the adjusted exposure time thereby obtaining an image with an improved or optimal dynamic range. | 09-22-2011 |
| 20110228994 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - There is provided a medical image processing device and a medical image processing method that can extract and display lesion candidate regions having different sizes and similarity forms at a time through a series of processing. Therefore, with respect to a first medical image, a first evaluation for the curved surface form of the first medical image is made to extract first lesion candidate regions. With respect to each of the first lesion candidate regions extracted by a first extracting unit, a second evaluation for the curved surface form thereof is made to extract a second lesion candidate region. The second lesion candidate region extracted by a second extracting unit is superimposed and displayed on a second medical image. | 09-22-2011 |
| 20110228995 | System and Method for Propagation of Spine Labeling - A system and method of labeling orthogonal or otherwise spatially related image views and related images is provided. The present invention provides automated progression for the labeling of vertebral and inter-vertebral regions, propagation of labels between views and images within a series, centering of label regions relative to the spine, circular lists of predefined labels, and label displays for individual slices of an orthogonal or axial view as a user scrolls through the plurality of image slices of the given view. In a further aspect, the present invention provides automated labeling of vertebral and inter-vertebral regions when a user provides labels for the adjacent two inter-vertebral or vertebral regions. | 09-22-2011 |
| 20110228996 | BONE SEGMENTATION - A method of automatically identifying bone components in a medical image data set of voxels, the method comprising: a) applying a first set of one or more tests to accept voxels as belonging to seeds, b) applying a second set of one or more tests to accept seeds as bone seeds, and c) expanding the bone seeds into bone components by progressively identifying candidate bone voxels, adjacent to the bone seeds or to other previously identified bone voxels, as bone voxels, responsive to predetermined criteria which distinguish bone voxels from voxels of other body tissue. | 09-22-2011 |
| 20110235873 | EXTRACTING DEVICE-RELATED DATA FROM GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE - A clinical diagnostic device monitoring system comprising: a data retrieving module embeddable in clinical data managing device, the data retrieving module arranged to obtain screen shots relating to clinical diagnostic instruments, from the clinical data managing device at specified periods without interruption to the device's operation, and further arranged to communicate the screen shots via a communication link to a mediator server arranged to receive the screen shots from the data retrieving module; to analyze the screen shots; and to extract instrument related data from the analyzed screen shots, wherein the screen shots analysis allows the extraction of instrument related data without further interface with the clinical data managing device nor with the clinical diagnostic instruments. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110235874 | Systems, Assemblies, Computer Readable Media and Methods for Medical Imaging - A medical imaging assembly includes a first imaging plate and a second imaging plate for acquiring a first and a second medical image. A container is configured to receive and hold the first imaging plate and the second imaging plate in a predetermined overlapping orientation. An image reader receives the first and second medical images and produces first and second digital medical images. A processor creates a composite image of the first and second digital images. A method of acquiring a medical image includes identifying an overlapped region of a lower image and an upper image. An alignment transformation is identified by matching the overlapped regions of the upper and lower images. The upper and lower images are aligned based upon the alignment transformation. A composite medical image is created from the upper image and the lower image. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110235875 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR OPTICAL SEGMENTATION OF BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES - A method for the imaging of protein expression and location in biological samples using optical segmentation is provided. The steps comprise acquiring a fluorescent image of a biological sample, analyzing the image and generating a masking pattern corresponding to a specific structure within the biological sample, transforming the masking pattern into the spatial coordinates of a digital micro-mirror device (DMD) which may then be projected onto the biological sample and obtaining a masked fluorescent image. Also provided is an image analysis system for imaging of protein expression and location in biological samples using optical segmentation. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110235876 | Method and Device for Automatically Adapting a Reference Image - A method and a device for reference image adapting in the field of fluoroscopy-controlled interventional repair of abdominal aortic aneurisms on angiography systems are proposed. Displacements which can be brought about as a result of introducing instruments, such as when a stent is deployed in an aorta, are automatically corrected. It is also possible to correct such displacements which initially cannot be perceived in the image due to the angle of view. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110235877 | IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND PROGRAM - An image processing device includes a normal light image acquisition section that acquires a normal light image that includes an object image and includes information within a wavelength band of white light, a special light image acquisition section that acquires a special light image that includes an object image and includes information within a specific wavelength band, a correction section that performs a correction process on the special light image, and a blending section that performs a blending process that blends the normal light image and a corrected special light image that is the special light image corrected by the correction section. The blending section blends a component G of the normal light image and a component G of the corrected special light image, and blends a component B of the normal light image and a component B of the corrected special light image. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110235878 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE AND METHOD - Extraction means configured to extract a blood vessel region from medical image data, detection means configured to perform evaluation regarding the shape or signal value distribution information in the periphery of a blood vessel including blood vessel contour points and the margin of blood vessel contour points in the blood vessel region extracted by the extraction means and detecting an abnormal portion on the basis of the evaluation result, and display means configured to display information regarding the abnormal portion detected by the detection means are provided. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110235879 | Quantitative, multispectral image analysis of tissue specimens stained with quantum dots - A biological sample such as a tissue section is stained with one or more quantum dots and possibly other fluorophores (total number of fluorophores N). A camera coupled to a microscope generates an image of the specimen at a plurality of different wavelengths within the emission spectral band of the N fluorophores. An analysis module calculates coefficients C | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110235880 | Quantitative, multispectral image analysis of tissue specimens stained with quantum dots - A biological sample such as a tissue section is stained with one or more quantum dots and possibly other fluorophores (total number of fluorophores N). A camera coupled to a microscope generates an image of the specimen at a plurality of different wavelengths within the emission spectral band of the N fluorophores. An analysis module calculates coefficients C | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110243401 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMAGE SEQUENCE PROCESSING - A method for processing a sequence of images. In an embodiment, one or more training datasets are analyzed having a sequence of images showing a first condition and a sequence of images showing a second condition. A multivariate regression model is used to determine a relationship between relative positions of one or more features in the sequence of images showing the first condition and relative positions of the one or more features in the sequence of images showing the second condition. In an embodiment, the determined relationship is used to predict positions of the one or more features in an inquire sequence of images showing the second condition given an inquire sequence of images showing the first condition. The predicted positions can then be refined using various methods. In an embodiment, sequences of images are aligned to a common time scale. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110243402 | MEASUREMENT SYSTEM FOR MEDICAL IMAGES - A method of measuring a structure ( | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110243403 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD, AND COMPUTER READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM ON WHICH IS RECORDED PROGRAM FOR THE SAME - Extracting a branch structure and a surrounding structure area in which a surrounding structure of the branch structure exists from a three-dimensional medical image, setting an attention branch structure in the branch structure, estimating an attention surrounding structure area functionally associated with the attention branch structure from the surrounding structure area based on the branch structure, obtaining an evaluation value in the attention surrounding structure area, and generating a mapped image which is an image generated by mapping the evaluation value in the attention surrounding structure area to a morphological image representing morphology of at least one of the attention branch structure and the attention surrounding structure area. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110243404 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD, AS WELL AS PROGRAM - An analysis purpose of first and second medical images, which are obtained by carrying out dual energy imaging using two types of radiations having different energies, is determined. A composition ratio of the first and second medical images depending on the determined analysis purpose is determined with referencing a composition ratio table, which indicates different composition ratios of the first and second medical images associated with different analysis purposes. Then, the first and second medical images are combined at the determined composition ratio to generate a composite image. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110243405 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND PROGRAM - There is provided an image processing apparatus that analyzes a pathology image obtained by imaging an analysis object including a setting device for calculating an amount of a luminance difference characteristic as an amount of characteristic of each pixel of a pathology image, and for setting a cellular tissue region in the pathology image, based on the amount of the luminance difference characteristic, using a cellular tissue detector that has studied in advance. The cellular tissue detector may have studied in advance by statistical learning that uses an image corresponding to a cellular tissue. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110243406 | Medical Imaging System and Related Methods - A medical imaging system includes an imaging device, an input device, an output device, and an imaging system server in signal communication with the imaging device, the input device and the output device, the imaging system server including at least one processor and machine readable memory. The server is configured to display a capture outline, the capture outline including a depiction of a body area to be imaged, display a preliminary image together with the capture outline such that the preliminary image is superimposable with the capture outline, and capture an image associated with the capture outline. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110243407 | Data Transmission in Remote Computer Assisted Detection - For cloud-based computer assisted detection, hierarchal detection is used, allowing detection on data at progressively greater resolutions. Detected locations at coarser resolutions are used to limit the data transmitted at greater resolutions. Data is only transmitted for neighborhoods around the previously detected locations. Subsequent detection using higher resolution data refines the locations, but only for regions associated with previous detection. By limiting the number and/or size of regions provided at greater resolutions based on the previous detection, the progressive transmission avoids transmission of some data. Additionally, or alternatively, lossy compression may be used without or with minimal reduction in detection sensitivity. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110243408 | FUNDUS IMAGE DISPLAY APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD THEREOF AND COMPUTER PROGRAM - One aspect of embodiments of the present invention relates to an image processing apparatus which specifies one of boundary positions of retina layers in a fundus image showing a retina tomosynthesis, sets a distance transfer function for converting the distance from the specified boundary position to a parameter expressing opacity such that the peak position of the opacity is set to a predetermined position in the retina, sets a luminance transfer function for converting a luminance value of the fundus image to the parameter expressing opacity, and generates a translucent display image by calculating the opacity of respective positions of the tomosynthesis using the distance transfer function and the luminance transfer function, and by volume rendering. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110243409 | METHOD APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING A THERMAL SIGNATURE - A method of determining a thermal signature from thermal data associated with a body section is disclosed. The method comprises: segmenting the thermal data into a plurality of segments, and calculating a set of locations defining a contour, each location being central with respect to picture-elements associated with one segment, thereby determining the thermal signature based on the contour. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110243410 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING THE POSITION OF AN OPTIC CUP BOUNDARY - A method for determining the position of an optic cup boundary in a 2D retinal image. The method includes detecting kinks in blood vessels at an estimated boundary of the optic cup and the optic disc, and determining the position of the optic cup boundary in the 2D retinal image based on the detected kinks. The determined optic cup boundary may be used for determining a CDR which may in turn be used for determining a risk of contracting glaucomatous. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110243411 | System, method, and product for scanning of biological materials - An embodiment of a scanning system is described including optical elements that direct an excitation beam at a probe array, detectors that receive reflected intensity data responsive to the excitation beam, where the reflected intensity data is responsive to a focusing distance between an optical element and the probe array, a transport frame that adjusts the focusing distance in a direction with respect to the probe array, an auto-focuser that determines a best plane of focus based upon characteristics of the reflected intensity data of at least two focusing distances where the detectors further receive pixel intensity values based upon detected emissions from a plurality of probe features disposed on the probe array at the best plane of focus, and an image generator that associates each of the pixel intensity values with at least one image pixel position of a probe array based upon one or more position correction values. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110249874 | EVALUATION METHOD FOR A SERIES OF IMAGE DATA SETS WITH TWO-FOLD ELASTIC DISTORTION OF THE IMAGE DATA SETS - A series of image data sets of a region of an organism is acquired while the acquired region of the organism moves dependent on breathing and heartbeat, and supplied to a processor. The processor determines a first contour that moves depending on the breathing in the acquired image data sets. The acquired image data sets are distorted elastically in the processor into singly distorted image data sets such that the first contours of the singly distorted image data sets spatially correspond with one another. A second contour is determined in the processor in the acquired image data sets or in the singly distorted image data sets, this second contour moves depending on the heartbeat. The singly distorted image data sets are distorted elastically into doubly distorted image data sets such that the second contours of the doubly distorted image data sets spatially correspond with one another. Regions of the doubly distorted image data sets that spatially correspond to one another are evaluated in the processor across image data sets. | 10-13-2011 |
| 20110249875 | METHOD OF PERFORMING MEASUREMENTS ON DIGITAL IMAGES - A first and a second image are expressed in a common coordinate system by applying a geometric transformation to the second image so as to map a structure in the second image onto a corresponding structure in the first image in a common coordinate system. Starting from initial values, the parameters of the geometric transformation are updated taking into account the result of an evaluation of a cost function. | 10-13-2011 |
| 20110249876 | METHOD OF PERFORMING MEASUREMENTS ON DIGITAL IMAGES - A first and a second image are expressed in a common coordinate system by applying a geometric transformation to the second image so as to map a structure in the second image onto a corresponding structure in the first image in a common coordinate system. Starting from initial values, the parameters of the geometric transformation are updated taking into account the result of an evaluation of a cost function. | 10-13-2011 |
| 20110249877 | IDENTIFYING AORTA EXIT POINTS FROM IMAGING DATA - A method of defining a heart region from imaging data is provided. Received imaging data is projected into a first plane. A first threshold is applied to the first plane of data to eliminate data associated with air. A largest first connected component is identified from the first threshold applied data. A first center of mass of the identified largest first connected component is calculated to define a first coordinate and a second coordinate of the heart region. The received imaging data is projected into a second plane, wherein the second plane is perpendicular to the first plane. A second threshold is applied to the second plane of data to eliminate data associated with air. A largest second connected component is identified from the second threshold applied data. A second center of mass of the identified largest second connected component is calculated to define a third coordinate of the heart region. | 10-13-2011 |
| 20110255752 | EVALUATION METHOD AND DEVICE FOR EVALUATION OF MEDICAL IMAGE DATA - In an evaluation method and device for evaluation of medical image data, a pre-selection step is implemented for a manual pre-selection of the medical image data and a selection step is implemented for manual selection of relevant image regions in the pre-selected medical image data. Information for the selection of relevant image regions is provided in a manner that is at least partially computer-controlled in the preparation step. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110255753 | CLASSIFYING IMAGE FEATURES - Methods are disclosed for classifying different parts of a sample into respective classes based on an image stack that includes one or more images. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110255754 | IMAGING SYSTEM WITH REPORTING FUNCTION AND METHOD OF OPERATION THEREOF - A data acquisition method performed by one or more controllers, the method may include receiving information related to a sequence of a plurality of images. The method may further include receiving, from an ultrasonic probe, image information corresponding to a current image of the plurality of images in the sequence. The method may further include determining whether a caliper input has been received, and when it is determined that a caliper input has been received: obtaining coordinate information corresponding to one or more locations in the current image, selecting an other image which is different from, and associated with, the current image, and obtaining one or more coordinates corresponding to one or more locations in the other image. The method may further include saving a report including the image information and the coordinate information corresponding to each image of the plurality of images of the sequence. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110255755 | MEDICAL IMAGE DISPLAY DEVICE AND METHOD - In a medical image display device for displaying a hollow organ of an examinee as a panoramic image, in order to inform an operator of the existence or nonexistence of a blind area in a panoramic image, the medical image display device has a panoramic image creating unit configured to create a panoramic image of a hollow organ of an examinee and a display unit configured to display the panoramic image, and further has a blind area detecting unit configured to detect a blind area in the panoramic image and an informing unit configured to inform an operator of the existence or nonexistence of the blind portion. Furthermore, a medical image display method of the present invention has a panoramic image creating step that creates a panoramic image of a hollow organ of an examinee and a display step that displays the panoramic image, and further has a blind area detecting step that detects a blind area in the panoramic image and an informing step that informs an operator of the existence or nonexistence of the blind portion. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110255756 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SCREENING CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS - Methods and apparatus for screening large numbers of chemical compounds and performing a wide variety of fluorescent assays, including live cell assays. The methods utilize a laser linescan confocal microscope with high speed, high resolution and multi-wavelength capabilities and real time data-processing. Imaging may be done at video-rates and with use of ultraviolet illumination. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110255757 | IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD IN IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE - A plurality of images inputted in an image signal input portion are divided into a plurality of regions by an image dividing portion, and a feature value in each of the plurality of regions is calculated by a feature value calculation portion and divided into a plurality of subsets by a subset generation portion. On the other hand, a cluster classifying portion classifies a plurality of clusters generated in a feature space into any one of a plurality of classes on the basis of the feature value and occurrence frequency of the feature value. And a classification criterion calculation portion calculates a criterion of classification for classifying images included in one subset on the basis of a distribution state of the feature value in the feature space of each of the images included in the one subset. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110255758 | IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD IN IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE - A plurality of images inputted in an image signal input portion are divided into a plurality of regions by an image dividing portion, and a feature value in each of the plurality of regions is calculated by a feature value calculation portion and divided into a plurality of subsets by a subset generation portion. On the other hand, a cluster classifying portion classifies a plurality of clusters generated in a feature space into any one of a plurality of classes on the basis of the feature value and occurrence frequency of the feature value. And a classification criterion calculation portion calculates a criterion of classification for classifying images included in one subset on the basis of a distribution state of the feature value in the feature space of each of the images included in the one subset. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110255759 | IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD IN IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE - A plurality of images inputted in an image signal input portion are divided into a plurality of regions by an image dividing portion, and a feature value in each of the plurality of regions is calculated by a feature value calculation portion and divided into a plurality of subsets by a subset generation portion. On the other hand, a cluster classifying portion classifies a plurality of clusters generated in a feature space into any one of a plurality of classes on the basis of the feature value and occurrence frequency of the feature value. And a classification criterion calculation portion calculates a criterion of classification for classifying images included in one subset on the basis of a distribution state of the feature value in the feature space of each of the images included in the one subset. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110255760 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SYNCHRONIZED IMAGE VIEWING WITH AN IMAGE ATLAS - Certain embodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems for synchronizing a view of a patient image with an atlas image. Certain embodiments provide a method for synchronizing a patient image with an atlas image. The method includes retrieving an image atlas including at least one atlas image, registering an atlas image to a patient image and synchronizing a view of the atlas image to a view of the patient image. In certain embodiments, the method further includes registering a plurality of atlas images to a plurality of patient images. In certain embodiments, the step of synchronizing further includes synchronizing at least one of orientation, zoom level, window level and pan of the atlas image to the patient image. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110262014 | ABNORMAL SKIN AREA CALCULATING SYSTEM AND CALCULATING METHOD THEREOF - An abnormal skin area calculating system and a calculating method thereof are provided. The system includes an image capture module, a database, a skin analysis module, and a numerical calculation module. The database pre-stores at least one abnormal skin analysis data. The skin analysis module analyzes and marks an abnormal skin area in a skin image by using the skin analysis data. The numerical calculation module calculates a pixel area of the abnormal skin area graph, and calculates an actual skin area of a human body corresponding to the abnormal skin area graph with an area calibration parameter. The area calibration parameter is pre-stored in the database, or is generated by the numerical calculation module in calculating a transformation relation between a presented calibration length unit and a pixel distance unit according to a calibration object graph in the skin image. | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110262015 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM - An image processing apparatus comprises: a deformation unit adapted to deform a first 3D image to a second 3D image; a calculation unit adapted to obtain a relation according to which rigid transformation is performed such that a region of interest in the first 3D image overlaps a region in the second 3D image that corresponds to the region of interest in the first 3D image; and an obtaining unit adapted to obtain, based on the relation, a cross section image of the region of interest in the second 3D image and a cross section image of the region of interest in the first 3D image that corresponds to the orientation of the cross section image in the second 3D image. | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110268325 | Method and Apparatus for Image-Based Navigation - A system and method for a procedure that can be performed on any appropriate subject. Procedures can include assembling any appropriate work piece or installing members into a work piece, such as an airframe, autoframe, etc. Regardless of the subject, generally the procedure can have a selected result that is efficacious. The efficacious result may be the desired or best result for the procedure. The system and method can be used in confirming a selected result that can be efficacious. | 11-03-2011 |
| 20110268326 | VIRTUAL CEPHALOMETRIC IMAGING - Virtual cephalometric imaging includes creating a first 3D virtual model and a second 3D virtual model of a patient's dentition. The first 3D virtual model is based on a first impression taken of the patient's dentition at a first time. The second 3D virtual model is based on a second impression taken of the patient's dentition at a second time. The first and the second 3D virtual models are correlated. A 2D image is generated including a first outline representing a position of at least one tooth of the patient's dentition according to the first 3D virtual model and a second outline representing a position of the at least one tooth according to the second 3D virtual model. Generating the 2D image includes positioning the first outline relative to the second outline according to the correlation of the first and the second 3D virtual models. | 11-03-2011 |
| 20110268327 | GENERATING THREE DIMENSIONAL DIGITAL DENTION MODELS FROM SURFACE AND VOLUME SCAN DATA - A method and apparatus are disclosed enabling an orthodontist or a user to create an integrated three dimensional digital model of dentition and surrounding anatomy of an orthodontic patient from a three-dimensional digital model obtained using a scanner with a three-dimensional digital model obtained using a Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) or Magnetic Resonance Tomography (MRT) imaging devices. The digital data obtained from scanning as well as from CBCT imaging are downloaded into a computer workstation, and registered together in order to create a comprehensive 3-D model of the patient's teeth with roots, bones and soft tissues. The invention provides substantial improvement over the traditional two dimensional imaging modalities such as x-rays, photographs, cephalometric tracing for diagnosis and treatment planning | 11-03-2011 |
| 20110268328 | DENOISING MEDICAL IMAGES - A method of producing a denoised medical image at a specified resolution, comprising: a) denoising an original medical image acquired at a resolution higher than the specified resolution; and b) reducing the resolution of the image, after denoising, to the specified resolution, using a nonlinear resolution reduction procedure that preserves more fine detail in the image than a linear resolution reduction procedure would. | 11-03-2011 |
| 20110268329 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING A LIQUID LEVEL IN A CONTAINER USING IMAGING - Methods, systems and apparatus for determining a level of a sample are provided. An image of a sample housed in a container is captured, wherein the image is represented as a two dimensional array of intensities of light. An area of interest is extracted from the image. A filter is applied to the area of interest. The filtered area is collapsed into a one dimensional array. The one dimensional array is masked. The level of the sample in the container is determined based on the masked one dimensional array. Numerous other aspects are provided. | 11-03-2011 |
