Patents by Inventor James A. Wheaton

James A. Wheaton has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20250086761
    Abstract: A method, system and computer program product for obtaining first and second sets of image data generated by performing a series of MRI sequences using first and second different transmit RF parameters; calculating a correlation map from the first and second sets of image data; and correcting the first set of image data using the calculated correlation map to obtain a corrected image. Also disclosed is a method, system and computer program product for determining at least two transmit RF parameters by: obtaining spatially-resolved B1 amplitude measurements; performing at least two spatially-resolved analyses on the obtained spatially-resolved B1 amplitude measurements to obtain at least two sub-sets of spatially-resolved B1 amplitude measurements; determining at least two transmit RF parameters to be used in a series of MRI sequences based on the obtained at least two sub-sets of spatially-resolved B1 amplitude measurements; and storing the at least two transmit RF parameters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2023
    Publication date: March 13, 2025
    Applicant: CANON MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Andrew James WHEATON
  • Publication number: 20250076436
    Abstract: A method for determining an intensity-corrected magnetic resonance image includes acquiring B1 projection data of a patient using a magnetic resonance imaging system. The method also includes determining a transmit map using only the acquired B1 projection data. The method further includes acquiring an image of a patient using magnetic resonance imaging system and correcting an image intensity of the acquired image using the determined set of maps. The method also includes outputting the corrected image of the patient.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 6, 2023
    Publication date: March 6, 2025
    Applicant: CANON MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Andrew JAMES WHEATON, Yoshinori HAMAMURA
  • Publication number: 20250076422
    Abstract: A method, system and computer program product for performing imagine processing including obtaining spatially-resolved B1 amplitude measurements obtained using at least one RF parameter; performing at least one spatially-resolved analysis on the obtained spatially-resolved B1 amplitude measurements; determining an updated value of the at least one RF parameter to be used in a series of MRI sequences based on the performed spatially-resolved analysis; and storing the updated value of the at least one RF parameter. The updated value of the at least one RF parameter can then be used to perform the series of MRI sequences.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 6, 2023
    Publication date: March 6, 2025
    Applicant: CANON MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Andrew James WHEATON
  • Publication number: 20250004087
    Abstract: A method and system for modifying a series of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan sequences for use in a single MRI examination. In one embodiment, a method and system intersperse a set of B1 amplitude measurement sequences within a received series of MRI scan sequences such that an RF parameter value of at least one scan sequence of the received series of MRI scan sequences is altered based on the results of at least one of the interspersed set of B1 amplitude measurement sequences.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2023
    Publication date: January 2, 2025
    Applicant: CANON MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Andrew James WHEATON
  • Patent number: 12169931
    Abstract: An apparatus for magnetic resonance imaging includes processing circuitry to obtain a set of sequence instructions for performing a magnetic resonance scan; partition the obtained set of sequence instructions into a plurality of kernels by determining partition time points defining boundaries of the plurality of kernels, wherein the partition time points are not equally spaced in time; convert a first kernel of the plurality of kernels into a first hardware instruction set; transmit the first hardware instruction set to a hardware board controller for execution; and reconstruct a magnetic resonance image from received data, including data obtained by executing the first kernel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2024
    Assignee: CANON MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Andrew James Wheaton, Joseph Manak, Bradley Stephens
  • Publication number: 20240358269
    Abstract: A method for performing patient-specific B1 field shimming in a magnetic resonance imaging system includes obtaining patient information of a patient to be imaged by the magnetic resonance imaging system. The method further includes determining an orientation of a projection based on the obtained patient information. The method also includes acquiring B1 projection data, using the magnetic resonance imaging system, along the determined orientation of the projection. In addition, the method includes determining a set of B1 shimming parameters based on the acquired B1 projection data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 28, 2023
    Publication date: October 31, 2024
    Applicant: CANON MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Andrew James Wheaton, Wayne R. Dannels
  • Patent number: 11704785
    Abstract: Embodiments are directed to techniques for image content extraction. Some embodiments include extracting contextually structured data from document images, such as by automatically identifying document layout, document data, document metadata, and/or correlations therebetween in a document image, for instance. Some embodiments utilize breakpoints to enable the system to match different documents with internal variations to a common template. Several embodiments include extracting contextually structured data from table images, such as gridded and non-gridded tables. Many embodiments are directed to generating and utilizing a document template database for automatically extracting document image contents into a contextually structured format. Several embodiments are directed to automatically identifying and associating document metadata with corresponding document data in a document image to generate a machine-facilitated annotation of the document image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: SAS INSTITUTE INC.
