Systems and methods for selection and displaying of images using an intravascular ultrasound imaging system
A method for real-time displaying of cross-sectional images during an intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging procedure includes, during an intravascular ultrasound imaging procedure, receiving electrical signals from at least one transducer in a catheter as the at least one transducer rotates and moves longitudinally along a lumen of a patient blood vessel; during the intravascular ultrasound imaging procedure, processing the received electrical signals to form a series of cross-sectional images that are longitudinally-offset from one another along a length of the lumen; during the intravascular ultrasound imaging procedure, concurrently displaying i) a most recent image and ii) a previous image that is either a) selected by the operator or b) automatically selected as having a maximum or minimum of a selected image characteristic; and, during the intravascular ultrasound imaging procedure, updating the display of the most recent image as a new image from the series of cross-sectional images is processed.
1. A method for real-time displaying of cross-sectional images during an intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging procedure, the method comprising:
during an intravascular ultrasound imaging procedure, receiving electrical signals from at least one transducer in a catheter as the at least one transducer rotates and moves longitudinally along a lumen of a patient blood vessel;
during the intravascular ultrasound imaging procedure, processing the received electrical signals to form a series of cross-sectional images, wherein the cross-sectional images are longitudinally-offset from one another along a length of the lumen;
during the intravascular ultrasound imaging procedure, concurrently displaying i) a most recent image from the series of cross-sectional images and ii) a previous image from the series of cross-sectional images, wherein the previous image is either a) selected by a user or b) automatically selected as having a maximum or minimum of a selected image characteristic; and
during the intravascular ultrasound imaging procedure, updating the display of the most recent image as a new image from the series of cross-sectional images is processed.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the previous image is automatically selected as having a minimum lumen area.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the previous image is automatically selected as having a minimum lumen diameter.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, during the intravascular ultrasound imaging procedure, displaying a longitudinal view of the lumen based on the cross-sectional images up to the most recent image.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein updating the display comprises updating the longitudinal view based on the new image.
6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising indicating positions of the most recent image and the selected previous image on the longitudinal view.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, during the intravascular ultrasound imaging procedure, providing a lumen boundary around the lumen of the selected previous image.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising, during the intravascular ultrasound imaging procedure, adjusting the lumen boundary according to instructions from a user.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising
forming a three-dimensional array of the series of cross-sectional images;
cutting the three-dimensional array along a plane to form a cut array;
replacing all portions of the cut three-dimensional array associated with an interior of the lumen with a fixed value to form a volume view; and
displaying the volume view.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the fixed value is black.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the fixed value renders the portions of the cut three-dimensional array associated with the interior of the lumen transparent when displayed.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein displaying the volume view comprises rendering the volume view by ray tracing using data of the volume view.
13. The method of claim 2 , further comprising displaying a lumen area estimate.
14. The method of claim 3 , further comprising displaying a minimum lumen diameter.
15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising
upon completion of the intravascular ultrasound imaging procedure, automatically selecting, without user intervention, and concurrently displaying i) a minimum lumen image from the series of cross-sectional images and ii) a maximum lumen image selected from at least a subset of the series of cross-sectional images.
16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising displaying a numerical indication of stenosis area.
17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising displaying a numerical indication of plaque burden.
18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the maximum lumen image is selected from the subset of cross-sectional images obtained prior the minimum lumen image.
19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the minimum lumen image is selected based on lumen area.
20. The method of claim 15 , further comprising providing a lumen boundary around the lumens of the minimum lumen image and the maximum lumen image.