1. A reconstruction apparatus for participating in multiplanar reconstruction of medical images, comprising: a communication unit and a processor;

the processor is used for determining a reconstruction task corresponding to the reconstruction equipment; the reconstruction task is used for indicating a data group for reconstruction processing, and the data group is obtained by dividing a plurality of medical images for constructing a multi-plane image;

reconstructing medical images included in a data set in a reconstruction task corresponding to reconstruction equipment to obtain reconstructed sub-images;

constructing a multi-plane reconstructed image according to the reconstructed sub-images corresponding to all the data sets;

the communication unit is used for sending the reconstructed sub-images to other reconstruction equipment participating in the multi-plane reconstruction of the medical images and acquiring the reconstructed sub-images which are obtained by performing reconstruction processing based on reconstruction tasks corresponding to the other reconstruction equipment.

2. The reconstruction device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

transmitting information of a data group of a reconstructed sub-image in the reconstruction equipment to other reconstruction equipment;

receiving requests for reconstructing sub-images in the reconstruction equipment sent by other reconstruction equipment;

and sending the requested reconstructed sub-image to other reconstruction equipment which sends the received request.

3. The reconstruction device of claim 1, wherein the processor is specifically configured to:

acquiring information of data groups of reconstructed sub-images in other reconstruction equipment, which is sent by the other reconstruction equipment;

determining candidate reconstruction devices from the other reconstruction devices based on the information of the data set, wherein the candidate reconstruction devices are other reconstruction devices having reconstructed sub-images which the reconstruction devices do not have;

and acquiring a reconstructed sub-image which is not obtained by the reconstruction equipment through part or all of the candidate reconstruction equipment.

4. The reconstruction device of claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to:

and sending information of the data group containing the obtained reconstructed sub-images which are not obtained by the reconstruction equipment to the other reconstruction equipment.

5. The reconstruction apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the processor is specifically configured to:

dividing a plurality of medical images for constructing a multi-plane image to obtain a plurality of data groups; generating reconstruction tasks according to the plurality of data groups, and selecting a reconstruction task corresponding to the reconstruction equipment from the reconstruction tasks; or

And receiving the reconstruction tasks sent by other reconstruction devices.

6. The reconstruction device of claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured to:

and determining the reconstruction task corresponding to each other reconstruction device, and sending the reconstruction tasks corresponding to the other reconstruction devices to the corresponding other reconstruction devices.

7. The reconstruction device of claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured to:

detecting the completion condition of a reconstruction task corresponding to the equipment;

if the number of the devices which finish the corresponding reconstruction tasks is larger than a preset value and target devices which do not finish all the reconstruction tasks within a preset time period exist, the target devices which do not finish the reconstruction tasks are redistributed to the devices which finish all the reconstruction tasks, and the target devices are informed to cancel execution of the redistributed reconstruction tasks.

8. A medical image multi-plane reconstruction method, applied to a reconstruction device participating in medical image multi-plane reconstruction, the method comprising:

determining a reconstruction task corresponding to reconstruction equipment; the reconstruction task is used for indicating a data group for reconstruction processing, and the data group is obtained by dividing a plurality of medical images for constructing a multi-plane image;

reconstructing medical images included in a data set in a reconstruction task corresponding to reconstruction equipment to obtain reconstructed sub-images;

sending the reconstructed sub-image to other reconstruction equipment participating in the multi-plane reconstruction of the medical image, and acquiring a reconstructed sub-image obtained by performing reconstruction processing based on a reconstruction task corresponding to the other reconstruction equipment;

and constructing a multi-plane reconstructed image according to the reconstructed sub-images corresponding to all the data sets.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein after the medical image included in the data set in the reconstruction task corresponding to the reconstruction device is reconstructed to obtain the reconstructed sub-image, and before the reconstructed sub-image is sent to other reconstruction devices participating in the multi-plane reconstruction of the medical image, the method further comprises:

transmitting information of a data group of a reconstructed sub-image in the reconstruction equipment to other reconstruction equipment;

receiving requests for reconstructing sub-images in the reconstruction equipment sent by other reconstruction equipment;

the sending of the reconstructed sub-images to other reconstruction devices participating in the multi-plane reconstruction of the medical image comprises:

and sending the requested reconstructed sub-image to other reconstruction equipment which sends the received request.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein obtaining the reconstructed sub-image obtained by performing the reconstruction processing based on the reconstruction tasks corresponding to the other reconstruction devices comprises:

acquiring information of data groups of reconstructed sub-images in other reconstruction equipment, which is sent by the other reconstruction equipment;

determining candidate reconstruction devices from the other reconstruction devices based on the information of the data set, wherein the candidate reconstruction devices are other reconstruction devices having reconstructed sub-images which the reconstruction devices do not have;

and acquiring a reconstructed sub-image which is not obtained by the reconstruction equipment through part or all of the candidate reconstruction equipment.

Background

In a multi-party image collaborative scenario, if a multi-planar reconstruction (MPR) function is to be used, the client of each party performs an MPR reconstruction operation on the case image locally. Generally, a group of inspection images is more than hundreds of images, a large amount of memory and processing resources are required to perform operation on image data in the MPR reconstruction process, the efficiency of MPR reconstruction is different and is fast or slow due to different computer configurations of each client, and in a collaboration scene, in order to synchronize the collaboration state of MPR images of each client, the collaboration operation of the MPR images can be continued after all clients complete the MPR reconstruction. Due to the fact that the real-time performance requirement of the collaborative scene is high, if the conditions that the configuration of a certain participant client is low and the MPR reconstruction consumes long time exist in the participant clients, other users need to wait, and the synchronism is poor.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a reconstruction device and a medical image multi-plane reconstruction method.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a reconstruction apparatus participating in multi-plane reconstruction of medical images, including: a communication unit and a processor;

the processor is used for determining a reconstruction task corresponding to the reconstruction equipment; the reconstruction task is used for indicating a data group for reconstruction processing, and the data group is obtained by dividing a plurality of medical images for constructing a multi-plane image;

reconstructing medical images included in a data set in a reconstruction task corresponding to reconstruction equipment to obtain reconstructed sub-images;

constructing a multi-plane reconstructed image according to the reconstructed sub-images corresponding to all the data sets;

the communication unit is used for sending the reconstructed sub-images to other reconstruction equipment participating in the multi-plane reconstruction of the medical images and acquiring the reconstructed sub-images which are obtained by performing reconstruction processing based on reconstruction tasks corresponding to the other reconstruction equipment.

