Patent Document ID: 9558405
Application ID: 14598480
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method, comprising: acquiring, with a transducer array, frames of real-time imaging data of at least a sub-portion of an object and a region of interest therein during a procedure; displaying the real-time imaging data as the real-time imaging data is obtained; tracking extraction of a sample from the region of interest by an extraction device based on the real-time imaging data by: comparing intensity values of pairs of successive frames of the acquired frames; indentifying a pair of frames of the acquired frames in which an intensity value difference in the region of interest between the pair of successive frames exceeds a pre-determined threshold, which indicates a transition from an absence of an extraction sub-portion of the extraction device in the region of interest to a presence of the extraction sub-portion in the region of interest; indentifying a first frame, which is acquired after the indentified pair of frames, in which a length of the extraction sub-portion increases in the region of interest from a first direction relative to the extraction device, from a comparison of intensity values of the first frame and a frame preceding the first frame; indentifying a second frame, which is acquired after the indentified first frame, in which the length of the extraction sub-portion decreases in the region of interest from the first direction relative to the extraction device, from a comparison of intensity values of the second frame with a frame preceding the second frame; determining a maximum travel distance of the extraction sub-portion by extrapolation between the first and second identified frames; computing a location of the extracted sample in the region of interest with the maximum travel distance; and computing a time of the extraction based on a first time of the first frame and a second time of the second frame; and storing the location of the extracted sample and the time of the extraction with the acquired frames.