Entries |
Document | Title | Date |
20080228074 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MEASURING ACOUSTIC PRESSURE AT MULTIPLE LOCATIONS SIMULTANEOUSLY - The present invention provides a system and method for measuring acoustic pressure at multiple locations simultaneously. An array transducer device is prepared where a polyimide film is bonded to a piezopolymer membrane using a non-conductive epoxy. The polyimide is etched with a linear array pattern having array elements, connection pads and electrical connections connecting the array elements to the connection pads. The array pattern is electronically accessed by linking traces of a customized printed circuit board to the electrical connections of the array pattern via ZIF connectors. | 09-18-2008 |
20080249408 | Methods, Systems and Computer Program Products for Ultrasound Shear Wave Velocity Estimation and Shear Modulus Reconstruction - Methods for determining a mechanical parameter of a sample include detecting shear waves that have been generated in the sample by an applied shear wave source. A time of peak displacement of the shear waves for a plurality of sample positions is determined. At least one mechanical parameter of the sample based on the time of peak displacement for the plurality of sample positions is determined. | 10-09-2008 |
20080269606 | Method of Displaying Elastic Image and Diagnostic Ultrasound System - To carry out objective or definitive diagnosis on the basis of an elastic image regardless of experience and proficiency, a method of displaying an elastic image includes the steps of measuring ultrasound cross-section data of a cross-section region of a subject by applying pressuring to the subject, determining a physical value correlating with the elasticity of tissue in the cross-section region on the basis of the ultrasound cross-section data, generating an elastic image of the cross-section region on the basis of the physical value and displaying the elastic image on a display device, determine compression state information relating to the compression state of the cross-section region on the basis of the pressure applied to the subject, and displaying the compression state information together with the elastic image on the display device. | 10-30-2008 |
20080275340 | ULTRASONIC TISSUE DISPLACEMENT/STRAIN IMAGING OF BRAIN FUNCTION - Tissue Pulsatility Imaging (TPI) is an ultrasonic technique developed to measure tissue displacement or strain in the brain due to blood flow over the cardiac and respiratory cycles. Such measurements can be used to facilitate the mapping of brain function as well as to monitor cerebral vasoreactivity. Significantly, because tissue scatters ultrasound to a greater extend than does blood, using ultrasound to measure tissue displacement or strain in the brain is easier to implement than using ultrasound to measure blood flow in the brain. Significantly, transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) has been used to measure blood flow in the brain to map brain function and monitor cerebral vasoreactivity; however, TCD can only acquire data through the three acoustic windows in the skull, limiting the usefulness of TCD. TPI is not so limited. | 11-06-2008 |
20080287792 | Ultrasonic Direct Strain Estimation Using Temporal and Spatial Correlation - Strain is directly estimated in ultrasound elasticity imaging without computing displacement or resorting to spectral analysis. Conventional ultrasound elasticity imaging relies on calculating displacement and strain is computed from a derivative of the displacement. However, for typical parameter values used in ultrasound elasticity imaging, the displacement can be as large as a hundred times or displacement differences. If a tiny error in the calculation of displacement occurs, this could drastically affect the calculation of strain. By directly estimating strain, image quality is enhanced and the reduction in computational effort facilitates commercialization to aid in diagnosing disease or cancerous conditions. | 11-20-2008 |
20080300485 | ULTRASONIC SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MEASUREMENT OF OCULAR BIOMECHANICS - A system and a method for non-invasively ultrasonically measuring biomechanical properties of ocular tissue in vivo is presented. The method comprises positioning an ultrasonic transducer proximally to the ocular tissue. Reflections of the ocular tissue can be ultrasonically obtained using the ultrasonic transducer. The ultrasonic reflections can be converted into reflection spectra. Biomechanical properties of the ocular tissue, such as, for example, thickness, corneal stiffness, density, and longitudinal modulus, can be determined based on the reflection spectra. A wave propagation model can be developed to simulate ultrasound propagation of ocular tissue in vivo. The ultrasonic non-destructive evaluation method and system for the non-invasive measuring of reflection spectra and determining biomechanical properties of ocular tissue in vivo can provide information for ocular disease management and therapeutic and refractive procedures. | 12-04-2008 |
20080306383 | BLOOD FLOW MEASURING AND EVALUATING APPARATUS - The dynamic property of a blood flow in a superficial blood vessel of a living body are constructed. | 12-11-2008 |
20090054771 | BREAST MILK FLOW METER APPARATUS AND METHOD - An apparatus measures the quantity of milk consumed by an infant during a breast-feeding session. The apparatus includes a brassiere-like garment ( | 02-26-2009 |
20090062647 | Method for extracting geometrical properties of a tubular cavity using low SNR echogram enhancement - A method for determining geometrical properties of a tubular cavity, the method comprising: transmitting a series of synchronized ultrasonic signals in predetermined timing from within the cavity; collecting echo data of the signals; analyzing the echo data to identify covariant components; extracting echo peaks from the identified covariant components; and calculating the geometrical properties of the cavity using the extracted echo peaks. | 03-05-2009 |
20090082667 | Bone examination apparatus and method - The invention discloses a bone examination apparatus which includes a shaking module, a multi-mode ultrasonic detecting module, and a processing module. The shaking module is disposed close to a distal end of an examinee's femur, for inputting a shaking signal to the distal end. The multi-mode ultrasonic detecting module is disposed close to a near end of the examinee's femur, for detecting the shaking signal through the examinee's femur at the near end and generating a detecting signal. Additionally, the processing module is connected to the shaking module and the multi-mode ultrasonic detecting module respectively, for determining the examinee's bone density in accordance with the shaking signal, the detecting signal, and a first criterion. | 03-26-2009 |
20090099447 | Method and Apparatus for Generating Hardness and/or Strain Information of a Tissue - The invention is related to a method for generating hardness and/or strain information of a tissue which can be subject to a varying pressure, the method comprising: —positioning at least one signal transmitter ( | 04-16-2009 |
20090099448 | Human or animal organ imaging system which can be used to measure the elasticity of the organ - A system and method are provided for an imaging system that may be used to measure the elasticity of an organ. In the system, an electronic transducer forms an image of a human or animal organ. A mobile part may be moved in translation or rotation, and is arranged to induce the propagation of low frequency vibration in the direction of the organ when actuated. The mobile part delivers the vibrational energy against the human or animal body. The transducer has a fixed part that also emits similar energy. By application of energy to the mobile and fixed parts, and by collection of energy, a control and calculation module may compute parameters of internal organs, such as elasticity. | 04-16-2009 |
20090105588 | Real-Time Ultrasound Monitoring of Heat-Induced Tissue Interactions - The present invention includes an apparatus, method and system for monitoring and controlling radiation therapy, the system including a radiative source that emits energy that enters a tissue and is absorbed at or a near a target site in the tissue to heat the tissue; an ultrasound transmitter directed at the target site, wherein the ultrasound transmitter emits ultrasound signals to the tissue that has been heated by the radiative source; an ultrasound receiver directed at the target site, wherein the ultrasound receiver receives ultrasound signals emitted from the ultrasound transmitter and reflected from the tissue that has been heated by the radiative source; and a signal processor that processes the received ultrasound signal to calculate a tissue composition scan or tissue temperature scan. | 04-23-2009 |
20090112088 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS, IMAGE DATA GENERATING APPARATUS, ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC METHOD AND IMAGE DATA GENERATING METHOD - An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes a displacement measuring unit, a motor information measuring unit, a comparison parameter calculation unit and a parameter image data generating unit. The displacement measuring unit two-dimensionally measures displacements of a myocardial tissue in pieces of ultrasonic image data adjacent in time direction. The motor information measuring unit measures strains and strain rates of the myocardial tissue based on the displacements as motor information. The comparison parameter calculation unit calculates comparison parameters based on the strain rates, or the strains and strain rates. The parameter image data generating unit generates parameter image data using the comparison parameters. | 04-30-2009 |
20090118615 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - The present invention aims at providing an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of displaying a stable spatial distribution of elastic characteristics for each hear beat without depending on the accuracy or stability of measurement of blood pressure and without involvement of measurement of blood pressure. | 05-07-2009 |
20090131788 | QUANTIFICATION AND DISPLAY OF CARDIAC CHAMBER WALL THICKENING - An ultrasonic imaging system and method are described for quantification and display of myocardial wall thickening. The endocardial and epicardial borders in an image sequence are defined over a heart cycle and changes in the distance between the borders are tracked at specified locations around the myocardium over the heart cycle, The changes in distance are presented to the user in a graphical format, preferably together with another measure of the cardiac cycle such as chamber volume variation, ejection fraction, or the ECG waveform. The changes in the distance of chord lengths across the myocardium provide a direct indication of wall thickness variation at the specified locations. Preferably the tracking of the specified locations over the heart cycle is done by speckle tracking. The inventive technique can also represent strain at the specified locations of the myocardium. | 05-21-2009 |
20090143675 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - The present invention aims at providing an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of acquiring more accurate tissue character values such as strain, an average elastic modulus, and an average viscosity. | 06-04-2009 |
20090143676 | Ultrasonograph for Creating Elastic Image - Based on the ultrasonic tomographic data measured by exerting the pressure to the tissue of a body of the subject | 06-04-2009 |
20090149750 | Ultrasonic Diagnostic Apparatus - The present invention provides an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that is capable of displaying an elastic image, enabling an accurate and easy identification of tissue characteristics of a diagnostic part. Elasticity data regarding a test object is obtained based on a received signal of an ultrasonic probe, and an elastic image representing a distribution of the elasticity data of the test object is generated. A display mode setting means sets a display mode of the elastic image in such a manner that a different tissue can be identified based on a value of the elasticity data. In this case, the display mode is differentiated by the value of the elasticity data within one tissue. With this configuration, the tissue characteristics of the diagnostic part are identified by the elasticity data, and displayed in a different display mode, thereby displaying an elastic image identifiable accurately and easily. | 06-11-2009 |
20090149751 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETERMINING INTRACRANIAL PRESSURE NON-INVASIVELY AND ACOUSTIC TRANSDUCER ASSEMBLIES FOR USE IN SUCH SYSTEMS - Systems and methods for determining ICP based on parameters that can be measured using non-invasive or minimally invasive techniques are provided. Systems for acquiring acoustic data from a desired target site in a subject's body using various types of acoustic source and detector elements are also provided, including single use acoustic source/detector combinations are also provided. Acoustic arrays for use with these systems may include multiple capacitive micro-machined ultrasound transducer (cMUT) elements, and may include a combination of different types of acoustic arrays. Methods of targeting localized sites within a broad target area based on acoustic data having various properties are also disclosed. | 06-11-2009 |
