阅读说明：本技术 医学用户接口 (Medical user interface ) 是由 安德烈亚斯·格赖泽尔 于 2020-11-25 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及医学用户接口。用于至少两个医学检查系统(1,1a)的组合使用的医学用户接口(12)包括：显示数据接口(23),其被设计成用于连接至显示器(25)并用于发送要显示在显示器(25)上的医学显示数据；输入数据接口(24),其被设计成用于连接至输入装置以接收用户的指令；通信接口(22),其被设计成用于与医学检查系统(1,1a)数据连接；计算单元(21),其被设计成用于经由通信接口(22)与医学检查系统(1,1a)建立数据通信,并被设计成创建显示数据(D1,D2)并将其发送至显示器(25)；处理来自用户的指令；将控制数据(CD)发送至医学检查系统(1,1a)和/或接收并处理从医学检查系统(1,1a)接收的医学检查数据(ED)。(The present invention relates to medical user interfaces. Medical user interface (12) for combined use of at least two medical examination systems (1, 1a) comprising: a display data interface (23) designed for connection to a display (25) and for transmitting medical display data to be displayed on the display (25); an input data interface (24) designed for connection to an input device to receive instructions of a user; a communication interface (22) designed for data connection to a medical examination system (1, 1 a); a computing unit (21) which is designed for establishing data communication with the medical examination system (1, 1a) via the communication interface (22) and which is designed to create and send display data (D1, D2) to the display (25); processing instructions from a user; the Control Data (CD) are transmitted to the medical examination system (1, 1a) and/or the medical Examination Data (ED) received from the medical examination system (1, 1a) are received and processed.)

1. A medical user interface (12) for combined use of at least two medical examination systems (1, 1a), comprising:

a display data interface (23) designed for connection to a display (25) and for transmitting medical display data to be displayed on the display (25),

an input data interface (24) designed for connection to an input device for receiving instructions of a user,

-a communication interface (22) designed for data connection with the medical examination system (1, 1a), and

-a computing unit (21) designed for establishing a data communication with the medical examination system (1, 1a) via the communication interface (22) and designed for

a) Creating the display data (D1, D2) and sending the display data (D1, D2) to the display (25),

b) -processing said instructions from the user in such a way that,

c) -sending Control Data (CD) to the medical examination system (1, 1a), and/or-receiving and processing medical Examination Data (ED) received from the medical examination system (1, 1 a).

2. The medical user interface of claim 1, designed to provide:

-a patient mode, wherein access to a number of medical examination systems (1, 1a) is restricted and Examination Data (ED) is collected for individual patients (O), and/or

-an operator mode, wherein access to the medical examination system (1, 1a) and to the patient data is restricted according to the access rights of a specific user.

3. Medical user interface according to one of the preceding claims, comprising a data interface designed to access sensor data, preferably from a remote communication device or a mobile computing sensor, a camera device, a GPS sensor, a gyroscope and/or an RFID sensor,

preferably, the calculation unit (21) is designed to track the position and/or the movement state of the patient (O) or the operator position.

4. Method designed to operate a medical user interface according to one of the preceding claims, comprising the steps of:

-determining the state of the input means and, in case of receiving an instruction of a user, generating an output based on said instruction,

-sending control data to a medical examination system (1, 1a) based on the instructions, and/or receiving and processing medical Examination Data (ED) from the medical examination system (1, 1a),

-displaying the processed medical Examination Data (ED) and/or data from the medical examination system (1, 1 a).

5. Method according to claim 4, wherein the patient-specific information is processed and displayed, preferably initially or in addition to the examination, in addition to the Examination Data (ED),

preferably, the patient (O) is represented as a patient model and/or an avatar (a).

6. Method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the patient (O) is tracked, preferably the position or the state of motion of the patient (O) or an examination and/or adjustment station of the patient (O).

7. Method according to one of claims 4 to 6, wherein new Examination Data (ED) of the patient (O) are added to the current Examination Data (ED),

preferably wherein a part of the new Examination Data (ED) is combined with a part of the current Examination Data (ED), wherein these parts belong to the same medical environment, preferably the same disease, the same body part or the same examination procedure,

preferably, the inspection data (ED) is combined with a single time stamp.