| 20110274320 | USER TARGETED MEDICAL IMAGING AND INFORMATION PACKAGING, COMPRESSION AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM - A computer-based method and system of distributing biological sample data acquires a digital image of a subject biological sample. The acquired digital image and image capture data are processed according to at least one user. This results in processed image data and capture metadata. The processed image data represents biological sample data of the subject biological sample. A package processing combines the processed image data and capture metadata into a working Package. The method and system enables simultaneous electronic access to the working Package by multiple users, across multiple sectors, in addition to the one user. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110274321 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM - An image processing apparatus includes: a gradient information calculating unit that calculates gradient information of each of pixels, based on pixel values of an intraluminal image; a closed region creating unit that, based on the gradient information, creates a closed region satisfying a condition where the closed region does not include, on the inside thereof, any pixel of which the gradient strength is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, and also, the boundary of the closed region does not curve toward the interior of the closed region, with a curvature equal to or larger than a predetermined value; and an abnormal part detecting unit that detects an abnormal part from the inside of the closed region. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110274322 | DEVICES AND METHODS FOR ASSESSING CHANGES IN CORNEAL HEALTH - A computer-implemented method for use in assessing a cornea which includes selecting a principal image from among a series of layered images of the cornea. The computer-implemented method further includes detecting a plurality of corneal structures in the principal image and providing a quantitative analysis of the plurality of corneal structures. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110274323 | Imaging method for the representation of the results of intravascular imaging and CFD results and medical system for execution of the method - An imaging method for representing results of intravascular imaging (IVB) and CFD results of plaques of a vascular vessel tree of a patient and an imaging medical system for execution of the method are proposed. A 3-D image data set of the area under examination is acquired with x-ray beams for the generation of 3-D x-ray images. A 3-D reconstruction image of the area under examination is generated from the 3-D x-ray images. IVB images are generated by intravascular imaging. Larger calcified plaques in the 3-D x-ray images and IVB images are identified for determining orientation points or landmarks. The spatial position of the plaques are correlated and/or registered based on the orientation points or landmarks. The IVB image data and 3-D image data are fused and reproduced. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110274324 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ABDOMINAL SURFACE MATCHING USING PSEUDO-FEATURES - A system and method for using pre-procedural images for registration for image-guided therapy (IGT), also referred to as image-guided intervention (IGI), in percutaneous surgical application. Pseudo-features and patient abdomen and organ surfaces are used for registration and to establish the relationship needed for guidance. Three-dimensional visualizations of the vasculature, tumor(s), and organs may be generated for enhanced guidance information. The invention facilitates extensive pre-procedural planning, thereby significantly reducing procedural times. It also minimizes the patient exposure to radiation. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110274325 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING IMAGES ACQUIRED IN REAL TIME THROUGH A MEDICAL DEVICE - A method for processing images acquired in real time through a medical device, said images being loaded into a buffer, comprising the steps of: stopping the loading of the images into the buffer, processing loaded images using an incremental algorithm, displaying successively intermediate results of the processing, resuming the loading and stopping the processing based on an evaluation of said intermediate results. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110274326 | CARDIAC IMAGE PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS - A system for visualizing a myocardium represented by a cardiac image comprises a resampling means and a visualizing means. The resampling means re-samples the intensity levels at sampling points on a plurality of curved surfaces, each curved surface enclosing at least part of a heart cavity and zero or more of the plurality of curved surfaces and being enclosed by the remaining curved surfaces of the plurality of curved surfaces, the plurality of curved surfaces together covering a hollow region in the cardiac image, the hollow region comprising the outer cavity walls of a group of at least one heart cavity. The visualizing means is arranged for visualizing at least part of at least one of the plurality of curved surfaces, using resampled intensity levels obtained from the resampling means. The group of at least one heart cavity may be the left atrium alone. It may also be the complete heart. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110274327 | Breast Skin Line Detection in Radiographic Images - An image segmentation embodiment comprises applying a second derivative operator to the pixels of an image, growing a set of contours using seeding grid points as potential contour starting points, determining a contour strength vector for each of the contour pixels, generating a partial ellipse representing an estimated location of an object in the image, dividing the partial ellipse into a plurality of support sectors with control points, determining a contour strength and position for each contour, adjusting a position of each sector control point based on the contour positions weighted by the contour strengths of the contours centered in the respective sector, fitting the partial ellipse to the adjusted positions of the control points, and generating a segmentation mask of the object based on the partial fitted ellipse. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110274328 | Feature Intensity Reconstruction of Biological Probe Array - The invention provides methods and systems for reconstructing feature intensities from pixel level data. In certain embodiments, the invention uses an empirically determined transfer function to construct a theoretical estimate of pixel level data and then iteratively updates feature intensities based on a minimum multiplicative error between the pixel level data and the theoretical estimate of the pixel level data. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110280455 | Determination of Tissue States by Imaging Mass Spectrometry - Spatially resolved tissue states (status image) are determined from spectrally resolved mass spectra of a tissue section by (a) acquiring a plurality of spatially resolved mass spectra of the tissue section, (b) generating at least two mass images from the spatially resolved mass spectra, (c) smoothing the mass images using an edge-preserving smoothing algorithm and (d) calculating a status image from the smoothed mass images by means of a classification algorithm derived from mathematical statistics. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110286642 | Method and Apparatus Pertaining to the Use of Imaging and Surface Information to Influence a Radiation Treatment Plan to Accommodate Dynamic Physical Changes During the Treatment - A radiation-treatment planning apparatus accesses imaging information regarding at least a patient's treatment volume and surface information regarding dynamic surfaces within the radiation-treatment environment as pertains to the radiation treatment. The apparatus acquires the imaging information using a first imaging technology and the surface information using a second technology that is different than the first imaging technology. The apparatus uses the imaging and surface information to influence a radiation treatment plan for treating the treatment volume with radiation to accommodate dynamic physical changes within the radiation-treatment environment during the radiation treatment of the treatment volume. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110286643 | Systems and Methods for Monitoring the Condition of the Skin - Systems, methods, apparatuses and program products for analyzing and/or monitoring the condition of skin are provided. Various embodiments provide for accessing images of the skin, analyzing the characteristics of skin conditions as represented by the images, and providing outputs useful for analyzing and/or monitoring conditions of the skin. Certain embodiments provide for automated analysis of skin conditions such as moles and/or wrinkles. The automated analysis may include for example characterization of a skin condition and comparison to similar skin conditions of a patient or of other patients. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110286644 | IMAGE CALIBRATION AND ANALYSIS - Systems, methods, apparatuses and computer program products for image calibration and analysis are described. One aspect provides quantitatively analyzing a representation of a dermatological condition of an image; and providing one or more outputs responsive to said quantitatively analyzing said representation of said dermatological condition of said image. Other embodiments are described. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110286645 | TRANSMURAL PERFUSION GRADIENT IMAGE ANALYSIS | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110293149 | ITERATIVE VASCULAR RECONSTRUCTION BY REALIGNMENT - Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a method and apparatus for identifying vascular structure in an image including: receiving at least one image including a vascular network; identifying at least one seed point corresponding to the vascular network; identifying automatically at least a portion of the vascular network to form an original vascular identification based at least in part on the at least one seed point; and allowing a dynamic user interaction with the vascular identification to form an iterative vascular identification. In an embodiment, the iterative vascular identification is formable in real-time. In an embodiment, the iterative vascular identification is displayable in real-time. In an embodiment, the iterative vascular identification is formable without re-identifying substantially unaltered portions of the vascular identification. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110293150 | ITERATIVE VASCULAR RECONSTRUCTION BY SEED POINT SEGMENTATION - Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a method and apparatus for identifying and segmenting vascular structure in an image including: receiving at least one image including a vascular network; identifying at least one seed point corresponding to the vascular network; identifying automatically at least a portion of the vascular network to form an original vascular identification based at least in part on the at least one seed point; and allowing a dynamic user interaction with the vascular identification to form an iterative vascular identification. In an embodiment, the iterative vascular identification is formable in real-time. In an embodiment, the iterative vascular identification is displayable in real-time. In an embodiment, the iterative vascular identification is formable without re-identifying substantially unaltered portions of the vascular identification. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110293151 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR QUANTIFYING SURFACE PARTICULATE CONTAMINANTS BY IMPROVED ANALYSIS - The invention concerns a new method for quantifying particulate contaminants with increased reliability and that makes it possible to detect all particulate sizes according to standard ISO 14644-9. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110293152 | MEDICAL IMAGING SYSTEM AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - A medical imaging system and an image processing method for producing an optimized image from an input image are provided. The medical imaging system comprises: a parameter accumulator configured to accumulate a preset number of basic parameters; a parameter determiner configured to produce new reference parameters based on current reference parameters and the accumulated basic parameters to replace the current reference parameters with the new reference parameters; an image processor configured to process an input image to generate an optimized image according to an image processing algorithm based on the reference parameters sent from the parameter determiner; and a controller configured to control overall operation of the medical imaging system. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110293153 | APPLIANCE AND METHOD FOR EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT OF A TEST STRIP - The invention relates to a method for quantitative determination of test results from diagnosis methods with the aid of an optoelectronic evaluation appliance, and to the evaluation appliance itself, characterised in that the digital pixel information per colour level or grey level is represented in its intensity in the microprocessor as one column per pixel, wherein the column height corresponds to the intensity, and these columns are displayed alongside one another on one plane, such that the intensity distribution is displayed over the test area as a surface contour or surface profile, the height profile of which corresponds to the intensity profile of the colour intensity received by the CCD. Fields of application for the invention are test methods in biochemical laboratories, such as medical diagnosis, forensic medicine, foodstuff diagnosis, molecular biology, biochemistry, gene technology and all other related fields, as well as patient monitoring for home users or in pharmacies. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110293154 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CHARACTERIZING A SAMPLE BY IMAGING FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY - A method for characterizing a sample by imaging fluorescence microscopy includes detecting fluorescence intensity in a time-resolved fashion after switching off excitation radiation to establish a decay function, representing the decay of the fluorescence intensity over time, for a multiplicity of pixels, comparing the decay functions associated with the pixels to at least one reference decay function to establish an error value for one or more pixels, the error value associated with a pixel being a measure for a deviation of the decay function associated with the pixel from the reference decay function, and generating an image of the sample using the error values. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110299745 | PARALLEL PROCESS FOR LEVEL SET SEGMENTATION OF VOLUME DATA - A parallelized sparse field method for segmenting a volume dataset is provided. Using a processor a level set field within a multi-dimensional dataset comprising a plurality of voxels is initialized in parallel operation. The multi-dimensional dataset is indicative of an object. An initial set of active voxels is then generated in parallel operation in dependence upon the initialized level set field. New active voxels are determined in parallel operation. Duplicate active voxels are then removed in parallel operation, followed by compacting the active voxels in parallel operation. The process is repeated until a quantitative stopping criterion is met and level set segmentation data indicative of a feature of the object are determined in dependence upon the level set field. | 12-08-2011 |
| 20110299746 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND MEDICAL IMAGE DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS - An image processing apparatus and a medical image diagnosis apparatus comprise a creation unit, a designation unit, a measurement unit, and a display control unit. The creation unit is configured to create a virtual endoscopic image observed using a preset viewpoint position and a preset line-of-sight direction based on 3-dimensional image data. The designation unit is configured to analyze the 3-dimensional image data to designate a plaque portion and/or a calcification portion. The measurement unit is configured to measure information on spatial distribution of the plaque portion and/or the calcification portion designated by the designation unit. The display control unit is configured to perform control to display the virtual endoscopic image created by the creation unit and the information on spatial distribution measured by the measurement unit. | 12-08-2011 |
| 20110299747 | FUNCTIONAL IMAGING - A method includes obtaining an image of a region of interest of a subject, wherein the image is generated with image data produced by an imaging system used to scan the subject, obtaining a signal indicative of a physiological state of the subject before the scan, and displaying both the image and data indicative of the physiological state. In another aspect, a method includes correcting, via a processor, a tracer uptake value for a target region of interest based on a tracer uptake correction factor. | 12-08-2011 |
| 20110299748 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, LUMINAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, LUMINAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND PROGRAMS FOR THE SAME - There is provided a medical image processing apparatus including an image-extracting section extracting a frame image from in vivo motion picture data picked up by an in vivo image pickup device or a plurality of consecutively picked-up still image data, and an image analysis section analyzing the frame image extracted by the image-extracting section to output an image analysis result. The image analysis section includes a first biological-feature detection section detecting a first biological feature, a second biological-feature detection section detecting, based on a detection result obtained by the first biological feature detection section, a second biological feature in a frame image picked up temporally before or after the image used for detection by the first biological feature detection section; and a condition determination section making a determination for a biological condition based on a detection result obtained by the second biological feature detection section to output the determination. | 12-08-2011 |
| 20110305376 | Automatic Patient and Device Recognition and Association System - A system associates a patient and patient identifier with a medical device and includes an interface. The interface acquires data representing an image of a patient in a care setting and showing a medical device in the vicinity of the patient and acquires data identifying the patient. An image data processor analyzes the acquired data representing the image to identify the medical device type by, analyzing the acquired data to determine a shape of the medical device, comparing the determined shape of the medical device with predetermined template shapes of known device types and identifying the medical device type in response to the shape comparison indicating a shape match. A data processor associates the identified medical device type with the data identifying the patient. An output processor initiates generation of data indicating an association of the identified medical device type with the data identifying the patient. | 12-15-2011 |
| 20110305377 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SYNCHRONIZING IMAGE SEQUENCES CAPTURED IN-VIVO FOR AUTOMATIC COMPARISON - A system and method for comparing captured sequences of in-vivo images with (e.g., template) sequences, for example, for computer-automated diagnosis. Captured in vivo images may be divided into a plurality of captured image sequences. For each of the plurality of captured sequences, the processor may assign a first and second set of scores to each frame in the captured sequence and align each frame in the captured sequence with one or more frames in the template sequence for which the comparisons therebetween generate the minimum scores in the first and second sets of scores. The processor may define a match between the template sequence and captured sequences having a combination of scores in the first and second sets of scores for the frames in the captured sets compared with the one or more aligned frames in the template sequence, which are below or above a threshold value. | 12-15-2011 |
| 20110311113 | System for Adjustment of Image Data Acquired Using a Contrast Agent to Enhance Vessel Visualization for Angiography - A system provides a roadmap image displaying a vessel structure using an imaging system to acquire data representing multiple temporally sequential individual images of vessels of a region of interest of patient anatomy in the presence of a contrast agent. An image data processor generates multiple sequential cumulative images corresponding to the individual images and an individual current cumulative image corresponds to a current image of the individual images. The current cumulative image comprises cumulative pixel luminance values and an individual cumulative pixel luminance value is generated from luminance values of pixels, spatially corresponding to the individual cumulative pixel and present in images comprising a subset of the individual images. The subset comprises contiguous images of the temporally sequential individual images acquired preceding the current image and including the current image. An output processor provides the multiple sequential cumulative images to a destination. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110311114 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - A position information attaching unit ( | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110311115 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR VALIDATING IMAGE REGISTRATION - A method for validating non-rigid image registration includes acquiring a source image and a target image. Registration is performed from source image to target image using a non-rigid registration technique to produce forward transformation map. Registration is performed from the target image back to the source image using the non-rigid registration technique to produce a backward transformation map. Consistency registration error is measured as an indication of a change in local volume of the source with respect to the target image using the produced forward transformation map and the produced backward transformation map. The non-rigid registration technique is validated based on the measured consistency registration error. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110311116 | SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR ANATOMICAL STRUCTURE LABELING - An imaging system and methods for processing a two-dimensional image from three-dimensional image information is disclosed. Images are segmented into foreground regions and background regions. An object-centered coordinate system is created and a hierarchical anatomical model is accessed to classify object in order to identify an anatomical object. The anatomical text labels are generated and positioned on the image slices and at least one image slice is displayed. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110311117 | IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE AND INFORMATION STORAGE MEDIUM - An image processing device includes a normal light image acquisition section that acquires a normal light image including an object image that includes information within a wavelength band of white light, a special light image acquisition section that acquires a special light image including an object image that includes information within a specific wavelength band, an isolated point determination section that performs an isolated point determination process on a normal light processing target pixel based on a pixel value of the normal light processing target pixel, the normal light processing target pixel being a processing target pixel included in the normal light image, and a correction control section that controls a correction process performed on the special light image based on the isolated point determination process performed by the isolated point determination section. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110311118 | Techniques for 3-D Elastic Spatial Registration of Multiple Modes of Measuring a Body - Techniques for registration of multiple measurement modes of a body include receiving first and second data from different modes. Each includes measured values with coordinate values. For two mechanically aligned modes, any non-rigid registration is performed. For some modes, the non-rigid registration includes a coarse transformation and multiple fine scale transformations. The coarse transformation maximizes a coarse similarity measure. The second data is sub-divided into contiguous sub-regions. Fine transformations are determined between the sub-regions and corresponding portions of the first data to maximize a fine similarity measure. Sub-dividing and determining fine transformations repeats until stop conditions are satisfied. Transformations between the last-divided sub-regions are interpolated. Any of the fine similarity measure, a search region, interpolation method, sub-division location, and the use of rigid or non-rigid fine transformations are adaptive to properties of the first or second data so that the registration is automatic without human intervention. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110311119 | PROCESSING IMAGES OF AT LEAST ONE LIVING BEING - A method of processing images of at least one living being, includes obtaining a sequence ( | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110317887 | MECHANISM FOR DYNAMICALLY PROPAGATING REAL-TIME ALTERATIONS OF MEDICAL IMAGES - Embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods and a mechanism for manipulating images generated by radiotherapy machines used in radiation diagnostic and treatment applications. In one embodiment, a method is provided for intelligent automatic propagation of real-time alterations across graphical structures of an image by mapping the relativity between the structures; determining the correlation between the structures and a manually edited structure; referencing a deformation map that maps a correspondence for each point in the original structure with a point in the edited structure and applying a similar relative change throughout the remaining structures in the image. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20110317888 | LIVER LESION SEGMENTATION - A method for segmenting a first object from a bounding object within a digital image identifies pixels between first and second endpoint pixels. A volume of interest is defined spanning at least a portion of the object. Pixels within the volume of interest are partitioned into a first subset of pixels that are neither the first object nor bounding object pixels and second subset of pixels that are not contained in the first subset. A spatially varying two-phase segmentation process segments the first object from the bounding object within the second subset of pixels according to the location of each subject pixel within the second subset relative to pixels in the first subset of pixels. The first object segmentation is refined according to the subject pixel location relative to the segmented bounding object and to the first subset of pixels. A segmented image is formed according to the refined segmentation. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20110317889 | METHOD FOR ESTIMATING THE CONCENTRATION OF A TRACER IN A TISSUE STRUCTURE ASSEMBLY, AND CORRESPONDING STORAGE MEDIUM AND DEVICE - A method provides for estimating the concentration of a tracer in a tissue structure assembly including at least one tissue structure, from a measurement image of the tracer concentration in said tissue structure assembly, which is obtained by an imaging apparatus, wherein said image includes at least one space domain inside which the tracer concentration is homogenous and at least one region of interest in which the tracer concentration is measured. The method includes: determining a geometric transfer matrix having coefficients representative of the contribution of the space domains in the measurement of the tracer concentration in the regions of interest; optimizing the coefficient of the geometric transfer matrix by defining the best regions of interest in terms of errors in order to measure the tracer concentration, the definition of the regions of interest being carried out according to an iterative loop that includes the following steps upon each iteration: modifying the regions of interest, and calculating the coefficients of the geometric transfer matrix from the modified regions of interest; selecting an optimized geometric transfer matrix among the calculated geometric transfer matrices; and estimating the tracer concentration from the optimized geometric transfer matrix. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20110317890 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ADVANCED SCANNING AND FOR DEFORMATION SIMULATION OF SURFACES - A system and method for advanced scanning and for simulation of the deformation of surfaces are particularly advantageous for the application of three-dimensional scanning in the medical field. The system and the method allow obtaining digital models of surfaces characterized by an elevated signal-to-noise ratio and by the absence of artefacts due to the movements of the subject during the timing of the scanning. In particular, therefore, the method and system allow obtaining digital models of the surface of particular anatomical areas adapted for the pre-surgery planning, for the estimation and the evaluation of the surgical outcome and for the simulation of the deformation of the bodily surfaces due to predetermined movements performed by the subject. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20110317891 | IMAGE MANAGEMENT SERVER, IMAGE DISPLAY APPARATUS, IMAGE PROVISION METHOD, IMAGE ACQUISITION METHOD, PROGRAM, AND IMAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - An image management server is provided including a microscopic image acquisition portion acquiring a microscopic image of a sample made of a plurality of tile images picked up by a microscope before placing the acquired microscopic image into a predetermined storage area. The image management server also includes a meta information creation portion creating meta information determining the microscopic image according to a result of data analysis acquired by the microscopic image acquisition portion; an image provision processing portion providing the meta information and the microscopic image to an image display apparatus in response to a request from the image display apparatus capable of viewing microscopic images. The image management server also includes a provided image prediction portion predicting the tile image highly likely to be requested by the image display apparatus based on hint information which is transmitted from the image display apparatus and which represents content of a microscopic image display process performed by the image display apparatus. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20110317892 | METHOD AND SYSTEM OF CLASSIFYING MEDICAL IMAGES - A method of generating a category model for classifying medical images. The method comprises providing a plurality of medical images each categorized as one of a plurality of categorized groups, generating an index of a plurality of visual words according to a distribution of a plurality of local descriptors in each the image, modeling a category model mapping a relation between each visual word and at least one of the categorized groups according to the index, and outputting the category model for facilitating the categorization of an image based on local descriptors thereof. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20110317893 | IMAGE DATA SET COMPRESSION BASED ON VIEWING PARAMETERS FOR STORING MEDICAL IMAGE DATA FROM MULTIDIMENSIONAL DATA SETS, RELATED SYSTEMS, METHODS AND COMPUTER PRODUCTS - Methods for electronically compressing data from a multidimensional medical data set for long-term storage includes: (a) generating a first medical image from a patient multi-dimensional medical image data set in a short-term storage format; and (b) compressing the patient medical image data set into a long-term storage format using at least one viewing parameter. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20120002850 | REGION DATA EDITING APPARATUS, REGION DATA EDITING METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM - A region data editing apparatus includes a contour deforming section for receiving a contour deforming operation in which a contour of a region in a three-dimensional image is deformed, a boundary surface deforming section for deforming a boundary surface ∂D in such a manner that the boundary surface ∂D follows the contour deformed by the contour deforming operation, and a region data updating section for updating region data in such a manner that the region data thus updated represents an inside of the boundary surface which has been deformed by the boundary surface deforming section. | 01-05-2012 |
| 20120002851 | System, Method and Computer Accessible Medium for Providing Real-Time Diffusional Kurtosis Imaging and for Facilitating Estimation of Tensors and Tensor- Derived Measures in Diffusional Kurtosis Imaging - Exemplary method, system, and computer-accessible medium can be provided for determining a measure of diffusional kurtosis by receiving data relating to at least one diffusion weighted image, and determining a measure of a diffusional kurtosis as a function of the received data using a closed form solution procedure. In accordance with certain exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, provided herein are computer-accessible medium, systems and methods for, e.g., imaging in an MRI system, and, more particularly for facilitating estimation of tensors and tensor-derived measures in diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI). For example, DKI can facilitate a characterization of non-Gaussian diffusion of water molecules in biological tissues. The diffusion and kurtosis tensors parameterizing the DKI model can typically be estimated via unconstrained least squares (LS) methods. In the presence of noise, motion, and imaging artifacts, these methods can be prone to producing physically and/or biologically implausible tensor estimates. The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can address at least this deficiency by formulating an exemplary estimation problem, e.g., as linearly constrained linear LS, where the constraints can ensure acceptable tensor estimates. | 01-05-2012 |
| 20120002852 | Advanced Digital Pathology and Provisions for Remote Diagnostics - The present invention discloses a method for detecting and identifying pathologies in a magnified captured image. The method comprising the step of: performing macro image analysis for identifying abnormal and normal segments of the captured image, performing conversion of colored images to gray scale image, performing segmentation of the gray scale colored biopsy by applying two segmentation levels, merging the image results of the coarse level and the fine level segmentations by expanding the coarse image to fit scale of the fine image and identifying pixels having the same value at both levels, performing comparison between object's properties and characteristics appearing in abnormal segments and object's properties and characteristics appearing in normal segments, and calculating the deviations of each property between the abnormal segments and the normal segments and ranking objects based on the calculated deviations of each property and characteristic. | 01-05-2012 |
| 20120002853 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DEFINITION OF DICOM HEADER VALUES - Certain embodiments of the present invention provide an improved system and method for image file header configuration. Certain embodiments of the method include retrieving one or more criterion for configuration of an image orientation parameter, configuring the image orientation parameter based on the one or more criterion, obtaining image data, and storing the image data in an image file. The image file has a header portion including the image orientation parameter. In an embodiment, the image orientation parameter may be modified from a default configuration. The one or more criterion may include user preference, modality restriction, system preference, and/or rule, for example. The method may further include saving the image file with the configured image orientation parameter. Additionally, the method may include displaying an image according to the configured image orientation parameter. The image may be automatically oriented for display based on the configured image orientation parameter. | 01-05-2012 |