20090149752 | Ultrasound Probe And Ultrasound Elasticity Imaging Apparatus - An ultrasound elasticity imaging apparatus includes an elastic data processing section which processes a received signal detected by an ultrasound probe and generates elastic frame data, a display evaluation section which evaluates a display value of the elastic frame data based on various data in the generation of the elastic frame data, a display processing section which performs image processing of the elastic frame data according to the evaluation result by the display evaluation section, and a display section which displays an elastic image based on the elastic frame data processed by the image processing section. | 06-11-2009 |
20090171200 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS - A surface point tracked by an echo tracking processor unit for each ultrasonic beam is a tracking point. A strain measurement unit measures an amount of strain of a bone based on the surface points. A delay time measurement unit measures a time for the amount of strain of the bone to reach a return reference value, corresponding to a state before a load is applied, after the load is first applied to the bone and then removed. | 07-02-2009 |
20090171201 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REAL-TIME HEMODYNAMIC MONITORING - The invention relates to an apparatus for monitoring hemodynamic performance of a cardiac chamber. In one embodiment, the apparatus takes real time measurements of the volume and pressure of the cardiac chamber and prepares a PV loop. The apparatus may include an intracardiac echocardiogram catheter with a pressure sensor positioned to measure intracardiac pressure when the distal end of the catheter is deployed in a cardiac chamber. The apparatus may further include control circuitry that receives heart wall surface image data signals from the ultrasound transducer and intracardiac pressure data signals from the pressure senor and generates pressure-volume loop data signals from the surface image data signals and intracardiac pressure data signals in real time. | 07-02-2009 |
20090177084 | Ultrasonic Diagnostic Apparatus - A compressed state evaluation unit | 07-09-2009 |
20090198129 | CHARACTERIZATION OF VULNERABLE PLAQUE USING DYNAMIC ANALYSIS - Arterial plaques are evaluated by determining their deformation under the periodic pulsatile force of blood flow. A relationship between plaque deformation and rupture risk is established by measurement of a relationship between deformation and cognitive decline in a sample population. The measured parameters include the maximum accumulated axial strain, maximum lateral displacement and maximum shear strains in soft vulnerable plaques. | 08-06-2009 |
20090198130 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - It is possible to acquire the relationship between tomography data as a luminance value of an ultrasonic diagnostic image and elasticity data on a tissue in a target local region. | 08-06-2009 |
20090216119 | SPARSE TISSUE PROPERTY MEASUREMENTS IN MEDICAL ULTRASOUND IMAGING - The shear modulus information is measured for sparse locations in a scanning field of view. For other locations, the shear modulus information is calculated as a function of the sparsely measured values and strain information. For example, shear modulus values are provided for every grid point in a field of view based on strain values for every grid point and on sparsely measured shear modulus values. | 08-27-2009 |
20090216120 | Method for Measuring Hydration of Soft Tissue - The disclosure relates to a method of measuring tissue hydration or a bodily fluid such a lymph or interstitial fluid. In the method, at least one elastographic parameter of a tissue or bodily fluid may be measured to obtain an elastographic parameter measurement that correlates with a mechanical, pathological, physiological or functional property of the tissue or bodily fluid. The elastographic parameter measurement may be correlated with a tissue hydration value or bodily fluid value, including quantitative tissue hydration or bodily fluid values. Multiple measurements taken over time may be used to detect changes in tissue hydration, amounts of bodily fluid, bodily fluid movement, or rate of clearance of a bodily fluid. The disclosure also relates to a device containing a ultrasound transducer, circuitry able to perform methods of the disclosure, and a display able to display tissue hydration or bodily fluid information. | 08-27-2009 |
20090247871 | RAPID TWO/THREE-DIMENSIONAL SECTOR STRAIN IMAGING - An elastographic imaging system providing for axial, lateral and elevational strain measurements employs a series of one-dimensional axial measurements to deduce a coarse axial, lateral and/or elevational displacement that is used to guide one or more two or three-dimensional cross-correlations of smaller kernels providing improved image resolution. | 10-01-2009 |
20090247872 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING A PATIENT DIAGNOSIS - A system for generating a diagnosis is disclosed herein. The system includes a controller, an electrocardiograph connected to the controller, and an ultrasound device connected to the controller. The electrocardiograph is configured to generate a diagnostic electrocardiogram. The controller is configured to generate a diagnosis based on data from the electrocardiograph or the ultrasound device. | 10-01-2009 |
20090253987 | FORMATION OF AN ELASTIC IMAGE IN AN ULTRASOUND SYSTEM - Embodiments for forming elastic images in an ultrasound system are disclosed. In one embodiment, a Tx/Rx unit repeatedly transmits/receives an ultrasound beam along scan lines in a target object to output receive signals. An image processing unit forms a plurality of consecutive ultrasound images based on the receive signals and set a center of the target object on each of the ultrasound images. The image processing unit further sets radial scan lines in radial directions with respect to the center on each of the ultrasound image and reconstructs the ultrasound images such that the radial scan lines are in parallel with each other to form reconstruction images. An elastic image forming unit forms an elastic image based on the reconstruction images. | 10-08-2009 |
20090264754 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EVALUATING OSTEOINTEGRATION OF MEDICAL IMPLANTS - Ultrasound vibrometry is employed to determine the amount of bony in-growth (i.e., osteointegration) into a surgically implanted prosthetic component (or conversely, the degree of implant looseness). While specifically developed for assessing osteointegration for total ankle replacements, the technique has broader application to any joint arthroplasty device. With respect to ankle arthroplasty, a vibration is induced in a patient's ankle in a range of frequencies. A Doppler ultrasound unit scans the ankle, with an imaging plane focused on an implant surface. The vibrations input into the ankle are sinusoidal frequencies, in a range from 80-500 Hz. At a frequency determined to best facilitate vibration of the ankle (e.g., a resonant frequency), the output signal from the Doppler ultrasound is Fourier transformed so that the frequency components of the output signal can be observed. These output Fourier signatures have been shown to correspond to a graded response of implant osteointegration (or looseness). | 10-22-2009 |
20090270729 | Implantable Device and Method for Monitoring Venous Diameter - An implantable medical device system and associated method receive a signal from an implantable sensor operatively positioned relative to a vein, the signal being responsive to changes in a diameter of the vein. A diameter of the vein is determined in response to the sensor signal and used in estimating central venous pressure (CVP). | 10-29-2009 |
20090281424 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY DETERMINING TIME TO AORTIC VALVE CLOSURE - A method for determining a time to aortic valve closure comprises receiving data corresponding to an imaged region of a left ventricle of a heart. A plurality of points within the data is identified. A peak negative strain is determined for each of the points and the peak negative strain comprises a maximum contraction value and a time from onset to maximum contraction value. A weight value for each of the points is determined based on the peak negative strain. A time to aortic valve closure is determined based on the weight value and the time from onset to maximum contraction value for each of the points. | 11-12-2009 |
20090299179 | Method For Detecting Cardiac Transplant Rejection - A method for detecting cardiac rejection in heart transplant patients is disclosed. The wall mechanics, such as wall shear, stress, and strain, of a heart ventricle of the transplant patient are measured. A property of the native vasculature is also measured. The measured property may include the wall mechanics or thickness of the native blood vessel. The wall mechanics measurements of the ventricle and the measured property of the native vasculature are compared, and the comparison is outputted. The outputted comparison is matched either to similarly-obtained comparisons from heart transplant patients undergoing early cardiac rejection of the transplanted heart or to similarly-obtained comparisons from heart transplant patients with normally-functioning hearts. | 12-03-2009 |
20090318803 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS, ULTRASONIC IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS - A plurality of strain gauges defined by gauge endpoints are set in each time phase using motion vector information of tissue, and a three-dimensional strain gauge image in which each strain gauge is disposed at a three-dimensional position corresponding to, for example, an ultrasonic image in each time phase is generated and displayed. Moreover, an MPR image is set on volume data and is displayed in a predetermined form in a state where gauge coordinates are projected thereon. | 12-24-2009 |
20100010346 | System and Method For Non-Invasively Measuring Tissue Viscoelasticity Using Surface Waves - A system and method for assessing tissue health based on the viscoelastic properties of the tissue. Surface waves are induced in the tissue and their propagation characteristics are then measured. The tissue viscoelastic properties are then determined from the surface wave measurements using a surface model. | 01-14-2010 |
20100016718 | Shear Wave Imaging - Shear wave imaging is provided in medical diagnostic ultrasound. A region is imaged to determine a location in which to calculate shear velocity. The shear velocity is estimated for the location. The imaging may guide the identification of the location, reducing the time to determine useful shear information. The estimate of shear may be validated, such as using cross-validation, to indicate the confidence level of the shear value. The shear velocity may be displayed relative to a scale of shear velocities associated with a type of tissue, such as tissue for an organ. The location on a scale may be more intuitive for a user. | 01-21-2010 |
20100036243 | ULTRASONIC PROBE AND ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of accurately providing an elasticity modulus by actually measuring the pressure in an ultrasonic scanning region. | 02-11-2010 |
20100036244 | Nonlinear Elastic Wave Measurement and Imaging with Two-Frequency Elastic Wave Pulse Complexes - Methods and instruments for suppression of multiple scattering noise and extraction of nonlinear scattering components with measurement or imaging of a region of an object with elastic waves, where elastic wave pulse complexes are transmitted towards said region where said pulse complexes are composed of a high frequency (HF) and a low frequency (LF) pulse with the same or overlapping beam directions and where the HF pulse is so close to the LF pulse that it observes the modification of the object by the LF pulse at least for a part of the image depth. The frequency and/or amplitude and/or phase of said LF pulse relative to said HF pulse varies for transmitted pulse complexes in order to nonlinearly manipulate the object elasticity observed by the HF pulse along at least parts of its propagation, and where received HF signals are picked up by transducers from one or both of scattered and transmitted components of the transmitted HF pulses. Said received HF signals are processed to form measurement or image signals for display, and where in the process of forming said measurement or image signals said received HF signals are one or both of delay corrected with correction delay in the fast time (depth-time), and pulse distortion corrected in the fast time, and combined in slow time to form noise suppressed HF signals or nonlinear scattering HF signals that are used for further processing to form measurement or image signals. The methods are applicable to elastic waves where the material elasticity is nonlinear in relation to the material deformation. | 02-11-2010 |