8. Method according to claim 7, wherein the new Examination Data (ED) represent a difference of a current patient state according to the current Examination Data (ED),

wherein the difference is preferably measured directly on the basis of the current Examination Data (ED) or calculated from the new Examination Data (ED) and the current Examination Data (ED),

preferably, the new Examination Data (ED) is acquired using a point of care scanner and/or during a point of care examination.

9. Method according to claim 8, wherein during the examination a combination of localization techniques, preferably spatial localization with an optimal point spread function, is applied, the method comprising the steps of:

-deriving information about the patient's cavity from the current Examination Data (ED),

-determining an optimal sampling pattern for acquiring new Examination Data (ED) based on the obtained information,

-controlling an examination of the patient (O) using the determined sampling pattern.

10. Method according to one of claims 3 to 9, comprising the steps of:

-providing or recording a first set of Examination Data (ED) in dependence of a first examination,

-examining said first set of Examination Data (ED) for local findings,

-determining a location of the local finding in the patient (O) and/or a location defined by a user in the patient (O),

recording a second Examination Data (ED) set by a second examination, wherein a region of interest of the second examination comprises a position in the patient (O),

preferably, the first set of inspection data is more accurate than the second set of inspection data (ED).

11. An apparatus designed to communicate with a user interface according to one of claims 1 to 3, the apparatus preferably comprising the user interface (12), and/or being designed for performing a method according to one of claims 4 to 10.

12. The device according to claim 11, which is designed to be attachable to and detachable from a medical examination system (1, 1a), and preferably also to accompany a patient (O) while moving in a clinical environment and/or to be mountable on a patient bed.

13. A medical examination system, which is designed to establish a data connection with a device according to claim 11 or a user interface according to one of claims 1 to 3, and which is preferably designed to receive and use Control Data (CD) from the device (20) or user interface (12) and/or to send Examination Data (ED) to the device (20) or user interface (12).

14. A computer program product comprising a computer program which is directly loadable into a memory of a control unit of a computing device, and which comprises program elements for performing the steps of the method according to any of claims 4 to 10 when the computer program is executed by the computing device.

15. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a program element, which is readable and executable by a computer unit for performing the steps of the method according to any one of claims 4 to 10 when the program element is executed by the computer unit.

Technical Field

The invention describes a medical user interface, in particular for a medical image acquisition system, and a method designed to operate such a user interface.

Background

For modern medicine, the acquisition of medical data is necessary. In addition to "simple" acquisition of, for example, measured temperature or blood pressure, there are also more complex data measured with medical examination devices, which are typically medical image acquisition devices, such as magnetic resonance imaging ("MRI") devices or computed tomography ("CT") devices. Typically, these devices are individually controlled and produce large amounts of data.

Typical examination apparatuses, such as imaging modalities (even different MRI scanners or CT scanners) use some kind of specific user interface and are implemented as independently controlled units, i.e. these modalities have a separately organized console requiring modality specific knowledge.

This is of no consequence in the case of using only one device, for example in the operation of a private doctor, but in the case of using different examination devices of the entire "fleet" for example in a hospital, this is a major disadvantage, since each individual examination device has to be controlled in a single manner and the data sent to the individual data receiving units.

Thus, when using different scanners, the operator must use separate scanner controls and different user interfaces. To some extent, efforts have been made to coordinate the UIs of different instances of scanning modalities, even different instances of different scanning modalities within a multi-modal combination, or to integrate different modalities into one scanner (e.g., mr, PET-CT, etc.) using a single control unit. However, the operator must be familiar with the different acquisition techniques and usually follows the different acquisitions independently.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to improve the known apparatus and method to facilitate an improvement in medical data acquisition, in particular in medical image acquisition. A particular objective is to address the problem of how a single user interface can be designed to be able to include all (or most) of the available modalities and/or scanner instances, e.g. high end scanners versus low end scanners, and virtually incorporate all available image data and information into an individual patient representation, possibly involving a digital twin (digital twin) or enabling the operator to easily control different devices.

This object is achieved by a system, a method, an apparatus and a medical examination system according to the invention.

A medical user interface according to the invention for combined use of at least two medical examination systems, comprising the following components:

a display data interface designed for connection to a display and for transmitting medical display data to be displayed on the display,

an input data interface designed for connection to an input device for receiving instructions of a user,

a communication interface designed for data connection with a medical examination system, an

A computing unit designed for establishing data communication with the medical examination system via the communication interface and designed for

a) Creates display data and sends the display data to the display (via the display data interface),

b) processes instructions from the user (via the input data interface),

c) the control data is transmitted to the medical examination system and/or the medical examination data received from the medical examination system is received and processed.