| 20120008838 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REMOTE MELANOMA SCREENING - A system and method are provided for diagnosing diseases or conditions from digital images taken by a remote user with a smart phone or a digital camera and transmitted to an image analysis server in communication with a distributed network. The image analysis server includes a trained learning machine for classification of the images. The user-provided image is pre-processed to extract dimensional, shape and color features then is processed using the trained learning machine to classify the image. The classification result is postprocessed to generate a risk score that is transmitted to the remote user. A database associated with the server may include referral information for geographically matching the remote user with a local physician. An optional operation includes collection of financial information to secure payment for analysis services. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20120008839 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, METHOD OF PROCESSING IMAGE, AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM - An image processing apparatus includes a reference surface generating unit that generates a reference surface indicating a reference value of each of a plurality of color elements of pixels constituting an intraluminal image at a pixel position of the each color element by performing a morphology process using pixel values of the color elements; and an abnormal area detecting unit that detects an abnormal area from the intraluminal image based on a difference for each of the color elements between the pixel value of each pixel and the reference surface. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20120008840 | SIMULATION OF VESSELS IN AN IMAGE - A method for processing an image of a body region is provided, the region comprising a plurality of vessels capable of propagating a fluid of the body, the image comprising a plurality of pixels each being associated with an intensity. The method comprising determining, for each pixel, a probability that the pixel belongs to a vessel, based on the intensity of the pixel; simulating a propagation of the fluid from at least one source pixel towards the pixels of the image, the propagation being simulated to have a velocity that is function of the probability that the pixels of the image belong to a vessel; and inferring from the simulation a propagation time between the source pixel and each of the pixels of the image. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20120014571 | DENTAL SHADE MAPPING - A method and apparatus for generating a color mapping for a dental object. The method includes generating a transformation matrix according to a set of spectral reflectance data for a statistically valid sampling of teeth. Illumination is directed toward the dental object over at least a first, a second, and a third wavelength band, one wavelength band at a time. For each of a plurality of pixels in an imaging array, an image data value is obtained, corresponding to each of the at least first, second, and third wavelength bands. The transformation matrix is applied to form the color mapping by generating a set of visual color values for each of the plurality of pixels according to the obtained image data values and according to image data values obtained from a reference object at the at least first, second, and third wavelength bands. The color mapping can be stored in an electronic memory. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120014572 | DENTAL SHADE MAPPING - A method and apparatus for obtaining a color mapping of a dental object. Illumination is directed toward the object over at least first, second, and third wavelength band, one band at a time. An image of the dental object is captured at each wavelength band to form a set of images of the dental object. For pixels in the captured set of images, an image data value for the pixel corresponds to each of the wavelength bands and calculates interpolated image data values proportional to the spectral reflectance of the dental object, according to the obtained image data values and according to image data values obtained from a reference object at the wavelength bands. Spectral distribution data for a viewing illuminant is obtained and the visual color of the dental object reconstructed according to the calculated interpolated image data values and the obtained spectral distribution of the viewing illuminant. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120014573 | Method and system for indicating a feeding vessel of a malformation in a medical image - A method and a system for indicating a feeding vessel of a malformation in a medical image are provided. The method first displays the medical image of the malformation and its surrounding vessels. This enables a manual selects a portion of the displayed medical image with reference to the tumor. The feeding vessel of the tumor is segmented and finally indicated in the medical image based on said manual selection. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120014574 | Method for Determining Properties of a Vessel in a Medical Image - A method and a system for determining properties of a vessel in a medical image are provided. The method involves displaying the medical image including the vessel. The displayed vessel is segmented and indicated in the medical image. For an indicated vessel, a maximum curvature along a length of the vessel is determined as the property of the vessel. Another vessel parameter which can be determined is the smallest diameter along the length of the vessel. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120014575 | Hybrid 2-D ECG Data Compression Based on Wavelet Transforms - Implementations and techniques for hybrid 2-D ECG data compression based on wavelet transforms are generally disclosed. In accordance with some implementations, a method for compressing electrocardiogram (ECG) data may include receiving a one-dimensional (1-D) ECG signal, generating a two-dimensional (2-D) ECG data array from the 1-D ECG signal, wavelet transforming the 2-D ECG data array to generate wavelet coefficients including a low frequency subband, a first intermediate frequency subband, a second intermediate frequency subband, and a high-frequency subband, and encoding the wavelet coefficients to generate compressed ECG data. Encoding the wavelet coefficients may include subjecting the low frequency subband, the first intermediate frequency subband, the second intermediate frequency subband, and the high frequency subband to different encoding schemes. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120014576 | Signal to Noise Ratio in Digital Pathology Image Analysis - A digital slide analysis system comprises an algorithm server that maintains or has access to a plurality of image processing and analysis routines. The algorithm server additionally has access to a plurality of digital slide images. The algorithm server executes a selected routine on an identified digital slide and provides the resulting data. Prior to the application of selected routine, the system employs a digital pre-processing module to create a metadata mask that reduces undesirable image data such that the image data processed by the selected routine has an improved signal to noise ratio. The pre-processing module uses a classifier that may be implemented as a pattern recognition module, for example. Undesirable image data is therefore excluded from the image data that is processed by the digital pathology image processing and analysis routine, which significantly improves the digital pathology image analysis. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120020536 | Image Reporting Method - An image reporting method is provided. The image reporting method comprises the steps of retrieving an image representation of a sample structure from an image source; mapping a generic structure to the sample structure, the generic structure being related to the sample structure and having at least coordinate data defined therein; determining one or more regions of interest within the sample structure based on content of the image representation of the sample structure; associating an annotation to at least one of the regions of interest; and generating a report based at least partially on one of the regions of interest and the annotation. | 01-26-2012 |
| 20120027271 | KNOWLEDGE-BASED AUTOMATIC IMAGE SEGMENTATION - A method for medical image segmentation. The method includes accessing and updating a knowledge-base in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. The techniques include: receiving a medical image and computing a sparse landmark signature based on the medical image content. Next, a knowledge-base is searched for representative matches to form a base set, wherein the base set comprises a plurality of reference image sets. A portion of the plurality of reference image sets of the base set is deformed to generate mappings from the base set to the medical image set. Finally a weighted average segmentation for each structure of interest of the medical image set is determined. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120027272 | IMAGE SEGMENTATION - According to one embodiment there is provided a method of selecting a plurality of M atlases from among a larger group of N candidate atlases to form a multi-atlas data set to be used for computer automated segmentation of novel image data sets to mark objects of interest therein. A set of candidate atlases is used containing a reference image data set and segmentation data. Each of the candidate atlases is segmented against the others in a leave-one-out strategy, in which the candidate atlases are used as training data for each other. For each candidate atlas in turn, the following is carried out: registering; segmenting; computing an overlap; computing a value of the similarity measure for each of the registrations; and obtaining a set of regression parameters by performing a regression with the similarity measure being the independent variable and the overlap being the dependent variable. The M atlases are then selected from among all the N candidate atlases to form the multi-atlas data set, the M atlases being those atlases determined to collectively provide the highest aggregate overlap over all the training data image sets. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120027273 | KNOWLEDGE-BASED AUTOMATIC IMAGE SEGMENTATION - A method for medical image segmentation includes accessing and updating a knowledge-base. First, a medical image is received and a sparse landmark signature is computed based on the medical image. Next, either a representative or a cohort average reference image set is selected. A portion of either representative reference image set or the cohort average reference image set is deformed to generate mappings to the medical image set. A segmentation for each structure of interest of the medical image set is determined. The knowledge-base is searched for representative matches to form a plurality of sub-volume base sets comprising a plurality of reference image set sub-volumes. A portion of the plurality of reference image set sub-volumes of the plurality of sub-volume base sets is deformed to generate mappings from the plurality of sub-volume base sets to corresponding structures of interest of the medical image set. A weighted-average segmentation for the plurality of structures of interest in the medical image set is calculated. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120027274 | NONLINEAR RECURSIVE FILTER FOR MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING - A new system and method for medical image processing using a nonlinear recursive filter are disclosed. An input signal including two or more pulses received from a medical imaging system is sampled at a predetermined sampling rate. The maximum magnitude, i.e., peak, and/or the occurrence time of the maximum magnitude of the first pulse of the input signal is/are determined using a nonlinear recursive filter. Predicted magnitude values of the tail of the first pulse can be determined and subtracted from the input signal to correct for pileup before determining the maximum magnitude and/or occurrence time of the next pulses. A medical image can be reconstructed using the determined maximum magnitudes and/or the occurrence times of the maximum magnitudes of the pulses of the input signal. The nonlinear recursive filter can be implemented using one or more look-up tables. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120027275 | DISEASE DETERMINATION - A method of generating output data providing an indication of the presence or absence of disease from at least one retinal image of a patient. The method comprises receiving first data associated with detection of a first lesion type in the at least one image, receiving second data associated with detection of a second lesion type in the at least one image, and receiving third data associated with detection of a third lesion type in the at least one image, wherein at least one of said first data, said second data and said third data is a quantitative indication associated with detection of the respective lesion type in said image. The first data, second data and third data are combined to generate the output data providing an indication of the presence or absence of disease. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120027276 | MEDICAL IMAGE DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND VOLUME CALCULATING METHOD - A medical image diagnostic apparatus provided with an image acquisition unit configured to acquire in-vivo information about an object to be examined as a medical image, a display unit configured to display the medical image, a setting unit configured to set a target region of volume measurement in the medial image displayed on the display unit, a calculation unit configured to perform calculation to split the target region into a plurality of volume elements, calculate the moving distance of the vertices of the volume elements when the target region of the acquired medical image moves, calculate the volumes of the volume elements after the movement using the calculated moving distance of the vertices, totalizing the calculated volumes of the volume elements after the movement and using the total volume as the volume of the target region, and a control unit configured to display the volume of the target region on the display unit. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120027277 | INTERACTIVE ITERATIVE CLOSEST POINT ALGORITHM FOR ORGAN SEGMENTATION - A system and method for segmenting an image of an organ. The system and method including selecting a surface model of the organ, selecting a plurality of points on a surface of an image of the organ and transforming the surface model to the plurality of points on the image. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120033861 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DIGITAL IMAGE ANALYSIS - Systems and methods for implementing a hierarchical image recognition framework for classifying digital images are provided. The provided hierarchical image recognition framework utilizes a multi-layer approach to model training and image classification tasks. A first layer of the hierarchical image recognition framework generates first layer confidence scores, which are utilized by the second layer to produce a final recognition score. The provided hierarchical image recognition framework permits model training and image classification tasks to be performed more accurately and in a less resource intensive fashion than conventional single-layer image recognition frameworks. In some embodiments real-time operator guidance is provided for an image classification task. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120033862 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SEGMENTING DIGITAL IMAGES - Methods and systems disclosed herein provide the capability to automatically process digital pathology images quickly and accurately. According to one embodiment, an digital pathology image segmentation task may be divided into at least two parts. An image segmentation task may be carried out utilizing both bottom-up analysis to capture local definition of features and top-down analysis to use global information to eliminate false positives. In some embodiments, an image segmentation task is carried out using a “pseudo-bootstrapping” iterative technique to produce superior segmentation results. In some embodiments, the superior segmentation results produced by the pseudo-bootstrapping method are used as input in a second segmentation task that uses a combination of bottom-up and top-down analysis. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120033863 | ASSESSING FEATURES FOR CLASSIFICATION - Among other things, a degree is determined to which values of a feature that characterizes cases correctly predict classes to which cases belong, the degree depending on a combination of at least two factors that include: (a) uncertainty about the values that the feature will have depending on knowledge about classes to which cases belong, and (b) comparison of one or more first values of the feature that are associated with cases that belong to a first class with one or more second values of the feature associated with cases belonging to a second class. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120033864 | HEART SEGMENTATION IN CARDIAC REST AND STRESS IMAGING - A patient ( | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120033865 | QUANTIFICATION OF MEDICAL IMAGE DATA - A system is provided for quantification of medical image data. First image obtaining means (1) are for obtaining a first image (A). Second image obtaining means (2) are for obtaining a second image (B). Spatial transformation obtaining means (3) are for obtaining spatial transformation information representing a correspondence between points in the first image and corresponding points in the second image. Identifying means (4) are for identifying a first image region (C) in the first image (A). Transforming means (5) are for transforming the first image region (C) into a corresponding second image region C′) in the second image (B) based on the spatial transformation information. Quantification means (6) are for computing a quantification relating to the second image region (C′) by accessing image values of the second image (B) within the second image region (C′). | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120033866 | DIAGNOSIS ASSISTING APPARATUS, DIAGNOSIS ASSISTING METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM HAVING A DIAGNOSIS ASSISTING PROGRAM STORED THEREIN - Structures in the vicinity of a target point (point of interest) within a diagnostic image are enabled to be observed in detail from multiple directions. Overview images ( | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120033867 | DEVICES AND METHODS FOR IDENTIFYING AND MONITORING CHANGES OF A SUSPECT AREA OF A PATIENT - A device for acquiring first and subsequent images of a suspect area on a patient and methods for monitoring or detecting changes of the suspect area over time and providing notification when the changes exceed a threshold. The device may be an imaging device, such as a digital camera, possibly augmented with physical or optical devices for arranging the orientation and/or distance of the imaging device with respect to the suspect area. In addition, methods for identifying, relocating, acquiring a first and/or subsequent image of the suspect area, and performing a comparative analysis of respective images are also described. Results of the comparative analysis can be used to notify and/or assist a medical professional in treating or counseling the patient. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120039516 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR HARVESTING AND IMPLANTING HAIR USING IMAGE-GENERATED TOPOLOGICAL SKIN MODELS - Systems and methods are provided for orienting a hair harvesting tool relative to a follicular unit to be harvested. Further, systems and methods of implanting follicular units are provided, which are based on the orientation of the existing follicular units or based on predetermined insertion angle. The provided systems and methods use image processing and image-generated topological skin models. In some embodiments surface fit is performed using, for example, a planar fit, quadric fit, cubic fit, mesh fit and parametric fit. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120039517 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER INSTRUCTIONS FOR AIDING IMAGE ANALYSIS - Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a system, method and computer instructions for aiding analysis of an image used in a medical examination. For example, in an embodiment, an image analysis system used in a medical examination comprises: an input module configured to input an image; a search module configured to locate information regarding an image that is similar to the input image; and an output module configured to output a link to the located information, wherein the located information is displayed when the link is used. For example, in an embodiment, an image analysis system used in a medical examination further comprises a communication module, wherein the communication module is configured to output the input image and the located information, and wherein the communication module is configured to receive a responsive communication. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120045103 | SYSTEM FOR TARGETING CELLS OR OTHER MATERIALS - An image sensor integrated circuit may contain image sensor pixels. A channel containing a fluid with particles such as cells may be formed on top of the image sensor. Some of the image sensor pixels may form a calibration sensor and some of the image sensor pixels may form an imager. As the fluid and particles flow through the channel at a flow rate, the calibration sensor may measures the flow rate and illumination intensity in the channel. Based on calibration data such as measured flow rate and measured illumination intensity, adjustments may be made to ensure that the imager acquires satisfactory image data. The adjustments may include flow rate adjustments, image acquisition data rate adjustments, and illumination adjustments. A processing unit in the channel may contain a laser or other component to destroy selected cells. A flared region in the channel may be used as a chromatograph. | 02-23-2012 |
| 20120057765 | System and Method for Image Denoising Optimizing Object Curvature - A method for removing noise from an image includes receiving image data including a plurality of pixels. A graph including a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges interconnecting the nodes is formulated. Each pixel of the image data is represented as a node of the graph and each edge of the graph is assigned a weight based on a penalty function applied to the nodes connected by the edge where the penalty function is less when a value of a given pixel of the plurality of pixels is between or equal to the values of two neighboring pixels than when the value of the given pixel is either greater than or less than the values of both of the two neighboring pixels. A total penalty of the graph is minimized. A denoised image is provided based on the total penalty-minimized graph. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120057766 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC DETECTION OF IN VIVO CONTRACTION VIDEO SEQUENCES - A system and method for comparing captured sequences of in-vivo images with (e.g., template or model) sequences, for example, for computer-automated recognition of contractions. The size of the opening of an in-vivo lumen passageway represented in each frame in a subset of frames of an image stream captured in vivo may be measured. Frames in the subset of frames of the image stream having a local minimum size of the lumen passageway may be identified. The subset of frames may be divided into segments of sequential frames at frames having local maximum lumen sizes before and after the identified frame having a local minimum size of the lumen passageway to generate contraction sequences. A plurality of the contraction sequences may be compared to template sequences. A plurality of the contraction sequences may be displayed. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120057767 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING VARIABLE RESOLUTION MEDICAL IMAGES - A hand carried medical imaging device includes a probe configured to acquire raw medical image data, an integrated display, a data memory configured to store the acquired raw medical image data, a back end processor, and a user interface operably coupled to the back end processor configured to receive commands from a user and to instruct the back end processor to display the produced medical image on the integrated display at a first resolution, and to either produce and send either the medical image at the second, higher resolution, to send the acquired raw image data, or both, to the external device, in accordance with the commands from the user. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120057768 | Method and Apparatus for Efficient Three-Dimensional Contouring of Medical Images - A technique is disclosed for generating a new contour and/or a 3D surface such as a variational implicit surface from contour data. In one embodiment, B-spline interpolation is used to efficiently generate a new contour (preferably a transverse contour), from a plurality of input contours (preferably, sagittal and/or coronal contours). In another embodiment, a point reduction operation is performed on data sets corresponding to any combination of transverse, sagittal, or coronal contour data prior to processing those data sets to generate a 3D surface such as a variational implicit surface. A new contour can also be generated by the intersection of this surface with an appropriately placed and oriented plane. In this manner, the computation of the variational implicit surface becomes sufficiently efficient to make its use for new contour generation practical. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120057769 | Method and Apparatus for Efficient Three-Dimensional Contouring of Medical Images - A technique is disclosed for generating a new contour and/or a 3D surface such as a variational implicit surface from contour data. In one embodiment, a point reduction operation is performed on data sets corresponding to any combination of transverse, sagittal, or coronal contour data prior to processing those data sets to generate a 3D surface such as a variational implicit surface. A new contour can also be generated by the intersection of this surface with an appropriately placed and oriented plane. In this manner, the computation of the variational implicit surface becomes sufficiently efficient to make its use for new contour generation practical. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120063652 | Method and apparatus for performing color-based reaction testing of biological materials - Color-based reaction testing of biological materials may be performed by capturing, in an uncalibrated environment, a digital image of an exposed test strip, together with an adjacently-located reference color chart or on-strip color chart. The image data specifically representing the individual test pads on the test strip, as well as the reference color blocks on the reference chart, are then located within the captured image, and compared to identify any color matches between the test pads and the corresponding sequences of reference color block. Based on this comparison operation, a set of test results can be generated which effectively identifies which of the reference chart's color blocks most closely matches the color of the corresponding dipstick's test pads. The generated test results may then be provided to the user in a printed or displayed form. Alternatively, the test results may simply be stored for later retrieval. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120063653 | METHOD FOR DETECTING THE PRESENCE OF A TARGET ANALYTE IN A TEST SPOT - An apparatus and method for imaging metallic nanoparticles is provided. Preferably, the invention provides for an apparatus and method for detection of gold colloid particles and for accurate reporting to the operator. The apparatus includes a substrate holder for holding the substrate, a processor and memory device, an imaging module, an illumination module, a power module, an input module, and an output module. The apparatus may have a stationary substrate holder and imaging module which are proximate to one another. The apparatus provided for a compact sized system without the need for complex motorized devices to move the camera across the substrate. Further, the apparatus and method provide for automatic detection of the spots/wells on the substrate, automatic quantification of the spots on the substrate, and automatic interpretation of the spots based on decision statistics. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120063654 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM FOR ART THERAPY - An art therapy computer system and a computer-readable storage medium having recorded a program for art therapy are disclosed. An aspect of the present invention provides a computer system that includes a drawing module, which presents a plurality of patterns and in which the drawing module selects a certain pattern, composes and colors a picture according to the working of a person tested for art therapy, an analysis module, which analyzes one or more factors from the colored picture, and a parsing module, which parses the psychological state, symptoms or disorders of the person tested for art therapy from the analyzed factors. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120063655 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PRODUCING AN IMPLANT - A computer implemented method for determining the 3-dimensional shape of an implant to be implanted into a subject includes obtaining a computer readable image including a defective portion and a non-defective portion of tissue in the subject, superimposing on the image a shape to span the defective portion, and determining the 3-dimensional shape of the implant based on the shape that spans the defective portion. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120063656 | EFFICIENT MAPPING OF TISSUE PROPERTIES FROM UNREGISTERED DATA WITH LOW SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO - Image processing methods are described that include segmenting boundaries of a region of interest (ROI) and identifying one or more control points, in each of multiple images of the same object, region, or location. The coordinates of each image are transformed from image coordinates into a coordinate frame relative to the control point or points. Image data is resampled and filtered and/or averaged. One or more material properties can be calculated from the resampled and filtered image data and then displayed. Alignment of unregistered image data of multiple images of the same object, region, or location is provided. Applications are described for medical imaging. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120063657 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR SIDE-EFFECT PROGNOSIS AND MONITORING - A method for radiotherapy monitoring is provided. The method comprises calculation of treatment-guiding indices of side-effects based on processing image derived descriptors and measurement values of selected disease specific biomarkers and optionally questionnaire data. A computer program product is also provided. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120070044 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ANALYZING AND VISUALIZING LOCAL CLINICAL FEATURES - A system and method for analyzing and visualizing a local feature of interest includes access of a clinical image dataset comprising clinical image data acquired from a patient, identification of a region of interest (ROI) from the clinical image dataset, and extraction of at least one local feature corresponding to the ROI. The system and method also include definition of a local feature dataset comprising data representing at least one local feature, access of a pre-computed reference dataset comprising image data representing an expected value of the at least one identified derived characteristic of interest, and comparison of the characteristic dataset to the pre-computed reference dataset. Further, the system and method include calculation of at least one deviation metric from the comparison and output of a visualization of the at least one deviation metric. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120070045 | GLOBAL MEDICAL IMAGING REPOSITORY - A system and method for acquiring, hosting and distributing medical images for healthcare professionals. In one illustrative embodiment, the system can include a database for storing private health information split from a medical imaging record. The private health information can be encrypted before being stored within a database. The system can also include a repository for storing at least one anonymized image split from the medical record. The repository can include a number of functionally equivalent servers horizontally scalable to store the at least one anonymized image. The private health information and the at least one anonymized image split from the medical record can be joined at a target node. The private health information can be decrypted on the target node and coupled with the at least one anonymized image to reform the record. The database and the repository can both be provided on cloud services. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120070046 | Method and System for Detection and Tracking of Coronary Sinus Catheter Electrodes in Fluoroscopic Images - A method and system for detecting and tracking coronary sinus (CS) catheter electrodes in a fluoroscopic image sequence is disclosed. An electrode model is initialized in a first frame of the fluoroscopic image sequence based on input locations of CS sinus catheter electrodes in the first frame. The electrode model is tracked in subsequent frames of the fluoroscopic image sequence by detecting electrode position candidates in the subsequent frames of the fluoroscopic image sequence using at least one trained electrode detector, generating electrode model candidates in the subsequent frames based on the detected electrode position candidates, calculating a probability score for each of the electrode model candidates, and selecting an electrode model candidate based on the probability score. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120070047 | APPARATUS, METHOD AND COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM EMPLOYING A SPECTRALLY COLORED, HIGHLY ENHANCED IMAGING TECHNIQUE FOR ASSISTING IN THE EARLY DETECTION OF CANCEROUS TISSUES AND THE LIKE - A multi spectral imaging technique and associated mathematical formula for assisting in the early detection of cancerous tissues and the like and which includes displaying a basic digital image which is reversed into a partial negative and then resaved as a second image. A third black and white product image is then mathematically generated by squaring the partial negative image and dividing by the first image, following which a three band composite color image is created utilizing spectral color guns which assign different colors to each of the images. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120070048 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ORDERING STORED IMAGES - An apparatus comprising—an imaging component for acquiring magnetic resonance images;—a storage component for storing the magnetic resonance images in a stack;—a sorting component for sorting the magnetic resonance images in the stack using machine defined meta information of the images; and—an interface for reading the ordered stack. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120070049 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD THEREOF, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM - An image processing apparatus, which analyzes retina layers of an eye to be examined, comprising, means for extracting a feature amount, which represents an anatomical feature in the eye to be examined, from a projection image obtained from a tomogram of the retina layers and a fundus image of the eye to be examined, means for determining a type of the anatomical feature based on the feature amount, means for deciding layers to be detected from the retina layers according to the determined type of the anatomical feature, and detecting structures of the decided layers in the tomogram, and means for modifying the structure of the layer included in a region having the anatomical feature of the structures of the layers detected by the layer structure detection means. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120076371 | Phantom Identification - The invention relates to calibration phantoms used in connection with medical imaging devices such as PET, MR, etc., and particularly in connection with hybrid systems such as MR/PET systems. In some cases, the phantoms have distinguishable, machine-readable identification features that allow the imaging system to identify them automatically, without operator intervention. In other cases, even where the phantoms do not have such distinguishable, machine-readable identification features, if the imaging system is appropriately configured with cameras and/or appropriate image analysis software, the imaging system can still identify the phantoms automatically. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120076372 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - A medical image processing apparatus is a medical image processing apparatus performing image segmentation processing for a medical image including: a feature value calculating unit that calculates at least one feature value from the medical image; a category setting unit that sets, on the basis of the feature value calculated by the feature value calculating unit, plural categories in the medical image; a parameter setting unit that sets, on the basis of the feature value calculated by the feature value calculating unit, a parameter for each of areas of the medical image respectively classified into the categories set by the category setting unit; and an image segmenting unit that performs the image segmentation processing for the medical image according to an arithmetic operation of employing a dynamic contour model specified according to the number of categories set by the category setting unit and parameters set by the parameter setting unit. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120076373 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - An image processing apparatus of the invention includes a first feature value calculation unit adapted to calculate a first feature value for each pixel in an image picked up of living tissue, where the first feature value represents a value of an index which indicates what shape a local region; a second feature value calculation unit adapted to calculate a degree of concentration of a gradient vector as a second feature value based on the gradient vector for each pixel in the image; an evaluation value calculation unit adapted to calculate a geometric evaluation value for each pixel, based on calculation results of the first feature value and the second feature value; and a region extraction unit of separately extracting a candidate region of the linear structure and a candidate region of the massive structure based on a calculation result of the geometric evaluation value. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120076374 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - An image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a pixel selection unit adapted to select a pixel of interest from an image; a contrast feature value calculation unit adapted to calculate, as a contrast feature value, a value which represents an amount of change in contrast in a local region including the pixel of interest; a geometric feature value calculation unit adapted to calculate, as a geometric feature value, a value of an index which indicates whether or not a linear or massive structure is contained in the local region; an evaluation value calculation unit adapted to calculate an evaluation value by weighting each of the contrast feature value and the geometric feature value; and a region extraction unit adapted to extract a candidate region estimated to contain the linear or massive structure from the image based on a calculation result of the evaluation value. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120076375 | DETECTING DEVICE, DETECTING METHOD, PROGRAM, AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS - A detecting device detecting a skin region of a subject. The detecting device comprising: a first irradiation section that irradiates the subject with light of a first wavelength; a second irradiation section that irradiates the subject with light of a second wavelength; a captured image creating section that creates a first image based on light reflected from the subject when the subject is irradiated with light of the first wavelength, creates a second image based on light reflected from the subject when the subject is irradiated with light of the second wavelength, and creates an external light image based on light reflected from the subject when the subject is not irradiated with any light of the first and second wavelengths; and a detecting section that detects the skin region on the basis of the first image, the second image, and the external light image. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120076376 | Controlling the Number of Iterations in Image Reconstruction - An iterative reconstruction method to reconstruct an object includes determining, in a series of iteration steps, updated objects, wherein each iteration step includes determining a data model from an input object, and determining a stop-criterion of the data model on the basis of a chi-square-gamma statistic. The method further includes determining that the stop-criterion of the data model has transitioned from being outside the limitation of a preset threshold value to being inside the limitation, ending the iterations, and selecting one of the updated objects to be the reconstructed object. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120082350 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ASSESSING MOTION CORRECTION - A method for evaluating the effectiveness of a motion correction procedure includes acquiring an imaging dataset of an object using an imaging system, identifying a motion affected portion of the imaging dataset, motion correcting the identified portion to generate a motion corrected imaging dataset, and displaying both the identified portion and the motion corrected imaging dataset on a display device in a comparable manner or format. A system and computer readable medium for implementing the method are also described herein. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120082351 | FAST 3D-2D IMAGE REGISTRATION METHOD WITH APPLICATION TO CONTINUOUSLY GUIDED ENDOSCOPY - Fast and continuous registration between two imaging modalities makes it possible to completely determine the rigid transformation between multiple sources at real-time or near real-time frame-rates in order to localize video cameras and register the two sources. A set of reference images are computed or captured within a known environment, with corresponding depth maps and image gradients defining a reference source. Given one frame from a real-time or near-real time video feed, and starting from an initial guess of viewpoint, a real-time video frame is warped to the nearest viewing site of the reference source. An image difference is computed between the warped video frame and the reference image. Steps are repeated for each frame until the viewpoint converges or the next video frame becomes available. The final viewpoint gives an estimate of the relative rotation and translation between the camera at that particular video frame and the reference source. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120082352 | WORKSTATIONS WITH CIRCUITS FOR GENERATING IMAGES OF GLOBAL INJURY - Physician interactive workstations with global voxel distribution visualization may also include one or more of a 3-D color scale image of a population of voxel in target regions, organs or systems. The workstation may be configured to evaluate intensity or other measures of voxels of patient images associated with tissue for early detection of a global injury. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120082353 | Mobile Video-Based Therapy - Mobile video-based therapy, using a portable therapy device that includes a camera, a therapy application database, a processor, and a display. The camera is configured to generate images of a user, and the therapy application database is configured to store therapy applications. The processor is configured to select, from the therapy application database, a therapy application appropriate for assisting in physical or cognitive rehabilitation or therapy of the user, to invoke the therapy application, to recognize a gesture of the user from the generated images, and to control the invoked therapy application based on the recognized gesture. The display is configured to display an output of the controlled therapy application. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120082354 | ESTABLISHING A CONTOUR OF A STRUCTURE BASED ON IMAGE INFORMATION - A system for establishing a contour of a structure is disclosed. An initialization subsystem ( | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120087556 | DIGITAL IMAGE ANALYSIS USING MULTI-STEP ANALYSIS - Systems and methods for implementing a multi-step image recognition framework for classifying digital images are provided. The provided multi-step image recognition framework utilizes a gradual approach to model training and image classification tasks requiring multi-dimensional ground truths. A first step of the multi-step image recognition framework differentiates a first image region from a remainder image region. Each subsequent step operates on a remainder image region from the previous step. The provided multi-step image recognition framework permits model training and image classification tasks to be performed more accurately and in a less resource intensive fashion than conventional single-step image recognition frameworks. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120087557 | BIOPSY PLANNING AND DISPLAY APPARATUS - Systems are provided for managing, planning and displaying the location of biopsy core sites across multiple same-patient visits or other stored biopsy plans to increase the confidence and accuracy of biopsy results. The systems may allow the operator to fuse multiple predefined and/or automatically generated biopsy core site plans in addition to previous biopsy sites with a current prostate image to assist in creating a final new biopsy core site plan. Further, the system may allow the operator to selectively view singular parts of the final plan to simplify the planning process. Further, the systems may assist the operator during the navigation phase of the biopsy by hiding biopsy core sites from the final plan that are not of immediate interest during the biopsy phase and thereby reducing clutter and distraction during biopsy sample acquisition. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120087558 | MEDICAL IMAGING - Ultrasound imaging, or ultrasonography, is a convenient imaging modality for diagnostic purposes. During procedures requiring visualization, the user coordinates the movement of the transducer through the manual selection of an appropriate representation on the screen. Ultrasound may also be employed for functional measurements. Typically, the measurement requires the manual selection of target planes, lines, or volumes where the measurement is to be performed. Therapeutic applications of ultrasound are also known in the art. Such applications typically employ higher energies, and therefore inaccuracies in positioning may result in damage to surrounding tissues. The invention provides a system and method for repeated determination of a first vector between a reference structure comprised in an anatomical volume and a medical imaging transducer configured to provide imaging data of the anatomical volume. The invention provides an automated tracking system of the reference structure, requiring that the user only selects the reference structure. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120093376 | NOISE REDUCTION OF IMAGING DATA - The present invention relates to systems and methods for reducing noise in image data. Preferred embodiments relate to methods for analyzing two-photon in vivo imaging of biological systems. With neuronal population imaging with subcellular resolution, this modality offers an approach for gaining a fundamental understanding of brain anatomy and physiology. Analysis of calcium imaging data requires denoising, that is separating the signal from complex physiological noise. To analyze two-photon brain imaging data, for example, harmonic regression plus colored noise model and an efficient cyclic descent algorithm for parameter estimation. This approach reliably separates stimulus-evoked fluorescence response from background activity and noise, assesses goodness of fit, and estimates confidence intervals and signal-to-noise ratio. | 04-19-2012 |
| 20120093377 | METHODS FOR DETERMINING MENISCAL SIZE AND SHAPE AND FOR DEVISING TREATMENT - The present invention relates to methods for determining meniscal size and shape for use in designing therapies for the treatment of various joint diseases. The invention uses an image of a joint that is processed for analysis. Analysis can include, for example, generating a thickness map, a cartilage curve, or a point cloud. This information is used to determine the extent of the cartilage defect or damage and to design an appropriate therapy, including, for example, an implant. Adjustments to the designed therapy are made to account for the materials used. | 04-19-2012 |
| 20120093378 | VISUALIZATION OF PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS - The invention relates to a medical imaging apparatus for providing information about an object. The invention further relates to a method for providing information about an object. In order to improve the preparation and the visual reception of information relating to an object during medical interventions, a medical imaging apparatus for providing information about an object is provided that comprises an image acquisition device an interventional device, a processing device and a display device. The image acquisition device detects object data from at least one region of interest of an object and provides the object data to the processing device. The interventional device detects physiological parameters of the object depending on the position of a predetermined area of the interventional device in relation to the object and provides the physiological parameters to the processing device. Further, the processing device transforms at least a part of the object data into image data and converts the physiological parameters into physiological data. The processing device then modifies at least one image parameter of the image data depending on the physiological data and thereby transforms the image data into modified live image data which is provided to the display device displaying a modified live image. | 04-19-2012 |
| 20120099768 | Method and Apparatus for Reconstructing Image Projections - A method and system is disclosed for acquiring image data of a subject. The image data can be collected with an imaging system having a detector able to move relative to the subject. A contrast agent can be injected into the subject and image data can be acquired with the contrast agent in various phases of the subject. A volumetric model of multiple phases can be reconstructed selected reconstruction techniques. | 04-26-2012 |
| 20120099769 | STORING AND RETRIEVING LARGE IMAGES VIA DICOM - Systems and methods that acquire digital slides and other large images and store these images into commercially available PACS systems using DICOM-standard messaging are provided. A digital slide or other large two-dimensional image is acquired and each separate resolution level of the digital slide or large image is divided into a series of regions that are each identified as a DICOM image. All of the regions at the same resolution in the digital slide or other large image are collectively identified as a DICOM series. A plurality of DICOM series, representing multiple resolution levels in a digital slide are collectively identified and stored as a DICOM study. | 04-26-2012 |
| 20120099770 | VISUALIZING SURGICAL TRAJECTORIES - A method is provided for visualizing a surgical trajectory ( | 04-26-2012 |
| 20120106809 | Teachable object contour mapping for biology image region partition - A teachable object contour mapping method for region partition receives an object boundary and a teaching image. An object contour mapping recipe creation is performed using the object boundary and the teaching image to generate object contour mapping recipe output. An object contour mapping is applied to an application image using the object contour mapping recipe and the application image to generate object contour map output. An object region partition using the object contour map to generate object region partition output An updateable object contour mapping method receives a contour mapping recipe and a validation image. An object contour mapping is performed using the object contour mapping recipe and the validation image to generate validation contour map output. An object region partition receives a region mask to generate validation object region partition output. A boundary correction is performed using the validation object region partition to generate corrected object boundary output. An update contour mapping is performed using the corrected object boundary, the validation image and the contour mapping recipe to generate updated contour mapping recipe output. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120106810 | Automated Rib Ordering and Pairing - Ribs are automatically ordered and paired. After ordering ribs on each side, magnetic and spring functions are used to solve for rib pairing. The magnetic function is used to constrain possible pairs across sides, and the spring function is used to maintain the order on each side while accounting for missing or fused ribs. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120106811 | All-In-One Specimen Cup With Optically Readable Results - A biological material test strip and adjacently-located reference color chart are affixed to a lid portion of an all-in-one specimen cup to perform color-based reaction testing of collected biological specimens in an uncalibrated environment. After specimen collection, the lid portion is secured to a container portion of the specimen cup. The cup may then be rotated into an upside down position causing the specimen, under the force of gravity, to pass from the container portion and into a volume of the lid portion, such that the test strip is exposed to the specimen as it is received into the volume of the lid portion. An image of the exposed test strip and adjacently-located reference color chart may then be captured and processed to identify any color matches between the individual test pads on the test strip and the corresponding sequences of reference color blocks on the reference chart. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120106812 | SMILE DESIGNER - Various methods and systems for designing a restored smile are provided. One method includes receiving scan data of a patient's teeth, developing a digital model of the patient's teeth via a computing device, where the model represents the patient's teeth based upon the scan data, creating a dental treatment plan to restore one or more teeth from an initial condition to a successive condition, and wherein a final condition of the one or more is based on the one or more teeth having at least one planned additional restorative tooth structure provided therewith. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120106813 | CHARACTERIZATION OF A PERCEPTION OF BLUR - The invention relates to a method for characterizing a perception of blur by a subject ( | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120114201 | Method and apparatus for processing image representative data - A method for processing digital image representations representative of a subject head shape comprises: providing a database library of a first plurality of first digital image representations of subject head shapes captured directly from corresponding subjects, and a second plurality of second digital image representations of corresponding modified head shapes. The method includes proving a support vector machine and utilizing the database library plurality of said first and second digital image representation to train the support vector machine to operate on new digital image representations. The method further includes receiving a new digital image representation of a subject head shape captured directly from a new subject; and operating the support vector machine such that the support vector machine operates on the new first digital image representation to generate a corresponding new second digital image representation that replicates a corresponding modified head shape. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120114202 | IMAGE REGISTRATION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REGISTERING IMAGES FOR DEFORMABLE SURFACES - Embodiments of an image registration system and method registering corresponding images of a deformable surface are generally described herein. In some embodiments, image features of the corresponding images are converted to point features, the point features from each corresponding image are sorted based on one or more attributes of the point features, and a plurality of three-point sets are generated for each image from a selected portion of the sorted point features. Each three-point set defines a triangle. Matching triangles may be identified from the corresponding images. The corresponding point features of the matching triangles represent corresponding image features providing for at least local image registration. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120114203 | IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE, COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING DEVICE, AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - An image processing device includes: an interest area detector that detects interest areas included in a time-series image group captured in time series; a calculation processing unit that calculates feature amounts indicative of features of the interest areas; an area classification unit that classifies the interest areas into area groups, based on the feature amounts of the interest areas and time-series positions of time-series images including the interest areas; a group feature amount calculation unit that calculates a group feature amount indicative of a feature of each of the area groups; an area selection unit that selects one or more representative areas of the interest areas belonging to the area groups, from among the area groups; and a representative image output unit that outputs one or more representative images including the representative areas in the time-series image group. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120114204 | Optimizing Virtual Slide Image Quality - Systems and methods for assessing and optimizing virtual microscope slide image quality are provided. In order to determine whether any of multiple virtual slide images has an out of focus area and is therefore a candidate for manual inspection or rescanning, various focus points used to scan each virtual slide image are used to calculate a best fit surface for each virtual slide image. The best fit surface is then used to determine whether any of the various focus points are outliers. If it is determined that a virtual slide image is associated with outlying focus points, it is identified as a candidate for manual inspection or rescanning. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120121144 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - An image processing apparatus includes: a region detection section which detects a candidate region in which a structure having a predetermined shape is estimated to exist from an image a border pixel detection section which detects a border of the candidate region; a region setting section which sets a local region in the vicinity of and both sides of the border; a feature value calculation section which calculates predetermined feature values based on predetermined values obtained for respective pixel units of the local regions; a discrimination value calculation section which calculates a discrimination value based on calculation results of the predetermined feature values in local region groups on one side and the other side when viewed from the border; and a candidate region correction section which corrects a detection result of a candidate region based on a calculation result of the discrimination value. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120121145 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS - An apparatus handles a series of medical images. A time density curve generation unit generates time density curves respectively corresponding to pixels from the series of medical images. An approximation processing unit approximates a convolution between a specific time density curve of the time density curves and each of types of kinetic models to each of the time density curves upon adjustment of at least one parameter which each of the kinetic models has. A suitability index map generation unit generates types of suitability index maps respectively corresponding to the types of kinetic models based on approximation errors respectively corresponding to the pixels, which are obtained by the approximation processing unit. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120121146 | DIGITAL IMAGE SUBTRACTION - A system for generating a digital subtraction image of at least two input images. The system comprises a registration subsystem ( | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120128218 | Simulation of Medical Imaging - There is described a method for simulating an imaging process for an organ, the method comprising: retrieving from a memory a 3D volume model of the organ, the 3D volume model describing a 3D structure of the organ and a distribution of density within the 3D structure, the 3D structure representing a surface and internal features of the organ; generating a slice of the 3D model according to a position and an orientation of an imaging device, the slice including a cross-section of the surface and the internal features; rendering an image in accordance with the slice; and displaying the image. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120128219 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING AN ESTIMATION OF A TOPOLOGICAL SUPPORT OF A TUBULAR STRUCTURE AND USE THEREOF IN VIRTUAL ENDOSCOPY - A method for determining an estimation of a topological support of a tubular based structure comprising an inner wall and a plurality of distinct regions, the method comprising (a) obtaining image data representative of the tubular based structure; (b) placing an initial seed in an initial region selected from one of the distinct regions; (c) performing an initial region growing until an initial resulting area comprises at least a portion of the inner wall and at least a portion of a neighboring region corresponding to one of the distinct regions; (d) starting a tree comprising an initial tree node corresponding to the initial region; (e) for each neighboring region: placing a subsequent seed in the neighboring region; performing a corresponding subsequent region growing until a subsequent resulting area comprises at least a portion of the inner wall and at least a portion of an additional neighboring region; and adding a tree node corresponding to the neighboring region in the tree; (f) performing processing step (e) for each of the additional neighboring regions; and (g) filtering the tree according to predetermined topological parameters to thereby determine the estimation of the topological support of the tubular based structure. Applications of the method for estimating a colon topology for virtual colonoscopy are also disclosed. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120128220 | METHOD FOR ACQUIRING HAIR CHARACTERISTIC DATA AND APPARATUS FOR ACQUIRING THE SAME - A method for acquiring hair characteristic data includes an image acquiring step and a data acquiring step. The image acquiring step acquires a cross-sectional image of a human hair | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120134550 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COMPARING DIFFERENT MEDICAL IMAGES TO ANALYZE A STRUCTURE-OF-INTEREST - A method of analyzing a structure-of-interest (SOI) in a patient. The method includes obtaining a first medical image of a patient. The first medical image includes an identified structure-of-interest (SOI). The identified SOI has a corresponding local measurement. The method also includes receiving a second medical image of the patient and selecting an SOI in the second medical image. The selected SOI has a corresponding local measurement. The method also includes automatically determining that the selected SOI is the identified SOI based on corresponding location data of the identified and selected SOIs, respectively, and linking the local measurements of the selected and identified SOI. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120134551 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TRANSMITTING HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGES - A method of processing an image, the image having pixel data with a bit range not capable of being encoded in a selected encoding format, the method comprising: splitting the pixel data into a base channel and at least one delta channel, at least one of the base channel and the at least one delta channel capable of being encoded in the selected encoding format; encoding at least one of the base channel and the at least one delta channel; transmitting the base channel and the at least one delta channel to a client; decoding the base channel and the at least one delta channel at the client; and recombining the base channel and the at least one delta channel at the client to form the pixel data. In some embodiments, the method further comprises: applying a window level to the pixel data formed from said recombining; and displaying the window level on a display. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120134552 | METHOD FOR CHECKING THE SEGMENTATION OF A STRUCTURE IN IMAGE DATA - The present embodiments relate to a method for checking a segmentation of a structure in image data, where the segmentation to be checked provides a segmentation region that approximates the structure imaged in the image data and that is delimited by a segmentation contour. The method includes spatially resolved automatic determination of characteristic values that are suitable for serving as an indicator of the accuracy of the segmentation of the structure on the basis of the image data, the segmentation contour to be checked, or a segmentation method applied during the performance of the segmentation to be checked. The method also includes spatially resolved automatic determination of confidence values for a plurality of positions on the segmentation contour using the characteristic values determined for the corresponding positions. The confidence values may indicate the reliability of the segmentation to be checked at the corresponding positions. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120134553 | Spatio-Temporal Analysis for Automatic Contrast Injection Detection on Angiography During Trans-Catheter Aortic Valve Implantation - A method that includes generating a contrast feature curve for a medical image sequence including a plurality of frames, where the contrast feature curve represents contrast feature values of the frames. The method further includes detecting a peak in the contrast feature curve, and determining whether the peak corresponds to at least one of contrast injection in an aortic root, contrast injection in a balloon, and a non-contrast injected region. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120134554 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING, RETRIEVAL, AND REVIEWING - In a medical image processing and retrieval system or method, an image processing system is configured to obtain a set of medical image data and to process the medical image data using at least one interpretation tool. A database is configured to store interpretation information generated in processing the medical image data using the interpretation tool. A viewing server is configured in response to a user interface instruction to retrieve from the database the interpretation information generated in processing the medical image data and to identity the at least one interpretation tool to the user interface. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120134555 | REPORT CREATION SUPPORT APPARATUS, CREATION SUPPORT METHOD THEREOF AND PROGRAM - In an apparatus configured to generate a report based on diagnosis target images, image characteristic conditions to identify a plurality of diagnosis target images specified by a user as a group are derived, search conditions of images similar to the diagnosis target images by using the obtained image characteristic conditions are determined, a database is searched for one or more similar images satisfying the search conditions; and image findings satisfying predetermined conditions is extracted from image findings attached to one or more obtained similar images. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120134556 | IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING DEVICE - An image processing device includes: an evaluation area setting unit that sets an evaluation area whose category is to be identified in an in-vivo image; a texture component acquiring unit that acquires texture components from the evaluation area in the in-vivo image; an evaluation value calculating unit that calculates an evaluation value indicating homogeneity of the texture components; and an identifying unit that identifies the category of the evaluation area on the basis of the evaluation value. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120134557 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING A REGION OF INTEREST IN A MEDICAL IMAGE - In a method or apparatus for identifying a region of interest in a medical image of a subject, at least one local maximum region of the image is determined for which a value of a given variable is a local maximum value. A user-selection of an initial voxel in the image is registered. As the region of interest, a connected set of voxels for which values of the given variable are greater than a threshold is selected, the selected set of voxels comprising a first local maximum region at a distance from the user-selected voxel, and the threshold being a given fraction of the local maximum value of the first local maximum region in the set. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120134558 | Method for providing visual simulation of teeth whitening - Method for enabling a teeth whitening simulator that is designed to help a user understand how the color of their teeth affects the look of their smile. The method executed by a computer, a mobile electronic device, an application on a smart phone, or equivalent machine. Selecting a Profile or uploading a photo or image. Detecting and determining the number and location of faces in a photo or image and the faces' associated teeth. Whitening is performed on the selected teeth and face. After whitening, a feathering feature may be used to more accurately simulate a more realistic image where the desired whitening level is blended around the borders of the teeth to the surrounding facial elements to provide a more natural looking simulation. Finally, to see how different shades of whitening might affect their image, a movable slider is provided to see the smile with different whitening values. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120134559 | PARTICLE IMAGE ANALYSIS APPARATUS - The particle analysis apparatus includes means that perform processes upon image processing of images ( | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120140997 | Tools for automatic colonic centerline extraction - A method for extracting a colonic centerline includes segmenting a colon from a digital image of a patient's abdomen, selecting one extreme point of the colon as a source point, calculating a first distance transform of every point in the colon that is a distance of a point to the source point, and calculating a second distance transform of every point in the colon, that is a shortest distance of a point to a wall point of the colon. A centerline path is generated through the colon using the first and second distance transforms, starting from a point with a greatest distance to the source point as determined by the first distance transform, and adding points to the centerline path by selecting points with a greatest distance to the source point that are farthest from the wall of the colon using the second distance transform. | 06-07-2012 |
