Abstract:
The invention is a calculus aiming and locking system that is an application computer system and comprises a calculus locating module, an aiming and locking and emission control module, and a shockwave generation module. The calculus locating module acquires and calculates a calculus image of a calculus and the aiming and locking and emission control module determines whether to trigger a shockwave generation module to control a shockwave emission device to emit energy at an effective aiming area according to whether the calculus coordinate is within the effective aiming area. The invention renders the calculus hit rate 100% when the shockwave emission device emits energy, which may save energy substantially and avoid causing injuries to the normal tissue of the patient requiring extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy treatment.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The invention relates to a calculus aiming and locking system, and more particularly, to a calculus aiming and locking system that may lock calculi so that the extracorporeal shockwave lithotripter hit rate may reach 100%. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    Present extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy medical devices utilize a shockwave lithotripter to continuously emit energy of shockwaves with a fixed frequency for a period of time at a patient on a treatment table. 
         [0005]    Although a X-ray imaging system or an ultrasound imaging system is used to acquire the image of the calculus and let the shockwave lithotripter aim at the location of the calculus before the shockwave lithotripsy treatments, since the human body may breathe and move, the movements due to breathing or feeling unwell during the shockwave lithotripsy treatment may cause the energy emitted from the shockwave lithotripter to be directed at normal tissue. Such may cause illness or inflammation while even more severe cases may cause bleeding or rupture of the tissue, which not only has side effects but also may result in serious medical malpractice claims. 
         [0006]    In view of this, the invented extracorporeal shockwave lithotripter and its calculus tracking system in TW Patent No. I279221 may sharply and effectively track and position the calculi in human bodies and contribute profoundly to medical industry. 
         [0007]    However, if a calculus aiming and locking system that directs all the energy emitted by the shockwave lithotripter onto only the calculus by aiming and locking the calculus after locating may be devised and realized, it shall be looked forward to and largely welcomed by users of extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy medical devices and medical technology and equipment industries. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The present invention is a calculus aiming and locking system and is an application computer system, comprising: a calculus locating module, an aiming and locking and emission control module, and a shockwave generation module. The invention renders the calculus hit rate 100% when the shockwave emission device emits energy, which may save energy substantially and avoid causing unnecessary injuries that result from the shockwave emission device emitting energy directed to the normal tissue of the patient. 
         [0009]    The invention provides a calculus aiming and locking system, wherein the calculus aiming and locking system is an application computer system, comprising: a calculus locating module, acquiring a calculus image of a calculus and using a characteristic point of the calculus image to calculate a calculus coordinate corresponding to the characteristic point; and an aiming and locking and emission control module, inputted with the calculus coordinate from the calculus locating module, comparing the calculus coordinate with an effective aiming area and controlling a shockwave generation module to trigger a shockwave emission device to emit energy at the effective aiming area when the calculus coordinate is within the effective aiming area. 
         [0010]    Implementation of the present invention at least involves the following inventive steps: 
         [0011]    (1) the hit rate of the shockwave emission device may reach 100%; 
         [0012]    (2) massive energy may be saved; and 
         [0013]    (3) injuries of the normal tissue of the patient during shockwave lithotripsy treatments are largely reduced. 
         [0014]    The features and advantages of the present invention are detailed hereinafter with reference to the preferred embodiments. The detailed description is intended to enable a person skilled in the art to gain insight into the technical contents disclosed herein and implement the present invention accordingly. In particular, a person skilled in the art can easily understand the objects and advantages of the present invention by referring to the disclosure of the specification, the claims, and the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]    The invention as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0016]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view of an example of the system block diagram of a calculus aiming and locking system of the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is a schematic view of an example of a calculus coordinate and an effective aiming area of the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is a schematic view of an example of the process steps performed by the aiming and locking and emission control module of the present invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is another schematic view of an example of the system block diagram of a calculus aiming and locking system of the present invention; and 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  is a schematic view of an example of the process steps performed by the calculus locating module of the present invention; 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0021]      FIG. 1  shows an embodiment of the calculus aiming and locking system  100 , comprising a calculus locating module  10 , an aiming and locking and emission control module  20 , and a shockwave generation module  30 . The calculus aiming and locking system  100  is an application computer system and may be a personal computer (PC), industrial PC (IPC), embedded PC (EPC), single-board PC, etc., and may be a combination of software, hardware, and application programs. Advantages may include easy assembly, flexible applications, low construction cost, and small required space and is suitable to be combined with shockwave lithotripsy medical devices for usage. 
         [0022]    As shown in  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2 , and  FIG. 4 , the calculus locating module  10  may acquire a calculus image  50  of a calculus from an external imaging device  65  and use a characteristic point  52  of the calculus image  50  to calculate a calculus coordinate  51  corresponding to the characteristic point  52 , wherein the characteristic point  52  may be a brightest point of the calculus image  50  or a relative bright point of the calculus image  50  designated by a user. 
         [0023]    After the calculus locating module  10  acquires the calculus image  50 , the characteristic point  52  of the calculus image  50  is determined by software calculation, hardware comparison, or the combination of the two. Subsequently, the calculus coordinate  51  corresponding to the characteristic point  52  is calculated and outputted. 
         [0024]    As also shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the aiming and locking and emission control module  20  is inputted with the calculus coordinate  51  from the calculus locating module  10  and compares the calculus coordinate  51  with an effective aiming area  61  set by the calculus aiming and locking system  100  and determines whether the calculus coordinate  51  is within the effective aiming area  61 . 
