Method for extracting images of vascular structure and blood flow from image sequences
US7558618B1 · kind B1 · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 7, 2006 |
| Grant date | Jul 7, 2009 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 9, 2027 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T2207/30104
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Periodic biological functions and their related anatomy that cannot be seen in image sequences using typical means, can nonetheless be made visible by demodulating the image sequence according to the timing of that biological function using the described method. In particular, vascular structure and the function of that structure becomes observable when demodulated according to the patient's heart beat. This method suppresses the effects of thermal variations across the anatomy, and of severe scattering loss from buried tissues, that limit current thermographic (heat imaging) methods. It also measures localized changes in the wave front amplitude, shape, and phase, which are expected to prove useful for disease diagnosis and biometry.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.