| 20120140998 | Deformable Motion Correction for Stent Visibility Enhancement - A method for enhancing stent visibility includes acquiring a set of image frames including multiple test frames. A set of measurement points uniformly distributed within an image of a stent is defined in the test frames. A local image context is defined around each measurement point. A non-rigid deformation field relating the local image contexts of the test frames to local image contexts of a reference image is calculated. The non-rigid deformation field is optimized by maximizing a similarity function between the local image contexts of the test frames and the local image contexts of the reference image. The optimized non-rigid deformation field is used to deform images of a stent in the multiple test frames and combine the non-rigidly deformed images of the stent from the test frames. An image frame with the combined image of the stents superimposed thereon is displayed. | 06-07-2012 |
| 20120140999 | IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM - Disclosed herein is an image processing method, including: comparing a first low-magnification image as a low-magnification image of a first observation object, and a second low-magnification image of a second observation object similar to the first observation object with each other by an image comparing portion, thereby obtaining a difference between a position of the first observation object in the first low-magnification image, and a position of the second observation object in the second low-magnification image; and displaying a first high-magnification image as a high-magnification image of the first observation object, and a second high-magnification image as a high-magnification image of the second observation object in conjunction with each other in accordance with the difference on a display device by an image displaying portion. | 06-07-2012 |
| 20120141000 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMAGE ANALYSIS - A method of image analysis, includes: obtaining a sequence ( | 06-07-2012 |
| 20120148123 | SEGMENTING AN ORGAN IN A MEDICAL DIGITAL IMAGE - A method for obtaining a segmented region corresponding to an anatomical organ in a volume image generates a smoothed image from the volume image and forms a core segmentation of the volume image according to the smoothed image. The size of the core segmentation of the volume image is increased to form the segmented region for the anatomical organ according to data obtained from the core segmentation. Data corresponding to the segmented region is stored in a memory. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120148124 | Dual-Spectrum Heat Pattern Separation Algorithm For Assessing Chemotherapy Treatment Response And Early Detection - Infra-red images of tumors carry the information of normal and cancerous tissues in every pixel. We developed a Dual-Spectrum Heat Pattern Separation (DS-HPS) algorithm to quantify the energy from the area of the high temperature tissues, called q | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120148125 | METHODS, APPARATUS AND ARTICLES OF MANUFACTURE TO ADAPTIVELY RECONSTRUCT MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC IMAGES - Example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture to adaptively reconstruct medical diagnostic images are disclosed. A disclosed example method includes storing non-reconstructed image data captured by a medical image acquisition system, receiving a parameter representing a region of interest from a diagnostic imaging workstation, and communicating a portion of the non-reconstructed image data associated with the region of interest to the diagnostic imaging workstation in response to receiving the parameter, wherein the portion of the non-reconstructed image data is processed by the diagnostic imaging workstation to form a medical diagnostic image. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120148126 | Representation of Spatial-Frequency Data as a Map - A method for representing the structural information in a biological or physical sample is disclosed. In this method, a time-frequency representation of the spatial distribution within a sample is transformed into a color representation of the data. Furthermore, due to the directional sensitivity of the method for gathering the data, information about the structural anisotropy of the sample can also be encoded from the data. The application of this method to one or more regions within the sample enables a map to be generated which clearly illustrates quantitative measures of the structures present. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120148127 | Apparatus and Method for Mapped Hair Metric - Apparatus for determining the status of hair bulk in an area of a scalp is operative to provide a metric over a sufficiently large area to permit revisiting with only negligible misalignment error. Accurate re-measurement of hair status in accurately identified areas produces a reliable metric for determining degree of hair loss and or the effectiveness of treatment. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120155722 | GENERATION AND ANALYSIS OF REPRESENTATIONS OF SKIN CONDITIONS - Technologies are generally described for methods and systems for generating a representation of a skin condition. The method may include receiving first image data relating to a first image of a skin condition and second image data relating to a second image of the skin condition. The method may further include performing a component analysis of the first and second image data to generate a first and second weighted component analysis results for the first and second image data. The weighted component analysis results may represent the respective image data as a weighted sum of components. The method may further include performing a sampling analysis to the weighted component analysis results to generate a weighted image representation for the skin condition. The weighted image representation may represent the skin condition as a weighted sum of the components. | 06-21-2012 |
| 20120155723 | DETERMINATION OF CARDIAC GEOMETRY RESPONSIVE TO DOPPLER BASED IMAGING OF BLOOD FLOW CHARACTERISTICS - A system and method for identifying a location of a physical structure in a body is provided. The system includes an electronic control unit configured to register a first image of a portion of the body in a three-dimensional coordinate system. The electronic control unit is further configured to identify the location of the physical structure in the three-dimensional coordinate system responsive to flow of a fluid shown in the image. The fluid may comprise blood. In one embodiment, the electronic control unit is further configured to generate a second image, such as a three dimensional model, incorporating a representation of the physical structure within a larger physical environment in the three-dimensional coordinate system. | 06-21-2012 |
| 20120155724 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING DEVICE - An image processing apparatus includes: a candidate point extraction unit which extracts, from an image, candidate points which are candidates for points constituting a circular region that represents a bubble; and a circular-region detecting unit which detects a circular region in the image on the basis of information belonging to the candidate points. | 06-21-2012 |
| 20120155725 | Bayesian Inference of Particle Motion and Dynamics from Single Particle Tracking and Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy - Techniques for inferring particle dynamics from certain data include determining multiple models for motion of particles in a biological sample. Each model includes a corresponding set of one or more parameters. Measured data is obtained based on measurements at one or more voxels of an imaging system sensitive to motion of particles in the biological sample; and, determining noise correlation of the measured data. Based at least in part on the noise correlation, a marginal likelihood is determined of the measured data given each model of the multiple models. A relative probability for each model is determined based on the marginal likelihood. Based at least in part on the relative probability for each model, a value is determined for at least one parameter of the set of one or more parameters corresponding to a selected model of the multiple models. | 06-21-2012 |
| 20120155726 | METHOD AND SYSTEM OF DETERMINING A GRADE OF NUCLEAR CATARACT - A method for determining a grade of nuclear cataract in a test image. The method includes: (1a) defining a contour of a lens structure in the test image, the defined contour of the lens structure comprising a segment around a boundary of a nucleus of the lens structure; (1b) extracting features from the test image based on the defined contour of the lens structure in the test image; and (1c) determining the grade of nuclear cataract in the test image based on the extracted features and a grading model. | 06-21-2012 |
| 20120163680 | AUTOMATED SYSTEM AND METHOD OF PROCESSING BIOLOGICAL SPECIMENS - An apparatus including at least one of a stainer module and a coverslipper module; an imaging module; a storage module; an automated transport module for transporting at least one slide between at least one of the stainer module and the coverslipper module, the imaging module and the storage module; and a controller. A method including processing at least one slide; determining whether an imaging module is available for imaging of a biological specimen on the at least one slide; transporting the at least one slide to the imaging module using an automated transport module; and transporting the at least one slide to a storage module using the automated transport module when it is determined that the imaging module is not available. A system including a processing module for processing at least one slide including a biological specimen thereon. A machine readable medium. | 06-28-2012 |
| 20120163681 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ANALYZING IMAGES OF SPECIMENS PROCESSED BY A PROGRAMMABLE QUANTITATIVE ASSAY - Disclosed are methods and systems for analyzing images of specimens processed by a programmable quantitative assay or more specifically a robust programmable quantitative dot assay, PDQA, that enable specimens to be imaged and assessed across a wide variety of conditions and applications. Specific embodiments directed to immunohistochemical applications provide more quantitative methods of imaging and assessing biological samples including tissue samples. | 06-28-2012 |
| 20120163682 | METHOD OF PROCESSING IMAGE AND IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS USING THE METHOD - A method of processing an image so as to correctly and better extract an image of a lung region, the method including operations of extracting a trachea region_image by using pixel values in a predetermined region of a radiographic image, adjusting pixel values corresponding to the trachea region in the radiographic image, extracting the lung region image from the radiographic image in which the pixel values of the trachea region image have been adjusted, and smoothing outer boundaries of the lung region image. | 06-28-2012 |
| 20120163683 | TELEMETRIC ORTHOPAEDIC IMPLANT - The invention relates generally to orthopaedic implants, and more particularly to orthopaedic implants having data acquisition capabilities and their use in monitoring and diagnosing fracture healing. RSA is also disclosed as a method for measuring inter-fragmentary movement in long bone fractures in order to confirm whether the fracture is reduced and for detecting changes in stiffness of the healing callus. | 06-28-2012 |
| 20120163684 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMAGE HANDLING AND PRESENTATION - Certain embodiments provide systems and methods for adaptive compression, transmission, and display of clinical images. Certain embodiments provide a method for adaptive compression of image data for transmission and display at a client workstation. The method includes identifying one or more images for display, the one or more images including a plurality of image slices. The method also includes determining a compression scheme for the one or more images based on at least one of bandwidth, processing power, and diagnostic modality. The method further includes transferring the one or more images for display at the client workstation. The method additionally includes adapting the compression scheme based on resource availability. | 06-28-2012 |
| 20120163685 | COMPUTER VISUALIZED DRUG INTERACTION INFORMATION RETRIEVAL - Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, system and computer program product for computer visualization of drugs for drug interaction information retrieval. In an embodiment of the invention, a method for computer visualization of drugs for drug interaction information retrieval can be provided. The method can include acquiring imagery of multiple different substances and detecting identifying content in each acquired image to determine an identity of each substance corresponding to each acquired image. The method also can include retrieving drug interaction data for each substance using the determined identity and correlating the drug interaction data for at least one of the substances with at least one other of the substances. Finally, the method can include displaying the correlated drug interaction data. | 06-28-2012 |
| 20120170820 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR COMPARING 3D AND 2D IMAGE DATA - In a method or apparatus of comparing two image data sets from medical imaging data of a subject, a first, three-dimensional image data set of the subject is obtained. A second, two-dimensional image data set of the subject is also obtained. The first data set is registered with the second data set. Data from the first, three-dimensional image data set is processed to determine a voxel in the first data set which corresponds to a given pixel in the second, two-dimensional image data set. | 07-05-2012 |
| 20120170821 | Method and System for Surgical Planning - A method for surgical planning is disclosed. A set of related two-dimensional (2D) anatomical images or 3D images is displayed. A plurality of anatomical landmarks are identified on the set of anatomical images. A three-dimensional (3D) representation of a parent prosthesis is scaled to match a scale of the 2D anatomical images based at least in part on a relationship between the anatomical landmarks. A 2D representation of the scaled 3D parent prosthesis is displayed on at least one of the 2D anatomical images. A system for surgical planning is also disclosed. The system has a prosthesis knowledge-based information system, a patient anatomical-based information system, a user interface, and a controller. The controller has an anatomical landmark identifier. The controller also has a prosthesis-to-anatomical-feature relator. The controller is configured to display a set of related two-dimensional (2D) anatomical images from the patient anatomical-based information system on the user interface. | 07-05-2012 |
| 20120177258 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING A MODIFIED INTENSITY PROJECTION IMAGE - In a method or apparatus for generating, from medical image data of a subject from a functional imaging modality, a modified intensity projection image for display. An intensity projection image data set is obtained from the image data. A segmentation for the image data is obtained. Based on information from the segmentation, a modified display property is calculated for at least one voxel of the intensity projection image data set. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120177259 | IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING DEVICE - In an image processing device that discriminates between a mucosal region and a non-mucosal region that are contained in an intraluminal image, the image processing device includes a residue candidate region detecting unit that detects a residue candidate region to be discriminated whether the candidate region is a mucosal region or not, on the basis of a feature data of each pixel that constitutes the intraluminal image, a structure edge region detecting unit that detects a structure edge contained in the intraluminal image, and an approximate structure edge line calculating unit and an overlap deciding unit that discriminate whether the residue candidate region is a mucosal region or not, based on a relative positional relationship between the structure edge and the residue candidate region. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120177260 | SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR DETECTING LIVER DISEASE - A noninvasive, quantitative imaging technique is presented for detecting and diagnosing liver disease, such as cirrhosis. The technique includes: capturing scan data from a subject using computed tomography or another type of imaging method and extracting image data representing the liver from the scan data. Various measures of the liver may be obtained from image data and then used to compute random variables of a statistical model, where the model is predictive of a medical condition of the liver and comprised of random variables that are indicative of at least one of a shape or texture of the liver. Output from the statistical model provides an indication of an undesirable condition of the liver. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120177261 | Artificial intelligence system for genetic analysis - The present invention provides a complete artificial intelligence system for the acquisition and analysis of nucleic acid array hybridization information. The system includes a central data processing facility and one or more user facilities, linked by encrypted connections. Each user facility may include an optical scanning system to collect hybridization signals from a nucleic acid array, an image processing system to convert the optical data into a set of hybridization parameters, a connection to a data network, and a user interface to display, manipulate, search, and analyze hybridization information. This system reads data from a nucleic acid microarray, analyzes test results, evaluates patient risk for various ailments, and recommends methods of treatment. The automated artificial intelligence system is a real time, dynamic decision making tool that can be used in conjunction with a clinical analysis system, and with the information obtained in a research and development environment. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120177262 | Feature Detection And Measurement In Retinal Images - The invention is directed to methods of detecting and/or measuring a feature in a retinal mage. The feature detected and/or measured may be one or more of the optic disc, optic disc centre, optic disc radius, vessel edge, vessel calibre/width and vessel central reflex. One method for detecting the optic disc includes analyzing an image histogram to determine intensity levels; analyzing the intensity levels to determine a threshold intensity for potential optic disc regions; determining the number of pixels for each potential optic disc region; and calculating the centre of each potential optic disc region from the number of pixels in each potential optic disc region to thereby detect the optic disc. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120177263 | IMAGE SEGMENTATION - According to one embodiment there is provided a method of selecting a plurality of M atlases from among a larger group of N candidate atlases to form a multi-atlas data set to be used for computer automated segmentation of novel image data sets to mark objects of interest therein. A set of candidate atlases is used containing a reference image data set and segmentation data. Each of the candidate atlases is segmented against the others in a leave-one-out strategy, in which the candidate atlases are used as training data for each other. For each candidate atlas in turn, the following is carried out: registering; segmenting; computing an overlap; computing a value of the similarity measure for each of the registrations; and obtaining a set of regression parameters by performing a regression with the similarity measure being the independent variable and the overlap being the dependent variable. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120177264 | Method and System for Surgical Modeling - A method of surgical modeling is disclosed. A set of related two-dimensional (2D) anatomical images is displayed. A plurality of anatomical landmarks is identified on the set of related 2D anatomical images. A three-dimensional (3D) representation of at least one prosthesis is scaled to match a scale of the 2D anatomical images based at least in part on a relationship between the anatomical landmarks. 3D information from the at least one prosthesis along with information based on at least one of the plurality of anatomical landmarks is utilized to create procedure-based information. A system for surgical modeling is also disclosed. The system has a prosthesis knowledge-based information system, a patient anatomical-based information system, a user interface, and a controller. The controller has an anatomical landmark identifier, a prosthesis-to-anatomical-feature relator, and a procedure modeler. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120177265 | MEDICAL IMAGE DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS AND IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD - According to an embodiment, an image generating unit generates a medical image. A deciding unit detects a reaching time at which a contrast agent has reached a predetermined region of the medical image. The deciding unit sets a color map in which the reaching time is associated with a hue based on a first inflow time corresponding to a first designation region set to the medical image and a second inflow time corresponding to a second designation region. A generating unit generates a hue conversion image in which a hue is allocated to each region of the medical image based on the color map and the reaching time in each region of the medical image. A control unit displays the hue conversion image through a monitor. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120177266 | PUPIL DETECTION DEVICE AND PUPIL DETECTION METHOD - A pupil detection device and a pupil detection method, which are capable of stably detecting the pupil by actively using information of cornea-reflected image even when most of the pupil is hidden by the cornea-reflected image. In pupil detection device ( | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120183183 | Method and Apparatus for Processing an Intraoral Image - According to an exemplary embodiment, a method for processing an intraoral image comprises obtaining location data for an intraoral image target and processing an intraoral image in a predetermined manner on the basis of the intraoral image target's location data. | 07-19-2012 |
| 20120183184 | MEDICAL IMAGE ANALYSIS - A method of analyzing a medical image, the method comprising making a measurement on a 2D medical image of an organ and correcting the measurement in view of an angle of incidence between an imaging instrument and an imaged organ in the 2D medical image. | 07-19-2012 |
| 20120183185 | PRODUCT IDENTIFICATION USING IMAGE ANALYSIS AND USER INTERACTION - A product identification service uses image analysis and user interaction. The product identification service includes functionality to compare a first portion of a retail product image to a plurality of candidate retail product images. The retail product image includes a pictorial likeness of a plurality of manufactured retail products. The first portion of the retail product image corresponds to a first retail product. The product identification service also includes functionality to generate a candidate product set comprising candidate retail product images satisfying image comparison criteria. Each candidate retail product image is representative of a retail product having a plurality of product characteristics. The product identification service also includes functionality to determine, based on at least one candidate retail product image in the candidate product set, one or more product identity queries configured to solicit additional product identity information from a user. | 07-19-2012 |
| 20120183186 | Method for Characterizing Integrated Circuits for Identification or Security Purposes - A method of detecting small changes to a complex integrated circuit measuring RF/microwave scattering parameters between every pin over a wide frequency range. The data from a characterization of a known good integrated circuit is stored and compared to each subsequent integrated circuit of unknown background. | 07-19-2012 |
| 20120183187 | DIAGNOSIS PROCESSING DEVICE, DIAGNOSIS PROCESSING SYSTEM, DIAGNOSIS PROCESSING METHOD, DIAGNOSIS PROCESSING PROGRAM AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM, AND CLASSIFICATION PROCESSING DEVICE - A diagnosis processing device is provided in which diagnosis is realizable by a simple arrangement. A diagnosis processing device ( | 07-19-2012 |
| 20120183188 | MEDICAL IMAGE DISPLAY APPARATUS, METHOD, AND PROGRAM - Storing a second image reconstructed from a plurality of images, including a first image, and an image reading report that includes a lesion character representing a lesion area in the first image. Associating the lesion character with a position of the lesion area and storing the position in the second image corresponding to the position of the lesion area as a link position. Displaying a link character constituted by the lesion character, a position indicator indicating the link position corresponding to the position of the lesion area represented by the link character, and an association indicator indicating the link character and position indicator in association with each other in the second medical image. | 07-19-2012 |
| 20120183189 | VASCULAR ROADMAPPING - Cardiac roadmapping consists in correctly overlaying a vessel map sequence derived from an angiogram acquisition onto a fluoroscopy sequence used during PTCA intervention. This enhanced fluoroscopy sequence however suffers from several drawbacks such as breathing motion, high noise level, and most of all suboptimal contrast-enhanced mask due to segmentation defaults. This invention proposes to reverse the process and to locally overlay the intervention device as seen in fluoroscopy onto an optimal contrast-enhanced image of a corresponding cycle. This drastically reduces or suppresses the breathing motion, it provides the high image quality standard of angiograms, and avoids segmentation defaults. This proposal could lead to a brand new navigation practice in PCI procedures. | 07-19-2012 |
| 20120183190 | IMAGE GENERATING APPARATUS, IMAGE GENERATING METHOD, AND PROGRAM - An image generating apparatus of the present invention has a determination unit that sets a target area in a part of an area inside a subject, executes processing to adjust a phase of each detection signal based on a distance from each detection element to a target area and a tentative velocity, and calculate dispersion of intensities of a plurality of detection signals of which phases are adjusted, for a plurality of tentative velocities, and determines a velocity for which dispersion of intensities is minimum, out of the plurality of tentative velocities, as a propagation velocity. | 07-19-2012 |
| 20120183191 | MEDICAL IMAGE DISPLAY APPARATUS, MEDICAL IMAGE DISPLAY METHOD, AND MEDICAL IMAGE DISPLAY PROGRAM - A keyword extracting section extracts anatomical structures and/or information related to diseases from image observation reports regarding input image data. A display protocol determining section determines display protocols by selecting display protocols from among those stored in a display protocol table, based on the extracted anatomical structures and/or information related to diseases. Medical images for display are displayed based on the determined display protocols. | 07-19-2012 |
| 20120189173 | IMAGE DISPLAY - A medical imaging system having a medical image capture device; a medical measurement device; a display coupled to the image capture device and the medical measurement device, the display displaying: a medical image obtained from the medical image capture device; a medical measurement obtained from the medical measurement device, the medical measurement segmenting the medical image on the display; and a border substantially surrounding the medical measurement, the border defining a region of the display excluding the medical image. | 07-26-2012 |
| 20120189174 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND WARNING INFORMATION GENERATING METHOD THEREOF - The disclosure provides an electronic device and a method of generating warning information. The device includes a capturing unit, a storage unit, a control unit, and a display unit. When the capturing unit takes a photo, the control unit processes the photo to generate an image profile, compares to stored healthy images to determine a body part, acquires an unhealthy image and the parameter of the unhealthy image from the storage unit according to the body part, analyzes the body part to obtain the parameter of the body part, compares to the parameter of the unhealthy image to obtain a comparison value, and evaluates whether the comparison value falls within a predetermined range. If yes, the control unit acquires warning information from the storage unit associated with the unhealthy image and the display unit displays the warning information. | 07-26-2012 |
| 20120189175 | Method and system for analysing tissue from images - Disclosed is a method of analysing tissue from an image comprising providing an electronic image of tissue ( | 07-26-2012 |
| 20120189176 | METHOD, SYSTEM, SOFTWARE AND MEDIUM FOR ADVANCED INTELLIGENT IMAGE ANALYSIS AND DISPLAY OF MEDICAL IMAGES AND INFORMATION - Computerized interpretation of medical images for quantitative analysis of multi-modality breast images including analysis of FFDM, 2D/3D ultrasound, MRI, or other breast imaging methods. Real-time characterization of tumors and background tissue, and calculation of image-based biomarkers is provided for breast cancer detection, diagnosis, prognosis, risk assessment, and therapy response. Analysis includes lesion segmentation, and extraction of relevant characteristics (textural/morphological/kinetic features) from lesion-based or voxel-based analyses. Combinations of characteristics in several classification tasks using artificial intelligence is provided. Output in terms of 1D, 2D or 3D distributions in which an unknown case is identified relative to calculations on known or unlabeled cases, which can go through a dimension-reduction technique. Output to 3D shows relationships of the unknown case to a cloud of known or unlabeled cases, in which the cloud demonstrates the structure of the population of patients with and without the disease. | 07-26-2012 |
| 20120189177 | METHOD, SERVER, AND USER DEVICE FOR PROVIDING USER'S PERSONAL MEDICINE INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SERVICE BETWEEN THE SERVER AND THE USER DEVICE - A method of managing a personal medicine information management service by a user device and a server includes obtaining a medicine image captured by photographing appearance of a user medicine; transmitting the obtained medicine image to the server as a request for recognition of the user medicine; and receiving medicine quantity information and personal medicine information from the server based on a result of the recognition of the user medicine. The personal medicine information includes an image of the user medicine of which recognition training is performed by the server. | 07-26-2012 |
| 20120189178 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY GENERATING OPTIMAL 2-DIMENSIONAL MEDICAL IMAGE FROM 3-DIMENSIONAL MEDICAL IMAGE - In a method and an apparatus for automatically generating an optimal 2-dimensional (2D) medical image from a 3D medical image, at least one virtual plane crossing a 3D volume is generated from 3D volume image data for showing part of a patient's body in a 3D manner, at least one 2D image representing a cross section of the part of the patient's body is generated by applying the 3D volume image data to the virtual plane, and a 2D image suitable for diagnosis of the patient having a feature most similar to a target feature from among the at least one 2D image is output. | 07-26-2012 |
| 20120189179 | PROCESSING OF CONTENT-BASED COMPRESSED IMAGES - A technique for prioritizing portions of compressed multi-resolution medical image data to be processed. More relevant portions of medical image data are compressed at a higher resolution than less relevant portions of medical image data. A mask is created from the image data and used to assign data compression quality factors to corresponding image blocks in the image data. The image data in each region is compressed based on their assigned quality factor. During processing of the compressed image data, the compressed image data and the mask are accessed. The mask is used to direct the processing of the compressed image data. Depending upon the application, the mask can be used to direct that the image data for the regions of most relevance be processed before the image data for the regions of lesser relevance. However, the mask can be used to direct that the image data for the regions of lesser relevance be processed before the image data for the regions of most relevance. | 07-26-2012 |
| 20120189180 | Systems and Methods for Machine Learning Based Hanging Protocols - Certain embodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems for determining a hanging protocol for display of clinical images in a study. Certain embodiments provide a method for determining a hanging protocol for clinical image display. The method includes capturing one or more high level characteristics for an image study based on relationships between images in the study. The method also includes identifying one or more low level characteristics for individual images in the image study. The method further includes classifying the image study based on a combination of the high level characteristics and the low level characteristics. The method additionally includes determining a hanging protocol for the image study based on the classifying. The method includes providing the hanging protocol for display of images in the image study. | 07-26-2012 |
| 20120189181 | DIAGNOSIS ASSISTING SYSTEM, DIAGNOSIS ASSISTING PROGRAM AND DIAGNOSIS ASSISTING METHOD - a CPR image that represents a range corresponding to at least a portion of a blood vessel is generated from volume data obtained by imaging, and arranged in a predetermined region of a display screen. Band shaped condition display regions are arranged outside the predetermined region such that they are parallel to the blood vessel represented by the CPR image. Index values, such as stenosis rates and whether plaque is present, are calculated by analyzing the volume data. The calculated index values are converted to colors (RGB values) by referring to a conversion table. The condition display regions are displayed in colors according to the values of the index values. | 07-26-2012 |