The reconstruction device divides a plurality of medical images into a plurality of data groups, then the data groups form reconstruction tasks, the reconstruction device executes the reconstruction tasks to obtain sub-images, and then the reconstruction device sends the sub-images of the reconstruction device to other reconstruction devices, so that each reconstruction device can obtain the reconstructed sub-images corresponding to all the data groups, and then the multi-plane reconstructed images are constructed.

In one possible implementation, the processor is further configured to:

transmitting information of a data group of a reconstructed sub-image in the reconstruction equipment to other reconstruction equipment;

receiving requests for reconstructing sub-images in the reconstruction equipment sent by other reconstruction equipment;

and sending the requested reconstructed sub-image to other reconstruction equipment which sends the received request.

According to the reconstruction equipment, the information of the data group of the reconstructed sub-image is sent to other reconstruction equipment, so that the selection right is on other reconstruction equipment, other reconstruction equipment can request the reconstruction sub-image from the reconstruction equipment or not, and the selection right is given to other reconstruction equipment, so that the problem that the processing speed of the equipment is slow due to the fact that a plurality of pieces of equipment request the reconstruction sub-image from the same equipment can be effectively solved.

In one possible implementation, the processor is specifically configured to:

acquiring information of data groups of reconstructed sub-images in other reconstruction equipment, which is sent by the other reconstruction equipment;

determining candidate reconstruction devices from the other reconstruction devices based on the information of the data set, wherein the candidate reconstruction devices are other reconstruction devices having reconstructed sub-images which the reconstruction devices do not have;

and acquiring a reconstructed sub-image which is not obtained by the reconstruction equipment through part or all of the candidate reconstruction equipment.

The reconstruction device can acquire the information of the data group with the reconstructed sub-image of other devices, so that the candidate reconstruction device can be selected from the other reconstruction devices, and the reconstructed sub-image which is not owned by the candidate reconstruction device is acquired, so that the reconstructed sub-image which is not owned by the candidate reconstruction device is acquired by the candidate reconstruction device, and the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to all the data groups is acquired by the device to form the whole image.

In one possible implementation, the processor is further configured to:

and sending information of the data group containing the obtained reconstructed sub-images which are not obtained by the reconstruction equipment to the other reconstruction equipment.

The reconstruction device sends the own reconstructed sub-image to other reconstruction devices after acquiring the non-own reconstructed sub-image, so that other devices can acquire the reconstructed sub-image from the device of the reconstructed sub-image obtained by the non-reconstruction task, and the processing pressure of the device can be avoided because other devices only request the reconstructed sub-image from the device of the reconstructed sub-image obtained by the reconstruction task.

In one possible implementation, the processor is specifically configured to:

dividing a plurality of medical images for constructing a multi-plane image to obtain a plurality of data groups; generating reconstruction tasks according to the plurality of data groups, and selecting a reconstruction task corresponding to the reconstruction equipment from the reconstruction tasks; or

And receiving the reconstruction tasks sent by other reconstruction devices.

The reconstruction device can determine the reconstruction task by itself and can also receive the reconstruction tasks sent by other reconstruction devices, so that all tasks distributed to reconstruction in the devices participating in reconstruction can be realized, and the convenience of processing is improved.

In one possible implementation, the processor is further configured to:

and determining the reconstruction task corresponding to each other reconstruction device, and sending the reconstruction tasks corresponding to the other reconstruction devices to the corresponding other reconstruction devices.

The reconstruction equipment can provide the function of distributing the reconstruction tasks to other reconstruction equipment after dividing a plurality of data groups, thereby realizing the distribution of all the tasks for reconstruction in the equipment participating in reconstruction and improving the convenience of processing.

In one possible implementation, the processor is further configured to:

detecting the completion condition of a reconstruction task corresponding to the equipment;

if the number of the devices which finish the corresponding reconstruction tasks is larger than a preset value and target devices which do not finish all the reconstruction tasks within a preset time period exist, the target devices which do not finish the reconstruction tasks are redistributed to the devices which finish all the reconstruction tasks, and the target devices are informed to cancel execution of the redistributed reconstruction tasks.

According to the reconstruction device, after the number of devices which complete the corresponding reconstruction tasks is larger than a preset value and target devices which do not complete all the reconstruction tasks within a preset time period exist, the target devices are indicated that the reconstruction tasks progress slowly, so that the reconstruction tasks are sent to the devices which complete the corresponding reconstruction tasks, and the reconstruction efficiency is improved.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a medical image multi-plane reconstruction method, which is applied to a reconstruction apparatus participating in medical image multi-plane reconstruction, and the method includes:

determining a reconstruction task corresponding to reconstruction equipment; the reconstruction task is used for indicating a data group for reconstruction processing, and the data group is obtained by dividing a plurality of medical images for constructing a multi-plane image;

reconstructing medical images included in a data set in a reconstruction task corresponding to reconstruction equipment to obtain reconstructed sub-images;

sending the reconstructed sub-image to other reconstruction equipment participating in the multi-plane reconstruction of the medical image, and acquiring a reconstructed sub-image obtained by performing reconstruction processing based on a reconstruction task corresponding to the other reconstruction equipment;

and constructing a multi-plane reconstructed image according to the reconstructed sub-images corresponding to all the data sets.