The medical user interface ("UI") may be a physical device (e.g., a tablet computer) or a software module (e.g., an application or a cloud system). The medical user interface is used for the combined use of at least two medical examination systems. This means that the medical user interface is capable of communicating with both examination systems, e.g. the MRT device and the CT device, and may receive and "understand" data transmitted from both examination systems and/or transmit control data "understood" by both systems to both examination systems.

The data interface, in particular the communication interface, may be implemented by the same hardware. For example, where the user interface is a cloud system, the data/communication interface may be implemented as a network interface (e.g., WLAN or LAN). However, in case the UI is a program running on a computing unit (e.g. a tablet computer), the interface may be a different interface, such as a graphical data bus for displaying the data interface, a data bus connected to a touch display (or another input device) for inputting the data interface, and a network interface for connecting the interfaces. However, the communication interface may also be wired (e.g., a USB interface) for connecting the UI to the system through a data line.

The display data interface is designed to be connected to the display(s) and for transmitting medical display data to be displayed on the display. The calculation unit need only provide data to the display data interface and preferably the data is automatically displayed on the display (if a display is connected).

The input data interface is used for receiving instructions from a user for operating the computing unit. As indicated above, the display data interface and the input data interface may be physically the same bidirectional data interface. The data interface may be designed to be connected to a plurality of (in particular different) input devices.

The communication interface is used for establishing data connection with the medical examination system. The communication interface is used for receiving and/or transmitting data from/to two or more (all) medical examination systems.

The computing unit is designed to establish a data communication with the medical examination system via the communication interface. Thus, the communication interface provides an infrastructure and the computing unit generates data to be sent to the inspection system and/or processes data received from the inspection system. The computing unit creates display data and sends the display data to the display via the display data interface and processes instructions received from a user via the input interface. Furthermore, the computing unit is designed to transmit the control data to the medical examination system and/or to receive and process medical examination data received from the medical examination system via the communication interface.

The user interface may comprise further units, in particular a control unit for controlling the examination system and/or the scanner.

The computing unit and the data interface may be implemented by software modules or by physical units.

The UI provides the opportunity to make different modalities look the same as the user UI. Thus, the same operator can use a single device to handle the various modes. Such a UI may trigger integration of a patient and/or operator centric control front covering multiple modalities or scanner instances, with a multi-modality multi-instance scanner cluster, integrating multiple imaging contrasts into a mobile digital twin represented in a single common user control unit. These preferred embodiments are further described below.

The method according to the invention is designed to operate the medical user interface according to the invention. This method is also designed for combined use of at least two medical examination systems (like a UI) and comprises the following steps:

-determining the state of the input means and, in case of receiving an instruction from a user, generating an output based on the instruction,

sending control data to and/or receiving and processing medical examination data (e.g., images or information from other examination systems) from the medical examination system based on the instructions,

-displaying the processed medical examination data and/or data from the medical examination system.

The state of the input device is received via the input data interface. If an input occurs, the input data will be received, otherwise no data will be received. If the user inputs an instruction, the instruction is sent to the computing unit via the input data interface. Then, in a case where an instruction of the user is received, an output is generated based on the instruction. Such an instruction may be a control instruction, for example for starting a specific examination using the examination unit, so that control data is sent to the examination system. Such an instruction may be an instruction for displaying special data, e.g. for examination, whereby the requested data is displayed on the display (or more precisely, whereby the corresponding data is sent via the display data interface). Thus, the data displayed preferably depends on the instructions. The output will then be the displayed data.

An important task of the method is to transmit control data to the medical examination system and/or to receive and process medical examination data from the medical examination system. The control data may be an examination protocol (e.g. an MRI protocol) or data for configuring the examination system and a signal for starting the examination. In case medical examination data is received, the medical examination data should be processed to display the data.

Finally, the method comprises the step of displaying the processed medical examination data. Alternatively or additionally, data from the medical examination system is displayed as it provides visual feedback to the system. Thus, in addition to displaying the processed data, feedback from the medical examination system may be displayed, such as parameters for the examination or simple information about the progress of the examination.