         [0025]    The effective aiming area  61  may be a predetermined area or a focus area of the shockwave emission device  60  combined with the calculus aiming and locking system  100  for usage. The effective aiming area  61  may be a circular area with a diameter between 11 mm and 13 mm, although it may be changed according to actual requirements of application or different shockwave emission devices  60  combined with the calculus aiming and locking system  100  for usage. 
         [0026]    As also shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the shockwave generation module  30  is connected to the aiming and locking and emission control module  20  and is triggered by the aiming and locking and emission control module  20  to control the shockwave emission device  60  to emit energy at the effective aiming area  61 . 
         [0027]    The shockwave emission device  60  emits energy at the effective aiming area  61  by triggering the shockwave emission device  60  via the shockwave generation module  30  to emit energy at the effective aiming area  61  with a specified frequency when the aiming and locking and emission control module  20  successfully aims at the calculus continuously, wherein the specified frequency may be designated to be between 60 times per minute and 240 times per minute. 
         [0028]    Besides, the aiming and locking and emission control module  20  determines whether the calculus has been aimed at and locked according to whether the calculus coordinate  51  is within the effective aiming area  61 , and emits shockwave at the calculus or enters standby and continues to carry out comparison and determination regarding the calculus. 
         [0029]    In other words, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the aiming and locking and emission control module  20  may repeat the steps of: receiving calculus coordinate (step S 10 ); determining whether the calculus is locked (step S 20 ); and triggering the shockwave generation module or entering standby (step S 30 ). 
         [0030]    Receiving calculus coordinate (step S 10 ) is the transmission of the calculus coordinate  51  from the calculus locating module  10  to the aiming and locking and emission control module  20  as described in above. 
         [0031]    Determining whether the calculus is locked (step S 20 ) is for the aiming and locking and emission control module  20  to determine whether the calculus coordinate  51  is within the effective aiming area  61 . 
         [0032]    Triggering the shockwave generation module or entering standby (step S 30 ) depends on the results of the determination of whether the calculus is locked (step S 20 ); the aiming and locking and emission control module  20  triggers the shockwave generation module  30  to emit energy at the calculus when the calculus is determined to be locked (“yes” in step S 20 ), or enters standby for a specified time when the calculus is determined not to be locked (“no” in step S 20 ), wherein the specified time of entering standby may be set to be between 1 ms (millisecond) and 1000 ms according to requirements of application. 
         [0033]    In addition, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the calculus aiming and locking system  100  may further comprise a calculus tracking module  70 , which is connected with the calculus locating module  10  and receives input of the calculus coordinate  51  from the calculus locating module  10 . 
         [0034]    The calculus tracking module  70  as shown in  FIG. 4  may calculate an offset and an offset direction or angle of the calculus coordinate  51  with respect to a center of the effective aiming area  61  and control the movement of a treatment table  80  connected with the calculus aiming and locking system  100  according to the calculated offset and offset direction or angle. 
         [0035]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , the calculus tracking module  70  may repeat the steps of: receiving calculus coordinate (step S 50 ); performing reasonable determination (step S 60 ); measuring distance and direction (step S 70 ); and performing tracking (step S 80 ). 
         [0036]    As shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , receiving calculus coordinate (step S 50 ) is for the calculus tracking module  70  to input the calculus coordinate  51  from the calculus locating module  10 . 
         [0037]    As also shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , performing reasonable determination (step S 60 ) is the confirmation by the calculus tracking module  70  that the distance of the calculus coordinate  51  from the center of the effective aiming area  61  is less than 100 pixels, where the pixels here refer to the pixels of the display connected to the calculus aiming and locking system  100 . 
         [0038]    Performing reasonable determination (step S 60 ) is necessary since when the distance between the calculus coordinate  51  and the center of the effective aiming area  61  is too large, the moving range of the treatment table  80  controllable by the calculus tracking module  70  may be exceeded, and the location of the treatment table  80  must be readjusted and the calculus aiming and locking system  100  must be restarted, 
         [0039]    As also shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , measuring distance and direction (step S 70 ) is to measure the distance and direction of the calculus coordinate  51  from the center of the effective aiming area  61  by the calculus tracking module  70  and to calculate the offset and the offset direction with respect to the center of the effective aiming area  61 . 
         [0040]    As also shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , performing tracking (step S 80 ) is to control the movement of the treatment table  80  according to the offset and the offset direction calculated by the calculus tracking module  70  so that the distance of the calculus coordinate  51  from the center of the effective aiming area  61  is less than 1 mm to track the calculus effectively. 
         [0041]    In summary, when the calculus coordinate  51  representing the location of the calculus is not at the center of the effective aiming area  61 , the calculus tracking module  70  controls the movement of the treatment table  80  so that the calculus coordinate  51  representing the location of the calculus may be as close as possible to the center of the effective aiming area  61  (moved so that the distance from the center of the effective aiming area  61  is less than 1 mm). Therefore, in addition to aiming and locking calculi, the calculus aiming and locking system  100  further has functions to track the calculi which renders the calculus aiming and locking system  100  more efficient in shockwave lithotripsy treatments. 
         [0042]    The embodiments described above are intended only to demonstrate the technical concept and features of the present invention so as to enable a person skilled in the art to understand and implement the contents disclosed herein. It is understood that the disclosed embodiments are not to limit the scope of the present invention. Therefore, all equivalent changes or modifications based on the concept of the present invention should be encompassed by the appended claims.