In a possible implementation manner, after the medical image included in the data set in the reconstruction task corresponding to the reconstruction device is reconstructed to obtain the reconstructed sub-image, and before the reconstructed sub-image is sent to another reconstruction device participating in the multi-plane reconstruction of the medical image, the method further includes:

transmitting information of a data group of a reconstructed sub-image in the reconstruction equipment to other reconstruction equipment;

receiving requests for reconstructing sub-images in the reconstruction equipment sent by other reconstruction equipment;

the sending of the reconstructed sub-images to other reconstruction devices participating in the multi-plane reconstruction of the medical image comprises:

and sending the requested reconstructed sub-image to other reconstruction equipment which sends the received request.

In a possible implementation manner, the obtaining of the reconstructed sub-image obtained by performing the reconstruction processing based on the reconstruction tasks corresponding to the other reconstruction devices includes:

acquiring information of data groups of reconstructed sub-images in other reconstruction equipment, which is sent by the other reconstruction equipment;

determining candidate reconstruction devices from the other reconstruction devices based on the information of the data set, wherein the candidate reconstruction devices are other reconstruction devices having reconstructed sub-images which the reconstruction devices do not have;

and acquiring a reconstructed sub-image which is not obtained by the reconstruction equipment through part or all of the candidate reconstruction equipment.

In a possible implementation manner, after obtaining the reconstructed sub-image that the second device does not have from the selected candidate devices, the method further includes:

and sending information of the data group containing the obtained reconstructed sub-images which are not obtained by the reconstruction equipment to the other reconstruction equipment.

In a possible implementation manner, determining a reconstruction task corresponding to a reconstruction device includes:

dividing a plurality of medical images for constructing a multi-plane image to obtain a plurality of data groups; generating reconstruction tasks according to the plurality of data groups, and selecting a reconstruction task corresponding to the reconstruction equipment from the reconstruction tasks; or

And receiving the reconstruction tasks sent by other reconstruction devices.

In one possible implementation, after generating the reconstruction task from the plurality of data sets, the method further includes:

and determining the reconstruction task corresponding to each other reconstruction device, and sending the reconstruction tasks corresponding to the other reconstruction devices to the corresponding other reconstruction devices.

In a possible implementation manner, after sending the reconstruction tasks corresponding to the other reconstruction devices to the corresponding other reconstruction devices, the method further includes:

detecting the completion condition of a reconstruction task corresponding to the equipment;

if the number of the devices which finish the corresponding reconstruction tasks is larger than a preset value and target devices which do not finish all the reconstruction tasks within a preset time period exist, the target devices which do not finish the reconstruction tasks are redistributed to the devices which finish all the reconstruction tasks, and the target devices are informed to cancel execution of the redistributed reconstruction tasks.

In a third aspect, the present application further provides a computer storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which when executed by a processing unit, implements the steps of the medical image multi-plane reconstruction method according to the second aspect.

In addition, for technical effects brought by any one implementation manner of the second aspect to the third aspect, reference may be made to technical effects brought by different implementation manners of the first aspect, and details are not described here.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a scene of multi-party image collaboration according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a structural diagram of a reconstruction device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a flowchart of a medical image multi-plane reconstruction method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a host-side multi-plane reconstruction method for medical images according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a medical image multi-plane reconstruction method at a participant side according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make those skilled in the art better understand the technical solution of the present invention, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It should be noted that the embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with the present invention. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with certain aspects of the invention, as detailed in the appended claims.

The application scenario described in the embodiment of the present invention is for more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention, and does not form a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present invention, and it can be known by a person skilled in the art that with the occurrence of a new application scenario, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present invention is also applicable to similar technical problems.

In a medical video conference, a plurality of participants often conduct research on the same medical image, and the computers of the participants need to be integrated into a multi-plane reconstructed image according to a plurality of medical images, however, the configuration of each computer is different, so that the difference of the synthesis time is large, the picture on the computers of the participants is not synchronous and serious, the time difference between the fast processing and the slow processing is large, and the waiting time is long.

The embodiment of the invention provides a medical image multi-plane reconstruction method, which is combined with a reconstruction device, a reconstruction device 1, a reconstruction device 2, a reconstruction device 3 and a reconstruction device 4 of each participant who carries out a medical video conference, divides a plurality of medical images for constructing multi-plane images to obtain a plurality of data groups, and then distributes reconstruction tasks to the reconstruction devices 1 to 4 based on the data groups.

The reconstruction device 1 reconstructs medical images included in a data set in a reconstruction task corresponding to the reconstruction device 1 to obtain a reconstructed sub-image 1, and then sends the reconstructed sub-image 1 to part or all of the reconstruction devices 2 to 4.

The reconstruction device 2 performs reconstruction processing on the medical image included in the data group in the reconstruction task corresponding to the reconstruction device 2 to obtain a reconstructed sub-image 2, and then sends the reconstructed sub-image 2 to part or all of the reconstruction device 1, the reconstruction device 3 and the reconstruction device 4.

The reconstruction device 3 performs reconstruction processing on the medical image included in the data group in the reconstruction task corresponding to the reconstruction device 3 to obtain a reconstructed sub-image 3, and then sends the reconstructed sub-image 3 to part or all of the reconstruction device 1, the reconstruction device 2 and the reconstruction device 4.

The reconstruction device 4 performs reconstruction processing on the medical image included in the data group in the reconstruction task corresponding to the reconstruction device 4 to obtain a reconstructed sub-image 4, and then sends the reconstructed sub-image 4 to part or all of the reconstruction device 1, the reconstruction device 2 and the reconstruction device 3.

