Surgery – Diagnostic testing – Detecting nuclear – electromagnetic – or ultrasonic radiation
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-18
2001-04-10
Lateef, Marvin M. (Department: 3737)
Surgery
Diagnostic testing
Detecting nuclear, electromagnetic, or ultrasonic radiation
Reexamination Certificate
active
06213944
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to ultrasonic diagnostic imaging systems and, in particular, to ultrasonic diagnostic imaging systems which digitally store and retrieve ultrasonic image information.
One of the advantages that diagnostic ultrasound has had over many other diagnostic imaging modalities is the ability to produce realtime images. The advantage has been especially significant in echocardiography where the physiology of a continually moving organ, the heart, are the subject of study. Realtime imaging has been a virtual necessity in echocardiography as compared with abdominal and obstetrical applications where the tissues and organs being studies are stationary and may be readily examined by static imaging. Echocardiologists, like other practitioners of diagnostic ultrasound, make records of their ultrasound examinations for subsequent diagnosis, review, and comparison. Since echocardiography studies use realtime ultrasonic imaging, they are conventionally recorded on videotape with a VCR, rather than being recorded statically on film or as photographic prints. A VCR has been an essential accessory for an echocardiography system for many years.
Over time ultrasonic imaging systems have become increasingly digital, whereas VCRs have remained recorders of analog video signals. Thus it has been necessary to convert the digital ultrasound images produced by the digital scan converter of an ultrasound system into modulated and synchronized video signals before the images can be recorded by a VCR. This conversion does not contribute to the quality of the image, and often is detrimental to image resolution. This detriment has been viewed as one which must be accepted, however, since the VCR has traditionally provided the only efficient means for recording many minutes of live, realtime echocardiographic image sequences.
The present invention is directed to replacing the VCR with an all-digital means for storing realtine ultrasonic image sequences, a true digital video replacement of the VCR. The present invention allows many minutes of realtime ultrasonic image sequences to be stored on a high capacity digital storage medium such as a hard disk, CD-RW, magneto-optical or floppy disk. In a preferred embodiment the user has the ability to control the degree of compression of the image data. A high degree of compression enables an increased number of images to be stored on a given digital storage medium. A constructed embodiment of the present invention provides virtual VCR controls whereby the user can operate the digital video recorder similar to the manner in which he is accustomed to operating a VCR.
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Davis, Dobutamine Stress Echo, Stress Echocardiography (Krannert Institue of Cardiology, 1989).
Burton Jeffrey W.
Jones Philip V.
Miller Edward A.
ATL Ultrasound Inc.
Imam Ali M.
Lateef Marvin M.
Yorks, Jr. W. Brinton
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