An apparatus according to the invention is designed to communicate with a user interface according to the invention and/or to carry out a method according to the invention. The device preferably comprises a user interface, e.g. as a software or hardware module.

The medical examination system according to the invention is designed to establish a data connection with the device/UI according to the invention. Preferably, the medical examination system is designed to receive and use control data from and/or to transmit examination data to the device/UI. Thus, the medical examination system is designed to communicate with the UI according to the invention.

With respect to the patient side, the UI should be designed such that information about that particular patient (and in particular non-other patients, at least as long as they are not ignored) is collected and displayed. This information is preferably current information and/or new information added during the examination.

With respect to the operator side (where the term "operator" as well as a technical operator, such as a medical operator, refers to e.g. a clinician, a physician, a doctor, etc.), the UI should be operator specific and display information about the patient (e.g. for the clinician) and/or the examination system (e.g. for the technical operator, but also for the clinician). Preferably, the UI is designed such that the same questions are displayed in the same manner. For example, if an avatar of a patient is displayed, the avatar of the patient should be in the same position for each patient, and for example, a woman should be displayed with the same female avatar and a male should be displayed with the same male avatar.

With respect to displaying the patient for the operator, the UI should have a similar design representing the patient side as described above, with the difference that the operator can select different patients.

Regarding the control of the inspection system, the UI should display the same technical problems of the inspection apparatus in the same manner to simplify the operation of the inspection system. This may include displaying the same type of inspection system such that the same control icon is located in the same position independent of the actual inspection device. This means that, for example, an MRI system always displays in the same way, whereas a CT system always displays in the same way (but possibly differently from an MRI system). It is also preferred that the same infrastructure elements are always displayed in the same way for the control icons. An "infrastructure unit" is a unit that provides the infrastructure for the scanner to properly scan. The infrastructure unit can be said to deliver "infrastructure media" for the scanner. The infrastructure medium does not necessarily have to be a physical fluid (e.g., a cooling medium) but may also be a stream of energy or data. Some exemplary infrastructure units are auxiliary units, such as cooling units, sensor units or units that provide energy for auxiliary systems, power units, preferably general power supplies or power amplifiers or control units, e.g. for RF or gradients in MRI.

For control, there are preferably many functional layers of the organization communicating with the examination system, in addition to graphical feedback on the display. It should be noted that not all layers are necessarily included in the UI. The functional layer may also be comprised in an inspection system (i.e. an inspection system according to the invention as described above). It can be said that the first described layer is more likely to be "associated" with the UI, while the later described layer is more likely to be "associated" with the inspection device.

First, there is an input layer. The input layer is very strongly related to the display of control icons (where an "icon" may also be an input window for alphanumeric input). By controlling the selection action (i.e. activation or alphanumeric input) of the icon, an instruction (e.g. "start check") is determined. The active control icons may also be part of the patient avatar. The operator may select the avatar's head by touching the avatar's head on the touch screen. This action activates the display of other icons such as "MRI" and "CT". By pressing "MRI", the layer creation instruction "MRI scans the head of patient X". Thus, the instruction may cause other content to be displayed or cause a move to the next layer. Preferably, the UI is designed to include this layer.

Second, there is an "instruction translation layer". The commands are automatically converted into a data stream that the corresponding inspection system can "understand". For an MRI system or a CT system, this would be a measurement protocol (e.g., a pulse sequence). It should be noted that the layer may be divided into sub-layers, e.g. specifying the layer to be examined exactly (e.g. the contrast of the MRI measurements to be recorded), and the subsequent sub-layers selecting the correct pulse sequence. Preferably, the UI or medical examination system is designed to include this layer.

Third, there is an "application layer" that applies the measurement signal based on the aforementioned data stream. Since the UI or corresponding device may comprise an infrastructure unit (e.g. a RF transmitter or a power amplifier of a gradient system of an MRI), the UI or corresponding device may directly apply the measurement signal. However, typically this layer is present in the inspection device, wherein the inspection device has to be designed to understand the data stream created by the second layer.

Some of the units or modules of the UI or device mentioned above may be fully or partially implemented as software modules running on a processor of the system or device. Implementation mainly in the form of software modules may have the following advantages: applications already installed on existing systems can be updated with relatively little effort to install and run the units of the present application. The object of the invention is also achieved by a computer program product with a computer program which can be loaded directly into a memory of an apparatus or system, such as a magnetic resonance imaging device, and which comprises program elements for performing the steps of the inventive method when the program is executed by the apparatus or system. In addition to computer programs, such computer program products may also include other parts such as documents and/or other components, as well as hardware components for facilitating access to software, such as hardware keys (dongles, etc.).