The reconstruction device 1 constructs a multi-plane reconstructed image according to the reconstructed sub-images corresponding to all the data sets. The reconstruction device 2 constructs a multi-plane reconstructed image according to the reconstructed sub-images corresponding to all the data sets. The reconstruction device 3 constructs a multi-plane reconstructed image according to the reconstructed sub-images corresponding to all the data sets. The reconstruction device 4 constructs a multi-plane reconstructed image according to the reconstructed sub-images corresponding to all the data sets. Therefore, each device reconstructs the sub-images according to the reconstruction task of each device and then synthesizes the sub-images, so that the task amount is reduced, the difficulty of task processing of the reconstruction devices due to different hardware configurations is reduced, meanwhile, the reconstruction devices need to wait for all the reconstruction devices to complete the reconstruction of the sub-images to synthesize the whole image after needing the reconstruction tasks of the reconstruction devices, and further, the condition that the reconstructed images are not synchronous due to different hardware configurations of the reconstruction devices of each participant is relieved.

Exemplarily, a reconstruction device provided by an embodiment of the present invention is introduced first, and fig. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of the reconstruction device.

The following describes an embodiment specifically by taking a reconstruction device as an example. It should be understood that the reconstruction apparatus shown in fig. 2 is only one example, and the reconstruction apparatus may have more or fewer components than those shown in fig. 2, may combine two or more components, or may have a different configuration of components. The various components shown in the figures may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software, including one or more signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits.

A block diagram of a hardware configuration of a reconstruction device according to an exemplary embodiment is illustrated in fig. 2. As shown in fig. 2, the reconstruction apparatus includes: the method comprises the following steps: a Radio Frequency (RF) circuit 210, a power supply 220, a processor 230, a memory 240, an input unit 250, a display unit 260, a communication interface 270, and a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) module 280. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the configuration of the terminal shown in fig. 2 is not intended to be limiting, and that the terminal provided by the embodiments of the present application may include more or less components than those shown, or some components may be combined, or a different arrangement of components.

The RF circuit 210 may be used for receiving and transmitting data during communication. Specifically, the RF circuit 210 sends downlink data of the base station to the processor 230 for processing; and in addition, sending the uplink data to be sent to the base station. Generally, the RF circuit 210 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, at least one Amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA), a duplexer, and the like.

In addition, the RF circuit 210 may also communicate with a network and other terminals through wireless communication. The wireless communication may use any communication standard or protocol, including but not limited to Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), email, Short Messaging Service (SMS), and the like.

Wi-Fi technology belongs to short distance wireless transmission technology, and the reconstruction device can be connected with an Access Point (AP) through a Wi-Fi module 280, so that Access to a data network is realized. The Wi-Fi module 280 may be used for receiving and transmitting data during communication.

The reconstruction device may be physically connected to other reconstruction devices via the communication interface 270. Optionally, the communication interface 270 is connected to the communication interfaces of the other reconstruction devices through a cable, so as to implement data transmission between the reconstruction devices and the other reconstruction devices.

The reconstruction device may send the reconstructed sub-image to other reconstruction devices participating in the multi-plane reconstruction of the medical image through the communication interface 270, or the Wi-Fi module 280, or the RF circuit 210, and acquire the reconstructed sub-image obtained by performing reconstruction processing based on the reconstruction tasks corresponding to the other reconstruction devices.

In the embodiment of the present application, the reconstruction device can implement a communication service and send information to other contacts, so the reconstruction device needs to have a data transmission function, that is, the reconstruction device needs to include a communication module inside. Although fig. 2 shows communication modules such as the RF circuit 210, the Wi-Fi module 280, and the communication interface 270, it is understood that at least one of the above components or other communication modules (e.g., bluetooth module) for enabling communication exists in the reconstruction device for data transmission.

The memory 240 may be used to store software programs and modules. The processor 230 executes various functional applications and data processing of the reconstruction device by executing the software programs and modules stored in the memory 240, and after the processor 230 executes the program codes in the memory 240, part or all of the processes in fig. 3 according to the embodiment of the present invention can be implemented.

Alternatively, the memory 240 may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area. The storage program area can store an operating system, various application programs (such as communication application), a face recognition module and the like; the storage data area may store data (such as various multimedia files like pictures, video files, etc., and face information templates) created according to the use of the terminal, etc.

Further, the memory 240 may include high speed random access memory, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, flash memory device, or other volatile solid state storage device.

The input unit 250 may be used to receive numeric or character information input by a user and to generate key signal inputs related to user settings and function control of the reconstruction device. The user, and the users mentioned below, may refer to the participants who are conducting the medical video conference.

Alternatively, the input unit 250 may include a touch panel 251 and other input terminals 252.

The touch panel 251, also referred to as a touch screen, may collect touch operations of a user (for example, operations of the user on or near the touch panel 251 using any suitable object or accessory such as a finger, a stylus pen, etc.) and drive the corresponding connection device according to a preset program. Alternatively, the touch panel 251 may include two parts, namely, a touch detection device and a touch controller. The touch detection device detects the touch direction of a user, detects a signal brought by touch operation and transmits the signal to the touch controller; the touch controller receives touch information from the touch sensing device, converts the touch information into touch point coordinates, sends the touch point coordinates to the processor 230, and can receive and execute commands sent by the processor 230. In addition, the touch panel 251 may be implemented by various types, such as resistive, capacitive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave.

Optionally, the other input terminals 252 may include, but are not limited to, one or more of a physical keyboard, function keys (e.g., volume control keys, switch keys, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, a joystick, and the like.

The display unit 260 may be used to display information input by a user or information provided to the user and various menus of the reconstruction apparatus. The display unit 260 is a display system of the reconstruction device, and is used for presenting an interface and implementing human-computer interaction.

The display unit 260 may include a display panel 261. Alternatively, the Display panel 261 may be configured in the form of a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), an Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED), or the like.

Further, the touch panel 251 may cover the display panel 261, and when the touch panel 251 detects a touch operation on or near the touch panel 251, the touch panel transmits the touch operation to the processor 230 to determine the type of the touch event, and then the processor 230 provides a corresponding visual output on the display panel 261 according to the type of the touch event.

Although in fig. 2, the touch panel 251 and the display panel 261 are implemented as two separate components to implement the input and output functions of the reconstruction device, in some embodiments, the touch panel 251 and the display panel 261 may be integrated to implement the input and output functions of the reconstruction device.