| 20120195479 | OPTICAL IMAGER AND METHOD FOR CORRELATING A MEDICATION PACKAGE WITH A PATIENT - A system is provided to correlate a medication package with a prescribed medication for a patient. The medication package accommodates an intended patient medication. The system includes an optical imager adapted to read an encoded symbol character comprising encoded patient information and further adapted to image an attribute of the medication package. The optical imager comprises a two-dimensional image sensor array and an imaging lens for focusing an image on the two-dimensional image sensor array. The two-dimensional image sensor array has a plurality of pixels formed in a plurality of rows and columns of pixels. The optical imager further includes a digital link to transmit a segment of data. The segment of data includes the patient information encoded in the encoded symbol character and the attribute of the medication package. The system further includes a host computer connected to the digital link to receive the segment of data from the optical imager, and a database coupled to the host computer via a digital connection. The database correlates the segment of data to (a) a patient record, and (b) a medication package attribute library. | 08-02-2012 |
| 20120195480 | METHOD, APPARATUS, AND SYSTEM FOR RETINAL IMAGE ANALYSIS - Disclosed embodiments include a method for retinal image analysis implemented in a medical system with one or more processors comprising the method steps of: (a) locating an optical disk on the retinal images and establishing a plurality of circumferences centered at the disk; (b) detecting a plurality of vessels within a region defined by said circumferences' radii using a crease-based algorithm; (c) extracting a plurality of vessel segments based on a deformable models (snakes) algorithm; (d) measuring a plurality of vessel calibers; (e) classifying each vessel as a vein and an artery; and (f) computing an arteriolar-to-venular ratio. | 08-02-2012 |
| 20120195481 | METHOD, APPARATUS, AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC RETINAL IMAGE ANALYSIS - Disclosed embodiments include a method for retinal image analysis implemented in a medical system with one or more processors comprising the method steps of: (a) locating an optical disk on the retinal images and establishing a plurality of circumferences centered at the disk; (b) detecting a plurality of vessels within a region defined by said circumferences' radii using a crease-based algorithm; (c) extracting a plurality of vessel segments based on a deformable models (snakes) algorithm; and d) automatically classifying the vessels and computing clinical parameters. | 08-02-2012 |
| 20120195482 | IMAGE DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS - According to one embodiment, an image diagnosis apparatus includes a line shape information generating unit and a comparing unit. The line shape information generating unit is configured to generate first line shape information corresponding to a first medical image and second line shape information corresponding to a second medical image, respectively. The comparing unit is configured to compare the generated first line shape information with the second line shape information. | 08-02-2012 |
| 20120201432 | Display of an Acquired Cine Loop for Procedure Navigation - The present disclosure relates to acquiring image data of a subject and selecting image data to be displayed. The image data can include a plurality of frames that relate to a specific location of a tracking device positioned within the subject. The determined location of the tracking device can be used to determine which frame of the image data to display at a selected time. | 08-09-2012 |
| 20120201433 | Image composition system - An image composition system includes: an image related information acquiring portion that acquires image related information between a first image and a second image; an image display form designating portion that designates a display form of the first image preferentially to the second image; a second image display form determining portion that determines a display form of the second image so as to display the second image in a predetermined area of the first image; a second image processing portion that processes the second image; and an image compositing portion that outputs a composite image obtained by compositing the second image processed by the second image processing portion on the predetermined area of the first image. | 08-09-2012 |
| 20120201434 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PACKAGED MEDICAMENT INSPECTION - A unit-dose medicament inspection system and method provide for the obtainment of an image of a receptacle after a corresponding filling operation in which a predetermined unit-dose medicament was to have been located in the receptacle. The image may be processed to extract image data that may be compared with stored data corresponding with a predetermined unit-dose medicament. Size, configuration and other features of objects located within a receptacle may be included with the extracted image data and compared with corresponding stored data to determine whether a given receptacle includes the intended medicament and/or whether the medicament located within the receptacle is in an acceptable condition. Receptacle attributes may also be inspected for compliance with predetermined configuration parameters. | 08-09-2012 |
| 20120201435 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING AN OPTIMAL DILUTION OF A REAGENT - A system and method for automatically and quantitatively determining the optimal dilution of a reagent is provided. In one embodiment, a plurality of dilution sets are received, where each of the dilution sets consist of a different respective dilution value and a respective plurality of immunoassay staining intensity values. A respective dynamic range metric is determining for each of the plurality of dilution sets relative to the respective plurality immunoassay staining intensity values. Having found the respective dynamic range metric, a dilution set having the numerically optimal dynamic range metric is selected and the dilution value of that dilution set is selected as being representative of an optimal dilution level of the reagent for use in a quantitative immunoassay. In one embodiment, a system is provided with a microscope, an image sensor, and processor module configured determine an optimal dilution of a reagent for use in an quantitative immunoassay. | 08-09-2012 |
| 20120201436 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMAGE ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION - A method is provided that includes identifying a plurality of data sets, each data set is associated with a distribution model and each data set is associated with an image having a first noise level. The method includes partitioning the data sets into a plurality of groups and generating a best representative estimate for each group, the estimate is associated with a second noise level that is less than the first noise level. The method further includes annotating each group and receiving an input data set. The method includes assigning the input data set to a group and annotating the input data set according to that group's annotation. | 08-09-2012 |
| 20120201437 | SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR THE REMOTE ANALYSIS OF CHEMICAL COMPOUND MICROARRAYS - A remote microarray analysis system, method and apparatus for use in the remote analysis of a chemical compound microarray supported on a substrate is disclosed. Pixel image data is received from a remote location including image data that depicts (a) a calibration scale associated with the substrate and (b) the microarray. A transformation action of said pixel data corresponding to the calibration scale is determined and the received image data corresponding to at least the microarray is adjusted by applying the transformation action. The adjusted image of the microarray is compared with a database of stored microarray pixel data to extract information from said image. | 08-09-2012 |
| 20120201438 | CALIBRATION PHANTOM AND METHOD FOR MEASURING AND CORRECTING GEOMETRIC DISTORTIONS IN MEDICAL IMAGES - Calibration phantom and method for measuring and correcting geometric distortions in an image of a body part of a patient Calibration phantom ( | 08-09-2012 |
| 20120207359 | Image Registration - Image registration is described. In an embodiment an image registration system executes automatic registration of images, for example medical images. In an example, semantic information is computed for each of the images to be registered comprising information about the types of objects in the images and the certainty of that information. In an example a mapping is found to register the images which takes into account the intensities of the image elements as well as the semantic information in a manner which is weighted by the certainty of that semantic information. For example, the semantic information is computed by estimating posterior distributions for the locations of anatomical structures by using a regression forest and transforming the posterior distributions into a probability map. In an example the mapping is found as a global point of inflection of an energy function, the energy function having a term related to the semantic information. | 08-16-2012 |
| 20120207360 | Systems and Methods for Object Identification - Systems and methods for object identification. Objects in a color image of a biological sample are identified by using a signal function to transform the color image into a single-channel image with localized extrema. The localized extrema may be segmented into objects by an iterative thresholding process and a merit function may be used to determine the quality of a given result. | 08-16-2012 |
| 20120207361 | System and Methods for Quantitative Image Analysis Platform Over the Internet for Clinical Trials - The present disclosure is directed at a system and method for analyzing clinical trial data over a network. The system and method specifics image protocols, encodes a number of protocols and communicates that information to an acquisition unit that appends the protocols to a digital image. When the image needs to be analyzed to gather clinical trial data, the encoded information is extracted and the correct software application is initialized and used to analyze the image. | 08-16-2012 |
| 20120207362 | MAPPING OF LITERATURE ONTO REGIONS OF INTEREST ON NEUROLOGICAL IMAGES - A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer program product for analyzing neurological images. A set of brain scans for a patient is compared to a set of baseline control scans to automatically identify regions of interest in the set of patient scans. A region of interest is an area in a scan that shows an indication of a potential abnormality. A set of electronic medical literature sources is searched for medical literature relevant to the regions of interest in the set of patient scans. The relevant medical literature is correlated to the medical literature describing the regions of interest in the set of patient scans to the regions of interest in the set of patient scans. A result is generated. The result comprises the regions of interest and a set of links to the correlated portions of the relevant medical literature are outputted. | 08-16-2012 |
| 20120207363 | System and Method for Quality Assurance in Pathology - Systems and methods for improving quality assurance in pathology using automated quality assessment and digital image enhancements on digital slides prior to analysis by the pathologist are provided. A digital pathology system (slide scanning instrument and software) creates, assesses and improves the quality of a digital slide. The improved digital slide image has a higher image quality that results in increased efficiency and accuracy in the analysis and diagnosis of such digital slides when they are reviewed on a monitor by a pathologist. These improved digital slides yield a more objective diagnosis than reading the corresponding glass slide under a microscope. | 08-16-2012 |
| 20120207364 | METHOD FOR CHARACTERIZING A BLOOD VESSEL - The present invention relates to a method for characterizing a blood vessel represented by vascular image data, wherein said vascular image data comprises a plurality of voxels each having an image intensity, said method comprising the steps of identifying a set of voxels representing a boundary of the blood vessel; determining a gradient vector of the image intensity for each voxel in said set of voxels representing the boundary of the blood vessel; selecting, from said set of voxels representing the boundary of the blood vessel, a subset of voxels such that all voxels have a common intersection point for their respective gradient vector extensions; and determining a vector product based on said gradient vectors for said subset of voxels, wherein the common intersection point indicates a centre of said blood vessel and said vector product indicates a direction in which said blood vessel extends. | 08-16-2012 |
| 20120207365 | Method, A Graphic User Interface, A System and A Computer Program for Optimizing Workflow of a Medical Intervention - The invention relates to a method of optimizing workflow for an intervention, comprising the steps of reconstruction of an image of a target area representative of an envisaged intervention based on imaging dataset; automatically selecting an optimal viewing direction for enabling a pre-operative quantitative analysis of intervention features. The invention further relates to a computer program and a system for optimizing a workflow of an intervention. | 08-16-2012 |
| 20120207366 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SEGMENTING A LIVER OBJECT IN AN IMAGE - A method for segmenting an object of interest (which may be a liver object) in an input image is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of: (a) segmenting the points in a region of interest in the input image into a first and second group of points using predetermined intensity threshold values; (b) identifying a first set of small connected components formed by points in the first group of points and transferring the points in the first set of small connected components to the second group of points; (c) identifying a second set of small connected components formed by points in the second group of points and transferring the points in the second set of small connected components to the first group of points; and (d) forming the segmented object of interest using the first group of points. | 08-16-2012 |
| 20120207367 | ALIGNMENT OF AN ORDERED STACK OF IMAGES FROM A SPECIMEN - The present invention relates to the field of alignment of an ordered stack of images from a sliced specimen. According to the present method and apparatus, the ordered stack of images is aligned by successively determining, for at least two already aligned images of the ordered stack, the respective misalignments with an unaligned image which is to be aligned next, selecting from the at least two aligned images as a reference image that aligned image with which the unaligned image has the smallest amount of misalignment, and aligning the unaligned image with the selected reference image. This is intended to provide a robust and computationally cheap aligning method and apparatus. | 08-16-2012 |
| 20120207368 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND PROGRAM - An information processing apparatus for deforming an original image includes an obtaining unit configured to obtain a deformation rule by associating a movement of a feature area caused by deformation of the original image with the deformation, and a deformation unit configured to deform the original image in accordance with the deformation rule, using, as a condition of constraint, position information about a feature area of the target image and a corresponding area of the original image. | 08-16-2012 |
| 20120219195 | 3D Current Reconstruction From 2D Dense MCG Images - A current dipole is determined by solving the inverse problem multiple times in consecutive stages. At each stage, a new high resolution image is generated from a magnetic field map from the immediately previous stage, and at each stage more constraints are extracted from the current high resolution image than were available in the immediately previous stage. After the constraints are extracted from a current high resolution image, the current high resolution is updated to incorporate constraints from the immediately previous stage. The updated high resolution image, and the currently extracted constraints are used to resolve the inverse problem, and the Biot-Savart law is used to calculated the current dipole. | 08-30-2012 |
| 20120219196 | AUTOMATED FLY THROUGH REVIEW MECHANISM - A novel and useful mechanism for generating a fly-through review for digital images such as tissue sample scans. A fly-through path based on the sample image is determined and one or more fly-through curves are generated. Two-dimensional image manipulations are applied to the sample image in accordance with the one or more fly-through curves and any user preferences to generate a sequence of frame images to be displayed. | 08-30-2012 |
| 20120224751 | AUTOMATIC CALIBRATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF USE - The disclosed automatic calibration systems and methods provide a repeatable way to detect internal catheter reflections and to shift the internal catheter reflections to calibrate an image. | 09-06-2012 |
| 20120224752 | IMAGE-BASED DIAGNOSIS ASSISTANCE APPARATUS, ITS OPERATION METHOD AND PROGRAM - Plural points present on a boundary surface dividing a subject are set as input points. A plane approximating the boundary surface is determined as a reference plane by using the input points. Plural supplementary points are set on the reference plane on the outside of the subject. A surface approximating the boundary surface is generated by interpolating points between the input points by using the supplementary points and the input points. The subject is divided into separate regions by using the generated surface as a boundary surface. | 09-06-2012 |
| 20120224753 | CHARACTERIZING A TEXTURE OF AN IMAGE - Among other things, a texture of an image is characterized by deriving lacunarity measures from the image based on a wavelet analysis. | 09-06-2012 |
| 20120224754 | REMOTE DATA VIEWER - A medical image and data application service provider system provides a way of remotely viewing and manipulating medical images and data for diagnostic and visualization purposes by users unconstrained by geography. Medical images and data are stored on one or more servers running application service provider software along with meta-data such as access control information, origin of information and references to related data. A set of medical data consisting related information is sent as an encrypted stream to a viewing station running client software in a secure execution environment that is logically independent of the viewing station's operating system. | 09-06-2012 |
| 20120230556 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MOTION CORRECTING MEDICAL IMAGES - A method for reducing, in an image, motion related imaging artifacts includes obtaining a four-dimensional (4D) image dataset of a region of interest, sorting the 4D image dataset into a plurality of gates, generating an image of the region of interest using the plurality of gates, quantifying a selected feature using at least one metric, selecting a reference gate from the plurality of gates based on the quantification of the feature, and registering one or more of the plurality of gates to the reference gate to generate an image of the selected feature. A system and non-transitory computer readable medium configure to implement the method are also described herein. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120230557 | PROVIDING INFORMATION REGARDING MEDICAL CONDITIONS - Systems, methods, and computer program products are provided for using real-time video analysis and AR or the like to assist the user of mobile devices with commerce activities. Through the use of real-time vision object recognition medical conditions can be recognized in the real-time video stream and can be matched to medical condition related information regarding the medical condition and can also be matched to one or more targeted offers for products related to the medical condition. The medical condition related information may be presenting to the user of the mobile device in conjunction with display of the associated medical condition in a live video stream. Further, in some embodiments, a product can be recognized as products related to a previously recognized medical condition and indicators associated with the recognized products can be presented with the real-time video stream. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120230558 | Method and System for Contrast Inflow Detection in 2D Fluoroscopic Images - A method and system for contrast inflow detection in a sequence of fluoroscopic images is disclosed. Vessel segments are detected in each frame of a fluoroscopic image sequence. A score vector is determined for the fluoroscopic image sequence based on the detected vessel segments in each frame of the fluoroscopic image sequence. It is determined whether a contrast agent injection is present in the fluoroscopic image sequence based on the score vector. If it is determined that a contrast agent injection is present in the fluoroscopic image sequence, a contrast inflow frame, at which contrast agent inflow begins, is detected in the fluoroscopic image sequence based on the score vector. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120230559 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM - When an obstruction to observation is specified within one of a plurality of examination images, specification of a portion corresponding to the portion of the obstruction to observation within a different examination image is facilitated. An obstruction to observation is specified in a first examination image, from among a plurality of examination images that represent the interior of a subject having a lumen imaged by a medical image obtaining apparatus. A portion is specified within a second examination image, from among the plurality of examination images in which the obstruction to observation has not been specified, corresponding to the obstruction to observation specified within the first examination image. A plurality of observation images that visualize of the interior of the lumen are generated from the plurality of examination images. The portion corresponding to the specified obstruction to observation is indicated within an observation image generated from the second examination image. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120230560 | SCHEME FOR DETECTION OF FRAUDULENT MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC TESTING RESULTS THROUGH IMAGE RECOGNITION - A scheme for extracting and comparing graphs from medical reports to detect duplicates that may indicate fraudulent medical diagnostic testing results, due, e.g., to billing or insurance fraud. Domain knowledge is used to pre-process input documents and automatically extract graph images. These images are stored in a database and compared to one other using a distance-based comparison metric that is robust to noise and other image acquisition artifacts. Graphs are compared in blocks of 1000 images at a time using a two-pass comparison algorithm to identify the top matches for each graph. If a graph on the page currently being analyzed is identified as a close enough match to a known graph in the database (e.g., the graph extracted from the current patient's medical record appears to be identical to the graph of a different patient), then the page is flagged as potentially being evidence of fraudulent activity. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120230561 | System and Method for Counting Follicular Units - A system and method for counting follicular units using an automated system comprises acquiring an image of a body surface having skin and follicular units, filtering the image to remove skin components in the image, processing the resulted image to segment it, and filtering noise to eliminate all elements other than hair follicles of interest so that hair follicles in an area of interest can be counted. The system may comprise an image acquisition device and an image processor for performing the method. In another aspect, the system and method also classifies the follicular units based on the number of hairs in the follicular unit. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120230562 | System and Method for Applying a Reflectance Modifying Agent to Change a Persons Appearance Based on a Digital Image - A computer-controlled system determines attributes of a frexel, which is an area of human skin, and applies a reflectance modifying agent (RMA) at the pixel level to automatically change the appearance of human features based on one or more digital images. The change may be based on a digital image of the same frexel, for as seen in a prior digital photograph captured previously by the computer-controlled system. The system scans the frexel and uses feature recognition software to compare the person's current features in the frexel with that person's features in the digital image. It then calculates enhancements to the make the current features appear more like the features in the digital image, and it applies the RMA to the frexel to accomplish the enhancements. Or the change may be based on a digital image of another person, through the application of RMAs. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120230563 | SCAN PLAN FIELD OF VIEW ADJUSTOR, DETERMINER, AND/OR QUALITY ASSESSOR - A method includes using a pre-scan image to define a scan field of view for a region of interest of a patient to be scanned for at least one image acquisition of a series of image acquisitions of a scan plan, performing an image acquisition of the series based on a corresponding scan field of view for the image acquisition, and determining, via a processor ( | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120230564 | OBTAINING DATA FOR AUTOMATIC GLAUCOMA SCREENING, AND SCREENING AND DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES AND SYSTEMS USING THE DATA - A non-stereo fundus image is used to obtain a plurality of glaucoma indicators. Additionally, genome data for the subject is used to obtain genetic marker data relating to one or more genes and/or SNPs associated with glaucoma. The glaucoma indicators indicators and genetic marker data are input into an adaptive model operative to generate an output indicative of a risk of glaucoma in the subject. In combination, the genetic indicators and genome data are more informative about the risk of glaucoma than either of the two in isolation. The adaptive model may be a two-stage model, having a first stage in which individual genetic indicators are combined with respective portions of the genome data by first adaptive model modules to form respective first outputs, and a second stage in which the first outputs are combined by a second adaptive mode. Texture analysis is performed on the fundus images to classify them based on their quality, and only images which are determined to meet a quality criterion are subjected to an analysis to determine if they exhibit glaucoma indicators. Also, the images are put into a standard format. The system may include estimating the position of the optic cup by combining results from multiple optic cup segmentation techniques. The system may include estimating the position of the optic disc by applying edge detection to the funds image, excluding edge points that are unlikely to be optic disc boundary points, and estimating the position of an optic disc by fitting an ellipse to the remaining edge points. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120237093 | TWO-DIMENSIONAL CARDIAC MAPPING - A method consisting of formulating a one-to-one correspondence between locations on a three-dimensional surface of a body cavity and coordinates in a two-dimensional coordinate frame representative of the locations. The method also includes recording respective time-varying electrical potentials at the locations. The method further includes displaying a map of the two-dimensional coordinate frame, and presenting respective graphic representations of the time-varying electrical potentials at positions in the map corresponding to the coordinates of the locations. | 09-20-2012 |
| 20120237094 | NETWORK CONSTRUCTION APPARATUS, METHOD AND PROGRAM - A likelihood of a cross segment is calculated based on a cross segment characteristic condition defining a characteristic that a portion corresponding to an intermingled portion of a structure is present as a cross segment, and that at least two pairs of segments connectable in a straight line are present in the neighborhood of the cross segment. A likelihood of a straight line representing a probability that each segment is connected, in a straight line, to another segment is calculated based on a straight line connection condition defining a characteristic that each segment is connected, in a straight line, to another segment in the neighborhood thereof. A strength of connection between the segments is set based on the likelihood of a cross segment and the likelihood of a straight line, and plural network structures are constructed by connecting the segments based on the strength of connection. | 09-20-2012 |
| 20120237095 | ROBUST SPARSE IMAGE MATCHING FOR ROBOTIC SURGERY - Systems, methods, and devices are used to match images. Points of interest from a first image are identified for matching to a second image. In response to the identified points of interest, regions and features can be identified and used to match the points of interest to a corresponding second image or second series of images. Regions can be used to match the points of interest when regions of the first image are matched to the second image with high confidence scores, for example above a threshold. Features of the first image can be matched to the second image, and these matched features may be used to match the points of interest to the second image, for example when the confidence scores for the regions are below the threshold value. Constraint can be used to evaluate the matched points of interest, for example by excluding bad points. | 09-20-2012 |
| 20120237096 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF DISEASE USING RETINAL IMAGE CONTENT AND AN ARCHIVE OF DIAGNOSED HUMAN PATIENT DATA - A method for diagnosing diseases having retinal manifestations including retinal pathologies includes the steps of providing a CBIR system including an archive of stored digital retinal photography images and diagnosed patient data corresponding to the retinal photography images, the stored images each indexed in a CBIR database using a plurality of feature vectors, the feature vectors corresponding to distinct descriptive characteristics of the stored images. A query image of the retina of a patient is obtained. Using image processing, regions or structures in the query image are identified. The regions or structures are then described using the plurality of feature vectors. At least one relevant stored image from the archive based on similarity to the regions or structures is retrieved, and an eye disease or a disease having retinal manifestations in the patient is diagnosed based on the diagnosed patient data associated with the relevant stored image(s). | 09-20-2012 |
| 20120237097 | MOTION COMPENSATION WITH TISSUE DENSITY RETENTION - A method includes reconstructing the projection data based on a reconstruction algorithm that compensates for both motion and tissue density changes of the moving organ across different motion phases, thereby generating motion and density compensated image data. A data compensator includes a reconstructor that reconstructs motion compensated image data based on an reconstruction algorithm that compensates for tissue density changes in a moving object. | 09-20-2012 |
| 20120243753 | System and Method for Assessing Image Interpretability in Anatomic Pathology - A portion of imagery data is obtained from a digital slide and a protocol of image analysis/diagnostic tasks is performed on the portion of imagery data by a pathologist or an image analysis module. The result of each task (e.g., success or no success) is recorded and a score is determined for the portion of the imagery data. Multiple portions of imagery data from the digital slide are analyzed and scored and the various scores from the multiple portions of imagery data are calculated to determine an overall score for the digital slide. Regions of the digital slide can be scored separately. Multiple rounds of scoring (by different pathologists and/or different image analysis algorithms) may be employed to increase the accuracy of the score for a digital slide or region thereof. | 09-27-2012 |
| 20120243754 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGEMENT AND DISTRIBUTION OF DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING - A method of distributing an image study to a chosen image reader is disclosed having steps of receiving an image study from an image producer at a third party communication module, sending a receive notification message to a messaging layer, sending a study available notification message from the messaging layer to a workload distribution engine wherein the available notification message includes extracted image study information pulled from study headers of the image study, identifying image study rules from the extracted image study information, applying an image study complexity to the image study based on the image study rules, calculating image reader complexities for a plurality of image readers subscribed to receive image studies from the image producer, each of the image reader complexities calculated using the image study complexity and an Image reader profile assigned to each of the plurality of accredited image readers, selecting the chosen image reader from the plurality of image readers based on the image reader complexities, assigning the image study to the chosen image reader, and displaying the image study on a user interface to the chosen image reader. | 09-27-2012 |
| 20120243755 | METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY SEEDING PREVIOUSLY-CLASSIFIED IMAGES AMONG IMAGES OF OBJECTS OF INTEREST FROM A SPECIMEN - A computer-assisted method of classifying cytological samples, includes using a processor to analyze images of cytological samples and identify cytological objects of interest within the sample images, wherein the processor (i) displays images of identified cytological objects of interest from the sample images to a reviewer, (ii) accesses a database of images of previously classified cytological objects, and (iii) displays to the reviewer, interspersed with the displayed images of the identified objects of interest from the sample images, one or more images obtained from the database of images of previously-classified objects. | 09-27-2012 |