20100069751 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING REGIONS OF ALTERED STIFFNESS - An ultrasound imaging method for detecting a target region of altered stiffness is provided. The method comprises delivering at least one reference pulse to the target region to detect an initial position of the target region, delivering a first pushing pulse having a first value of a variable parameter to a target region to displace the target region to a first displaced position, delivering a first tracking pulse to detect the first displaced position of the target region, delivering a second pushing pulse having a second value of the variable parameter to the target region to displace the target region to a second displaced position, and delivering a second tracking pulse to detect the second displaced position of the target region. An ultrasound imaging system for detecting a region of altered stiffness is also provided. | 03-18-2010 |
20100069752 | ULTRASONIC DETECTION OF EAR DISORDERS - An apparatus and method for determining ear fluid viscosity. A transducer is operable to transceive a signal to interact with a fluid-containing portion of the ear. The viscosity of the fluid is determined using the transceived signal. | 03-18-2010 |
20100094131 | ULTRASONIC ESTIMATION OF STRAIN INDUCED BY IN VIVO COMPRESSION - An in vivo source of compression is used to cause a bodily structure of interest to expand and contract. Ultrasound signals are incident and their echoes are processed by a strain processor. Resulting strain images are freed from noise caused external sources of compression. A tissue stiffness index is calculated to obtain quantitative measure of stiffness. | 04-15-2010 |
20100106018 | ULTRASONIC STRAIN IMAGING DEVICE WITH SELECTABLE COST-FUNCTION - An elasticity measuring system determines tissue displacement between a pre-deformation and post-deformation image by a matching process using a cost function accepting as its arguments continuity of the tissue motion and correlation of the tissue in making the block matching. The invention allows the selection among different cost functions for different imaging situations or tissue types, to provide improved displacement calculations using a priori knowledge about the tissue and structure of tissue interfaces or information derived during the scanning process. | 04-29-2010 |
20100130856 | METHOD AND APPAARATUS FOR THE ELATOGRAPHIC EXAMINATION OF TISSUE - The invention relates to a method for elastographically examining tissue. Said method comprises the following steps: at least one mechanical wave that oscillates primarily or exclusively perpendicular to the direction of propagation thereof is excited in the tissue ( | 05-27-2010 |
20100160778 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING VISCOELASTIC PARAMETERS IN TISSUE - Described herein are a method and apparatus for determining viscoelastic parameters of a tissue. A vibration signal is applied to the tissue and displacements at a plurality of locations within the tissue are measured at a plurality of times. The viscoelastic parameters of the tissue, including elasticity and viscosity, can then be determined by fitting a finite element model of the tissue to the vibration signal and the measured displacements and by solving for the viscoelastic parameters of the model. A value for density of each element of the model is selected and the absolute values for the viscoelastic parameters of each of the elements in the model is determined. Alternatively, the difference in relaxation-times between two locations within the tissue can be determined from the difference in phases of the strains at the two locations. | 06-24-2010 |
20100168566 | METHOD AND A DEVICE FOR IMAGING A VISCO-ELASTIC MEDIUM - The invention relates to a method and a device for imaging a visco-elastic medium. The method comprises an excitation step during which an internal mechanical stress is generated in excitation zone and an imaging step of acquiring signals during the movements generated by the mechanical stress in the visco-elastic medium in response to the internal mechanical stress in an imaging zone that includes the excitation zone. According to the invention, the method further comprises a step of calculating a quantitative index associated with the rheological properties of the visco-elastic medium at at least one point of the imaging zone situated at a given depth outside the excitation zone. The quantitative index is representative of a comparison between signals acquired during the movements generated in response to the mechanical stress at at least one point of the excitation zone situated at the given depth, and signals acquired during the movements generated in response to the mechanical stress at at least the point of the imaging zone situated outside the excitation zone. | 07-01-2010 |
20100174186 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING HYDRATION LEVELS BY MEASURING VELOCITY CHANGE - A method and apparatus ( | 07-08-2010 |
20100174187 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING HYDRATION LEVELS - A method and apparatus for determining patient hydration levels is disclosed. The method includes measuring a thickness of a dermis layer. | 07-08-2010 |
20100179425 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING ULTRASOUND ENERGY TRANSMITTED THROUGH NON-UNIFORM TISSUE AND COOLING OF SAME - The emission intensities of transducer elements of an ultrasound transducer array are controlled based on anatomical characteristics of non-uniform tissue regions, e.g., regions of a skull, and a pre-determined threshold. | 07-15-2010 |
20100185086 | BONE STRENGTH DIAGNOSING DEVICE AND BONE STRENGTH DIAGNOSING METHOD - The purpose of the current invention is to provide a bone strength diagnosing device and a bone strength diagnosing method capable of accurately diagnosing a bone strength of a bone. A longitudinal ultrasonic transducer and a transverse ultrasonic transducer radiate ultrasonic waves onto a bone front surface of a tibia from a predetermined angle to generate surface waves that propagate in the bone front surface in a longitudinal direction of the tibia and in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, respectively, and receive leaky waves leaking to the side of the soft tissues from the front surface waves. A speed-of-sound calculating module calculates speeds of sound of the surface waves in the transverse direction and the longitudinal direction based on a difference between course lengths of the ultrasonic waves and a difference between propagation times. A first index calculating module calculates a first index by which a bone density is evaluated using the speed of sound of the surface wave in the transverse direction. A second index calculating module calculates a second index by which an orientation of the bone is evaluated using the speeds of sound of the surface waves in the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction. A third index calculating module measures a cortical bone thickness and then calculates a third index by which a bone strength is evaluated. A bone diagnosing module uses at least one of the first index, second index, and third index to diagnose the bone strength. | 07-22-2010 |
20100191110 | Techniques to evaluate mechanical properties of a biologic material - A system includes an acoustic radiation force source that is structured to generate an acoustic radiation force at one or more frequencies. A shear wave transmission device is embedded in a mass including a biologic material. The shear wave transmission device is responsive to the acoustic radiation force source to transmit shear waves through the biologic material. A Doppler ultrasonic device detects the shear waves and generates data representative of the shear waves. A processing device determines one or more mechanical properties of the biologic material from the data. | 07-29-2010 |
20100191111 | ULTRASONOGRAPH - An ultrasonograph is provided which, when a difference occurs between an expected tissue displacement direction and a displacement estimation direction, minimizes errors caused by the difference to improve accuracy of an elasticity image. The ultrasonograph includes: an ultrasound probe to emit an ultrasound in a plurality of mutually crossing directions against a subject; an ultrasound transmit and receive part to control the ultrasound probe to perform a plurality of transmissions and receptions of the ultrasound in each of the plurality of directions; a displacement vector processor to calculate a displacement vector in each of the plurality of directions from a result of the plurality of transmissions and receptions; a strain processor to calculate strain information of the subject based on the displacement vectors; an image data generator to create image data based on the calculated strain information; and a display to display an image based on the image data. | 07-29-2010 |
20100228125 | Method and Apparatus for Acoustoelastic Extraction of Strain and Material Properties - An ultrasound machine processes ultrasonic data according to acoustoelastic properties of the materials to obtain strain information without specific assumptions with respect to the material properties of the measured material or a variety of different material properties normally not obtained by ultrasound machines. | 09-09-2010 |
20100240994 | Method and apparatus for ultrasound imaging and elasticity measurement - A method for performing ultrasound imaging and elasticity measurement, the method includes scanning an object to obtain a B-mode ultrasound image, selecting an A-mode signal from the B-mode ultrasound image, transmitting a high frame rate ultrasound signal, by a selected group of ultrasound transducers, at the selected A-mode signal location, forming a transient M-mode image based on the high frame rate ultrasound signal, enhancing propagation trace of shear wave based on the transient M-mode image, calculating elasticity of the object based on the propagation trace and displaying result, and displaying, simultaneously, the B-mode ultrasound image and the transient M-mode measurement result. | 09-23-2010 |
20100286516 | HIGH PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY FOR DETECTION OF TISSUE MECHANICAL PROPERTY WITH ULTRASOUND - Detection of tissue response is provided with a high pulse repetition frequency. A sequence of separable signals is transmitted in one event. For example, pulses at different frequencies are transmitted as separate waveforms, but in rapid succession. As another example, coded transmit pulses are used. After transmission of the pulses, signals are received. Based on the different frequencies or coding, tissue response is measured at different times based on the receive event. Instead of one measure, a plurality of measures are provided for a given transmit and receive event pair, increasing the effective pulse repetition frequency for shear or elasticity imaging. | 11-11-2010 |
20100286517 | System and Method For Image Guided Prostate Cancer Needle Biopsy - In a method for image guided prostate cancer needle biopsy, a first registration is performed to match a first image of a prostate to a second image of the prostate. Third images of the prostate are acquired and compounded into a three-dimensional (3D) image. The prostate in the compounded 3D image is segmented to show its border. A second registration and then a third registration different from the second registration is performed on distance maps generated from the prostate borders of the first image and the compounded 3D image, wherein the first and second registrations are based on a biomechanical property of the prostate. A region of interest in the first image is mapped to the compounded 3D image or a fourth image of the prostate acquired with the second modality. | 11-11-2010 |
20100292571 | NODULE SCREENING USING ULTRASOUND ELASTOGRAPHY - A medical device is configured to diagnose whether a nodule of a bodily organ is malignant or benign using ultrasound elastography to determine a nodule stiffness index. Using either an external compression source or an in vivo pulsation source, the stiffness of the nodule of the bodily organ can be quantified by either its static properties or dynamic properties. The nodule can be classified as Type I, which is benign requiring further observation, or Type II, which is malignant requiring invasive procedures. | 11-18-2010 |
20100292572 | METHOD AND SYSTEM OF STRAIN GAIN COMPENSATION IN ELASTICITY IMAGING - A method and system of strain gain compensation in elasticity imaging is provided. The system can include a probe ( | 11-18-2010 |
20100305438 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SCALING STRAIN IMAGE DATA - A computer readable storage medium has a computer program stored thereon, which includes a set of instructions that when executed by a computer causes the computer to access positional data acquired from a material at a plurality of states of compression. The set of instructions also causes the computer to estimate a plurality of strain data sets from the positional data, each of the plurality of strain data sets corresponding to a different state of compression, and compare a first pair of strain data sets of the plurality of strain data sets with each other. The set of set of instructions further causes the computer to calculate a first measure of correlation from the comparison, scale a first strain data set of the first pair of strain data sets if the first measure of correlation is above a correlation threshold, and display the scaled first strain data set to a user. | 12-02-2010 |
20100317970 | GAS SUPERSATURATION MONITORING - A system and method include generating at least one bubble in tissue using ultrasound. The at least one bubble generated is detected and correlated to gas saturation of the tissue. | 12-16-2010 |
