Method and system for data acquisition parameter recommendation and technologist training
A non-transitory computer readable medium ( 26 s ) stores instructions executable by at least one electronic processor ( 14 s ) to perform an operator assistance method ( 100 ) including: obtaining data related to reference imaging examinations during performance of the medical imaging examinations; generating training materials ( 32 ) from the obtained data; the training materials being related to the performance of the reference medical imaging examinations; and providing training user interface (UI) ( 44 ) on a display device ( 36 ), the training UI displaying a visualization ( 36 ) of a selected portion of the training materials which is selected based on information about a current or upcoming medical imaging examination.
1 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
provide a remote assistance user interface (UI) configured for an operator performing a medical imaging examination to receive assistance data from a remote expert user, wherein the remote assistance UI is configured to screen-scape a screen of an imaging device controller used to control an imaging device during the medical imaging examination to acquire data displayed on the screen of the imaging device controller and related to performance of the medical imaging examination;
obtain data related to reference medical imaging examinations during performance of the reference medical imaging examinations;
generate training materials from the obtained data, the training materials related to the performance of the reference medical imaging examinations and scan parameters for the reference medical imaging examinations;
identify one or more scan parameters to control the imaging device during the medical imaging examination based on the acquired data from screen-scraping the screen of the imaging device controller;
generate one or more recommended values for setting the one or more scan parameters to control the imaging device during the medical imaging examination based on recommendations obtained from the training material and the acquired data from screen-scraping the screen of the imaging device controller; and
output, through the remote assistance UI, the one or more recommended values for the one or more scan parameters to control the imaging device during the medical imaging examination, wherein the imaging device is controlled in accordance with the one or more scan parameters during the medical imaging examination.
2 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:
remove personally identifiable information from the obtained data.
3 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:
tag the training materials with one or more tags generated from the obtained data.
4 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 3 , wherein the one or more tags include, for a respective reference medical imaging examination of the reference medical imaging examinations, one or more of an identification of a medical imaging device operator who performed the reference medical imaging examination, a modality of the medical imaging device used in performing the reference medical imaging examination, an identification of the medical imaging device used in performing the reference medical imaging examination, an assigned current procedural terminology code for the reference medical imaging examination, an identification of whether assistance from a remote medical expert was used during the reference medical imaging examination, and patient data of a patient examined by the reference medical imaging examination.
5 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 3 , wherein the obtained data comprises a video stream of the reference medical imaging examinations, and wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:
segment the video stream into a plurality of video stream segments; and
tag each video stream segment with one or more tags.
6 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5 , wherein, to segment the video stream into a plurality of video stream segments, the instruction, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:
segment the video stream based on at least one of a parameter change, sound change, or new step in an imaging protocol.
7 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 3 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:
provide a training materials annotation UI via which an operator performing a reference medical imaging examination of the reference medical imaging examinations tags the training materials obtained during the reference medical imaging examination with the one or more tags.
8 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein, to provide the training materials annotation UI, the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:
select a portion of the training materials by matching parameters of a current or upcoming medical imaging examination with the tags of the training materials; and
transmit, to an operator performing or scheduled to perform the current or upcoming medical imaging examination, a message indicating the selected portion of the training materials to be reviewed based on the matching.
9 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein, to provide the training materials annotation UI, the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:
receive, from a radiologist reading an imaging examination, a user input indicative of a selection of the imaging examination as a training material; and
provide the training materials annotation UI responsive to the user input.
10 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 ,
wherein the current or upcoming medical imaging examination is a current medical imaging examination; and
wherein the training materials are provided to an operator performing the current medical imaging examination during, or prior to, the current medical imaging examination.
11 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:
determine at least one suggested scan parameter for a current or upcoming medical imaging examination based on the generated training materials; and
display the at least one suggested scan parameter to an operator performing or scheduled to perform the current or upcoming medical imaging examination.
12 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:
generate the training materials from the acquired data from screen-scraping the screen of the imaging device controller, the training materials related to the performance of the reference medical imaging examinations;
retrieve additions to the training materials from a training database, the additions to the training materials including one or more tags corresponding to parameters of the reference medical imaging examinations; and
analyze the training materials to identify one or more suggested scan parameters for a current or upcoming medical imaging examination.
13 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein analysis of the training material includes the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:
compare the tags of the training materials with the scan parameters using a similarity-experience metric for each medical imaging examination.
14 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to determine the similarity-experience metric by:
determining a similarity metric measuring similarity of the current examination to the training materials;
determining an experience level of the operator who performed the examination of the training materials; and
multiplying the similarity metric by the experience level.
15 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein:
the remote assistance UI displays the one or more suggested scan parameters as a plot of different imaging parameter values along a horizontal line of the plot color-coded by the similarity-experience metric.
16 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:
responsive an input provided by a local operator (LO) via at least one user input device, select a portion of the plot to display additional information about the reference medical imaging examinations.
17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:
responsive an input provided by the local operator via at least one user input device, select a portion of the plot to display training materials related to the reference medical imaging examinations.
18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the scan parameter comprises a field-of-view (FOV) imaging parameter; and the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:
acquire one or more scans of a patient using a medical imaging device;
input the one or more scans to an artificial neural network (ANN) to detect most similar scans stored in the training database;
spatially register the most similar scans with the acquired one or more scans; and
transform FOV corner points of the most similar scans to a frame-of-reference of a current scan to provide recommended FOV values.
19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 2 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:
retrieve the training materials from a training database, the training materials including one or more tags corresponding to parameters of the medical imaging examination;
analyze the training materials to identify one or more suggested scan parameters for a current or upcoming medical imaging examination; and
provide an operator assistance user interface (UI) on a display operable by an operator performing or scheduled to perform the current or upcoming medical imaging examination, wherein the operator assistance UI displays the one or more suggested scan parameters.
20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to provide a training user interface (UI) on a display, wherein the training UI displays a visualization of a selected portion of the training materials which is selected based on information about a current or upcoming medical imaging examination.