SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GUIDING AN ULTRASOUND PROBE

• Main Authors: THIENPHRAPA, Paul, BALICKI, Marcin Arkadiusz, MCNAMARA, William
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 12.01.2023
• Subjects: DIAGNOSIS; HUMAN NECESSITIES; HYGIENE; IDENTIFICATION; MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; SURGERY

An ultrasound device (10) comprises a probe (12) including a tube (14) sized for in vivo insertion into a patient and an ultrasound transducer (18) disposed at a distal end (16) of the tube. A camera (20) is mounted at the distal end of the tube in a spatial relationship to the ultrasound transducer. At least one electronic processor (28) is programmed to: control the ultrasound transducer and the camera to acquire ultrasound images (19) and camera images (21) respectively while the ultrasound transducer is disposed in vivo; construct keyframes (36) during in vivo movement of the ultrasound transducer, each keyframe representing an in vivo position of the ultrasound transducer and including at least ultrasound image features (38) extracted from at least one of the ultrasound images acquired at the in vivo position of the ultrasound transducer and camera image features (40) extracted from at least one of the camera images acquired at the in vivo position of the ultrasound transducer; generate a navigation map (45) of the in vivo movement of the ultrasound transducer comprising the keyframes; and output navigational guidance (49) based on comparison of current ultrasound and camera images acquired by the ultrasound transducer and camera with the navigation map.