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US-12616445-B2 - Portable ultrasound system

US12616445B2US 12616445 B2US12616445 B2US 12616445B2US-12616445-B2

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments provide systems and methods for portable medical ultrasound imaging. Preferred embodiments utilize a hand portable, battery powered system having a display and a user interface operative to control imaging and display operations. A keyboard control panel can be used alone or in combination with touchscreen controls to actuate a graphical user interface. Exemplary embodiments also provide an ultrasound engine circuit board including one or more multi-chip modules, and a portable medical ultrasound imaging system including an ultrasound engine circuit board.

Inventors

  • Alice M. Chiang
  • Noah Berger

Assignees

  • TERATECH CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20171116

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A portable medical ultrasound imaging device comprising: a transducer probe housing a transducer array; and a portable tablet housing mounted on a cart, the portable tablet housing having a computer in the portable tablet housing, the computer including a central processing unit performing a scan conversion operation and at least one memory, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) to control transmit signals emitted by the transducer array, wherein the portable tablet housing is powered by a battery, and a touchscreen display that displays an ultrasound image, the touchscreen display positioned on the portable tablet housing and including a touch actuated focal zone control and a focal range control; wherein the touchscreen display displays a user interface enabling a user selection of a preset group of image control settings associated with an anatomical structure from among a plurality of presets for separate anatomical structures, and wherein each of the separate anatomical structures is associated with an imaging protocol performed by a separate machine learning algorithm; a graphics processor in the portable tablet housing that is connected to the central processing unit wherein the graphics processor is configured to perform more than 1000 giga floating point operations per second to execute a machine learning algorithm based on the user selection using ultrasound image data in response to a touch actuated input on the touchscreen display, the machine learning algorithm to generating computed real time ultrasound images, wherein the generated computed real time ultrasound images are displayed on the touchscreen display; and an ultrasound beamformer processing circuit that receives image data from the transducer array, the ultrasound beamformer processing circuit being communicably connected to the computer.
  2. 2 . The device of claim 1 wherein the graphics processor is connected to a core memory in the housing.
  3. 3 . The device of claim 1 wherein the transducer array comprises a bi plane transducer array.
  4. 4 . The device of claim 1 wherein the probe further comprises a laparoscopic imaging device.
  5. 5 . The device of claim 1 further comprising a camera mounted with the probe wherein images generated by the camera are processed by the graphics processor.
  6. 6 . The device of claim 1 wherein the graphics processor is configured to operate a neural network to perform a machine learning operation.
  7. 7 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the computer receives an input from the touchscreen display, the input being received at the first location inside a region of a virtual window in an ultrasound image display area on the touchscreen display.
  8. 8 . The device of claim 7 wherein the input corresponds to a press gesture against the touch screen display.
  9. 9 . The device of claim 1 wherein the transducer array comprises a plurality of transducer arrays in one or more transducer probe housings, at least one transducer array having a least 64 transducer elements, each operated by a probe beamformer processing circuit.
  10. 10 . The device of claim 7 wherein the computer fixes a first cursor at the first location inside the region of the virtual window in response to a second input from the touch screen display.
  11. 11 . The device of claim 10 wherein the computer performs at least one measurement on the ultrasound image based at least in part on the first cursor at the first location.
  12. 12 . The device of claim 1 wherein the computer receives an input from a keyboard control panel or virtual control panel.
  13. 13 . The device of claim 1 wherein the computer is connected to a shared memory.
  14. 14 . The device of claim 10 wherein the computer displays a second cursor at a second location inside the region of the virtual window in response to a third input from the touch screen display.
  15. 15 . The device of claim 14 wherein the computer processes at least one measurement with the ultrasound image based at least in part on the respective locations of the first and second cursors inside the region of the virtual window.
  16. 16 . The device of claim 14 wherein the computer receives a fourth further input from the touchscreen display, the fourth further input being received inside the region of the virtual window.
