Patent ID: 9014452
Filing Date: 2015-04-21
Classification: G06K,G06T

Abstract:
1. A method of identifying candidate inter-tissue boundary lines in an ultrasound image, comprising: using a data processing device to implement the following steps: accessing an input ultrasound image, said input ultrasound image including rows and columns of pixels; identifying candidate boundary lines by: (a) dividing said input ultrasound image into discrete, sequential depth positions, each discrete depth position being defined by a fixed number of rows of pixels; (b) defining a plurality of horizontal band regions, each horizontal band region corresponding to a separate one of said discrete depth positions and fully encompassing its corresponding depth position, each horizontal band region spanning a plurality of sequential depth positions; (c) progressing, one discrete depth position at a time, along said input ultrasound image, and at each, current, depth position executing the following steps: (d) collecting the intensity values of candidate lines recorded at the different depth positions into an intensity-depth histogram; (e) identifying as said candidate inter-tissue boundary lines the candidate lines that substantially correspond to peaks in said intensity-depth histogram.