20100331684 | Method and Apparatus For Determining The Absolute Value Of Intracranial Pressure - A method and apparatus for obtaining the absolute value of intracranial pressure in a non-invasive manner is described by using an ultrasonic Doppler measuring device which detects the intracranial and extracranial blood flow velocities of the intracranial and extracranial segments of the ophthalmic artery. The eye in which the blood flow is monitored is subjected to an external pressure, sufficient to equalize the intracranial and extracranial angle-independent blood flow factors calculated from the intracranial velocity signal and extracranial velocity signal. The absolute value of the intracranial pressure is identified as that external pressure at which such equalization occurs. | 12-30-2010 |
20100331685 | TRANSDUCER DRIVER FOR MEASURING A PARAMETER OF THE MUSCULARSKELETAL SYSTEM - A measurement system for capturing a transit time, phase, or frequency of energy waves propagating through a propagation medium is disclosed. The measurement system comprises two different closed-loop feedback paths. The first path includes a transducer driver ( | 12-30-2010 |
20110004099 | METHOD AND APPARATUS USING ULTRASOUND FOR ASSESSING INTRACARDIAC PRESSURE - Embodiments relate to the field of hemodynamics, and, more specifically, to non-invasive methods of intracardiac pressure assessment. Some embodiments include acquiring ultrasound image data of a right internal jugular (IJ) vein in a subject, processing the ultrasound image data to determine vascular characteristic data for the IJ vein, and determining the right-sided intracardiac pressure from the vascular characteristic data. Also disclosed are systems and apparatus for carrying out the methods. | 01-06-2011 |
20110021910 | CALIBRATION METHOD AND DEVICE TO BE CALIBRATED FOR MEASURING DENSITY OF A BONE - The object of the invention is an ultrasound device to be calibrated for forming skeleton density information. This ultrasound device comprises calibration arrangement comprising a calibration program | 01-27-2011 |
20110054314 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes a physical quantity calculator for setting correlation windows to two echo signals obtained by transmission/reception of ultrasound to and from a biological tissue and different in time on the same sound rays and performing a correlation arithmetic operation between the correlation windows to thereby calculate physical quantities related to elasticity of respective regions in the biological tissue, an elastic image data generator for generating elastic image data of the biological tissue with respect to an elastic image forming region of a transmission/reception surface of the ultrasound, based on the physical quantities, a physical quantity average unit for calculating an average of the physical quantities in the elastic image forming region for every frame, a comparator for comparing a value calculated by the physical quantity average unit and a preset average value of the physical quantities, and a notification unit for notifying a result of comparison by the comparator. | 03-03-2011 |
20110060221 | Temperature prediction using medical diagnostic ultrasound - Temperature related information or a temperature characteristic is detected, at least in part, with a medical diagnostic ultrasound system. Anatomy information from an ultrasound scan is used with modeling to determine the temperature or other temperature related parameter. Ultrasound information may be obtained in real-time with application of thermal therapy, so may be used to better control thermal treatment. The anatomy information may be used to align model features measured from a region. The anatomy information may be used as an input into the model. The anatomy information may be used to select an appropriate model, such as selection based on the type of tissue. The anatomy information may be used to correct an output of the model, such as accounting for temperature distribution due to an adjacent vessel. | 03-10-2011 |
20110060222 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHARACTERIZING INHOMGENEITIES USING AXIAL SHEAR STRAIN ELASTOGRAPHY - The present invention relates to systems and methods for characterizing inhomogeneities in deformable target bodies. More particularly, the disclosure relates to methods and systems for axial-shear strain elastography (ASSE) and their use in analyzing inclusions such as but not limited to, tumors as well as directing cancer therapies such as HIFU. | 03-10-2011 |
20110066030 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SHEAR WAVE FIELD FORMATION - An ultrasound imaging system provides dynamic control of a shear wave front used to image viscoelasticity in a biological tissue. The system receives an indication of a region of interest and selects a shear wave front shape. The system also selects, based on the selected shear wave front shape, focus locations for a plurality of push pulses and a sequence for moving a shear wave source among the focus locations. The system transmits a series of push pulses according to the selected sequence, and determines a speed of the shear wave front as it passes through the region of interest. Changes in the speed of the shear wave front are related to changes in stiffness within the tissue. | 03-17-2011 |
20110087096 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TISSUE RECOGNITION - A method for characterizing body tissue, comprising:
| 04-14-2011 |
20110087097 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TISSUE IMAGING AND ANALYSIS - A method for detecting abnormal tissue in a region of healthy tissue, comprising:
| 04-14-2011 |
20110098563 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS, ULTRASONIC IMAGE DISPLAY METHOD AND ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC PROGRAM - An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, an ultrasonic image display method and an ultrasonic diagnostic program by which a display mode of a tomographic image or an elasticity image can be set according to the characteristics of a biological tissue are provided. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is characterized in comprising an elasticity information analyzing unit which sets a plurality of regions of interest on a tomographic image or an elasticity image and analyzes the feature amount of the elasticity information in the plurality of regions of interest; and a hue setting unit which sets the hue of the elasticity image on the basis of the feature amount. | 04-28-2011 |
20110125015 | ULTRASONIC BONE ASSESSMENT APPARATUS AND METHOD - An invention is disclosed for locating a region of interest in the calcaneus. A pair of ultrasound transducers are positioned on the medial and lateral sides of the heel, respectively. The positioning is based on a size of a portion of the body of a subject upon whom the ultrasound assessment of the calcaneus is to be made. In a presently preferred embodiment, the length of the foot from the back to the head of the first metatarsal is used in conjunction with a proportionality constant and an angle, to position the pair of transducers. The positioning so obtained facilitates (i) reproducible measurements and (ii) comparisons of the results obtained in one person with another, because relatively analogous portions of the highly heterogeneous calcanei are assessed in both. In an alternative embodiment, a single transducer is positioned similarly on the heel, operating in pulse-echo mode. | 05-26-2011 |
20110130660 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTION, CHARACTERIZATION AND IMAGING OF HETEROGENEITY USING SHEAR WAVE INDUCED RESONANCE - A system and a method for inducing resonance of a heterogeneity or a sample within a body, the system comprising a shear wave generator, and a detection unit; the shear wave generator generating shear waves applied to the body and selectively inducing mechanical resonances of the heterogeneity, the detection unit detecting the induced mechanical resonances. The induced resonance of the heterogeneity is achieved by applying to the body one of: i) shear waves substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the heterogeneity; ii) shear waves polarised substantially perpendicularly to said longitudinal axis; iii) shear waves substantially circumferential to the heterogeneity; and iv) planar shear waves. | 06-02-2011 |
20110160583 | Orthopedic Navigation System with Sensorized Devices - A low-cost and compact electronic device toolset is provided for orthopedic assisted navigation. The toolset comprises wireless sensorized devices that communicate directly with one another. A computer workstation is an optional component for further visualization. The sensorized devices are constructed with low-cost transducers and are self-powered. The toolset is disposable and incurs less hospital maintenance and overhead. As one example, the toolset reports anatomical alignment during a surgical workflow procedure. Other embodiments are disclosed. | 06-30-2011 |
20110178402 | ULTRASONIC MEASUREMENT OF pH IN FLUIDS - The present invention pertains to new methods and apparatuses for the determination of pH of a fluid. Applicants have discovered that ultrasonic spectrophonometry (the study and measurement of acoustic spectra) can be used to distinguish conformational changes of albumin and red blood cells in response to pH. In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method of determining the pH of a fluid based on a pH-dependent conformation of at least one fluid constituent comprising subjecting the fluid to an ultrasonic pulse; detecting ultrasonic spectral data of the fluid constituent resulting from the ultrasonic pulse; wherein the spectral data varies with pH; and then calculating pH from the spectral data. | 07-21-2011 |
20110184286 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PRODUCING IMAGES OF HEATING TINES NEAR A TISSUE PART - A device (D | 07-28-2011 |
20110184287 | Methods And Systems For Spatially Modulated Ultrasound Radiation Force Imaging - Methods for determining the shear modulus of a tissue of an individual are disclosed. In one embodiment, an acoustic pulse is transmitted and a reference echo signal is received. A first push pulse is transmitted at a second location of the individual. A second push pulse is transmitted at a third location of the individual. A series of tracking pulses are transmitted at the first location and a tracking echo signal is received from each tracking pulse. The effect of the first and second push pulses on the tissue is determined through analysis of the tracking echo signals. The shear modulus of the tissue is calculated based on the effect of the push pulses on the tissue. A system for imaging a region of tissue is presented. | 07-28-2011 |
20110201928 | METHOD OF CHARACTERIZING THE PATHOLOGICAL RESPONSE OF TISSUE TO A TREATMENT PLAN - A method of characterizing the pathological response of tissue to a treatment plan, including: obtaining a set of sequential morphology renderings of the tissue, wherein each rendering corresponds to a particular point in time during the treatment plan; generating a set of representative values of a biomechanical property of the tissue for the set of renderings, wherein each representative value is based on a corresponding rendering; determining a trend of the biomechanical property based on the set of representative values; and predicting response of the tissue to the treatment plan based on the trend of the biomechanical property. | 08-18-2011 |
20110208053 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ASSESSING RISK OF CHROMOSOMAL DISORDERS - Certain aspects and examples are directed to systems and methods for assessing risk of chromosomal disorders. Certain embodiments are directed to systems and methods that use nuchal translucency values from both twins to provide a fetus specific risk of a chromosomal disorder in at least one fetus of the twins fetuses. | 08-25-2011 |
20110224545 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS - An ultrasonic beam ( | 09-15-2011 |
20110237945 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ULTRASOUND STRAIN IMAGING - A system and method for improved ultrasound strain imaging includes using data from a tracking system to enhance the quality of ultrasound strain image and to reduce the dependency of image quality of the user's expertise. The tracking information is synchronized with the RF frames and interpolated to find the transformation corresponding to each frame. The RF frames with their transformations are incorporated into calculation of ultrasound strain images. The tracking system may be an optical tracker, electromagnetic tracker, accelerometer, or a structured light system. The structured light system may also be used for probe calibration, by calibrating the surface of the probe pre-operatively. In addition, a relative Young's Modulus may be calculated using tracking information that is independent from the distribution of input force. | 09-29-2011 |
20110245668 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ULTRASOUND IMAGING - A first ultrasound pulse is applied to biological tissue to create shear waves in the biological tissue, a focused ultrasound pulse is transmitted into the biological tissue, one or more ultrasound signals is received from the biological tissue, and shear waves are detected in the biological tissue based on the received one or more ultrasound signals. At least one propagation property associated with the detected shear waves is determined, and the determined at least one propagation property is displayed. | 10-06-2011 |
