New Patents III

4868502

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING METHOD AND APPARATUS THEREFOR

Kazushi Hanakawa, Kiyoshi Yoda, Hyogo, Japan assigned to Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha

A magnetic resonance imaging method and ap- paratus for obtaining images of slices of a body placed in a static magnetic field. During the sam- pling of one NMR signal, an additional second gradient magnetic field is impressed on the body to acquire data. These data are additionally sam- pled during each sampling. This enables the number of data to be increased and the number of repetitions to be reduced, thereby ac- complishing a Fourier transformation at a higher speed.

4868651

DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHY WITH IMAGE BRIGHTNESS AND

CONTRAST NORMALIZATION

Tzeyang J Chou, Marshal Ma, Ralph Flatau, Fred Elderbroom assigned to S&S Inficon Inc

A process for enhancing a still video image can correct digital fluoroscopy images which are under- or overexposed and have their image brightness values concentrated to one end of the gray scale. A pixel histogram is formed, but is clipped at a low value. Then, a cumulative histogram is formed from the clipped histogram. The cumulative histogram, which has a generally linear slope, is normalized and is used for map- ping the brightness of luminance values of the original image. The new values form an optimal video image with the gray scale values spread over the entire range. The image shows details not only in the middle gray areas, but in the light and dark areas as well.

4868747

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMIC COMPUTED

TOMOGRAPHY SCANNING AT CYCLIC DISPLACEMENT POINTS

Issei Mori, Tadatoki Yoshida, Tochigi, Japan assigned to Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

A computed tomography method and system for performing dynamic scans of objects under- going cyclic displacement, for example a human heart. Characteristic curves are generated from images reconstructed from projection data syn- chronized with the cyclic displacement of the ob- ject. Each image reflects one displacement cycle of the object, and consists of projection data col- lected, in one case, within a phase window cen- tered on a specified phase of cyclic displacement of the object, and in another case, consists of projection data collected between two specified phases of cyclic displacement.

4868748

RAPID PROCESSING OF THREE- DIMENSIONAL GRAPHICAL

OBJECTS FROM TOMOGRAPHIC DATA

Carl R Crawford, David M Frazee, Enrique Santos assigned to General Electric Company

Three-dimensional objects within a tomographic data-base are extracted for viewing by comparing the tomographic data to a pre- determined threshold or range defining the ob- ject boundaries. A surface extraction method is structured so as to allow for several vector opera- tions, thus adapting the method for implementa- tion using an array processor.

4869247

VIDEO TUMOR FIGHTING SYSTEM

Matthew A Howard, Rogers Ritter, M Sean Grady assigned to The University of Virginia Alumni Patents Foundation

A destructive heat lesion is placed in any loca- tion in the brain. A patient’s head is secured within a stereotactic frame. After a high resolu- tion CT scan and angiogram or MRI, data is in- corporated and analyzed by a computer. This information is then resynthesized and projected as a video image on a screen facing the surgeon. A small magnetic object, perhaps a ball, is in- serted into the patient’s head via a burr hole dril- led through the patient’s skull. Using, real time fluoroscopic data superimposed on the compu- ter image of three-dimensional structures, the surgeon is able to control and manipulate the ob- ject through the patient’s soft brain tissue to a position next to or inside of the tumor area. An