| 20120250956 | METHOD, APPARATUS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR NORMALIZING AND PROCESSING MEDICAL IMAGES - A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided to normalize DICOM image data such that normalized images may be efficiently transmitted to client devices and processed thereby. A method may include converting a DICOM image to a normalized image having a different file format, such as JPEG-XR format. The conversion of the DICOM image may include compressing the DICOM image and converting each of a plurality of pixels of the DICOM image to a grayscale pixel format and a color pixel format. The method may also create a set of related images having the different file format based upon the normalized image. The creation of the set of related images may include creating a plurality of images having different pixel dimensions that are smaller than the pixel dimensions of the normalized image. The method may also transform ancillary information related to the DICOM image to a human readable format. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120250957 | SHAPE BASED SIMILARITY OF CONTINUOUS WAVE DOPPLER IMAGES - Continuous wave Doppler images in a data base comprising cardiac echo studies are processed to separate Doppler frames. The frames are pre-processed to extract envelope curves and their corner shape features. Shape patterns in Doppler images from echo studies of patients with known cardiac (valvular) diseases are employed to infer the similarity in valvular disease labels for purposes of automated clinical decision support. Specifically, similarity in appearance of Doppler images from the same disease class is modeled as a constrained non-rigid translation transform of velocity envelopes embedded in these images. Shape similarity between two Doppler images is then judged by recovering the alignment transform using a variant of dynamic shape warping. Since different diseases appear as characteristic shape patterns in Doppler images, measuring the similarity in the shape pattern conveyed within the velocity region of two Doppler images can infer the similarity in their diagnosis labels. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120250958 | METHOD OF MEASURING PROGRESS OF ALOPECIA - Disclosed herein is a method of measuring the progress of alopecia in which the progress of alopecia of a hair loss region of a measured person is accurately determined through a mathematical algorithm. In the method, a value indicating the progress of alopecia of the hair loss region is numerically calculated based on the numbers of hairs, thicknesses of the hairs and the numbers of the hairs of a normal region and a hair loss region of the measured person, thereby more accurately determining the progress of alopecia compared to a conventional method of measuring the progress of alopecia from the observation with the naked eye and the experience of a measurer. Further, the progress of alopecia is accurately determined, and thus a proper treatment is carried out according to the progress of alopecia, thus effectively treating alopecia. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120250959 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD - This invention is directed to appropriately searching for case data similar in the process of a disease. A similar case search apparatus ( | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120250960 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM, AND VIRTUAL MICROSCOPE SYSTEM - Provided is an image processing apparatus capable of analyzing a target sample image with high accuracy in line with a phenomenon occurring in the target sample. The image processing device includes: a dye spectrum storage portion ( | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120250961 | MEDICAL REPORT GENERATION APPARATUS, METHOD AND PROGRAM - A medical report generation apparatus includes a key image selection unit that selects, as a key image representing a diagnostic characteristic feature, a slice image generated based on three-dimensional medical image data obtained by imaging a subject, a selected position input unit that inputs a selected position in the key image, a supplementary image determination unit that determines, based on the key image and the selected position, a slice image that includes the selected position and represents a cross section different from a cross section represented by the key image, as a supplementary image, in the three-dimensional medical image data, and a medical report generation unit that generates a medical report including the key image and information for identifying the supplementary image. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120250962 | METHOD OF PREDICTING CROP YIELD LOSS DUE TO N-DEFICIENCY - A method for determining the yield loss of a crop using remote sensor data is described. The yield loss is determined using the reflectivity of green light by the crop canopy measured from remote sensor data such as an aerial photograph that is digitized and spatially referenced to the field's longitude and latitude. Green pixel values from the aerial photograph, expressed relative to green pixel values from well-fertilized areas of the field, are transformed to yield losses using a linear transformation that was developed using empirical data. A similar method is described to determine recommended nitrogen fertilization rates for the crop fields. The yield loss data is useful for nitrogen fertilization management, as it allows a producer of crops to weigh the expense of fertilization against the loss of revenue due to yield loss. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120250963 | Predicting States of Subjects - Methods for predicting states of a subject are presented. For example, a method for predicting states of a subject includes obtaining training data comprising a plurality of variables, obtaining training states associated with the training data, and forming a predictive model according to the training data and the training states, the predictive model predictive of the training states. The forming of the predictive model includes extracting one or more hidden components from the training data. The extracting of the one or more hidden components includes regression analysis including determining one or more relationships between the one or more hidden components and the plurality of variables, and determining one or more relationships between the one or more hidden components and the training states. A number of the one or more hidden components is less than a number of the plurality of variables and greater than a number of the training states. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120257804 | COMMUNICATIVE CAD SYSTEM FOR ASSISTING BREAST IMAGING DIAGNOSIS - A method of reviewing medical images and clinical data to generate a diagnosis or treatment decision is provided. The method includes receiving the medical images and clinical data and processing the medical images and clinical data. The method also includes receiving concurrent data resulting from additional processing of the medical images and clinical data and processing the concurrent data using integrated machine learning algorithms to generate a diagnosis or treatment decision based on the processed concurrent data and processed medical images and clinical data. | 10-11-2012 |
| 20120257805 | METHOD FOR THE FULLY AUTOMATIC SEGMENTATION OF AN ORGAN, IN PARTICULAR THE RENAL PARENCHYMA, FROM VOLUME DATA SETS IN MEDICAL IMAGING - A method is disclosed for segmenting an organ from volume data sets in medical imaging. A likelihood data set is generated. A binary data set is generated with the aid of a threshold value method, in which the organ region is eroded step by step. When the organ region is separated into a number of subregions, only one of the subregions, which is most likely to contain the organ, is selected for further erosion in each instance. This subregion is identified from geometrical features of the organ, which are known from the training data sets. In the likelihood data set the likelihood values of voxels of the subregions separated in the binary data set are reduced, so that a correspondingly corrected likelihood data set results. On the basis of this corrected likelihood data set the organ from the likelihood data set is segmented. | 10-11-2012 |
| 20120263356 | METHOD FOR EFFICIENT REPRESENTATION AND PROCESSING OF COLOR PIXEL DATA IN DIGITAL PATHOLOGY IMAGES - Efficient representation of color digital pathology images (DPI) is described herein, which is accomplished by exploiting properties unique to such images. The method decomposes the data into constituent parts whose relative importance is able to be specified, allowing the data to be accurately represented with less bit precision, less spatial resolution or less spectral resolution. Two specific areas where the method is able to be utilized include: (1) more-efficient image compression; and (2) more efficient processing of the data. Efficient image compression is accomplished by assigning fewer bits to less-important colors. Efficient data processing is accomplished by processing only those colors, or combinations of colors, that are deemed important. | 10-18-2012 |
| 20120263357 | SUBCUTANEOUS VEIN PATTERN DETECTION VIA MULTI-SPECTRAL IR IMAGING IN AN IDENTIFY VERIFICATION SYSTEM - What is disclosed is a novel system and method for identifying an individual in an IR image involves the following. Intensity values are collected at N wavelengths for each pixel in an IR video-based image. The intensity values are collected using an IR imaging system having an IR detector and an IR Illuminator. The intensity values are then used to identify pixels of human skin in the IR image. If human skin is identified in the IR image then, the human hand is identified in the IR image from the human skin to distinguish the hand from the background. Vein patterns in the hand are then located and extracted. A reference vein pattern is retrieved from a database of known vein patterns for individuals, and a comparison is made to determine a match. If a match is determined, then the individual in the captured IR image can be identified. | 10-18-2012 |
| 20120263358 | Automated Underwater Image Restoration Via Denoised Deconvolution - A method for simultaneously optimizing a digital image taken in or through a scattering medium and obtaining information regarding optical properties of the scattering medium is provided. Data of the digital image is received by a computer. The digital image is evaluated according to an objective image quality metric and a resulting image quality value is compared to a previously stored image quality value for the image. A revised optical transfer function is derived by modeling the optical properties of the medium to be used to generate a restored digital image, which is derived from the original image and the revised optical transfer function. The restored digital image is evaluated according to the objective image quality metric and an optimized restored image is identified. The optical properties associated with the optical transfer function producing the optimized restored image are retrieved and represent a close approximation of the true optical properties of the medium. | 10-18-2012 |
| 20120263359 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM - A medical image processing apparatus includes a first extraction part, an adding part, a first specifying part, and a second specifying part. The first extraction part extracts an air region from volume data after receiving volume data representing a region including an organ under observation. The adding part adds pixel values of the pixels in the air region along a predetermined projection direction to generate projection image data representing the distribution of the added value of pixel values. The first specifying part specifies a first characteristic point from the projection image data. The second specifying part specifies, as a second characteristic point, a point on a line passing a first characteristic point in an air region. | 10-18-2012 |
| 20120269407 | AUTOMATIC ORGAN LOCALIZATION - Automatic organ localization is described. In an example, an organ in a medical image is localized using one or more trained regression trees. Each image element of the medical image is applied to the trained regression trees to compute probability distributions that relate to a distance from each image element to the organ. At least a subset of the probability distributions are selected and aggregated to calculate a localization estimate for the organ. In another example, the regression trees are trained using training images having a predefined organ location. At each node of the tree, test parameters are generated that determine which subsequent node each training image element is passed to. This is repeated until each image element reaches a leaf node of the tree. A probability distribution is generated and stored at each leaf node, based on the distance from the leaf node's image elements to the organ. | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120269408 | METHOD OF GENERATING IMAGE, APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING THE SAME, DIAGNOSIS SYSTEM, AND MEDICAL IMAGE SYSTEM - A diagnosis image generation apparatus is provided. The diagnosis image generation apparatus includes a low resolution image signal synthesis unit configured to synthesize each of a plurality of low resolution image signals by using a signal reflected from a subject, a weight calculation unit configured to calculate a weight, which is used to synthesize a high resolution image signal, with a signal value which corresponds to each of positions of some pixels among a plurality of signal values corresponding to respective positions of a plurality of pixels forming each of the synthesized low resolution image signals, and a high resolution image signal synthesis unit configured to synthesize the high resolution image signal by applying the calculated weight to each of the low resolution image signals. | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120269409 | SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO IN DIGITAL PATHOLOGY IMAGE ANALYSIS - A digital slide analysis system comprises an algorithm server that maintains or has access to a plurality of image processing and analysis routines. The algorithm server additionally has access to a plurality of digital slide images. The algorithm server executes a selected routine on an identified digital slide and provides the resulting data. Prior to the application of selected routine, the system employs a digital pre-processing module to create a metadata mask that reduces undesirable image data such that the image data processed by the selected routine has an improved signal to noise ratio. The pre-processing module uses a classifier that may be implemented as a pattern recognition module, for example. Undesirable image data is therefore excluded from the image data that is processed by the digital pathology image processing and analysis routine, which significantly improves the digital pathology image analysis. | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120269410 | TREE STRUCTURE CREATION APPARATUS, METHOD AND PROGRAM - A predetermined structure repeatedly branching from an origin and extending in directions away from the origin in such a manner to become wider is extracted, as a candidate of a tree structure defined by a plurality of nodes including a root node corresponding to the origin and a plurality of edges, from medical image data. A tree structure is created by reevaluating the definition of the tree structure, with respect to each of the plurality of nodes defining the candidate of the tree structure, by using a cost function that weights a probability that the plurality of nodes are connected to each other by evaluating a relationship between each of the plurality of nodes and the root node based on a geometric characteristic that the predetermined structure repeatedly branches from the origin and extends in directions away from the origin in such a manner to become wider. | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120269411 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING A LAYER ORIENTATION FOR A 2D LAYER IMAGE - A layer orientation is determined for a 2D layer image that is to be generated from 3D image data of an anatomical object in the body of a patient. First, a model resembling the object that is imaged in the 3D image data is selected from a model pool. The model has an assigned default orientation in a permanently selected relative position with respect to the model. While the relative position is being maintained, the model is aligned with the 3D image data so as to match the model to the object with maximum coincidence. The default orientation established relative to the 3D image data is then selected as the layer orientation for the 3D image data. | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120269412 | METHOD OF PROVIDING SECURITY FOR TRANSMITTING A DIGITAL MEDICAL IMAGE - A method of preparing a digital medical image for secure transmission, the method comprising embedding data into the digital medical image using a reversible watermarking process, generating a code for tamper detection and localization from the digital medical image using a computational function, and embedding the code for tamper detection and localization into the digital medical image using the reversible watermarking process; and a method of reviewing a digital medical image prepared by the method of preparing, the method of reviewing comprising retrieving the code for tamper detection and localization from the digital medical image; reversing the watermarking processes to obtain a restored image; generating a code from the restored image using the computational function; and comparing the retrieved code for tamper detection and localization with the code generated from the restored image to detect and locate tampering. | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120269413 | PROCESSING AN IMAGE DATASET BASED ON CLINICALLY CATEGORIZED POPULATIONS - A system for generating a processed image dataset is disclosed. The system comprises a plurality of parameter datasets ( | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120275670 | IMAGE-BASED ANALYSIS OF IMPLANTABLE MEDICAL DEVICE POSITIONING - In general, aspects of this disclosure describe example techniques which may be used to identify lead migration or estimate dissemination of electrical stimulation therapy through tissue of a patient. For example, an image processing device may receive a selection of a segment in a first image of patient implanted with one or more leads. The image processing device may reconstruct the selected segment in the first image with a corresponding segment in a second image. With the reconstructed segment, a user or the image processing device may be able to identify lead migration or estimate dissemination of electrical stimulation therapy through tissue of the patient. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20120275671 | System and Method to Determine Slide Quality of a Digitized Microscope Slide - A system that determines the quality of a digital microscope slide by analyzing digital slide images based on complexity and spatial frequencies. An example embodiment detailed in the application may provide visual feedback on the whole slide quality by overlaying the image with a color coded “heat map” of local area quality. A user provided with the overlap image may obtain both an absolute quality measurement for the whole image and quickly identity the quality variability within the slide. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20120275672 | System and Method for Improved Viewing and Navigation of Digital Images - A system and method for improved viewing and navigation of large digital images, such as whole slide images used in microscopy. The system and method displays the digital image along with movable navigation and field of view boxes that enable a viewer to pan the digital image in an accurate manner, and also performs automatic absolute reorientation of the digital image and automatic relative reorientation of subsequent digital images in relation to the first digital image. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20120281891 | Systems and Methods For Processing Image Pixels in a Nuclear Medicine Imaging System - A system and method for smoothing digital images using a non-orthogonal convolution kernel involves steps for rearranging and remapping input image data and the convolution kernel image from hexagonal coordinate mapping to orthogonal mapping of a memory space thus enabling implementation of a general box filter convolution strategy to smooth the input image. | 11-08-2012 |
| 20120281892 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING IMAGE OF MEDICAL MONITOR - Disclosed herein is a method of processing an image of a medical monitor. The method includes performing primary scaling of an image in longitudinal and transverse directions of a monitor panel according to a preset mode, when the image input to the monitor is a high definition (HD) image, determining a position of the image using a panel size of the monitor and an image size such that the image is displayed at a center of the panel, when the image is the HD image or a standard definition (SD) image, and loading preset information from an internal memory of the monitor to apply the preset information to the image. An apparatus for processing an image of a medical monitor is also disclosed herein. | 11-08-2012 |
| 20120281893 | MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS - According to one embodiment, a medical image processing apparatus includes at least a parallax image generation unit and a display unit. The parallax image generation unit generates combined data of a three-dimensional medical image data and a text information, and generates a plurality of parallax image data by performing projection processing on the combined data along a corresponding plurality of parallax directions. The display unit displays a plurality of parallax images, based on the plurality of the parallax image data, in the corresponding plurality of parallax directions such that a three-dimensional medical image based on the three-dimensional medical image data and a text plane based on the text information are perceived stereoscopically viewable by an observer. The parallax image generation unit changes orientation of a display region for the text information in generating the combined data according to each of the parallax directions. | 11-08-2012 |
| 20120281894 | Systems and Methods for Metadata Embedding in Streaming Medical Data - Systems and methods for embedding metadata such as personal patient information within actual medical data signals obtained from a patient are provided wherein two watermarks, a robust watermark and a fragile watermark are embedded in a given medical data signal. The robust watermark includes a binary coded representation of the metadata that is incorporated into the frequency domain of the medical data signal using discrete Fourier transformations and additive embedding. Error correcting code can also be added to the binary representation of the metadata using Hamming coding. A given robust watermark can be incorporated multiple times in the medical data signal. The fragile watermark is added on top of the modified medical signal containing the robust watermark in the spatial domain of the modified medical signal. The fragile watermark utilizes hash function to generate random sequences that are incorporated through the medical data signal. | 11-08-2012 |
| 20120281895 | MEDICAL IMAGE DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND MEDICAL IMAGE CONTOUR EXTRACTION PROCESSING METHOD - A medical image diagnostic apparatus of the present invention includes: an image display unit that displays a medical image including a target part of an object; an input unit that inputs feature points of the target part; a contour position estimation unit that estimates a contour position of the target part to generate an initial contour; a contour extraction unit that extracts a contour along the shape of the target part using the feature points and the initial contour; and a control unit that displays a composite image, which is obtained by combining the extracted contour and the medical image, on the image display unit. | 11-08-2012 |
| 20120288170 | IMAGE ANALYSIS FOR DETERMINING CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMANS - Systems and methods are disclosed for predicting one or more characteristics of a animal by applying computational methods to image(s) of the animal to generate one or more metrics indicative of the characteristics. Embodiments determine predictors of characteristics by creating a sample library of animals of a particular type, determining facial descriptor measurements for each animal, determining relationships between facial descriptor measurements and additional library data, and selecting predictors from these relationships. Other embodiments predict characteristics of animals not in the library and, optionally, categorize animals for particular discipline, training, management, care, etc. based on the characteristics. Other embodiments predict characteristics and determine strategies for group(s) of animals using predicted characteristics of individual animals. Embodiments are broadly applicable to domesticated animals including dogs, cats, cattle, oxen, llamas, sheep, goats, camels, geese, horses, chickens, turkeys, and pigs. Other embodiments predict certain characteristics of humans, including certain cognitive or developmental disorders. | 11-15-2012 |
| 20120288171 | ECHOCARDIOGRAM VIEW CLASSIFICATION USING EDGE FILTERED SCALE-INVARIANT MOTION FEATURES - According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for echocardiogram view classification is provided. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method comprises: obtaining a plurality of video images of a subject; aligning the plurality images; using the aligned images to generate a motion magnitude image; filtering the motion magnitude image using an edge map on image intensity; detecting features on the motion magnitude image, retaining only those features which lie in the neighborhood of intensity edges; encoding the remaining features by generating, x, y image coordinates, a motion magnitude histogram in a window around the feature point, and a histogram of intensity values near the feature point; and using the encoded features to classify the video images of the subject into a predetermined classification. | 11-15-2012 |
| 20120294497 | Method and Apparatus Pertaining to Images Used for Radiation-Treatment Planning - A radiation-treatment planning apparatus accesses first information regarding a first image that pertains to a patient's body at a first time as well as second information regarding a second image that pertains to the patient's body at a second, later time. The radiation-treatment planning apparatus then correlates components of the patient's body as appear in the second image with components that appear in the first image while treating the components as comprising rigid structures regardless of whether those components, in fact, are rigid structures. The first information can include segmentation information as pertains to the components. These teachings will accommodate a wide range of components including, but not limited to, organs, portions of organs, and even implanted man-made objects. | 11-22-2012 |
| 20120294498 | IMAGE INTEGRATION BASED REGISTRATION AND NAVIGATION FOR ENDOSCOPIC SURGERY - A real-time tracking of surgical tools relative to a pre-operative surgical plan and intra-operative images involves an image-based registration and tool tracking registration. The image-based registration implements an integration of a plurality of images of an anatomical region of a body including a pre-operative scan image ( | 11-22-2012 |
| 20120294499 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR LOADING MEDICAL APPLIANCE WITH MEDICAMENTS AND/OR POLYMERS - A method and a device for loading a medical appliance with a medicament and/or polymer includes capturing images of a plurality of grooves or holes of the medical appliance using an image capturing device; performing digital image processing on the image of each of the grooves or holes to obtain a pattern of each of the grooves or holes; calculating a central position of the pattern of each of the grooves or holes, and determining a loading position of each of the grooves or holes based on the central position; and adjusting a relative position between a loading device and the medical appliance to align an outlet of the loading device with the loading position of the medical appliance, and loading each of the grooves or holes with the medicament and/or polymer. The method and device can load the medical appliance with the medicament and/or polymer fast and efficiently. | 11-22-2012 |
| 20120294500 | OPHTHALMOLOGIC IMAGING APPARATUS - Provided is an ophthalmologic imaging apparatus suppressing the effect of a motion artifact caused by a movement of an eye to be inspected, comprising: a scanning unit for scanning, with first and second measuring beams, at least a part of an overlap area of scan areas thereof in an inspected eye, at different times, respectively; an image acquiring unit for acquiring first and second images of the inspected eye based on first and second return beams resulting from the first and second measuring beams being applied via the scanning unit and reflected by the inspected eye; an identification unit for identifying an image including a motion artifact from each of the first and second images; and an image forming unit for forming an image of the inspected eye based on the first and second images other than the images identified by the identification unit. | 11-22-2012 |
| 20120300995 | Computing Genus and Homology Groups in 3D Digital Space - The invention concerns the calculation of genus of digital or cubic three-dimensional object (3D), said genus is the number of tunnels indicating holes such as in donates. The invention is characterized in that said method comprises a step in selecting (counting) numbers of different types of points on the boundary of the object then obtaining genus. | 11-29-2012 |
| 20120300996 | IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, PROGRAM, AND RECORDING MEDIUM - An epidermis pattern detection unit detects epidermis patterns in an epidermis image captured from the epidermis of skin by an epidermis image capturing unit. An acquired element analysis unit analyzes uniformity of shapes of the epidermis patterns in the epidermis image. A texture evaluation unit evaluates a texture state of the skin based on the uniformity of shapes of the epidermis patterns. The present technology, for example, may be applied to systems that evaluate the texture state of the skin. | 11-29-2012 |
| 20120300997 | IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE, METHOD AND PROGRAM - Examination information of a subject is selected, and a body part of the subject, which is a body part of interest in the examination information, is obtained from the selected examination information. Then, the presence or absence of further examination information relating to the obtained body part is determined, and a display device is caused to display an indication of the presence or absence of further examination information together with the selected examination information. | 11-29-2012 |
| 20120300998 | REGISTRATION METHOD FOR MULTISPECTRAL RETINAL IMAGES - A method for performing registration of multispectral retinal images. Corresponding cross-over points and bifurcation points of blood vessel in an eye are identified in a fixed image and in an offset image. The relative displacement of each point, between the images, is calculated. Based on these relative displacements, the offset of each pixel in the offset image is interpolated and the offset image is transformed into a corrected (distorted) image. Such an image can be used to assess the health of the eye. Further, a fixed image and a offset image of an eye are divided in a tile pattern. The relative displacement of each tile of the offset image with respect to the corresponding tile in the fixed image is calculated. An offset for each tile is calculated and the offset image is corrected as a function of those offsets. | 11-29-2012 |
| 20120300999 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR EXAMINING OR IMAGING AN INTERIOR SURFACE OF A CAVITY - A method for examining an interior surface of a cavity includes the steps of capturing partial images of an interior surface of a cavity; joining the captured partial images to form a complete image of said interior surface of the cavity; and providing an warning if the joined partial images does not form a complete image of said interior surface of the cavity. | 11-29-2012 |
| 20120308094 | SYSTEM FOR BREAST EXAMINATION RESULT MAPPING, RECORDING, COMPARING, AND/OR TRACKING - A breast examination system is disclosed that facilitates normalized quantitative comparison of results from multiple examinations performed under differing conditions, such as different viewing angles. The proposed system can operate on a camera-equipped smart-phone, a camera-equipped desk-top computer, or on a dedicated device to perform a guided breast cancer examination, and then store results of the examination in a normalized format that allows effective quantitative comparison to historic results, thereby detecting changes and trends. The results can be stored on the local device, or on a web-based server, providing various data comparison, data management, and data interpretation services in a secure and controlled manner. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120308095 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR ADJUSTING THE VISUALIZATION OF VOLUME DATA OF AN OBJECT - An adjustment of the visualization of volume data of an object as an image with regard to diagnostically relevant medical information relating to the environment of a region under investigation is provided. In the process, at least one slice region is specified in accordance with slice information within the volume data. A first mapping of a value range of the volume data is used for visualizing the at least one slice region on a display. A second mapping different from the first mapping is used for visualizing a region bordering on the at least one slice region on the display. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120308096 | METHODOLOGY AND APPARATUS FOR OBJECTIVE, NON-INVASIVE AND IN VIVO ASSESSMENT AND RATING OF PSORIASIS LESION SCALINESS USING DIGITAL IMAGING - The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for assessing data from digital images of psoriasis lesion for said psoriasis lesion scaliness by utilizing a developed computer vision system to obtain Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) parameters in particular. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120308097 | DATA PROCESSING OF GROUP IMAGING STUDIES - A system for processing multi-subject volumes comprises a volume input ( | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120308098 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DATA COMMUNICATION ACROSS A SLIP RING - A method for reducing bandwidth required for transmission of data in a device having two portions rotating with respect to one another. The first portion includes a data acquisition system (DAS) having a charge-to-digital converter and a digital signal processor (DSP) configured to receive and compress digital data from the charge-to-digital processor. The second portion includes a computer configured to receive data from the DAS. The DAS and computer are communicatively coupled via a slip ring having a finite transmission bandwidth. The computer is configured to reconstruct and display an image using compressed data. The method includes using the DAS to compress scan data to a predetermined number of mantissa bits and a predetermined number of exponent bits, transmitting the compressed data from the first portion to the second portion across the slip ring, and using the transmitted compressed data to reconstruct and display an image of an object. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120314919 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LEADWIRE LOCATION - A system and method for leadwire location may provide for recognition of the leadwire via analysis of a series of two-dimensional images that include representations of the leadwire, and/or determining an orientation of the leadwire with reference to a marker on the leadwire. | 12-13-2012 |