20110257521 | INSERTION DETECTOR FOR MEDICAL PROBE - An insertion detector for monitoring a position of a medical probe relative to a body cavity of a patient, the probe incorporates a proximity sensor that is responsive to a predetermined property of the patient's body. The proximity sensor may include a light emitter and a light detector. When the medical probe is inserted into the body cavity, a light flux between the light emitter and light detector is changed due to either obstruction by the cavity walls or reflection by the patient's skin. A response from the proximity sensor may be used to adjust a temperature measured from the body cavity to correct for errors due to non-insertion or partial insertion of the probe into the body cavity. | 10-20-2011 |
20110257522 | Injection of Fluid - A system for monitoring the intended injection of a fluid into a fluid conduit in the body, wherein the fluid to be injected may include a first fluid, the system: introducing a pulse into the fluid to be injected and monitoring the flow characteristics of fluid in the fluid conduit in the body at a location downstream of the point of injection. | 10-20-2011 |
20110263978 | Method for Shear Wave Ultrasound Vibrometry with Interleaved Push and Detection Pulses - A shear wave dispersion ultrasound vibrometry (“SDUV”) method for measuring a mechanical property of a subject is provided. Particularly, a set of ultrasonic vibration tone bursts is applied to a vibration origin in the subject so that harmonic vibratory motion is imparted to a tissue of interest. The set of vibration tone bursts effectively act like a single vibration pulse that imparts vibratory motion at larger amplitudes than achievable with a single pulse. Multiple ultrasonic detection pulses are then applied to two or more locations in the tissue of interest in order to measure shear waves propagating outward from the vibration origin. From these measurements, phase or amplitude information related to the shear wave propagation is determined and used to calculate a shear wave speed. Using the shear wave speed information, mechanical properties of the tissue are calculated. | 10-27-2011 |
20110263979 | MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC METHOD AND APPARATUS - A method and apparatus for determining the volume of a bodily structure including the steps of acquiring at least two ultrasound images, estimating the location of the perimeter of a structure of interest as viewed in cross section in each said ultrasound image, calculating the cross sectional area of such structure as so viewed, and combining the perimeter and area information from the at least two images to calculate the volume of the structure. | 10-27-2011 |
20110275936 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING SHEAR STRESS AND VISCOSITY DISTRIBUTION IN A BLOOD VESSEL - A method for computing patient specific blood viscosity and patient specific shear stress on a location of interest in the interior of a blood vessel that includes calculating shear rate of blood in the vessel, using imaging techniques and calculating the shear rate related blood viscosity. | 11-10-2011 |
20110282200 | ACCESSORY SYSTEM FOR ULTRASONIC EQUIPMENT AND INSPECTION METHOD APPLICABLE TO THE ACCESSORY SYSTEM - An handheld accessory system for an ultrasonic equipment and an inspection method applicable to the accessory system. The accessory system includes a force detector and a positioning device attached to a hand-held ultrasonic probe, and a signal processing device. A user may apply the ultrasonic probe to the target tumor with a certain compression depth. A force compensation module in the signal processing device allows to make compensation due to unsteady compression depth, thereby providing for the operation of transverse palpation to detect the stiffness ratio and mobility of a target relative to its surrounding tissues, and being therefore specifically suitable for diagnosing breast tumors, as benign or malignant. | 11-17-2011 |
20110282201 | DEVICE CAPABLE OF TESTING BONE DENSITY AND SYSTEM THEREOF - A system includes a testing device and a portable device. The testing device includes a first connector, a signal converting unit, an emitting member, and a receiving member. The portable device includes a second connector and a processor. The signal converting unit converts the test direct current through the first connector and the second connector to the pulse electrical signal. The emitting member converting the pulse electrical signal to an ultrasonic signal. The receiving member converts the ultrasonic signal to the electronic signal. The signal converting unit converts the electronic signal to the feedback digital signal, and transmits the feedback digital signal to the portable device through the first connector and the second connector. The processor includes a testing module and an analyzing module. The testing module calculates the interval to calculate speed. The analyzing module generates a data of the bone density according to the speed. | 11-17-2011 |
20110288410 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DIAGNOSTIC ULTRASOUND BASED MONITORING OF HIGH INTENSITY FOCUSED ULTRASOUND THERAPY - Methods and systems for monitoring the progress of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy use diagnostic ultrasound to identify temperature differentials using scatterer tracking between two backscattered radio frequency frames. The observed displacement of the scatterers may be combined with knowledge of the exposure protocol, material properties, heat transfer, and/or measurement noise to estimate heating, thermal dose, and temperature conditions resulting from the HIFU therapy. | 11-24-2011 |
20110295117 | DEVICE FOR MEASURING A CHARACTERISTIC READING DISTANCE OF AN INDIVIDUAL - A device for measuring a characteristic reading distance of an individual, includes a measurement support carrying at least one ultrasound emitter member and at least one ultrasound receiver member, at least one of these members, referred to as a main measurement member, possessing a measurement axis on which emission or reception by the main measurement member is privileged, and being suitable for emitting or receiving ultrasound propagating in a measurement cone centered on its measurement axis. The device further includes an electronic processor unit adapted, as a function of the ultrasound signal received by the receiver member, to deliver a signal representative of the distance between the measurement support and an eyeglass frame worn by the individual's head, and to deduce therefrom the characteristic reading distance, and elements to verify that the eyeglass frame is situated at least in part in the measurement cone of the main measurement member. | 12-01-2011 |
20110319756 | Method for Ultrasound Vibrometry Using Orthogonal Basis Functions - A method for measuring a mechanical property of a subject includes using an ultrasound transducer to apply ultrasonic vibration pulses to a location in a subject in order to induce shear waves at multiple prescribed orthogonal frequencies in the subject. The ultrasound transducer is directed by an excitation signal that is composed of multiple orthogonal basis functions, each having a given frequency component corresponding to the prescribed orthogonal frequencies. The power level of each orthogonal basis function is independently adjustable. The excitation signal can be sparsely sampled, or portions of the excitation signal can be removed in order to improve tissue vibration and to provide for the interleaving ultrasonic vibration and detection pulses. Ultrasonic detection pulses are applied to at least one motion detection point, from which echo signals are received. From the received echo signals, a motion signal is determined, from which mechanical properties of the subject are calculated. | 12-29-2011 |
20120010504 | WEIGHT SCALE WITH ULTRASOUND IMAGING FOR ANKLE DISPLACEMENT MEASUREMENT - A device for correlating trend data with respect to a patient's weight ankle displacement can identify conditions indicative of congestive heart failure. A weight scale or similar device coupled with imaging mechanism operable to measure ankle displacement collects a plurality of measurements over a period of time. Over time trend analysis of both the patient's weight and the ankle displacement measurements can be obtained and compared to identify whether over a particular sample period an increase in a patient's ankle displacement is or is not correlated with an increase in the patient's weight. When an increase in ankle displacement is identified as not correlating to a corresponding change in the patient's weight an alert can be issued of conditions indicative of congestive heart failure. | 01-12-2012 |
20120016237 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING DISPLAY OF IMAGE AND CONTROL PROGRAM OF THE SAME - An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes a physical amount calculation device configured to calculate a physical amount on elasticity of living tissue based on an echo signal obtained by transmitting an ultrasonic wave to the living tissue, and a display image control device configured to control display of a predetermined alternative elastic image displayed instead of an elastic image based on the physical amount calculated for error frames using a ratio of non-error frames or the error frames in a predetermined plurality of frames, wherein the error frames are determined as not meeting a standard. | 01-19-2012 |
20120016238 | METHOD OF DISPLAYING ELASTIC IMAGE AND DIAGNOSTIC ULTRASOUND SYSTEM - To carry out objective or definitive diagnosis on the basis of an elastic image regardless of experience and proficiency, a method of displaying an elastic image includes the steps of measuring ultrasound cross-section data of a cross-section region of a subject by applying pressuring to the subject, determining a physical value correlating with the elasticity of tissue in the cross-section region on the basis of the ultrasound cross-section data, generating an elastic image of the cross-section region on the basis of the physical value and displaying the elastic image on a display device, determine compression state information relating to the compression state of the cross-section region on the basis of the pressure applied to the subject, and displaying the compression state information together with the elastic image on the display device. | 01-19-2012 |
20120065504 | Method for measuring the viscoelastic properties of biological tissue employing an ultrasonic transducer - The present invention relates to a Method of measuring the viscoelastic properties of biological tissues employing an ultrasonic transducer equipped with elements converting the ultrasonic waves reflected by these biological tissues into electrical signals, different elements being grouped to form sub-apertures such that the acquisition of electrical signals from the elements of the same sub-aperture is carried out simultaneously, each of these sub-apertures being intercepted by an ultrasonic wave propagation axis at an acoustic center (Ca). | 03-15-2012 |
20120065505 | ULTRASOUND STRAIN IMAGING BASED ON LATERAL DISPLACEMENT COMPENSATION - Embodiments for forming a strain image by compensating for displacement in a later direction in an ultrasound system are disclosed. In one embodiment, an ultrasound system includes: an ultrasound data acquisition unit configured to acquire first ultrasound data where compression is not applied to a target object and second ultrasound data where compression is applied to the target object; and a processing unit configured to compensate for displacements in axial and lateral directions in the second ultrasound data based on the first ultrasound data and second ultrasound data, the processing unit being further configured to form a strain image based on the first ultrasound data and the axial and lateral displacement compensated second ultrasound data. | 03-15-2012 |
20120065506 | Mechanical, Electromechanical, and/or Elastographic Assessment for Renal Nerve Ablation - A transducer arrangement causes target tissue of the body to vibrate and senses resulting vibration of the target tissue. Changes in one or more mechanical properties of the target tissue are measured based on the sensed vibration. Changes in one or more electromechanical properties of the target tissue can also be measured based on the sensed vibration and various electrical parameters. An output indicative of the measured changes in the one or more mechanical and/or electromechanical properties of the target tissue is generated. Changes in elasticity of the target tissue, for example, can be measured based on the sensed vibration, such as changes resulting from ablation of the target tissue. | 03-15-2012 |
