Granted Patent B2

US 12,239,481 · App. 17/604,941 · Granted Mar 4, 2025

Inventors: Anjan Kumar Paul (Seongnam-si, KR); Hojun Lee (Seongnam-si, KR)

Assignee: SAMSUNG MEDISON CO., LTD.

A61B8/08A61B8/463A61B8/469

Abstract

Claims (42)

1. An ultrasonic 2-dimensional (2D) image display method comprising:

acquiring the ultrasonic 2D image including a proximal carpal tunnel, wherein the ultrasonic 2D image shows a cross section of the proximal carpal tunnel;

determining a reference point in the ultrasonic 2D image, wherein one of a plurality of landmark anatomical structures included in the proximal carpal tunnel is selected as the reference point;

identifying at least one anatomical structures of interest based on a positional relationship with the reference point on the basis of the determined reference point, wherein the at least one anatomical structures of interest is identified from among the plurality of landmark anatomical structures except the reference point, and the positional relationship includes a 2-dimensional distance value in the ultrasonic 2D image, a direction in the ultrasonic 2D image, and a natural language description indicating the 2-dimensional distance value and the direction between the anatomical structure of interest and the reference point; and

displaying the identified anatomical structure of interest of the proximal carpal tunnel and information about the anatomical structure of interest on the ultrasonic image or parallel with the ultrasonic 2D image,

wherein the information about the anatomical structure of interest is information indicating the positional relationship between the anatomical structure of interest and the reference point.

2. The ultrasonic image display method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying of at least one anatomical structures of interest based on the positional relationship with the reference point on the basis of the determined reference point further includes identifying the anatomical structure of interest on the ultrasonic image by applying data about the reference point and the anatomical structure of interest to a learning model, and

learning model is trained through position context information.

3. The ultrasonic image display method of claim 1 , wherein the anatomical structure of interest is determined based on an input of a user selecting a specific anatomical structure from among a plurality of anatomical structures.

4. The ultrasonic image display method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of landmark anatomical structures of the proximal carpal tunnel includes at least one of an ulnar artery, an ulnar nerve, a median nerve, a scaphoid tubercle, a pisiform, a flexor retinaculum, and a flexor pollicis longus.

5. The ultrasonic image display method of claim 1 , wherein the reference point is determined based on an input of a user.

6. The ultrasonic image display method of claim 5 , wherein the reference point is determined based on a click event of the user at a specific position in the ultrasonic image or an input of the user related to position coordinates.

7. The ultrasonic image display method of claim 1 , wherein the reference point is determined based on a point at which at least one reference anatomical structure is located on the ultrasonic image.

8. The ultrasonic image display method of claim 7 , wherein the at least one reference anatomical structure is determined based on an input of a user selecting a specific anatomical structure from among a plurality of anatomical structures.

9. The ultrasonic image display method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying of at least one anatomical structures of interest based on the positional relationship with the reference point on the basis of the determined reference point further includes:

determining whether the at least one anatomical structures of interest are identifiable; and

when it is determined that the at least one anatomical structures of interest are unidentifiable, acquiring an estimated position of the at least one anatomical structures of interest on the ultrasonic image based on the positional relationship on the basis of the reference point.

10. The ultrasonic image display method of claim 9 , further comprising:

calculating a probability of the estimated position; and

displaying the calculated probability.

11. An ultrasonic imaging apparatus comprising:

a display unit;

a user interface;

a memory configured to store one or more instructions, and

a processor configured to:

acquire an ultrasonic 2-dimensional (2D) image including a proximal carpal tunnel, wherein the ultrasonic 2D image shows a cross section of the proximal carpal tunnel;

determine a reference point in the ultrasonic 2D image, wherein one of a plurality of landmark anatomical structures included in the proximal carpal tunnel is selected as the reference point,

identify at least one anatomical structure of interest based on a positional relationship with the reference point on the basis of the determined reference point, wherein the at least one anatomical structures of interest is identified from among the plurality of landmark anatomical structures except the reference point, and the positional relationship includes a 2-dimensional distance value in the ultrasonic 2D image, a direction in the ultrasonic 2D image, and a natural language description indicating the 2-dimensional distance value and the direction between the anatomical structure of interest and the reference point, and

control the display unit to display the identified anatomical structure of interest of the proximal carpal tunnel and information about the anatomical structure of interest on the ultrasonic image or parallel with the 2D ultrasonic image,

wherein the information about the anatomical structure of interest is information indicating the positional relationship between the anatomical structure of interest and the reference point.

12. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the reference point is determined based on a point at which at least one reference anatomical structure is located on the ultrasonic image.

13. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor identifies the anatomical structure of interest on the ultrasonic image by applying data about the reference point and the anatomical structure of interest to a learning model, and the learning model is trained through position context information.

14. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus of claim 11 , wherein it is determined whether the at least one anatomical structure of interest is identifiable, and

when it is determined that the at least one anatomical structure of interest is unidentifiable, an estimated position of the at least one anatomical structure of interest on the ultrasonic image is acquired based on the positional relationship on the basis of the reference point.

15. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of landmark anatomical structures of the proximal carpal tunnel includes at least one of an ulnar artery, an ulnar nerve, a median nerve, a scaphoid tubercle, a pisiform, a flexor retinaculum, and a flexor pollicis longus.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium for storing a computer program code for, when being read and executed by a processor, performing an ultrasonic 2-dimensional (2D) image display method, wherein the ultrasonic 2D image display method includes:

acquiring the ultrasonic 2D image including a proximal carpal tunnel, wherein the ultrasonic 2D image shows a cross section of the proximal carpal tunnel;

determining a reference point in the ultrasonic 2D image, wherein one of a plurality of landmark anatomical structures included in the proximal carpal tunnel is selected as the reference point;

identifying at least one anatomical structure of interest based on a positional relationship with the reference point on the basis of the determined reference point, wherein the at least one anatomical structures of interest is identified from among the plurality of landmark anatomical structures except the reference point, and the positional relationship includes a 2-dimensional distance value in the ultrasonic 2D image, a direction in the ultrasonic 2D image, and a natural language description indicating the 2-dimensional distance value and the direction between the anatomical structure of interest and the reference point;

displaying the identified anatomical structure of interest of the proximal carpal tunnel and information about the anatomical structure of interest on the ultrasonic 2D image or parallel with the ultrasonic image,

wherein the information about the anatomical structure of interest is information indicating the positional relationship between the anatomical structure of interest and the reference point.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of landmark anatomical structures of the proximal carpal tunnel includes at least one of an ulnar artery, an ulnar nerve, a median nerve, a scaphoid tubercle, a pisiform, a flexor retinaculum, and a flexor pollicis longus.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (42)