A computer-readable medium, such as a memory stick, hard disk, or other removable or permanently mounted carrier, may be used to transfer and/or store the executable portions of the computer program product such that the executable portions may be read from the processor unit of the apparatus or system. The processor unit may include one or more microprocessors or equivalents thereof.

Particularly advantageous embodiments and features of the invention are given by the dependent claims, as disclosed in the following description. Features from different claim categories may be combined as appropriate to give other embodiments not described herein.

The preferred medical user interface is designed to provide at least one of the following two different modes.

The first mode is a patient mode, in which access to a certain number of medical examination systems is restricted and examination data is collected (only) for individual patients. Of course, the UI can also display collected examination data. Thus, a patient may carry a device (e.g., a tablet computer) with a UI in which the examiner can easily view all the data collected for that particular patient. However, access is preferably limited, as patients typically cannot operate the examination system.

The second mode is an operator mode in which access to the medical examination system and to the patient data is restricted according to the access rights of a particular user (e.g., an operator or clinician). Thus, the UI may be carried by an operator and is capable of controlling the medical examination system (e.g., defining and initiating an MRI procedure). However, since typically not all operators are allowed to operate all examination systems or view all patient data, access should be restricted accordingly.

In a typical use case of the proposed concept, a patient is scanned using a first imaging modality, such as CT or MRI. When he moves to the department, the acquired image information is displayed at his bedside for use by authorized personnel having available UI devices. To account for different or even dynamic motion states, a point-of-care (POC) modality is applied beside the bed, and the operator/clinician can perform additional scans and view the digital representation as well as new data.

As an alternative, the UI may be operator centric, i.e., each operator (or other role in accessing patient information) has its own device and accesses the digital patient data for a particular patient by sensing the area in the vicinity of the particular patient.

The preferred device/UI is designed such that the mode depends on the logged-on user. Thus, the operator is preferably able to log onto the "patient device" and obtain the operator mode UI.

Preferred medical user interfaces comprise a data interface designed to access sensor data, preferably from sensors of remote communication devices or mobile computing, camera devices, GPS sensors, gyroscopes and/or RFID sensors. Preferably, the calculation unit is designed to track the position and/or the movement state of the patient or the operator position. For example, existing imaging information may be presented as the current motion state of the patient, and additional physical tissue properties, such as stiffness, stress, proton density, or water and fat content, may be included to allow modeling of tissue deformation based on available data and motion sensor information.

In a preferred embodiment according to the invention, the component of the UI is part of a data network, wherein preferably the data network and a scanner (e.g. a magnetic resonance imaging scanner or a CT scanner) are in data communication with each other, wherein the data network preferably comprises the internet and/or a part of a cloud based computing system, wherein preferably the UI or the components of the UI according to the invention are implemented in or controlled by the cloud based computing system. For example, the main components of the UI are aligned in the form of a "server" that collects all relevant information about all relevant patients and is able to control all relevant examination systems. The "server" is capable of connecting to and communicating with clients. These clients are display and input devices (e.g., tablet computers). The information sent to the display of the device and the control functions that can be performed by the device depend on the individual tolerances of the device. Thus, the operator can connect the device with the corresponding login information, and the device can perform an action (display or control) depending on the access authority of the operator. With respect to a patient, the server identifies the client assigned to the patient and sends data only to clients connected to the patient. It should be noted that preferably the operator can log in to the patient device and use the patient device with his/her own access rights.

The method may also include elements of "cloud computing". In the field of "cloud computing", IT infrastructure, e.g. storage space or processing power and/or application software, is provided over a data network. The communication between the user and the "cloud" is realized by means of a data interface and/or a data transmission protocol.

In the context of "cloud computing", in a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, the data is provided to the "cloud" via a data channel (e.g. a data network). The "cloud" includes (remote) computing systems, e.g., a cluster of computers that typically do not include the user's local machine. In particular, the cloud may be available by a medical facility, which also provides a medical imaging system. Specifically, the image acquisition data is sent to a (remote) computer system ("cloud") via a RIS (radiology information system) or a PACS (picture archiving and communication system).