20120083694 | STRETCHING BASED STRAIN IMAGING IN AN ULTRASOUND SYSTEM - Embodiments for forming an elastic image in an ultrasound system are disclosed. In one embodiment, a processing unit is configured to control an ultrasound data acquisition unit to perform the transmit/receive operation in a first state where compression is not applied to the target object to thereby obtain a first ultrasound frame data set, and to perform the transmit/receive operation in a second state where compression is applied to the target object to thereby obtain a second ultrasound frame data set. The processing unit is further configured to compute a first strain between the first and second ultrasound frame data sets, perform globally uniform stretching upon the second ultrasound frame data set based on the first strain, and compute a second strain between the first ultrasound frame data set and the stretched second ultrasound frame data set and form an elastic image based on the second strain. | 04-05-2012 |
20120089020 | BLOOD VESSEL FUNCTION INSPECTING APPARATUS - A blood vessel function inspecting apparatus including a first blood state index value calculating portion that obtains estimated hematocrit values at a plurality of points predetermined within a blood vessel, on the basis of values of a blood viscosity and values of a shear rate at said plurality of points, which are respectively extracted from a viscosity distribution and a shear rate distribution, and according to reference relationships between a hematocrit value and the blood viscosity, which reference relationships respectively correspond predetermined different values of the shear rate; and a second blood state index value calculating portion that calculates, as said blood state index value, a value relating to an amount of difference of the estimated hematocrit values at said plurality of points with respect to each other, which amount is minimized by transforming said reference relationships at the same ratio for all of the values of the shear rate. | 04-12-2012 |
20120095333 | Coupled Axial and Lateral Displacement Estimation for Elasticity Imaging - The determination of axial and lateral displacement in a material subject to compression is determined by fitting a multi-dimensional model function to the match between corresponding portions of the material in two states of compression. In one embodiment, iso-contour lines in a correlation between a reference kernel and a target kernel are fit to an ellipse whose center defines the maximum correlation and hence the displacement. | 04-19-2012 |
20120101381 | MEASURING PULMONARY BLOOD PRESSURE USING TRANSTHORACIC PULMONARY DOPPLER ULTRASOUND - Operation of a patient's heart or lungs may be analyzed by transmitting ultrasound energy into the patient's lung, and detecting Doppler shifts of reflected ultrasound induced by moving borders between blood vessels in the lung and air filled alveoli that surround the blood vessels. Movement of the border is caused by pressure waves in the blood vessels that result in changes in diameter of those blood vessels. The detected Doppler shifts are used to obtain power and velocity data at each of a plurality of different air pressure levels, and the pulmonary blood pressure of the patient is then estimated based on the obtained data. | 04-26-2012 |
20120108965 | Facilitating Desired Transducer Manipulation for Medical Diagnostics and Compensating for Undesired Motion - Methods and apparatus are described for facilitating desired transducer manipulation for medical diagnostics and/or compensating for undesired transducer motion. In one embodiment, a transducer is provided with one or more motion sensing elements such as accelerometers, magnetic sensors, etc. During image collection, motion of the transducer is tracked and compared to a desired motion, which may include lack of motion. Feedback may be provided to the operator to facilitate desired manipulation of the transducer. Feedback may be visual feedback, audio feedback or some other form of feedback (for example, tactile feedback). If the operator's technique is deficient, the operator may be prompted to repeat the image collection steps. Various motion templates may be stored according to specific transducer models, examination types, involved anatomy, etc. Motion data may also be used to compensate for undesired motion. | 05-03-2012 |
20120116219 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF ULTRASOUND IMAGE PROCESSING - An ultrasound system includes an ultrasound transducer adapted to obtain a dynamic series of echo signals of a subject tissue at different deformation states, and an image processor for generating and displaying ultrasound images of the tissue. The processor is configured to generate dynamic images that correspond to the dynamic series of echo signals, identify a plurality of pixels within a region of interest (ROI) of a first of the generated images, evaluate local tissue mechanical behavior by tracking the displacement, deformation, and echo intensity of the identified plurality of pixels from the first image to subsequent images based on groups of pixels that correspond to each of the identified plurality of pixels, determine tissue functionality in the subject at the tracked pixel locations, and display the tissue functionality in dynamic images that corresponds to the tracked pixel locations. | 05-10-2012 |
20120116220 | SPATIALLY-FINE SHEAR WAVE DISPERSION ULTRASOUND VIBROMETRY SAMPLING - Shear wave dispersion ultrasound vibrometry (SDUV) is implemented in some embodiments to form, from a single tracking pulse, in-parallel-directed receive lines ( | 05-10-2012 |
20120123261 | Renal Nerve Ablation Using Mild Freezing and Vibration - A catheter includes a thermal unit provided at its distal end and configured to receive a thermal transfer fluid. The thermal unit is configured to cause formation of ice particles in perivascular renal nerve tissue adjacent the thermal unit and warm tissue of the renal artery adjacent the thermal unit to a temperature above freezing while ice particles remain formed in the perivascular renal nerve tissue. A vibration source is configured to generate vibration of the ice particles sufficient to disrupt perivascular renal nerve tissue and terminate sympathetic renal nerve activity with no or negligible damage to thawed renal artery tissue. The vibration source may be configured to generate vibration sufficient to nucleate ice formation within at least the perivascular renal nerve tissue so that ice particles form throughout the perivascular renal nerve tissue adjacent the thermal unit. | 05-17-2012 |
20120123262 | PUSH/TRACKING SEQUENCES FOR SHEAR WAVE DISPERSION VIBROMETRY - Shear Wave Dispersion Vibrometry (SDUV) is performed such that, after a single instance of their push pulse ( | 05-17-2012 |
20120123263 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND ULTRASONIC MEASUREMENT METHOD - Disclosed are an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and an ultrasonic measurement method enabling easy acquisition of elasticity information by means of a shear wave. | 05-17-2012 |
20120130240 | ULTRASOUND DETECTING DEVICE HAVING FUNCTION OF CONFIRMING IRRADIATION POSITION, AND METHOD THEREOF - Provided is an ultrasound fracture detection device capable of accurately irradiating an ultrasound pulse to a target object, the device being characterized by being provided with an ultrasound wave irradiating transducer, a signal receiving transducer which receives a reflected wave of an ultrasound wave irradiated from the ultrasound wave irradiating transducer, a signal, storage unit which stores a received signal, and a display unit which displays an analysis program that analyzes a stored signal, a determination program that performs determination from the result of the analysis and/or performs determination from the stored signal, and the result of the analysis and/or the result of the determination, wherein the determination program performs the determination using that information relating to the received signal varies depending on the reflector within a living organism. | 05-24-2012 |
20120136249 | METHOD FOR MEASURING INTRACRANIAL ELASTICITY - A novel method to noninvasively measure intracranial pressure (ICP) and more generally brain elasticity is disclosed. ICP is determined using an algorithm coupled on a simulated artificial neural network (SANN) that calculates ICP based on a determination of a set of interacted ultrasound signals (IUSs) generated from multiple ultrasound pulses. The methods and systems of the present invention are capable of rapidly determining ICP without manual review of EPG waves by a technician. | 05-31-2012 |
20120136250 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE - In a radiation-pressure elastography technique for transmitting a ultrasound focused beam into a test object body and diagnosing the hardness thereof, it is required to consider high sensitivity and safety. | 05-31-2012 |
20120157838 | ULTRASOUND MONITORING OF AESTHETIC TREATMENTS - The current method and apparatus employs ultrasound beams to precisely monitor in real time the temperature of a specific segment of tissue being treated. Additionally, the current method and apparatus also provides ultrasound thermo-control of aesthetic skin treatment sessions. Such sessions may include one or more aesthetic skin tissue treatments such as sub-dermal fat cells breakdown, lessening of the amount of sub-dermal fat, tightening of loose skin, tightening and firming of body surfaces, reduction of wrinkles in the skin and collagen remodeling. | 06-21-2012 |
20120157839 | HIGH PRECISION SENSING FOR PARAMETER MEASUREMENT OF BONE DENSITY - A measurement system for capturing a transit time, phase, or frequency of energy waves propagating through a propagation medium is disclosed. The measurement system comprises a compressible waveguide ( | 06-21-2012 |
20120165666 | MEDICAL ULTRASOUND DEVICE WITH TEMPERATURE DETECTION AT DISTAL END - A medical ultrasound device is disclosed. The device comprises an elongated body having a proximal end, a distal end ( | 06-28-2012 |
20120184849 | METHOD OF OPERATING ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING MAP OF INTEREST INDEX AND ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS USING THE METHOD - An ultrasound diagnosis apparatus providing a map of an interest index. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus includes: a calculating unit for calculating a mechanical index (MI) corresponding to a depth value in a direction in which ultrasound travels from an ultrasound output part of a transmission transducer; a visualization unit for generating an MI map in which a relationship between the calculated MI and the depth value is visualized in the form of a graph; and a display unit for displaying the MI map. | 07-19-2012 |
20120197117 | THERMOACOUSTIC SYSTEM FOR ANALYZING TISSUE - Methods and systems to analyze soft tissue or vasculature in a subject, form images with enhanced soft tissue contrast, determine blood flow parameters in soft tissue or vasculature, and to aid in the diagnosis of disease using thermoacoustic methods. Pulsed electromagnetic energy is administered to tissue to excite a thermoacoustic signal in the soft tissue or vasculature. An acoustic receiver or receiver array is coupled to a subject to detect and record the thermoacoustic signals produced. Thermoacoustic data are acquired after administration of a physiologically-tolerable tracer or contrast agent. The acquired data may be analyzed to produce images of the soft tissue and vasculature (angiogram), to determine blood flow parameters, and/or to diagnose disease in a subject. | 08-02-2012 |
20120197118 | ULTRASONIC MONITORING DEVICE FOR MEASURING PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF A MAMMAL - An ultrasonic monitoring device includes a substrate, a plurality of ultrasonic transducer elements, a computer readable memory medium, a microprocessor, and a power source. The ultrasonic transducer elements are coupled to the substrate. Each ultrasonic transducer element is separately configured to transmit a signal to a target area of a mammal and to receive an echo return signal from the target area. The computer readable memory medium includes program instructions. The microprocessor is coupled to the ultrasonic transducer elements and to the computer readable memory medium for executing the program instructions to determine a physiological parameter of the mammal based on a combined analysis of the echo return signals received by the ultrasonic transducer elements. The power source is coupled to at least one of the ultrasonic transducer elements, the computer readable memory medium, or the microprocessor for supplying electrical energy. | 08-02-2012 |
20120209114 | DEVICE FOR HOLDING AN IMAGING PROBE AND USE OF SUCH DEVICE - The present invention relates to the field of e.g. ultra-sound imaging. In particular the present invention relates to a device for supporting an ultrasound probe or probe with other contrast imaging technology, preferably during heart imaging. The device comprises a fixation part comprising an aperture for receiving the probe. The device also comprises at least two skin supports ( | 08-16-2012 |