The processor 230 is a control center of the reconstruction device, connects various components using various interfaces and lines, performs various functions of the reconstruction device and processes data by operating or executing software programs and/or modules stored in the memory 240 and calling data stored in the memory 240, thereby implementing various services based on the terminal.

Optionally, the processor 230 may include one or more processing units. Optionally, the processor 230 may integrate an application processor and a modem processor, wherein the application processor mainly processes an operating system, a user interface, an application program, and the like, and the modem processor mainly processes wireless communication. It will be appreciated that the modem processor described above may not be integrated into the processor 230.

The reconstruction device also includes a power supply 220 (such as a battery) for powering the various components. Optionally, the power supply 220 may be logically connected to the processor 230 through a power management system, so as to implement functions of managing charging, discharging, power consumption, and the like through the power management system.

The technical solution of the present invention is explained below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to fig. 3, an embodiment of the present invention provides a medical image multi-plane reconstruction method, which is applied to the reconstruction apparatus described above, and includes:

s300: determining a reconstruction task corresponding to reconstruction equipment; the reconstruction task is used for indicating a data group for reconstruction processing, and the data group is obtained by dividing a plurality of medical images for constructing a multi-plane image;

the plurality of medical images is a set of scanned medical images, and the set of medical images is used for constructing the multi-plane image. The multi-plane image formed by the set of medical images may be a part of a human body or the whole human body, and the present invention is not particularly limited thereto.

S301: reconstructing medical images included in a data set in a reconstruction task corresponding to reconstruction equipment to obtain reconstructed sub-images;

s302: sending the reconstructed sub-image to other reconstruction equipment participating in the multi-plane reconstruction of the medical image, and acquiring a reconstructed sub-image obtained by performing reconstruction processing based on a reconstruction task corresponding to the other reconstruction equipment;

s303: and constructing a multi-plane reconstructed image according to the reconstructed sub-images corresponding to all the data sets.

Illustratively, if the number of the reconstruction devices participating in the multi-plane reconstruction of the medical images is 10, the data groups p0, p1, … and p9 are obtained by dividing a plurality of medical images used for constructing the multi-plane images, and the 10 data groups include that a reconstruction task established by p0 is distributed to a reconstruction device a, a reconstruction task established by p1 is distributed to a reconstruction device b, a reconstruction task established by p2 is distributed to a reconstruction device c, a reconstruction task established by p3 is distributed to a reconstruction device d, a reconstruction task established by p4 is distributed to a reconstruction device e, a reconstruction task established by p5 is distributed to a reconstruction device f, a reconstruction task established by p6 is distributed to a reconstruction device g, a reconstruction task established by p7 is distributed to a reconstruction device h, a reconstruction task established by p8 is distributed to a reconstruction device i, and a reconstruction task established by p9 is distributed to a reconstruction device j.

The reconstruction device a creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p0, the reconstruction device b creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p1, the reconstruction device c creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p2, the reconstruction device d creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p3, the reconstruction device e creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p4, the reconstruction device f creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p5, the reconstruction device g creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p6, the reconstruction device h creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p7, the reconstruction device i creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p8, and the reconstruction device j creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p 9.

The reconstruction device a sends the reconstructed sub-images created based on p0 to the reconstruction devices b to j, the reconstruction device b sends the reconstructed sub-images created based on p1 to the reconstruction devices a and c to j, the reconstruction device c sends the reconstructed sub-images created based on p2 to the reconstruction devices a, b and d to j, the reconstruction device d sends the reconstructed sub-images created based on p3 to the reconstruction devices a to c and e to j, the reconstruction device e sends the reconstructed sub-images created based on p4 to the reconstruction devices a to d and f to j, the reconstruction device f sends the reconstructed sub-images created based on p5 to the reconstruction devices a to e and g to j, and the reconstruction device g sends the reconstructed sub-images created based on p6 to the reconstruction devices a to f, The reconstruction device h to the reconstruction device j, the reconstruction device h sends the reconstructed sub-images created based on p7 to the reconstruction device a to the reconstruction device g and the reconstruction device i to the reconstruction device j, the reconstruction device i sends the reconstructed sub-images created based on p8 to the reconstruction device a to the reconstruction device h and the reconstruction device j, and the reconstruction device j sends the reconstructed sub-images created based on p9 to the reconstruction device a to the reconstruction device i.

The reconstruction device a creates reconstruction sub-images based on p 0-p 9, so that a multi-plane reconstruction image can be constructed. The reconstruction device b creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p 0-p 9, so that a multi-plane reconstructed image can be constructed. The reconstruction device c creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p 0-p 9, so that a multi-plane reconstructed image can be constructed. The reconstruction device d creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p 0-p 9, so that a multi-plane reconstructed image can be constructed. The reconstruction device e creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p 0-p 9, so that a multi-plane reconstructed image can be constructed. The reconstruction device f creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p 0-p 9, so that a multi-plane reconstructed image can be constructed. The reconstruction device g creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p 0-p 9, so that a multi-plane reconstructed image can be constructed. The reconstruction device h creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p 0-p 9, so that a multi-plane reconstructed image can be constructed. The reconstruction device i creates a reconstructed sub-image based on p 0-p 9, so that a multi-plane reconstructed image can be constructed. The reconstruction device j obtains the creation of the reconstructed sub-images based on p 0-p 9, so that the multi-plane reconstructed image can be constructed. Therefore, the multi-plane reconstructed image can be completed only after the reconstructed sub-image is created by each data group, so that the condition that the reconstructed images are not synchronous due to different hardware configurations of each reconstruction device is relieved.

Further, after the medical image included in the data group in the reconstruction task corresponding to the reconstruction equipment is reconstructed to obtain a reconstructed sub-image, the information of the data group of the reconstructed sub-image in the reconstruction equipment is sent to other reconstruction equipment; receiving requests for reconstructing the sub-images in the reconstruction equipment sent by other reconstruction equipment; then, the requested reconstructed sub-image is transmitted to the other reconstruction device that transmitted the received request.

