Robotic 5-dimensional ultrasound

Abstract

A robotic 5D ultrasound system and method, for use in a computer integrated surgical system, wherein 3D ultrasonic image data is integrated over time with strain (i.e., elasticity) image data. By integrating the ultrasound image data and the strain image data, the present invention is capable of accurately identifying a target tissue in surrounding tissue; segmenting, monitoring and tracking the target tissue during the surgical procedure; and facilitating proper planning and execution of the surgical procedure, even where the surgical environment is noisy and the target tissue is isoechoic.

1 . A computer integrated surgical system comprising:
 an ultrasound imaging system; and   a workstation configured for receiving ultrasound signals from the ultrasound imaging system, said workstation including:
 an elasticity imaging module configured for deriving elasticity related parameters relating to target tissue, 
 an ultrasound module configured for providing ultrasound image data reflecting the anatomical structure of the target tissue, and 
 a volume rendering module configured for integrating the strain distribution information and the ultrasound image data and generating a visualization of the target tissue based on both the strain distribution data and the ultrasound image data. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the elasticity imaging module can be reconfigured to estimate elasticity parameters based on static imaging (i.e., strain based), dynamic imaging (i.e., wave based) and mechanical (i.e., stress based). 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the workstation further comprises:
 a segmentation module, the segmentation module configured for feeding back segmentation data to the volume rendering module.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a medical robot, wherein the medical robot communicates with the workstation through a robot client; and wherein the medical robot comprises an end-effector. 
 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the end-effector comprises:
 a linear actuator.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the end-effector comprises:
 parallel actuators.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the medical robot comprises:
 means for synchronizing between ultrasound acquisition and strain acquisition.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the workstation further comprises:
 a segmentation module, the segmentation module configured for feeding back segmentation data to the robot client, and wherein the robot client comprises means, for generating robot control signals as a function of the feedback data provided by the segmentation module.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the robot is configured for compressing the target tissue and inducing a strain distribution. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the robot is configured for synchronizing ultrasound image data acquisition and the strain distribution information. 
     
     
         11 . A workstation for use in a computer integrated surgical system, said workstation comprising:
 a strain imaging module configured for deriving strain distribution information relating to target tissue,   an ultrasound module configured for providing ultrasound image data reflecting the anatomical structure of the target tissue, and   a volume rendering module configured for integrating the strain distribution information and the ultrasound image data and generating a visualization of the target tissue based on both the strain distribution data and the ultrasound image data.   
     
     
         12 . The workstation of  claim 11  further comprising:
 a segmentation module, the segmentation module configured for feeding back segmentation data to the volume rendering module. 
 
     
     
         13 . The workstation of  claim 11  further comprising:
 a robot client module configured for communicating with a medical robot associated with the computer integrated surgical system. 
 
     
     
         14 . The workstation of  claim 13 , wherein the workstation further comprises:
 a segmentation module, the segmentation module configured for feeding back segmentation data to the robot client module, and wherein the robot client comprises means for generating robot control signals as a function of the feedback data provided by the segmentation module.   
     
     
         15 . Method for rendering an ultrasonic image comprising the steps of:
 acquiring ultrasound image data of a target tissue;   acquiring strain image data of the target tissue;   integrating the ultrasound image data and the strain image data; and   generating a visualization of the target tissue based on both the ultrasound image data and the strain image data.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  further comprising the step of:
 synchronizing the acquisition of the ultrasound image data and the strain image data. 
 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the ultrasound image data reflects an anatomical structure of the target tissue and the strain image data reflects an elasticity distribution associated with the target tissue. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said step of generating a visualization of the target tissue comprises the step of:
 representing the anatomical structure using color shading.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , step of generating a visualization of the target tissue comprises the step of:
 representing the elasticity distribution by a level of opacity.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15  further comprising the step of:
 compressing the target tissue. 
 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein said step of acquiring ultrasound image data is accomplished before and after compressing the target tissue. 
     
     
         22 . A method of generating segmentation data using ultrasound image data in a medical procedure comprising the steps of:
 acquiring ultrasound image data of a target tissue;   acquiring strain image data of the target tissue;   generating a model from the strain image;   utilizing the model as an input to a model based segmentation process;   and generating segmentation data associated with the target tissue based on the strain image data.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  further comprising the step of:
 monitoring the medical procedure based on the segmentation data. 
 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22  further comprising the step of:
 controlling the medical procedure based on the segmentation data. 
 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 22  further comprising the step of:
 generating a visualization of the target tissue based on both the ultrasound image data and the strain image data; and 
 updating the visualization based on the segmentation data. 
 
     
     
         26 . A method of registering online ultrasound data to preoperative non-ultrasound data comprising the steps of:
 combining tissue/organ boundaries from 3D ultrasound image data;   augmenting elasticity to generate a pseudo, non-ultrasound data that can be used to register with preoperative, non-ultrasound data;   utilizing a strain component as a landmark to automate a first initial matching registration;   utilizing anatomy data to fine-tune the registration; and   incorporating anatomy information and elasticity in a registration metric.