According to a preferred method, patient-specific information (i.e., non-examination information) is processed and displayed in addition to the examination data. This is preferably done initially or in addition to the inspection. With regard to the graphical display, the patient is preferably represented as a patient model, preferably as an avatar. The displayed examination data may be arranged such that it is located at the body region in which the data is measured. With respect to the images, the images may be projected on respective regions of the avatar. Its advantage does: the operator can see a patient-centric user interface. Preferably, the avatar has been characterized by patient specific non-imaging information, e.g. patient details such as size, sex, weight, age, before the first imaging scan has been performed.

Preferably, other clinical parameters than examination data are also available and are also represented by the digital patient model. Once the imaging information is available, the model is preferably employed to conform to the image data.

Digital patient data or examination data may represent information by physical parameters such as tissue type, density and other physical properties such as flow, stress, perfusion, etc. as well as some uncertainty indicators reflecting the fact that the data may originate from different modalities, with different quality levels, e.g. anatomical images from MRI and dynamic real-time US imaging.

According to a preferred method, the patient is tracked, preferably in that the position or movement status of the patient is tracked or the examination and/or adjustment station (acclimatization station) of the patient is tracked. By "tracking" is meant not only real-time measurements of position (e.g. GPS), but also the course of the patient under examination. Since it is generally known where the patient's bed and examination system are located, tracking may also include knowing whether the patient is in bed or under examination by the (defined) examination system.

Preferably, the tracking of the patient motion state is continued when moving from one modality scanner unit to another, e.g. the patient is moved to a point of care (POC) scan at the bedside after a full MRI scan, wherein a portable US or CT scanner is used while previously collected high resolution digital patient data is displayed in the UI.

According to a preferred method, new examination data of the patient is added to the current examination data. This has the advantage that the patient model (e.g. avatar) gets more information for each new scan. Preferably, a part of the new examination data is combined with a part of the current examination data, wherein the parts belong to the same medical environment, preferably the same disease, the same body part or the same examination procedure. Thus, the state of the organ can be updated by a portion of the new examination data about the organ. Further preferably, the check data is combined with a single time stamp. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, in addition to the image data information itself, attributes of data authenticity are added to the patient model.

According to a preferred method, the new examination data represents a difference in the current patient state from the current examination data. This may be referred to as an "incremental" scan. Preferably, the change in state from the initial measurement is displayed. Preferably, the difference is measured directly on the basis of the current examination data or calculated from the new examination data and the current examination data. Further preferably, the new examination data is acquired by and/or during a point-of-care examination. Typically, POC scanners only detect differences in the current patient state compared to previously acquired exam data (which may be higher quality data). Thus, it may be lower quality data, but provide long-term follow-up information for a particular focus area that was detected as found, for example, in the initial high quality scan.

According to a preferred method, during the examination, a combination of localization techniques is applied, preferably a technique called "spatial localization with optimal point spread function" (SLOOP). The method preferably comprises the steps of:

-deriving information about the patient's cavity from the current examination data. The present examination data may be obtained from high resolution anatomical and functional scans. The term "high resolution scan" especially refers to a scan with a higher resolution than the new examination data, especially a scan with a higher resolution of more than 1.5 times, or even more than two times.

-determining an optimal sampling pattern for acquiring new examination data based on the obtained information. The "best sampling pattern" is preferably a predefined sampling pattern defined as being optimal for the resulting information. Preferably, the obtained information is compared with predefined reference information connected to a predefined sampling pattern, and the sampling pattern of the reference information having the highest similarity to the obtained information is used. In this way, "per-chamber" information from a given organ or diseased segment may be detected, for example, in a lower resolution acquisition.

-controlling the examination of the patient using the determined sampling pattern.

The "SLOOP" technique was originally developed to improve the localization of secrets in spectroscopic MR imaging (see, e.g., forEt al "local spectra from anatomical matching room: improved sensitivity and localization of human cardiac 31P-MRS ", JMR134, 2 nd, 10 months 1998, pp 287-299; or Kienlin et al, "human Heart 31P-MR Spectroscopy progression: SLOOP and clinical applications ", JMRI 13: 521-. High resolution image information can be collected in a conventional scan while the altered per-chamber information is sampled in a bedside scanner.