20120209115 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE, METHOD FOR GENERATING IMAGE FOR EVALUATING DISORDER OF PART TO BE DIAGNOSED OF OBJECT, AND PROGRAM FOR GENERATING IMAGE FOR EVALUATING DISORDER OF PART TO BE DIAGNOSED OF OBJECT - An ultrasonic diagnostic device is provided with: an ultrasonic probe which transmits and receives ultrasonic waves to and from an object; a reception processing unit which receives a reflection echo signal measured by the ultrasonic probe and generates RF signal frame data relating to a cross-sectional plane of a part to be diagnosed of the object; a displacement measurement unit which measures the displacements of tissue at a plurality of measurement points of the cross-sectional plane and generates displacement frame data, an elasticity information calculation unit which calculates elasticity information indicating the hardness or softness of the tissue at the plurality of measurement points and generates elasticity frame data; a unit for generating image which generates histograms of the displacements and/or the elasticity information of the tissue at the plurality of measurements points at different times; and an image display which displays the histograms generated at the different times. | 08-16-2012 |
20120215101 | Viscoelasticity Measurement Using Amplitude-Phase Modulated Ultrasound Wave - A viscoelastic property of tissue is measured in vivo. To collect more information and/or estimate viscosity, shear modulus, and/or other shear characteristics, an amplitude and phase modulated waveform is transmitted to the tissue. The displacement caused by the waveform over time includes displacements associated with response to different frequencies. By examining the displacement in the frequency domain, one or more viscoelastic properties may be calculated for different frequencies. The frequency response may indicate the health of the tissue. | 08-23-2012 |
20120215102 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING DISPLAY OF IMAGE AND CONTROL PROGRAM OF THE SAME - An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes a physical amount calculation device configured to calculate a physical amount on elasticity of living tissue based on an echo signal obtained by transmitting an ultrasonic wave to the living tissue, and a display image control device configured to control display of a predetermined alternative elastic image displayed instead of an elastic image based on the physical amount calculated for error frames using a ratio of non-error frames or the error frames in a predetermined plurality of frames, wherein the error frames are determined as not meeting a standard. | 08-23-2012 |
20120226158 | System and Method for Correcting Errors in Shear Wave Measurements Arising From Ultrasound Beam Geometry - A system and method for measuring mechanical properties of a tissue using an ultrasound system is provided. Ultrasound energy is applied to the tissue using the ultrasound system in order to produce shear waves that propagate in the tissue. Measurement data are then acquired by directing ultrasound detection pulses into the tissue. Information about the intensity field of the ultrasound energy used to produce the shear waves is obtained and used to produce a correction factor. This correction factor is applied to the measurement data to correct the measurement data for errors arising from the geometry of the ultrasound energy used to produce the shear waves. From the corrected measurement data, mechanical properties of the tissue are calculated. | 09-06-2012 |
20120232387 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND METHOD OF DETERMINING ELASTICITY INDEX RELIABILITY - An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus and a method of determining elasticity index reliability control transmission and reception of an ultrasonic beam, track displacements in a transmission direction of a plurality of points of a blood vessel in the transmission direction of the ultrasonic beam, calculate an elasticity index of the blood vessel based on the tracking result, acquire the direction of a displacement or the amount of displacement in the transmission direction of a specific point of the blood vessel, and determine reliability of the elasticity index based on the acquisition result. A program for determining elasticity index reliability causes a computer to execute the respective steps of the method. A computer readable storage medium stores the program. | 09-13-2012 |
20120232388 | ULTRASOUND SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REAL-TIME NONINVASIVE SPATIAL TEMPERATURE ESTIMATION - Ultrasound systems and methods for real-time noninvasive spatial temperature estimation are disclosed herein. A method for noninvasive temperature estimation in accordance with an embodiment of the present technology can include, for example, propagating ultrasound waves into tissue and detecting echoes of the ultrasound waves. The ultrasound waves can become nonlinear as they propagate into the tissue. The method can further include monitoring changes in tissue temperature in real-time using a spectral-based temperature estimation approach, which correlates nonlinear acoustic effects with changes in tissue temperature. | 09-13-2012 |
20120253194 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ULTRASOUND IMAGING - A first ultrasound pulse is applied to biological tissue to create shear waves in the biological tissue, a focused ultrasound pulse is transmitted into the biological tissue, one or more ultrasound signals is received from the biological tissue, and shear waves are detected in the biological tissue based on the received one or more ultrasound signals. At least one shear wave propagation property associated with the detected shear waves is determined, and the determined at least one propagation property is displayed. Ultrasound beam steering is used to improve measurement accuracy. | 10-04-2012 |
20120253195 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS, ELASTIC IMAGE STORAGE/REPRODUCTION METHOD, AND ELASTIC IMAGE STORAGE/REPRODUCTION PROGRAM - An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention includes: an ultrasonic probe which transmits and receives an ultrasonic wave to and from an object; a phasing addition means that generates RF signal frame data of a sectional part of the object on the basis of a reflected echo signal measured by the ultrasonic probe; a displacement measurement means that generates displacement frame data by measuring displacement of tissue of the sectional part on the basis of a pair of RF signal frame data items acquired at different times; an elastic information calculation means that generates elastic frame data by calculating elastic information, which indicates hardness or softness of tissue of the sectional part, on the basis of the generated displacement frame data; an elastic image configuration means that generates an elastic image on the basis of the elastic frame data; an image display device which displays the elastic image; and a memory in which the elastic image is stored. | 10-04-2012 |
20120271166 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DETECTING ELASTICITY OF VISCOUS ELASTIC MEDIUM - A method for nondestructively detecting an elasticity of a viscoelastic medium and a device for nondestructively detecting an elasticity of a viscoelastic medium are provided. The method comprises steps of: a) driving an ultrasonic transducer probe with a low-frequency vibration by a vibrator so as to produce an elastic wave to be propagated in the viscoelastic medium, transmitting an ultrasonic wave to the viscoelastic medium by the ultrasonic transducer probe, and collecting an ultrasonic echo returned from the viscoelastic medium; b) selecting an effective ultrasonic echo from the ultrasonic echo according to a duration of the low-frequency vibration and physical parameters of the viscoelastic medium; c) calculating a propagation velocity of the elastic wave in the viscoelastic medium according to the effective ultrasonic echo; and d) calculating the elasticity of the viscoelastic medium according to the propagation velocity of the elastic wave. | 10-25-2012 |
20120296209 | ULTRASONIC IMAGING DEVICE AND INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE - Provided is an ultrasonic imaging device that noninvasively measures the stiffness of the cardiac muscle, which is the heart muscle, or intracardiac pressure, which is the blood pressure inside the heart. The ultrasonic imaging device includes: an ultrasonic probe ( | 11-22-2012 |
20120296210 | WIRELESS NETWORK HAVING PORTABLE ULTRASOUND DEVICES - A patient monitoring system has one or more ultrasound devices that monitor patients. The ultrasound devices can communicate to a central station by way of a wireless data communication network. Ultrasound images acquired by the ultrasound devices may be displayed at the central station. Alarms may be generated based upon conditions detected by the ultrasound devices. An ultrasound device may have a strap that permits it to be held in place with a transducer against the skin of a subject to permit ultrasound observation of the subject either continuously or intermittently over an extended period. | 11-22-2012 |
20120330155 | Automated Ultrasonic Elasticity Image Formation with Quality Measure - Image data and E-mode images used in ultrasonic elasticity imaging may be automatically evaluated for quality to provide a single value used as operator feedback or for automatic selection of images for averaging or animation. | 12-27-2012 |
20130018260 | METHOD OF DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF TUMORS USING HIGH INTENSITY FOCUSED ULTRASOUND - A method of diagnosis and treatment of tumors using High Intensity Focused Ultrasound is provided. The method of diagnosing the presence of a tumor in a patient comprises the steps of subjecting a tumor to high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) to cause the tumor cells to release cellular material and evaluating the cellular material for a tumor marker. The method of treating a tumor in a patient can also comprise the step of subjecting a tumor to high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) to provoke an immune response. | 01-17-2013 |
20130030293 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND METHOD THEREOF - An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is provided. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus includes a physical quantity calculating unit configured to calculate a physical quantity related to elasticity of biological tissue, based on echo signals obtained by transmission/reception of ultrasound to and from a subject, and a three-dimensional elastic image data generating unit configured to generate three-dimensional elastic image data by volume rendering processing that projects data related to the physical quantity in a three-dimensional region of the subject in a predetermined visual line direction to thereby obtain data of respective pixels on a projection plane, wherein the three-dimensional elastic image data generating unit is configured to obtain data corresponding to the number of data related to the physical quantity in a prescribed range of elasticity in the visual line direction as the data of the respective pixels. | 01-31-2013 |
20130046177 | METHOD OF GENERATING ULTRASOUND IMAGE AND ULTRASOUND SYSTEM USING THE METHOD - A method of generating an ultrasound image and an ultrasound system using the method, the method including: obtaining an echo signal from an ultrasound signal irradiated on an organ; calculating an amount of a change in the echo signal with respect to a reference echo signal; determining a temperature of the organ from the amount of the change in the echo signal by using an amount of a change in an attenuation coefficient of the organ that changes according to a temperature change; and generating an ultrasound image including information about the determined temperature. | 02-21-2013 |
20130046178 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR MONITORING TEMPERATURE OF TREATMENT SITE BY USING ULTRASOUND, AND SYSTEM FOR TREATMENT AND DIAGNOSIS USING ULTRASOUND - According to a method and device for monitoring temperature by using ultrasound, an echo signal of diagnostic ultrasound irradiated to a treatment site is acquired, candidate temperature images are generated from the echo signal using different temperature determining methods, and the generated candidate temperature images are merged, resulting in generating a final temperature image. | 02-21-2013 |
20130060139 | METHOD OF DETECTING PORTAL AND/OR HEPATIC PRESSURE AND A PORTAL HYPERTENSION MONITORING SYSTEM - The devices and methods generally relate to vibratable sensors for measuring ambient fluid pressure, in particular implantable sensors. The devices and methods are particularly well-suited to implantation within the body of a living animal or human to monitor physiological conditions, such as portal and/or hepatic venous blood pressure, and allow frequent, remote interrogation of venous pressure using the resonance frequency of an implanted sensor. The sensor devices are relatively small compared to conventional devices for measuring fluid pressure and can be implanted in the porto-hepatic venous system, whereas conventional devices are too large. The small size of the device is accomplished by using a thick sensor membrane, compared to conventional devices, and by limiting the size of additional elements of the device relative to the size of the sensor membrane. The thicker sensor member also obviates the need for multiple sensor arrays and maintains the accuracy and robustness of the sensor device. A data capture, processing, and display system provides a pressure measurement reading, and is particularly well-suited for detecting portal hypertension in patients with liver disorders. | 03-07-2013 |
