Imaging device and associated method

Surgery – Diagnostic testing – Detecting nuclear – electromagnetic – or ultrasonic radiation

Reexamination Certificate

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Reexamination Certificate

active

06319201

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an imaging device or system. The imaging device or system is especially useful as a medical system. More particularly, this invention relates to a device or system which determines three-dimensional shapes of objects such as internal organs of a patient preferably by using ultrasonic pressure waves. This invention also relates to a method useful in medical operations.
In recent years, the escalation of medical costs has captured substantial media and regulatory attention. One reason for the escalating costs is the ever increasing use of expensive machines and testing techniques. Computed assisted tomography (CAT scanning), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and some radiological techniques have been in the forefront of contributing to mounting medical costs. In addition to being expensive, these devices are heavy and bulky, making them ill suited to transport.
In this age of rapidly escalating medical costs, minimally invasive operations have become the method of choice for diagnosis and treatment. In many cases, endoscopic, laparoscopic and radiographic techniques have superseded older diagnostic and therapeutic surgical techniques.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging device or system which is relatively inexpensive and easy to transport.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an alternative to conventional medical imaging systems.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a medical imaging system which exhibits reduced costs over conventional imaging systems such as CAT scanners and MRI machines.
A particular object of the present invention is to provide a medical imaging system which can be used during the performance of so-called minimally invasive medical operations.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a medical imaging system which is portable.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a medical operating method which provides real time imaging in a cost effective manner.
These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent from the drawings and descriptions herein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An imaging device comprises, in accordance with the present invention, a flexible substrate, a flexible video screen disposed on the substrate, and a scanner operatively connected to the video screen for providing thereto a video signal encoding an image of objects located near the substrate. The scanner is preferably provided with an analyzing component, generally a specially programmed digital computer, for analyzing scanner sensor signals and determining therefrom three-dimensional shapes of the objects.
This imaging device is considered to be particularly advantageous in medical diagnosis and treatment procedures. The substrate with the video screen is disposed on a selected body portion of a patient, for example, the abdomen or a shoulder or knee, so that the substrate and the video screen substantially conform to the selected body portion and so that the video screen is facing away from the body portion. After the disposition of the substrate and the video screen on the selected body portion of the patient, the scanner is operated to provide a video signal to the video screen, the video signal encoding an image of internal organs of the patient. Preferably, the video screen is operated to reproduce the image so that internal organ representations as displayed on the video screen substantially overlie respective corresponding actual organs of the patient. Thus, for many purposes and applications, it appears to the user (generally a physician) that he or she is able to see through the skin and other overlying tissues to selected underlying organs.
To enable or facilitate an alignment of the displayed organ representations and the respective underlying actual organs, it is recommended that markers be placed in prespecified locations on the patient. The markers are easily recognized by the analyzing computer and serve to define a reference frame whereby the position and orientation of the video screen relative to the patient's internal organs is detectable. Accordingly, the position and orientation of each portion or area of the video screen relative to the internal organs of the patient is determined to enable the display on the video screen of images of organs underlying the different portions of the screen. Where the screen is folded back on itself in conforming to a curved skin surface of the patient, two or more overlapping screen areas may be provided with the same image signal. However, only the uppermost screen portion of the overlapping areas will be visible to the user.
The imaging device or system is preferably provided with a number of ancillary components or functional subcomponents for facilitating use of the system as a medical diagnostic and therapeutic tool. For example, the analyzing component may include a module, typically realized as a programmed general computer circuit, for highlighting a selected feature of the internal organs of the patient. The highlighting may be implemented by changing the color or intensity of the selected feature relative to the other features in the displayed image, thus providing a visual contrast of the selected feature with respect to the other features of the displayed image. An intensity chance may be effectuated by essentially blacking or whiting out the other portions of the image so that the selected feature is the only object displayed on the video screen.
Another ancillary component for enhancing the usefulness of the imaging device or system is voice-recognition circuitry operatively connected to the analyzing computer. Voice recognition circuity is especially beneficial for medical applications in that doctors must frequently have their hands (and even feet) available for operating medical equipment. In conventional medical procedures, voice control is exerted via attendant personnel: the assistants are requested by the lead physician to perform desired tasks. The voice recognition circuitry of the present invention is used, for instance, to request highlighting of a selected organ or removal of an organ from the image on the video screen. The removal of selected organs or tissues enables the user to view underlying organs. Viewing of the patient's internal structures may thus proceed in an ever more deeply penetrating sequence, with successive removal of different layers of tissues.
Yet another ancillary component is speech synthesis circuitry operatively connected to the analyzing computer. The voice recognition and speech synthesis circuitry together enable the user to interface with the imaging device as if the device were an operating room assistant. These ancillary components also free the physician's eyes to look at the flexible video screen.
The analyzing computer's tasks may extend well beyond normal image analysis and construction. The computer may be programmed for automated diagnosis based on pattern recognition. For example, the computer may be programmed to recognize a bloated appendix by comparing the image data with prestored data identifying normal and inflamed appendices. The computed diagnosis may be communicated to the physician via the speech synthesis circuitry: “Enlarged appendix—possible appendicitis—recommend immediate removal.”
The substrate and the video screen are advantageously provided with a plurality of mutually aligned apertures enabling traversal of the substrate and the video screen by medical instruments. The distal ends of the medical instruments, inserted into the patient in the field of view of the imaging system, are displayed on the video screen together with the selected internal organs of the patient. In this way, laparoscopic surgery as well as other invasive operations, whether diagnostic or therapeutic, may be performed with the aid of real-time visual images of the patient's internal organs displayed on the flexible video screen. Laparoscopic surgery is simplified by eli

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