| 20120314920 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR ANALYZING HYPER-SPECTRAL IMAGES - A device for analyzing a hyper-spectral image, comprising at least one sensor able to produce a series of images in at least two wavelengths, a calculation means able to class the pixels of an image according to a two-state classing relation, the image being received from a sensor, and a display means able to display at least one image resulting from the processing of the data received from the calculation means. The calculation means comprises: a means for determining training pixels receiving data from a sensor, a means for calculating a projection pursuit able to effect an automatic division of the spectrum of the hyper-spectral image, and a means for producing a large-margin separation. The calculation means is able to produce data in which the classed pixels are distinguishable. | 12-13-2012 |
| 20120321151 | APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING IMAGES - An apparatus for adjusting images is provided. The apparatus comprises an image decomposing unit for decomposing an input image I into high-pass images HP | 12-20-2012 |
| 20120321152 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ASSESSING ACTIVITY OF AN ORGAN AND USES THEREOF - Methods and apparatus are provided for imaging activity of an organ of a subject for diagnosis and prognosis of pathology or injury to the organ, where unaffected portions of the organ are used as a reference for assessing activity of afflicted areas of the organ. | 12-20-2012 |
| 20120321153 | REGION OF INTEREST DEFINITION IN CARDIAC IMAGING - A method for cardiac imaging for determining a myocardial region of interest (ROI) is disclosed. The method includes acquiring functional imaging data of a subject, where the functional imaging data includes at least the myocardium. A ROI encompassing at most the myocardium from the acquired functional imaging data, and diagnostic parameters relating to the myocardium are estimated and quantified based on the determined ROI. In one embodiment, the ROI is determined from a projection image representation utilizing histogram based thresholding and ray casting based localization to determine the extents of the ROI. In another embodiment, the ROI is determined from a volumetric image representation utilizing clustering Manhattan distance based cleaning to determine cardiac angles used for reorienting the left ventricle. | 12-20-2012 |
| 20120321154 | NEEDLE DETECTION IN MEDICAL IMAGE DATA - A system for processing an image data volume acquired with a medical imaging acquisition device | 12-20-2012 |
| 20120321155 | METHOD, APPARATUS, AND PROGRAM FOR MEASURING SIZES OF TUMOR REGIONS - A tumor region is determined within a three dimensional medical image. A long axis and a short axis of the determined tumor region are designated. The lengths of the designated long axis and the designated short axis are measured. The measured lengths of the long axis and the short axis are displayed. | 12-20-2012 |
| 20120328172 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING PADDING LENGTH - The present invention discloses an apparatus and method for determining a padding length and an image processing method and apparatus. The apparatus for determining the padding length of an image in an image filtering direction may include an aliasing effect function obtaining unit for obtaining an aliasing effect function of a frequency domain filter for the image, wherein the aliasing effect function is a function representing spatial domain variation of an aliasing effect caused by a frequency domain filtering processing; and a padding length determination unit for determining the padding length for the image in the image filtering direction based on the aliasing effect function. Thereby the aliasing effect can be substantially eliminated and the amount of calculation may be reduced. | 12-27-2012 |
| 20130004034 | Reduction of Transitivity Errors in Radiotherapy Image Registration - Deformation maps (e.g. deformation vector fields) used for correcting image-type data used in the treatment of patients in radiotherapy may be processed to eliminate inverse inconsistency and transitivity type errors which produce different results depending on the order or path of the calculation of deformation. The correction permits registration of a treatment plan with the changing patient image and accumulation of dose to a common reference frame without transformation dependent artifacts. | 01-03-2013 |
| 20130004035 | Longitudinal Image Registration Algorithm For Infrared Images For Chemotherapy Response Monitoring And Early Detection Of Breast Cancers - This algorithm provides a marker-free approach to establishing the pixel correspondence among the IR images taken at different times, which is the basis for quantitatively characterizing the variation of the heat energy and patterns pixel-wise on a breast surface. The idea is to use the corner points of the heat pattern and the branch points of the skeletons of the heat pattern on the body surface as the initial fiducial points for the longitudinal IR image registration. The Thin-Plate Spline technique is used to model the nonlinear deformation between two IR images taken at two different times. Mutual information between the TPS-transformed image and the target image is employed as the metric quantifying the quality of the longitudinal IR image registration. To optimize the registration, Nelder-Mead simplex method is used to locally modify the pairings of the fiducial points in the source and target IR images to maximize the mutual information. | 01-03-2013 |
| 20130004036 | Systems And Methods For Customizing Pregnancy Imagery - Included are embodiments for customizing pregnancy imagery. Some embodiments include receiving pregnancy calendar data of a pregnant woman, the pregnancy calendar data indicating a stage of development of a fetus, selecting, based on the pregnancy calendar data, an image of the fetus associated with the stage of development of the fetus, and receiving a real-time image of the pregnant woman from an image capture device. Embodiments also include determining an orientation of the image of the fetus with respect to the pregnant woman, inserting the image of the fetus into the real-time image of the pregnant woman, wherein the image of the fetus has substantially the same orientation as the real-time image of the pregnant woman and providing the real-time image of the pregnant woman with the image of the fetus to a display device for display. | 01-03-2013 |
| 20130004037 | METHOD FOR IMAGE GENERATION AND IMAGE EVALUATION - In a method for image generation and image evaluation in the medical field, raw data are generated by a selected medical modality, in particular a computed tomography scanner, depending on given modality parameters, and image data are generated from the raw data using an image reconstruction depending on given reconstruction parameters. The image data are evaluated by a given analysis application. Before acquiring the raw data, a secondary application automatically proposes a set of parameter values for the modality parameters and/or for the reconstruction parameters coordinated to the given analysis application and/or given patient information. | 01-03-2013 |
| 20130004038 | FUNCTIONAL IMAGE DATA ENHANCEMENT AND/OR ENHANCER - A method for enhancing functional image data includes obtaining functional image data, obtaining anatomical image data corresponding to the functional image data, and generating enhanced functional image data by diffusing the functional image data based on the functional image data and the anatomical image data. | 01-03-2013 |
| 20130004039 | MEDICAL IMAGE CONVERSION APPARATUS, METHOD AND PROGRAM - An image obtainment unit obtains a series of time series medical images about a specific organ in different phases. A registration unit performs registration of voxel positions in the series of time series medical images between the series of time series medical images. A conversion unit converts signal values at corresponding voxel positions of the specific organ into a same display voxel value in the series of time series medical images. | 01-03-2013 |
| 20130011027 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMPOSING A MEDICAL IMAGE ANALYSIS - A method composing a medical image analysis, includes the steps of: retrieving anatomical findings captured in a medical report by an information extraction module; providing at least one anatomical knowledge model including a plurality of concepts and a plurality of relationship between the plurality of concepts; mapping at least one anatomical finding of the medical re-port by at least one of the plurality of concepts by a mapping component, thereby locating the anatomical findings in the context of the anatomical knowledge model; and; representing the anatomical findings in the context of the anatomical knowledge model within an anatomical model by a visualization component. | 01-10-2013 |
| 20130011028 | IMAGE DIAGNOSTIC METHOD, IMAGE DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS, AND IMAGE DIAGNOSTIC PROGRAM - The image diagnostic apparatus includes: acquisition means | 01-10-2013 |
| 20130011029 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETECTING CONTOURS IN AN IMAGE - A method of processing an image is disclosed. The method comprises: decomposing the image into a plurality of different resolutions; and for each resolution, processing the image at the resolution to extract edge-orientation information; utilizing the edge-orientation information for identifying contours in the image; and transmitting at least the identified contours to a computer-readable medium. | 01-10-2013 |
| 20130011030 | Method and System for Device Detection in 2D Medical Images - A method and system for device detection in a 2D medical image is disclosed. In order to account for shape variation of a 3D object in a 2D imaging plane, a hierarchical tree-structured array of trained classifiers is used to detect a 3D object, such as a pigtail catheter in a 2D medical image, such as a fluoroscopic image. The hierarchical tree-structured array of trained classifiers increases a dimensionality of the search space with each hierarchical level, and as the search space is increased, the classification is split into object sub-classes using trained classifiers independently trained for each sub-class. | 01-10-2013 |
| 20130011031 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COUNTING SURGICAL SAMPLES - One method for counting surgical samples comprises: identifying a physical sample in a field of view of an optical sensor; indexing a sample counter for the identified physical sample; extracting a feature from a portion of the field of the view of the optical sensor; and estimating the extracorporeal blood volume in a portion of the physical sample based upon the extracted feature. | 01-10-2013 |
| 20130011032 | Systems and Methods for Ridge Selection in Scalograms of Signals - According to embodiments, systems, devices, and methods for ridge selection in scalograms are disclosed. Ridges or ridge components are features within a scalogram which may be computed from a signal such as a physiological (e.g., photoplethysmographic) signal. Ridges may be identified from one or more scalograms of the signal. Parameters characterizing these ridges may be determined Based at least in part on these parameters, a ridge density distribution function is determined A ridge is selected from analyzing this ridge density distribution function. In some embodiments, the selected ridge is used to determine a physiological parameter such as respiration rate. | 01-10-2013 |
| 20130011033 | CARDIAC VIEW RECOGNITION AND DISEASE RECOGNITION - A method for recognizing heart diseases in a cardiac echo video of a heart with an unknown disease using a spatio-temporal disease model derived from a training echo video, comprising the steps of: generating a plurality of training models for heart diseases, wherein the cardiac echo videos are each derived from a known viewpoint and the disease of the heart is known; analyzing the video of the heart with the unknown disease by fitting a model of shape and motion for each frame and combining the results across the frames; and, reporting the disease using a classification method for choosing among the diseases of interest. | 01-10-2013 |
| 20130011034 | Controller User Interface for a Catheter Lab Intravascular Ultrasound System - A touchpad controller for a componentized intravascular ultrasound system is disclosed for acquisition and display of intravascular information in a catheter lab environment. The system includes a patient interface module (PIM) adapted to hold a catheter having an imaging probe located near a distal end, a control panel, a monitor for displaying images and patient data, and a processing unit. The touchpad controller facilitates use beneath a sterile drape and sensitivity to gloved touch. Furthermore, the touchpad controller is sized for handheld use during an imaging session. A rail mount facilitates easy attachment of the touchpad controller alongside a patient table. | 01-10-2013 |
| 20130011035 | IMAGING APPARATUS AND IMAGING METHOD - An imaging apparatus according to the present invention is configured such that a plurality of measuring beams is directed within a predetermined length of time on overlapping regions or adjacent regions out of scanning areas of an eye to be examined corresponding to the plurality of measuring beams. | 01-10-2013 |
| 20130011036 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE READING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD AND INFORMATION STORAGE MEDIUM - The invention is directed to a reduction in the influence on a pathological diagnosis when an image reading apparatus is exchanged. In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, there is provided an image processing apparatus that processes a biological image generated by capturing an image of a biological specimen in an image reading apparatus, including: an acquisition unit that acquires identification information of the image reading apparatus; a determination unit that determines a type of biological tissue included in the biological image; and a correction unit that adds a correction process to the biological image in correspondence with the identification information of the image reading apparatus and the type of biological tissue. | 01-10-2013 |
| 20130016884 | METHODS, APPARATUSES, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR IDENTIFYING A REGION OF INTEREST WITHIN A MAMMOGRAM IMAGEAANM El-Hilo; SabaAACI VancouverAACO CAAAGP El-Hilo; Saba Vancouver CAAANM Rezaee; Mahmoud RamzeAACI VancouverAACO CAAAGP Rezaee; Mahmoud Ramze Vancouver CA - Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products are provided for identifying a region of interest within a mammogram image. A method may include applying a clustering algorithm to a histogram of the mammogram image to identify a predefined number of threshold values. The method may further include determining a predefined number of seed values based at least in part on the identified threshold values. The method may additionally include generating a kernel image for each of the seed values. The method may also include using the generated kernel images to identify a region of interest including a breast within the mammogram image. Corresponding apparatuses and computer program products are also provided. | 01-17-2013 |
| 20130016885 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGING SYSTEM, AND IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEMAANM Tsujimoto; TakuyaAACI Kawasaki-shiAACO JPAAGP Tsujimoto; Takuya Kawasaki-shi JP - An image processing apparatus comprises: an image acquisition unit for acquiring a plurality of original images acquired by imaging a specimen including a structure in various focal positions using a microscope apparatus; an image generation unit for generating, on the basis of the plurality of original images, a first image on which blurring of an image of the structure has been reduced in comparison with the original images; and an analysis unit for obtaining information relating to the structure included in the first image by applying image analysis processing to the first image. The image generation unit selects a part of the original images having focal positions included within a smaller depth range than a thickness of the specimen from the plurality of original images obtained from the specimen, and generates the first image using the selected original images. | 01-17-2013 |
| 20130016886 | Generating Artificial Hyperspectral Images Using Correlated Analysis of Co-Registered Images - High-resolution digital images of adjacent slices of a tissue sample are acquired, and tiles are defined in the images. Values associated with image objects detected in each tile are calculated. The tiles in adjacent images are co-registered. A first hyperspectral image is generated using a first image, and a second hyperspectral image is generated using a second image. A first pixel of the first hyperspectral image has a first pixel value corresponding to a local value obtained using image analysis on a tile in the first image. A second pixel of the second hyperspectral image has a second pixel value corresponding to a local value calculated from a tile in the second image. A third hyperspectral image is generated by combining the first and second hyperspectral images. The third hyperspectral image is then displayed on a computer monitor using a false-color encoding generated using the first and second pixel values. | 01-17-2013 |
| 20130016887 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DETECTING AND MEASURING BIOMOLECULAR INTERACTIONSAANM Durand; NicolasAACI BlonayAACO CHAAGP Durand; Nicolas Blonay CHAANM Marki; IwanAACI YverdonAACO CHAAGP Marki; Iwan Yverdon CHAANM Lasser; TheoAACI DengesAACO CHAAGP Lasser; Theo Denges CH - A method and system for the rapid detection of biomolecular interactions, the system comprising a sensing platform which comprises a primary support structure including recesses designed to be located in front of a detection unit, said recesses containing one or several arrays of biosensors, said system furthermore comprising a reader unit for optical excitation and detection. | 01-17-2013 |
| 20130016888 | ADAPTIVE LINEAR FILTER FOR REAL TIME NOISE REDUCTION IN SURFACE PLASMON RESONANCE SENSORGRAMSAANM Soderman; TobiasAACI UppsalaAACO SEAAGP Soderman; Tobias Uppsala SE - A method for linear filtering of noise in a sensorgram generated from a surface plasmon resonance apparatus, the method comprising: providing a linear filter of variable length to filter an output signal in the sensorgram; and determining an optimal length of the linear filter based on a slope of the signal in the sensorgram and a locked interception linear error, LILE, detector. | 01-17-2013 |
| 20130022249 | RAPID DISCRIMINATION APPARATUS, METHOD OF SPEEDING UP THE SAME, AND PROGRAM OF THE SAME - When obtaining a final result from a discriminator group arranged in a predetermined order, an evaluation value obtaining unit successively evaluates each discriminator from a first discriminator and if it is determined that a discrimination result represented by an overall evaluation value obtained by evaluating the first to I | 01-24-2013 |
| 20130022250 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INSPECTING DOSAGE FORMS HAVING CODE IMPRINTS USING CHEMICAL IMAGING AND SORTING THE INSPECTED DOSAGE FORMS - Method and system for inspecting dosage forms having code imprints using chemical imaging and sorting the inspected dosage forms are provided. The method includes providing reference data obtained by chemically imaging a first surface of a reference dosage form having a known good code imprint and having a known desired chemical composition. The method further includes consecutively feeding and transferring unpackaged dosage forms having code imprints and random orientations so that the dosage forms travel through a chemical composition station where a first surface of each dosage form is viewable. The method still further includes chemically imaging the first surface of each dosage form located at the chemical composition station to obtain a first set of chemical imaging data. The method further includes processing the chemical imaging data and the reference data to detect inspected dosage forms having chemical compositions different from the desired chemical composition. | 01-24-2013 |
| 20130028489 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING POTENTIAL MOVEMENT DISORDER USING SENSOR DATA - An approach is provided for determining potential movement disorder using sensor data. The health and wellness engine processes and/or facilitates a processing of one or more sequences of images to identify one or more reference objects, the one or more sequences of images captured via a device physically attached to a user. The health and wellness engine determines movement information of the one or more reference objects within the one or more sequences of images, wherein the movement information is at least substantially attributable to one or more physical movements of the user. The health and wellness engine processes and/or facilitates a processing of the movement information to cause, at least in part, a determination of one or more potential movement disorders associated with the user. | 01-31-2013 |
| 20130028490 | Method of Processing Medical Image of Blood Vessel Using Image Fusion Method - A method of processing a blood vessel image is provided. The method includes (a) sharpening an original blood vessel image using a Gabor filter in consideration of various directions and thicknesses of blood vessels included in the blood vessel and (b) detecting edges according to a change in brightness in a blood vessel domain and a non-blood vessel domain of the original blood vessel image and the blood vessel image on which the Gabor filtering step is completed, using an edge extraction method based on a first-order differentiation or second-order differentiation. | 01-31-2013 |
| 20130028491 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PERFORMANCE TRAINING - Systems and methods for movement and position training of a human body are provided. An image capture device such as a still camera or video camera captures an image or video of a human body in a selected position or sequence of positions relating to a movement. The position or movement may relate to a physical activity, such as running, jumping, throwing or swinging. The image is then presented to a user on a display, where the user may select one or more positions of the human body for analysis. Upon selecting a position, an angle of the position is determined and then compared to a desired angle determined through known biomechanical measurements. The difference between the two angles is calculated, and the user is then presented with feedback, such as a corrective action, to aid the user in reducing the difference between the measured angle and the desired angle. | 01-31-2013 |
| 20130028492 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THE PROGRESSIVE LOADING OF MEDICAL, MULTIDIMENSIONAL IMAGES INTO A MEDICAL APPLICATION - A method includes a) loading a first number n of image sets with an image size k | 01-31-2013 |
| 20130028493 | IMAGE ENHANCEMENT AND APPLICATION FUNCTIONALITY FOR MEDICAL AND OTHER USES - The disclosure herein provides beneficial systems, methods, devices, and apparatuses that enhance and/or analyze images, and that can be configured to provide users an assessment and/or recommendation based on the enhanced and/or analyzed images. In an embodiment related to medicine, the assessment and/or recommendation is based on a patient situation, dimensions of patient organs/lumens, or the like in order to achieve personalized medicine. | 01-31-2013 |
| 20130034276 | Method and Apparatus for Correction of Errors in Surfaces - Methods and systems are disclosed for correcting segmentation errors in pre-existing contours and surfaces. Techniques are disclosed for receiving one or more edit contours from a user, identifying pre-existing data points that should be eliminated, and generating a new corrected surface. Embodiments disclosed herein relate to using received edit contours to generate a set of points on a pre-existing surface, and applying a proximity test to eliminate pre-existing constraint points that are undesirable. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20130034277 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MODELING AND PROCESSING FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGE DATA USING FULL-BRAIN VECTOR AUTO-REGRESSIVE MODEL - Systems and methods for modeling functional magnetic resonance image datasets using a multivariate auto-regressive model which captures temporal dynamics in the data, and creates a reduced representation of the dataset representative of functional connectivity of voxels with respect to brain activity. Raw spatio-temporal data is processed using a multivariate auto-regressive model, wherein coefficients in the model with high weights are retained as indices that best describe the full spatio-temporal data. When there are a relatively small number of temporal samples of the data, sparse regression techniques are used to build the model. The model coefficients are used to perform data processing functions such as indexing, prediction, and classification. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20130034278 | REPORTING ORGAN VOLUME FOR A MEDICAL DIGITAL IMAGE - A method for providing a calculated volume data value for an organ of a patient acquires image data for a first volume image series and for at least a second volume image series for the patient and displays the first volume image series. The method responds to an instruction to generate the volume data value by identifying a seed point in the first volume image series, correlating the seed point to the second volume image series, segmenting the organ in at least the second volume image series according to the correlated seed point, and calculating the volume data value for the organ using at least the segmented second volume image series. The calculated volume data value can be displayed. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20130034279 | CLOUD-BASED DIGITAL PATHOLOGY - A method and systems for cloud-based digital pathology include scanning received slides that include a pathology sample to produce a sample image in a shared memory, analyzing the sample image using one or more execution nodes, each including one or more processors, according to one or more analysis types to produce intermediate results, transmitting some or all of the sample image to a client device, further analyzing the sample image responsive to a request from the client device to produce a final analysis based on the intermediate results, and transmitting the final analysis to the client device. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20130034280 | MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM AND OPERATING A METHOD THEREFOR WITH REDUCED TIME REQUIRED FOR ACQUISITION OF PROJECTION IMAGES - In a method to control a medical technology system with a projection image acquisition apparatus, planning images that were previously selected in a planning step and generated from previously generated volume data are used, and orientation data are associated with the planning images. For this purpose, an output of the planning images at a display device initially takes place. A selection signal to select a planning image is then registered, and acquisition parameters are determined using the orientation data of the selected planning image. The medical technology system is controlled based on the acquisition parameters to acquire a current projection image and the current projection image is displayed. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20130034281 | Method and a system for registering a 3D pre-acquired image coordinates system with a medical positioning system coordinate system and with a 2D image coordinate system - Method for registering a three dimensional (3D) pre acquired image coordinates system with a Medical Positioning System (MPS) coordinate system and a two dimensional (2D) image coordinate system, the method comprising acquiring a 2D image of a volume of interest, the volume including an organ, the 2D image being associated with the 2D coordinate system, acquiring MPS points within the organ, the MPS points being associated with the MPS coordinate system, the MPS coordinate system being registered with the 2D coordinate system, extracting a 3D image model of the organ from a pre acquired 3D image of the volume of interest, estimating a volumetric model of the organ from the acquired MPS points, and registering the 3D coordinate system with the MPS coordinate system by matching the extracted 3D image model and the estimated volumetric model of the organ. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20130034282 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROSTATE VISUALIZATION AND CANCER DETECTION - A method, system, and computer-readable medium for detecting a disease of a prostate. Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can include receiving an image dataset acquired with at least one acquisition mode; segmenting a region of interest including the prostate from the dataset; applying conformal mapping to map the region of interest to a canonical shape; generating a 3D visualization of the prostate using the canonically mapped dataset; and applying computer aided detection (CAD) to the canonically mapped volume to detect a region of disease of the organ. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20130034283 | MEDICAL IMAGE DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS - According to one embodiment, a medical image diagnosis apparatus includes a volume rendering image generation part, mask image-storage, real time fluoroscopic image generation part, subtraction image generation part, coil image generation part, and image composition part. The volume rendering image generation part generates, from volume data, a volume rendering image representing blood vessel information. The mask image-storage stores fluoroscopic mask images. The real time fluoroscopic image generation part acquires real time fluoroscopic images for each chronological sequence accompanying device insertion. The subtraction image generation part generates a subtraction image by subtraction processing on the fluoroscopic mask image stored in the mask image storage and the real time fluoroscopic image acquired for each chronological sequence. The coil image generation part generates a coil image from the fluoroscopic mask image. The image composition part generates a composite image of the volume rendering image, the subtraction image, and the coil image. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20130039549 | Method to Process Medical Image Data - A method to process medical image data has the following features. Immediately compressed raw data are acquired by an imaging medical technology apparatus. The compressed raw data are stored. In addition to the compressed raw data, processing data are stored which are provided to generate output data from the compressed raw data, wherein the file size of the compressed raw data and the processing data in total is less than the file size of the output data. | 02-14-2013 |
| 20130039550 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR WEIGHTED ATLAS GENERATION - A system and method for generating a patient-specific anatomical atlas, e.g., includes, for each patient of a patient population: obtaining a respective anatomical atlas, and registering, by a computer processor, the respective anatomical atlas to an anatomical image of a current patient to obtain a respective registered anatomical atlas, and further includes, determining, by the processor, an average of the registered anatomical atlases. | 02-14-2013 |
| 20130039551 | System and method for image segmentation in generating computer models of a joint to undergo arthroplasty - Systems and methods for image segmentation in generating computer models of a joint to undergo arthroplasty are disclosed. Some embodiments may include a method of partitioning an image of a bone into a plurality of regions, where the method may include obtaining a plurality of volumetric image slices of the bone, generating a plurality of spline curves associated with the bone, verifying that at least one of the plurality of spline curves follow a surface of the bone, and creating a 3D mesh representation based upon the at least one of the plurality of spline curve. | 02-14-2013 |
| 20130039552 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ANALYZING, PRIORITIZING, VISUALIZING, AND REPORTING MEDICAL IMAGES - Methods and systems for retrieving and processing medical diagnostic images are provided, comprising using picture analysis prioritization visualization and reporting system (“PAPVR system”) to determine whether each of one or more images from an image database or imaging device is of medical interest to a reviewing physician, determine whether one or more of the images is representative of the images, and provide the one or more images to a display and analysis system for review by a reviewing physician. The PAPVR system can provide the one or more images with a Key Image that is representative of the images. In addition, the PAPVR system can detect whether a patient suffers from a particular ailment, and provide a reviewing physician quantitative information that is relevant to the patient's condition. | 02-14-2013 |
| 20130039553 | METHOD FOR OBTAINING A BLOOD FLOW PARAMETER - The present invention relates to a method for obtaining a blood flow parameter. More particularly a method is presented wherein a first concentration curve is deconvolved with a second concentration curve and wherein a characteristic frequency is determined by an analysis in the frequency domain, the characteristic frequency being a frequency above which noise dominates the result of said deconvolution. A filter having the characteristic frequency is applied on the result of the deconvolution so as to disregard high frequency components, and the filtered result of the deconvolution is processed into a blood flow parameter. In an advantageous embodiment, the characteristic frequency may be dependent on a shape and/or width of an arterial input function and/or other parameters. The invention furthermore relates to a computer program product and a system for obtaining a blood flow parameter. | 02-14-2013 |
| 20130039554 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING A PHYSICAL PROPERTY OF AN OBJECT, SYSTEM, COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM AND PROGRAM ELEMENT - The invention relates to evaluating medical image information, in particular physical properties of an object ( | 02-14-2013 |
| 20130044924 | Classification Trees on GPGPU Compute Engines - Methods and devices for optimizing classification tree evaluation for online and real-time characterization of tissue by using GPUs are disclosed that give a significant impro |