Specifically, each reconstruction device records reconstruction devices for corresponding processing of different data sets, for example, a reconstruction device a corresponding to p0, a reconstruction device b corresponding to p1, a reconstruction device c corresponding to p2, a reconstruction device d corresponding to p3, a reconstruction device e corresponding to p4, a reconstruction device f corresponding to p5, a reconstruction device g corresponding to p6, a reconstruction device h corresponding to p7, a reconstruction device i corresponding to p8, and a reconstruction device j corresponding to p 9. When the reconstruction device a has the data group p0 of the reconstruction sub-image, the information is sent to the reconstruction devices b to j, and when the reconstruction device a receives the reconstruction sub-image of the request data group p0 sent by the reconstruction device e, the reconstruction device a sends the reconstruction sub-image of the data group p0 to the reconstruction device e.

Therefore, the device can request other devices to reconstruct the sub-image according to the needs of the device. For example, the device may record the reconstructed sub-picture of the data set p0 first, and when the device completes its reconstruction task, send a request for reconstructing the sub-picture to the device that records the reconstructed sub-picture of the data set p0, so that the reconstructed sub-picture of the data set p0 may be acquired.

Further, acquiring a reconstructed sub-image obtained by performing reconstruction processing based on a reconstruction task corresponding to other reconstruction equipment, includes:

acquiring information of data groups of reconstructed sub-images in other reconstruction equipment, which is sent by other reconstruction equipment;

determining candidate reconstruction devices from the other reconstruction devices based on the information of the data set, wherein the candidate reconstruction devices are other reconstruction devices with reconstructed sub-images which are not provided by the reconstruction devices;

and acquiring a reconstructed sub-image which is not obtained by the reconstruction equipment through part or all of the candidate reconstruction equipment.

Specifically, since each device does not perform the reconstruction task to obtain the reconstructed sub-images corresponding to all the data sets, after the other device transmits the information of the data set of the reconstructed sub-image owned by the other device, the information of the data set may be the device corresponding to the data set of the reconstructed sub-image, for example, p0, p1 — reconstruction device a, the reconstruction device a may have the data sets corresponding to the reconstructed sub-image as p0, p1, and may transmit the information p0, p1 — reconstruction device a to the reconstruction devices b to j. If the received device does not have the reconstructed sub-picture corresponding to p1, the reconstruction device a serves as a candidate reconstruction device and sends a request to the reconstruction device a for the reconstructed sub-picture corresponding to p 1.

For example, the reconstructed sub-image that the reconstruction device b does not have is the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p0, and the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p2 — the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p 9. The reconstruction device b records the reconstructed sub-images of other reconstruction devices, and is shown in table 1:

TABLE 1

P0	Reconstruction device a to reconstruction device j
		P1	Reconstruction device b, reconstruction device c
P2	Reconstruction device c
		P3	Reconstruction device c-reconstruction device i
P4	Reconstruction device e
		P5	Reconstruction devices a to f
P6	Reconstruction device b, reconstruction device f, reconstruction device g
		P7	Reconstruction devices a-h
P8	Reconstruction device i
		P9	Reconstruction device d to reconstruction device j

The reconstruction device b does not have the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p2, the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p3, the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p4, the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p8 and the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p 9. For the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p2, the candidate reconstruction device is reconstruction device c; for the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p3, the candidate reconstruction devices are reconstruction devices c to i; the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to the p4, wherein the candidate reconstruction device is a reconstruction device e; the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to the p8, wherein the candidate reconstruction device is a reconstruction device i; and the candidate reconstruction equipment is reconstruction equipment d to reconstruction equipment j corresponding to the reconstructed sub-image p 9.

The reconstruction device b may obtain the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p2 from the reconstruction device c, the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p3 from the reconstruction device c to the reconstruction device i, the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p4 from the reconstruction device e, the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p8 from the reconstruction device i, and the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p9 from the reconstruction device d to the reconstruction device j.

When the candidate reconstruction devices include a plurality of reconstruction devices, non-repetitive reconstruction devices may be selected, for example, since the reconstruction device c needs to have a reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p2, the reconstruction device e needs to have a reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p4, the reconstruction device i needs to have a reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p8, and the reconstruction device d, the reconstruction device f, the reconstruction device g, and the reconstruction device h need to have a reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p3, and similarly, the reconstruction device d, the reconstruction device f, the reconstruction device g, and the reconstruction device h need to have a reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p9, a reconstruction device d, a reconstruction device f, a reconstruction device g, a reconstruction device h, a reconstruction device j may be selected, if the reconstruction device d is selected for the reconstructed sub-picture corresponding to p3, then for the reconstructed sub-picture corresponding to p9, the selection of one of the reconstruction device f, the reconstruction device g, the reconstruction device h, the reconstruction device j, for example, the reconstruction device j, may be randomly selected. Therefore, the request can be prevented from being sent to the same equipment, and the problem that the equipment has more processing quantity due to the fact that the same equipment processes a plurality of requests at the same time is avoided.

Further, after acquiring the reconstructed sub-image which is not included in the second device from the selected candidate device, the information of the data group including the acquired reconstructed sub-image which is not included in the reconstruction device is transmitted to the other reconstruction device.

Therefore, when the device requests other devices to reconstruct the sub-image, the device does not only request the device based on the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to the data group to reconstruct the sub-image, thereby avoiding that the same device simultaneously processes a plurality of requests to cause a large processing amount of the device.

For example, the reconstruction device a establishes a reconstructed sub-image based on p0, the reconstruction device d establishes a reconstructed sub-image based on p3, and if the reconstruction device a acquires the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p3, the reconstruction device b to the reconstruction device j sends the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p3 to the reconstruction device b to the reconstruction device j, so that the reconstruction device b, the reconstruction device c, and the reconstruction device e to the reconstruction device j can request the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p3 from the reconstruction device a or the reconstruction device d, and therefore the situation that the reconstruction device d simultaneously processes multiple requests due to the fact that the reconstruction device b, the reconstruction device c, and the reconstruction device e to the reconstruction device j all send the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to p3 to the reconstruction device d is avoided.