    Inventors: David James Wheaton, Stuart Dakari Cooke, III, William Robert Nadolski
  • Publication number: 20230206427
    Abstract: An apparatus for magnetic resonance imaging includes processing circuitry to obtain a set of sequence instructions for performing a magnetic resonance scan; partition the obtained set of sequence instructions into a plurality of kernels by determining partition time points defining boundaries of the plurality of kernels, wherein the partition time points are not equally spaced in time; convert a first kernel of the plurality of kernels into a first hardware instruction set; transmit the first hardware instruction set to a hardware board controller for execution; and reconstruct a magnetic resonance image from received data, including data obtained by executing the first kernel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2021
    Publication date: June 29, 2023
    Applicant: CANON MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Andrew JAMES WHEATON, Joseph MANAK, Bradley STEPHENS
  • Publication number: 20220392047
    Abstract: Embodiments are directed to techniques for image content extraction. Some embodiments include extracting contextually structured data from document images, such as by automatically identifying document layout, document data, document metadata, and/or correlations therebetween in a document image, for instance. Some embodiments utilize breakpoints to enable the system to match different documents with internal variations to a common template. Several embodiments include extracting contextually structured data from table images, such as gridded and non-gridded tables. Many embodiments are directed to generating and utilizing a document template database for automatically extracting document image contents into a contextually structured format. Several embodiments are directed to automatically identifying and associating document metadata with corresponding document data in a document image to generate a machine-facilitated annotation of the document image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 17, 2022
    Publication date: December 8, 2022
    Applicant: SAS Institute Inc.
    Inventors: David James Wheaton, Stuart Dakari Cooke, III, William Robert Nadolski
  • Patent number: 11443416
    Abstract: Various embodiments are generally directed to techniques for image content extraction. Some embodiments include extracting contextually structured data from document images, such as by automatically identifying document layout, document data, document metadata, and/or correlations therebetween in a document image, for instance. Several embodiments include extracting contextually structured data from table images, such as gridded and non-gridded tables. For example, the contents of cells may be extracted from a table image along with structural context including the corresponding row and column information. Many embodiments are directed to generating and utilizing a document template database for automatically extracting document image contents into a contextually structured format. Several embodiments are directed to automatically identifying and associating document metadata with corresponding document data in a document image to generate a machine-facilitated annotation of the document image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: SAS INSTITUTE INC.
    Inventors: Yi Liao, Charles Franklin Board, William Robert Nadolski, David James Wheaton, Heather Michelle Goodykoontz, Adheesha Sanjuaya Arangala, Karthik Nakkeeran
  • Patent number: 11389077
    Abstract: An apparatus and method are provided to simultaneously provide good image quality and fast image reconstruction from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data by selecting an appropriate value for the regularization parameter used in compressed sensing (CS) image reconstruction. In CS reconstruction a high-resolution image can be reconstructed from randomized undersampled data by imposing sparsity in multi-scale transformation (e.g., wavelet) domain. Further, in the transformation domain, a threshold can be determined between signal and noise levels of the transform coefficients. A regularization parameter based on this threshold scales the regularization term, which imposes sparsity, relative to the data fidelity term in an objective function, thereby balancing the tradeoff between noise and smoothing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: CANON MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Andrew James Wheaton, Antonios Matakos, Samir Dev Sharma
  • Patent number: 11255941
    Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided to perform controlled aliasing in parallel imaging (CAIPI) using time shifts between the radio frequency (RF) excitation pulses and the waveform of the slice-select gradient field to shift respective sampling points within the two-dimensions of k-space corresponding to phase encoding. Thus, a CAIPI sampling pattern is generated using time shifts, rather than by modulating the RF excitation pulses or gradient fields.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: CANON MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Andrew James Wheaton
  • Publication number: 20210366099
    Abstract: Various embodiments are generally directed to techniques for image content extraction. Some embodiments include extracting contextually structured data from document images, such as by automatically identifying document layout, document data, document metadata, and/or correlations therebetween in a document image, for instance. Several embodiments include extracting contextually structured data from table images, such as gridded and non-gridded tables. For example, the contents of cells may be extracted from a table image along with structural context including the corresponding row and column information. Many embodiments are directed to generating and utilizing a document template database for automatically extracting document image contents into a contextually structured format. Several embodiments are directed to automatically identifying and associating document metadata with corresponding document data in a document image to generate a machine-facilitated annotation of the document image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 9, 2021
    Publication date: November 25, 2021
    Applicant: SAS Institute Inc.