The preferred method comprises the steps of:

providing or recording a first examination data set on the basis of a first examination, in particular on the basis of a high quality scan,

-examining the first set of examination data for local findings,

-determining a location found locally in the patient and/or defined by the user,

recording a second examination data set by a second examination, in particular a POC scan, wherein the region of interest of the second examination comprises a position in the patient.

Preferably, the first examination data set is more accurate than the second examination data set. This means that the first data set has a higher resolution and/or more data and or smaller errors and or higher statistics (preferably more than 1.5 times higher, or even more than two times higher) than the second data set.

For example, if an accumulation of species is detected in a particular organ/chamber in the initial scan (in the first examination dataset), then the affected organ or chamber may be monitored by using local spectral imaging or lower resolution MRI to complete the follow-up under treatment, helping to facilitate follow-up under treatment by a priori information from high quality scans.

Preferably, the high resolution/high quality image data may be automatically segmented into body tissue chambers and the rendered chamber boundaries may be used in bedside situations to optimize POC scanner acquisition protocols or to guide measurements.

The preferred device is designed to be attachable to and detachable from a medical examination system, and is preferably also designed to accompany a patient while moving within a clinical setting and/or is mountable on a patient bed. Especially in a cloud-based IT environment, this may be a simple tablet computer or a touch screen.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptions considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for the purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention.

Drawings

Fig. 1 shows a simplified MRI device according to the prior art.

Fig. 2 shows a simplified embodiment according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows another simplified embodiment according to the present invention.

Fig. 4 shows a block diagram of the process flow of a preferred method according to the invention.

In the drawings, like numbering represents like objects throughout. Objects in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of a magnetic resonance imaging device 1 ("MRI device"). The MRI apparatus 1 includes an actual magnetic resonance scanner (data acquisition unit) 2, the actual magnetic resonance scanner (data acquisition unit) 2 having an examination space 3 or a patient tunnel in which a patient or a tester is positioned on a drive table 8 and an actual examination object is located in the body of the patient or the tester.

The magnetic resonance scanner 2 is typically equipped with a basic field magnet system 4, a gradient system 6, and an RF transmit antenna system 5 and an RF receive antenna system 7. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the RF transmit antenna system 5 is a whole-body coil (whole-body coil) which is permanently mounted in the magnetic resonance scanner 2, in contrast to the RF receive antenna system 7 which is formed as a local coil (here represented by only a single local coil) to be arranged on the patient or test object. In principle, however, the whole-body coil can also be used as an RF receiving antenna system, and the local coils can be switched to different operating modes, respectively.

The basic field magnet system 4 is designed in a typical manner such that it generates a basic magnetic field in the longitudinal direction of the patient (i.e. along the longitudinal axis of the magnetic resonance scanner 2 running in the z direction). The gradient system 6 typically comprises individually controllable gradient coils to be able to switch (activate) the gradients independently of each other in the x-direction, the y-direction or the z-direction.

The MRI device 1 shown here is a whole-body device (whole-body apparatus) with a patient channel into which a patient can be introduced completely. In principle, however, the invention can also be used in other MRI devices, for example with a laterally open, C-shaped housing, and in smaller magnetic resonance scanners in which only one body part can be positioned.

Further, the MRI apparatus 1 has a central control device 13 for controlling the MRI apparatus 1. The central control device 13 comprises a sequence control unit 14 for measurement sequence control. With the sequence control unit 14, the sequence of radio frequency pulses (RF pulses) and gradient pulses can be controlled depending on the selected pulse sequence.

For outputting the individual RF pulses of the pulse sequence, the central control device 13 has a radio-frequency transmission device 15, which radio-frequency transmission device 15 generates and amplifies the RF pulses and feeds them into the RF transmission antenna system 5 via a suitable interface (not shown in detail). For controlling the gradient coils of the gradient system 6, the control device 13 has a gradient system interface 16. The sequence control unit 14 communicates in a suitable manner with the radio frequency transmission means 15 and the gradient system interface 16 for transmitting pulse sequences.

Furthermore, the control device 13 has a radio frequency receiving device 17 (likewise in communication with the sequence control unit 14 in a suitable manner) for acquiring magnetic resonance signals (i.e. raw data) for the respective measurements, which are received in a coordinated manner from the RF receiving antenna system 7 over the range of the pulse sequence.