Step 300 specifically includes dividing a plurality of medical images for constructing a multi-plane image to obtain a plurality of data sets; and generating reconstruction tasks according to the plurality of data groups, and selecting the reconstruction tasks corresponding to the reconstruction equipment from the reconstruction tasks.

The reconstruction device can divide a plurality of medical images to obtain a plurality of data groups, then generates a reconstruction task according to the data groups, selects the reconstruction task corresponding to the reconstruction device from the reconstruction tasks, further determines the reconstruction task corresponding to each other reconstruction device, and sends the reconstruction tasks corresponding to the other reconstruction devices to the corresponding other reconstruction devices.

In this way the reconstruction device can also assume the role of distributing reconstruction tasks in addition to processing them.

Of course, after the plurality of medical images are divided by the other reconstruction devices to obtain the plurality of data sets, the reconstruction tasks are generated according to the plurality of data sets, the reconstruction task corresponding to each other reconstruction device is determined, and the reconstruction tasks corresponding to the other reconstruction devices are sent to the corresponding other reconstruction devices. The reconstruction device receives reconstruction tasks sent by other reconstruction devices.

In this embodiment of the present invention, after sending the reconstruction tasks corresponding to the other reconstruction devices to the corresponding other reconstruction devices, the method further includes:

detecting the completion condition of a reconstruction task corresponding to the equipment;

if the number of the devices which finish the corresponding reconstruction tasks is larger than the preset value and the target devices which do not finish all the reconstruction tasks in the preset time period exist, the reconstruction tasks which are not finished by the target devices are redistributed to the devices which finish all the reconstruction tasks, and the target devices are informed to cancel the execution of the redistributed reconstruction tasks.

For example, when reconstruction efficiency of a certain device is not expected due to a problem of self configuration or the like, the reconstruction device a does not complete a reconstruction task based on p0, and may feed back an execution state to the device to which the reconstruction task is assigned, and the device to which the reconstruction task is assigned sends the reconstruction task to the device which has completed the reconstruction task and has the highest efficiency, and the device which has completed the reconstruction task and has the highest efficiency is the reconstruction device b, and sends the reconstruction task based on p0 to the device to which the reconstruction task is assigned, and the reconstruction device b processes the reconstruction task based on p 0.

Further, if the reconstruction device b has completed the reconstruction task based on p0 and the reconstruction device a has not completed the reconstruction task based on p0, the reconstruction device a terminates the reconstruction task based on p0 and may reconstruct the sub-picture corresponding to p0 to the reconstruction device b.

The preset value may be set according to the number of devices corresponding to the reconstruction task, for example, 10 devices for performing the reconstruction task may be provided, and the preset value may be 7 devices; the number of devices for performing the reconstruction task is 5, and the preset value can be 4.

And comprehensively considering the preset time period according to the time consumption of the completed corresponding reconstruction task. For example, the elapsed time for the corresponding reconstruction task to have completed is 10 seconds, 5 seconds, 6 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds, 8 seconds; the preset time period may be set to 10 seconds.

In summary, for the device that allocates the reconstruction task, the device that allocates the reconstruction task may become a host, the device that performs the reconstruction task becomes a participant, and the participant may include the host, that is, the host also performs the reconstruction task: the following mainly describes the function of the moderator, and as shown in fig. 4, the specific working process includes:

the host averagely segments the plurality of medical images to form a plurality of data groups, and a reconstruction task is distributed according to the plurality of data groups. For example, the plurality of medical images includes 500 medical images, and the participants and the presenter share 10 parties, each data group includes 50 images, and each data group is sequentially numbered as p0, p1, …, and p 9. And then the moderator sends a reconstruction task to each participant, wherein the reconstruction task comprises the medical image id of the data group. The host maintains a reconstruction task execution state array client state [ client0, client1, …, client9] for recording the task execution state of each participant, wherein the client object in the array comprises status and time contents, the status value is 0 or 1, 0 represents that the participant is in an idle state and is not executed by the reconstruction task, and 1 represents that the device is executing the reconstruction task; time records the time it takes for the participant's task to perform.

The host can also carry out a reconstruction task, namely, a medical image included in a data set in the reconstruction task corresponding to the host is reconstructed to obtain a reconstructed sub-image; of course, the presenter may not be responsible for the reconstruction task, and the present invention is not limited in this regard.

When a participant completes the responsible reconstruction task, the participant sends reconstruction task execution information to the host, and the host updates the reconstruction task execution state array. When the host completes the reconstruction task for itself, the reconstruction task execution state array also needs to be updated.

And querying the reconstruction task execution state array, determining that the number of the participants who finish the corresponding reconstruction tasks is larger than a preset value, and determining that the target participants who do not finish all the reconstruction tasks in a preset time period have the target participants who do not finish all the reconstruction tasks, reallocating the reconstruction tasks which are not finished by the target participants to the participants who finish all the reconstruction tasks, and informing the target participants of canceling the execution of the reallocated reconstruction tasks.

Of course, when the reconstruction task is redistributed to the participant who completes all reconstruction tasks, the participant is a selected participant to redistribute other reconstruction tasks, and fig. 4 is only an example. The moderator does not send each participant an incomplete reconstruction task for the other participants.

For each participant, an embodiment of the present invention provides a medical image multi-plane reconstruction method, which is shown in fig. 5 and includes:

each participant may maintain an MPR reconstruction resource state array and an MPR resource request array: the mprState [ state0, state1, …, and state9], configured to record a state of a reconstructed sub-image corresponding to each data set, where a value is 0 or 1, 1 represents that the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to the data set is owned, and 0 represents that there is no reconstructed sub-image corresponding to the data set; the dataSource [ section0, section1, …, section9] is used to record the 10 data groups, which are responsible for the participants of the reconstruction task that contains the data groups. Wherein, the state in the mprState corresponds to the section in the dataSource one by one, for example, both state0 and section0 correspond to the data group of p 0.