    Inventors: Yi Liao, Charles Franklin Board, William Robert Nadolski, David James Wheaton, Heather Michelle Goodykoontz, Adheesha Sanjuaya Arangala, Karthik Nakkeeran
  • Publication number: 20210325498
    Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided to perform controlled aliasing in parallel imaging (CAIPI) using time shifts between the radio frequency (RF) excitation pulses and the waveform of the slice-select gradient field to shift respective sampling points within the two-dimensions of k-space corresponding to phase encoding. Thus, a CAIPI sampling pattern is generated using time shifts, rather than by modulating the RF excitation pulses or gradient fields.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 17, 2020
    Publication date: October 21, 2021
    Applicant: CANON MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Andrew James WHEATON
  • Publication number: 20210315475
    Abstract: An apparatus and method are provided to simultaneously provide good image quality and fast image reconstruction from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data by selecting an appropriate value for the regularization parameter used in compressed sensing (CS) image reconstruction. In CS reconstruction a high-resolution image can be reconstructed from randomized undersampled data by imposing sparsity in multi-scale transformation (e.g., wavelet) domain. Further, in the transformation domain, a threshold can be determined between signal and noise levels of the transform coefficients. A regularization parameter based on this threshold scales the regularization term, which imposes sparsity, relative to the data fidelity term in an objective function, thereby balancing the tradeoff between noise and smoothing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 6, 2021
    Publication date: October 14, 2021
    Applicant: CANON MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Andrew James WHEATON, Antonios MATAKOS, Samir Dev SHARMA
  • Patent number: 11087077
    Abstract: Embodiments are generally directed to techniques for extracting contextually structured data from document images, such as by automatically identifying document layout, document data, and/or document metadata in a document image, for instance. Many embodiments are particularly directed to generating and utilizing a document template database for automatically extracting document image contents into a contextually structured format. For example, the document template database may include a plurality of templates for identifying/explaining key data elements in various document image formats that can be used to extract contextually structured data from incoming document images with a matching document image format. Several embodiments are particularly directed to automatically identifying and associating document metadata with corresponding document data in a document image, such as for generating a machine-facilitated annotation of the document image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignee: SAS INSTITUTE INC.
    Inventors: David James Wheaton, William Robert Nadolski, Heather Michelle GoodyKoontz
  • Patent number: 11064901
    Abstract: An apparatus and method are provided to simultaneously provide good image quality and fast image reconstruction from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data by selecting an appropriate value for the regularization parameter used in compressed sensing (CS) image reconstruction. In CS reconstruction a high-resolution image can be reconstructed from randomized undersampled data by imposing sparsity in multi-scale transformation (e.g., wavelet) domain. Further, in the transformation domain, a threshold can be determined between signal and noise levels of the transform coefficients. A regularization parameter based on this threshold scales the regularization term, which imposes sparsity, relative to the data fidelity term in an objective function, thereby balancing the tradeoff between noise and smoothing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2021
    Assignee: CANON MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Andrew James Wheaton, Antonios Matakos, Samir Dev Sharma
  • Publication number: 20210200937
    Abstract: Embodiments are generally directed to techniques for extracting contextually structured data from document images, such as by automatically identifying document layout, document data, and/or document metadata in a document image, for instance. Many embodiments are particularly directed to generating and utilizing a document template database for automatically extracting document image contents into a contextually structured format. For example, the document template database may include a plurality of templates for identifying/explaining key data elements in various document image formats that can be used to extract contextually structured data from incoming document images with a matching document image format. Several embodiments are particularly directed to automatically identifying and associating document metadata with corresponding document data in a document image, such as for generating a machine-facilitated annotation of the document image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 5, 2020
    Publication date: July 1, 2021
    Applicant: SAS Institute Inc.
    Inventors: David James Wheaton, William Robert Nadolski, Heather Michelle GoodyKoontz
  • Patent number: 11049235
    Abstract: Embodiments are generally directed to techniques for extracting contextually structured data from document images, such as by automatically identifying document layout, document data, and/or document metadata in a document image, for instance. Many embodiments are particularly directed to generating and utilizing a document template database for automatically extracting document image contents into a contextually structured format. For example, the document template database may include a plurality of templates for identifying/explaining key data elements in various document image formats that can be used to extract contextually structured data from incoming document images with a matching document image format. Several embodiments are particularly directed to automatically identifying and associating document metadata with corresponding document data in a document image, such as for generating a machine-facilitated annotation of the document image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2021
    Assignee: SAS INSTITUTE INC.
    Inventors: David James Wheaton, William Robert Nadolski, Heather Michelle GoodyKoontz
  • Patent number: 11041927
    Abstract: An apparatus and method of detecting a characteristic in an image is performed by obtaining, from an image capturing apparatus, raw signal data formed from a plurality of data samples and including a signal of interest captured by the image capturing apparatus and classifying, using a neural network, samples other than the signal of interest using a classifier having been determined using a first parameter based on information about the sample and a second parameter based on information identifying a position of the sample within the raw image data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2021
    Assignee: CANON MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Andrew James Wheaton, Anuj Sharma