A reconstruction unit 18 receives the acquired raw data and reconstructs magnetic resonance image data therefrom for measurement. The reconstruction is typically performed based on parameters that may be specified in the respective measurement protocol or control protocol. The image data may then be stored in the memory 19, for example.

The operation of the central control device 13 can be performed via a terminal 10 having an input unit and a display unit 9, and therefore the entire MRI apparatus 1 can also be operated by an operator via the terminal 10. The MR images may also be displayed at the display unit 9 and measurements may be planned and started by means of the input unit (possibly in combination with the display unit 9), and in particular the control protocol may be selected (and possibly modified) with a suitable series of pulse sequences PS as described above.

The MRI device 1 (and in particular the control means 13) may have a plurality of additional components (not shown in detail, but typically present in such devices), such as a network interface, to connect the entire device with a network and to be able to exchange raw data and/or image data, or to exchange parameter maps separately, but also to exchange additional data (e.g. patient-related data or control protocols).

Fig. 2 shows a simplified embodiment according to the present invention. The MRI apparatus (e.g., fig. 1) is shown in an upper left portion, and the CT apparatus 1a is shown in an upper right portion. These two devices represent two different inspection systems.

Here, the tablet computer represents the apparatus 20 and the user interface 12 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The tablet computer comprises a display 25, here also a touch screen as input means. The tablet computer includes: a display data interface 23, which is designed for displaying data on a display 25; an input data interface 24, which is designed for connection to an input device (here a touch screen); a communication interface 22, which is designed for a data connection to the medical examination system 1, 1 a; and a calculation unit 21. It should be noted that the display data interface 23 and the input data interface 24 may be one single physical data interface.

The two double arrows represent a data connection between the medical examination system 1, 1a and the communication interface 22, wherein the data communication between the computing unit 21 and the examination system 1, 1a is realized by the received examination data ED and the control data CD transmitted by the tablet computer to the two examination systems 1, 1 a.

According to the received inspection data, the calculation unit 21 creates display data D1, D2, and transmits the display data D1, D2 to the display 25 on which it is displayed. Shown here on display 25 is avatar a of patient O. The avatar enables a better localization of the examined area.

Furthermore, the calculation unit 21 creates control data CD according to instructions from the user provided on the touch screen and sends the control data CD to the medical examination system 1, 1 a.

Fig. 3 shows another simplified embodiment according to the present invention. The tablet computer should include the same components as shown in fig. 2, although these components are not shown here. Here, the communication interface 22 of the tablet shown in fig. 2 does not serve as a communication interface of the user interface, but as a data interface for internal communication of the user interface 12.

In contrast to fig. 2, here the user interface 12 is formed by the device 20 and the control unit 13 (e.g. in the form of a cloud service). The control unit is connected with the three scanners 2 and is capable of controlling these scanners 2.

Here, it is assumed that the patient associated with the apparatus 20 is examined in the upper scanner 2. If the operator starts the check (e.g. by touching on the touch screen), a corresponding input data ID is created and sent from the tablet computer to the control device 13. Then, the control unit 13 of the user interface 12 transmits control data CD (e.g., an instruction "start inspection") to the upper scanner 2 via the communication interface 22. After the examination, the user interface 12 receives examination data ED from the upper scanner 2 via the communication interface 22. Then, the calculation unit 21 creates the display data D1, and transmits the display data D1 to the tablet computer on which it is displayed.

Fig. 4 shows a block diagram of the process flow of a preferred method according to the invention, designed to operate a medical user interface. In the following, a system as shown in fig. 2 or 3 is considered.

In step I, the state of an input device (e.g., a touch screen) is determined, and in the event that a user's instruction is received, an output is generated based on the instruction. For example, if the operator touches the "start" button on the screen to start an examination using a particular scanner 2, an input data ID is created to generate control data CD to be sent to the scanner 2.

In step II, the control data are transmitted to the medical examination system 1, 1a and/or the medical examination data ED are received from the medical examination system 1, 1a and processed.

In step III, the processed medical examination data ED is displayed. Alternatively or additionally, the data from the medical examination system 1, 1a are displayed in the form of display data D1, D2.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the form of preferred embodiments and variations thereon, it will be understood that numerous additional modifications and variations could be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention. For the sake of clarity, it is to be understood that the use of "a" or "an" in this application does not exclude a plurality, and "comprising" does not exclude other steps or elements. Reference to "a unit" or "a device" does not exclude the use of more than one unit or device.