US 11,896,424 B2
Automated needle entry detection
Edward J. Patton, Bothell, WA (US); and Tong Li, Bothell, WA (US)
Assigned to FUJIFILM SonoSite, Inc., Bothell, WA (US)
Filed by FUJIFILM Sonosite, Inc., Bothell, WA (US)
Filed on Dec. 5, 2018, as Appl. No. 16/210,253.
Prior Publication US 2020/0178927 A1, Jun. 11, 2020
Int. Cl. A61B 8/08 (2006.01); A61B 8/00 (2006.01); A61B 5/00 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 8/0841 (2013.01) [A61B 5/7267 (2013.01); A61B 8/463 (2013.01); A61B 8/54 (2013.01)] 22 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An ultrasound imaging system comprising an image processor configured to:
create a composite tissue frame from ultrasound image frames wherein the ultrasound image frames are captured at a plurality of first steer angles;
determine that an interventional instrument is present in the ultrasound image frames based on one or more classifier algorithms trained to detect interventional instruments based at least in part on a detection of tissue warping within:
one or more of the ultrasound image frames; or
the composite tissue frame;
determine that an additional image frame is required to depict the interventional instrument;
determine a second steer angle of the additional image frame and capture the additional image frame at the second steer angle, wherein the second steer angle is greater than each of the plurality of first steer angles;
based on the additional image frame, determine a linear structure corresponding to the interventional instrument; and
compound the linear structure depicted in the additional image frame with the composite tissue frame to create a blended image frame depicting the interventional instrument.