S500: receiving a reconstruction task corresponding to a participant;

s501: reconstructing medical images included in a data set in a reconstruction task corresponding to reconstruction equipment to obtain reconstructed sub-images;

in a collaborative scene, each participant has a plurality of same medical images acquired from a server, a host sends a self-distributed result to each participant after dividing a plurality of data groups, and then specifies a reconstruction task of the data group for which the participant is responsible, and each participant can directly acquire a local medical image according to a medical image id contained in the reconstruction task to perform MPR reconstruction.

S502: and if the corresponding reconstruction task is completed, sending reconstruction task execution information to the host, updating the state of the corresponding data group in the local array mprState, and broadcasting the time consumption for completing the corresponding reconstruction task and the mprState information of the other participants. I.e. the information of the reconstructed sub-image owned by itself.

S503, if the broadcast notice of other participants is received, updating the self data source according to the mprState data in the broadcast. I.e. recording the reconstruction sub-devices owned by the other participants.

S504, randomly extracting the reconstructed sub-image which is not owned by the user according to the self-mrState state, finding out the participant list which is corresponding to the data source and owns the reconstructed sub-image, and randomly sending a request to one participant in the participant list to obtain the reconstructed sub-image.

S505: after the reconstructed sub-image is obtained, the self-mrState state information is updated, and the self-mrState information is broadcasted to other participants.

S506: judging whether reconstructed sub-images corresponding to all the data groups exist or not, if so, executing S507; otherwise, executing S504;

s507: after the reconstructed sub-images corresponding to all the data groups are obtained, the reconstructed sub-images corresponding to all the data groups are sequenced according to the sequence of the corresponding medical images, the spatial position of the reconstructed sub-image corresponding to each data group is determined, and the complete multi-plane reconstructed images are spliced.

Both of the functions of fig. 4 and 5 need to be accomplished when the moderator's identity also includes the participant.

For example, a plurality of medical images of the whole person are scanned from beginning to end, when reconstruction is performed, the medical images are spliced one by one according to the scanning sequence, two-dimensional images are spliced into three-dimensional images, and images of a coronal plane, a sagittal plane and any angle are obtained according to the three-dimensional images, so that the multi-plane reconstructed image is obtained.

When reconstructing the sub-images, the sub-images are also stitched according to the scanning order, i.e. according to the tissue order of the human organs in the medical image.

Based on the above introduced medical image multi-plane reconstruction method, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a reconstruction apparatus, including: a communication unit and a processor;

the communication unit may be the radio frequency circuit 210, the communication interface 270, and the Wi-Fi module 280 described above in fig. 2.

The processor is used for determining a reconstruction task corresponding to the reconstruction equipment; the reconstruction task is used for indicating a data group for reconstruction processing, and the data group is obtained by dividing a plurality of medical images for constructing a multi-plane image;

reconstructing medical images included in a data set in a reconstruction task corresponding to reconstruction equipment to obtain reconstructed sub-images;

constructing a multi-plane reconstructed image according to the reconstructed sub-images corresponding to all the data sets;

the communication unit is used for sending the reconstructed sub-images to other reconstruction equipment participating in the multi-plane reconstruction of the medical images and acquiring the reconstructed sub-images which are obtained by performing reconstruction processing based on reconstruction tasks corresponding to the other reconstruction equipment.

Optionally, the processor is further configured to:

transmitting information of a data group of a reconstructed sub-image in the reconstruction equipment to other reconstruction equipment;

receiving requests for reconstructing sub-images in the reconstruction equipment sent by other reconstruction equipment;

and sending the requested reconstructed sub-image to other reconstruction equipment which sends the received request.

Optionally, the processor is specifically configured to:

acquiring information of data groups of reconstructed sub-images in other reconstruction equipment, which is sent by the other reconstruction equipment;

determining candidate reconstruction devices from the other reconstruction devices based on the information of the data set, wherein the candidate reconstruction devices are other reconstruction devices having reconstructed sub-images which the reconstruction devices do not have;

and acquiring a reconstructed sub-image which is not obtained by the reconstruction equipment through part or all of the candidate reconstruction equipment.

Optionally, the processor is further configured to:

and sending information of the data group containing the obtained reconstructed sub-images which are not obtained by the reconstruction equipment to the other reconstruction equipment.

Optionally, the processor is specifically configured to:

dividing a plurality of medical images for constructing a multi-plane image to obtain a plurality of data groups; generating reconstruction tasks according to the plurality of data groups, and selecting a reconstruction task corresponding to the reconstruction equipment from the reconstruction tasks; or

And receiving the reconstruction tasks sent by other reconstruction devices.

Optionally, the processor is further configured to:

and determining the reconstruction task corresponding to each other reconstruction device, and sending the reconstruction tasks corresponding to the other reconstruction devices to the corresponding other reconstruction devices.

Optionally, the processor is further configured to:

detecting the completion condition of a reconstruction task corresponding to the equipment;

if the number of the devices which finish the corresponding reconstruction tasks is larger than a preset value and target devices which do not finish all the reconstruction tasks within a preset time period exist, the target devices which do not finish the reconstruction tasks are redistributed to the devices which finish all the reconstruction tasks, and the target devices are informed to cancel execution of the redistributed reconstruction tasks.

In an exemplary embodiment, a storage medium comprising instructions, such as a memory comprising instructions, executable by a processor of a reconstruction apparatus to perform the medical image multi-plane reconstruction method is also provided. Alternatively, the storage medium may be a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, which may be, for example, a ROM, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, and the like.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer program product, which when running on a reconstruction device, causes the reconstruction device to execute a multi-plane reconstruction method for medical images, which implements any one of the above-mentioned medical image multi-plane reconstruction methods according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This invention is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the invention pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements described above and shown in the drawings and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the invention is limited only by the appended claims.