The field of the invention is systems and methods for interfacing with a medical imaging device. More particularly, the invention relates to an interactive user interface for a medical imaging device that employs a position or tilt detector to control an orientation or tilt of an imaging plane of an imaging device.
Medical imaging devices, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices, computed topography (CT) devices, positron emission tomography (PET) devices, ultrasound devices, and the like are often used to facilitate medical procedures. During a procedure, the imaging devices allow a physician to observe the internal structures of a patient's body in order to accurately interact with one or more of those structures.
In the case of biopsies, for example, the imaging device can assist the physician in accurately penetrating a mass inside the patient with a needle in order to extract an amount of fluid or tissue therefrom. Without the imaging device, the physician may need to use an incision in the patient in order to directly observe and identify the material containing the mass.
Imaging device-guided procedures may also involve the delivery of medication or other substances to particular tissues in a patient. Brachytherapy for example, is a procedure that involves the internal delivery of radiation to a patient's tissues. The procedure can be used in the treatment of various cancers (e.g., cervical, prostate, or breast cancer). To ensure that the radiation is delivered to the correct tissue, imaging devices can be used to guide the physician in correctly positioning the radiation source. Many different procedures can be facilitated by the concurrent use of medical imaging.
Of the available imaging devices, MRI is a uniquely useful tool for prostate biopsy and brachytherapy due to MRI's capability to delineate lesions from normal tissue without exposing the patient and physician to ionizing radiation during imaging. Sometimes, the imagery generated using MRI is used only for planning and confirmation of needle placement. In other instances, however, MRI is used to acquire a cross-sectional real-time image of the procedure site from an oblique plane; with sequential two-dimensional images acquired from a plane along the needle. Such imagery allows a physician to monitor the needle with respect to the targeted lesion and adjust the needle insertion path interactively.
Unfortunately, in conventional medical imaging systems, it is difficult to position an imaging plane of the imaging device perpendicularly to the needle's path to facilitate observation. The current position of the needle must be tracked during the process. Additionally, even when the needle is numerically guided by a template or a sophisticated MRI-compatible robotic device, the trajectory of the needle may go out of the imaging plane due to positioning error or deflection of the needle.
Even though modern MRI systems allow for adjusting the orientation and position of the device's imaging plane using a graphical user interface, the physician cannot interact with the user interface in the scanner room due to the lack of portability and intuitiveness of the interface, which is often provided via a separate computer system.
Many imaging systems allow a physician to modify the imaging plane of the imaging system. Conventional systems, however, rely upon user interfaces including a conventional mouse, keyboard, and display, which are not suitable for in-theatre use (e.g., interactive imaging for interventional guidance) due to a lack of portability and do not provide a convenient interface for manipulating a two-dimensional viewing plane in three-dimensional space.