  17. 17 . The device of claim 16 wherein the fourth further input corresponds to a press and drag gesture against the touch screen display.
  18. 18 . The device of claim 1 further comprising a bus connecting the graphics processor to the central processing unit (CPU).
  19. 19 . The device of claim 18 further comprising a neural network that processes image data.
  20. 20 . The device of claim 1 wherein the transducer array is connected to the housing with a transducer connector.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a 35 U.S.C. § 371 national stage filing of International Application No. PCT/US2017/062109, filed on Nov. 16, 2017, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/565,846, filed on Sep. 29, 2017, and to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/422,808 filed Nov. 16, 2016, all of the above applications being incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Medical ultrasound imaging has become an industry standard for many medical imaging applications. In recent years, there has been an increasing need for medical ultrasound imaging equipment that is portable to allow medical personnel to easily transport the equipment to and from hospital and/or field locations, and more user-friendly to accommodate medical personnel who may possess a range of skill levels. Conventional medical ultrasound imaging equipment typically includes at least one ultrasound probe/transducer, a keyboard and/or a knob, a computer, and a display. In a typical mode of operation, the ultrasound probe/transducer generates ultrasound waves that can penetrate tissue to different depths based on frequency level, and receives ultrasound waves reflected back from the tissue. Further, medical personnel can enter system inputs to the computer via the keyboard and/or the knob, and view ultrasound images of tissue structures on the display. However, conventional medical ultrasound imaging equipment that employ such keyboards and/or knobs can be bulky, and therefore may not be amenable to portable use in hospital and/or field locations. Moreover, because such keyboards and/or knobs typically have uneven surfaces, they can be difficult to keep clean in hospital and/or field environments, where maintenance of a sterile field can be crucial to patient health. Some conventional medical ultrasound imaging equipment have incorporated touch screen technology to provide a partial user input interface. However, conventional medical ultrasound imaging equipment that employ such touch screen technology generally provide only limited touch screen functionality in conjunction with a traditional keyboard and/or knob, and can therefore not only be difficult to keep clean, but also complicated to use. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present application, systems and methods of medical ultrasound imaging are disclosed. The presently disclosed systems and methods of medical ultrasound imaging employ medical ultrasound imaging equipment that includes a handheld housing having a laptop or a tablet form factor. The user interface can include a keyboard control panel or a multi-touch touchscreen. The system can include a graphical processing unit within the system housing that is connected to the central processor that operates to perform ultrasound imaging operations. A preferred embodiment can employ a neural network for processing ultrasound image data and quantitative data generated by the system. A further embodiment can process image data from a second imaging modality such as a camera or other medical imaging system wherein the system processes the multimodal image data to provide overlaid images of a region of interest, for example. Touchscreen embodiment can recognize and distinguish one or more single, multiple, and/or simultaneous touches on a surface of the touch screen display, thereby allowing the use of gestures, ranging from simple single point gestures to complex multipoint moving gestures, as user inputs to the medical ultrasound imaging equipment. In accordance with one aspect, exemplary medical ultrasound imaging system includes a housing having a front panel and a rear panel rigidly mounted to each other in parallel planes, a touch screen display, a computer having at least one processor and at least one memory, an ultrasound beamforming system, and a battery. The housing of the medical ultrasound imaging equipment is implemented in a tablet form factor. The touch screen display is disposed on the front panel of the housing, and includes a multi-touch LCD touch screen that can recognize and distinguish one or more single, multiple, and/or simultaneous touches or gestures on a surface of the touch screen display. The computer, the ultrasound beamforming system or engine, and the battery are operatively disposed within the housing. The medical ultrasound imaging equipment can use a Firewire connection operatively connected between the computer and the ultrasound engine within the housing and a probe connector having a probe attach/detach lever to facilitate the connection of at least one ultrasound probe/transducer. In addition, the exemplary medical ultrasound imaging system includes an I/O port connector and a DC power input. In an exemplary mode of operation, medical personnel can employ simple single point gestures and/or more complex multipoint gestures as user inputs to the multi-touch LCD touch screen for controlling operational