20130066204 | Classification Preprocessing in Medical Ultrasound Shear Wave Imaging - Classification preprocessing is provided for medical ultrasound shear wave imaging. In response to stress, the displacement at one or more locations in a patient is measured. The displacement over time is a curve representing a shift in location. One or more characteristics of the curve, such as signal-to-noise ratio and maximum displacement, are used to classify the location. The location is classified as fluid or fluid tissue, solid tissue, or non-determinative. Subsequent shear imaging may provide shear information for locations of solid tissue and not at other locations. | 03-14-2013 |
20130072794 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND ULTRASONIC TRANSMISSION/RECEPTION METHOD - An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and ultrasonic transmission/reception method that can acquire high-definition 3D elastic images and are very easy to use. A transmission/reception unit can switch between first transmission/reception condition, under which elasticity frame data is acquired at a first definition, and second transmission/reception condition, under which elasticity frame data is acquired at a second definition which is higher than the first definition. A switching unit detects variations in the elasticity values in the elasticity frame data and switches the aforementioned transmission/reception conditions from the first to the second on the basis of the stability of said variations. | 03-21-2013 |
20130096429 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS, OPERATION METHOD OF THE SAME, AND COMPUTER READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM - An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus includes: a frequency analyzing unit that calculates a frequency spectrum of a received ultrasonic wave; a frequency band setting unit that sets at least an upper limit frequency for use in approximating the calculated frequency spectrum to a predetermined frequency according to a receiving depth of an ultrasonic wave; a feature data extracting unit that extracts feature data of the frequency spectrum by approximating a frequency spectrum of the frequency band; a storage unit that stores feature data of a frequency spectrum extracted based on ultrasonic waves reflected off known specimens in association with tissue characteristics of the known specimens; and a tissue characteristic determining unit that determines a tissue characteristic in a predetermined area in the specimen using feature data stored in the storage unit in association with tissue characteristics of the known specimens and the feature data extracted at the feature data extracting unit. | 04-18-2013 |
20130096430 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND ULTRASONIC SCANNING METHOD - According to one embodiment, a detector detects a position at a leading end of a puncture needle. A determination unit determines a first scanning region in a subject and a second scanning region based on the position at the detected leading end, the second scanning region being narrower than the first scanning region. A transmission/reception controller controls a transmitter and a receiver to switches between first ultrasonic scanning for the first scanning region and second ultrasonic scanning for the second scanning region according to an instruction from an operator. | 04-18-2013 |
20130102899 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING A PATIENT - A system for managing a patient is disclosed and can include a patient interface adapted to obtain ultrasound information about the patient, a provider interface adapted to facilitate communication between the system and a provider, and a controller in communication with the patient interface and the provider interface, the controller including a clinical management module adapted to receive the ultrasound information and to recommend a clinical management strategy based upon the ultrasound information. A method of presenting a clinical management strategy is also described including obtaining information regarding a condition of a patient, developing a determinant reflecting the condition, and presenting a user with a clinical management strategy on an output device. | 04-25-2013 |
20130102900 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING A PATIENT - A system for managing a patient is disclosed and can include a patient interface adapted to obtain ultrasound information about the patient, a provider interface adapted to facilitate communication between the system and a provider, and a controller in communication with the patient interface and the provider interface, the controller including a clinical management module adapted to receive the ultrasound information and to recommend a clinical management strategy based upon the ultrasound information. A method of presenting a clinical management strategy is also described including obtaining information regarding a condition of a patient, developing a determinant reflecting the condition, and presenting a user with a clinical management strategy on an output device. | 04-25-2013 |
20130116560 | ULTRASOUND TEMPERATURE MAPPING SYSTEM AND METHOD - The present application relates to an ultrasound temperature mapping system and method. The ultrasound temperature mapping system for measuring a temperature of an object comprises an ultrasound transducer and a processing module. The ultrasound transducer is configured to acquire a first image and a second image with respect to the object. The processing module implements a zero-crossing algorithm to process the first image to yield a plurality of first zero-crossing points and implements a cross-correlation algorithm to process the first image and the second images based on the plurality of first zero-crossing points so as to obtain a plurality of displacements. The processing module further calculates the temperature based on the plurality of displacements. | 05-09-2013 |
20130116561 | TRANSMISSIVE IMAGING AND RELATED APPARATUS AND METHODS - Apparatus and methods are described that include ultrasound imaging devices, which may operate in a transmissive ultrasound imaging modality, and which may be used to detect properties of interest of a subject such as index of refraction, density and/or speed of sound. Devices suitable for performing high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), as well as HIFU and ultrasound imaging, are also described. | 05-09-2013 |
20130131511 | ULTRASONIC SHEAR WAVE IMAGING WITH FOCUSED SCANLINE BEAMFORMING - An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system produces an image of shear wave velocities by transmitting push pulses to generate shear waves. A plurality of tracking lines are transmitted and echoes received by a focusing beamformer adjacent to the location of the push pulses. The tracking lines are sampled in a time-interleaved manner. The echo data acquired along each tracking line is processed to determine the time of peak tissue displacement caused by the shear waves at points along the tracking line, and the times of peaks at adjacent tracking lines compared to compute a local shear wave velocity. The resultant map of shear wave velocity values is color-coded and displayed over an anatomical image of the region of interest. | 05-23-2013 |
20130144161 | Flow Quantification in Ultrasound Using Conditional Random Fields with Global Consistency - Velocities are unaliased using conditional random fields. To constrain the energy minimization function, a global term includes a measure of a level of aliasing. In one example, the measure of the level of aliasing is based on a change in volume, such as the volume of the left ventricle. The unaliasing is performed along one or more surfaces, such as surfaces intersecting the mitral annulus and the left ventricle outflow tract. The anatomy used is identified and/or tracked using one or more machine-learnt detectors. Both B-mode and velocity information may be used for detecting the anatomy. | 06-06-2013 |
20130144162 | Method and Device for Determining the Elastic Modulus of a Biological Tissue - To determine the elastic modulus of biologic tissue, a sequence of elasticity images and a sequence of B-mode ultrasound images are acquired simultaneously. Then, at least one sub-sequence of the B-mode ultrasound images representing a resting state is generated from said sequence of B-mode ultrasound images. Based on the sub-sequence of the B-mode ultrasound images, a subsequence of the elasticity images is generated by selecting and/or modifying those elasticity images. Finally, the elastic modulus is determined based on the sub-sequence of the elasticity images. Also disclosed are a method for determining changes of the elastic modulus of a tissue, a method of identifying biological tissue based on the determined elastic modulus and a device for determining the elastic modulus of a biological tissue. | 06-06-2013 |
20130158400 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND METHOD OF DISPLAYING ULTRASONIC IMAGE - To provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of producing a three-dimensional image of an object for an organ region within a range of elasticity values desired by an operator and allowing the operator to recognize the region easily, elasticity value data included in a desired elasticity value range among elasticity value data constituting a volume data are selected and rendered. Whereby, a three-dimensional elasticity image in the set elasticity value range is produced. An area corresponding to the elasticity value range is displayed on at least one of a two-dimensional elasticity image and a section image. | 06-20-2013 |
20130165778 | Shear Modulus Estimation by Application of Spatially Modulated Impulse Acoustic Radiation Force Approximation - A method for determining a shear modulus of an elastic material with a known density value is provided. In this method, a spatially modulated acoustic radiation force is used to initially generate a disturbance of known spatial frequency or wavelength. The propagation of this initial displacement as a shear wave is measured using ultrasound tracking methods. A temporal frequency is determined based on the shear wave. The shear modulus of the elastic material at the point of excitation may be calculated using the values of the spatial wavelength, material density, and temporal frequency. | 06-27-2013 |
20130165779 | TEMPERATURE ESTIMATION METHOD AND TEMPERATURE ESTIMATION APPARATUS USING THE SAME - An accuracy-improved temperature estimation method includes measuring a physical attribute of a tissue based on a reference signal and a received signal, a first estimation operation to estimate a first temperature of the tissue based on the physical attribute, calculating at least one parameter used in a bio heat transfer model based on the estimated first temperature, and a second estimation operation to estimate a second temperature of the tissue by using the calculated at least one parameter and the bio heat transfer model. | 06-27-2013 |
20130165780 | BLOOD PRESSURE MEASUREMENT APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD FOR BLOOD PRESSURE MEASUREMENT APPARATUS - In an ultrasound blood pressure monitor | 06-27-2013 |
20130172741 | ANALYSIS APPARATUS AND ANALYSIS METHOD - An analysis apparatus which analyses a state of a specimen and includes: a temperature adjustment unit which lowers a temperature of the specimen by cooling the specimen; a light source which heats at least a part of the specimen cooled by the temperature adjustment unit, by illuminating the specimen with light; a first temperature measurement unit which measures a temperature change of the specimen caused by the heating by the light source; and an analysis unit which analyzes the state of the specimen based on the temperature change of the specimen. For example, the first temperature measurement unit has an ultrasonic probe which transmits an ultrasonic pulse to the specimen and receives a reflected wave that is the ultrasonic pulse reflected from the specimen, and measures the temperature of the specimen based on a signal of the reflected wave. | 07-04-2013 |
20130184578 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING MULTI SPECTRAL DOPPLER IMAGES - A method of providing multi spectral Doppler images, including displaying an ultrasound image of an object in a first region; setting a plurality of sample volumes in the displayed ultrasound image; obtaining a plurality of Doppler signals corresponding to the set plurality of sample volumes; and tridimensionally displaying in a second region the multi spectral Doppler images that are generated based on the obtained plurality of Doppler signals. | 07-18-2013 |
20130184579 | Method and System for Measuring Pulmonary Artery Circulation Information - Minimally invasive systems and methods are described for measuring pulmonary circulation information from the pulmonary arteries. A transbronchial Doppler ultrasound catheter is advanced through the airways and in the vicinity of the pulmonary artery. Doppler ultrasound energy is sent through the airway wall and across the pulmonary artery to obtain velocity information of blood flowing through the artery. The velocity information is used to compute pulmonary circulation information including but not limited to flowrate. | 07-18-2013 |
20130190621 | THROMBOSIS WARNING SYSTEM - The present invention relates to a device for detecting the potential formation of a thrombus in a patient on a ventricular assist device. The device uses an energy source and sensor to detect changes in rheology of the patient. | 07-25-2013 |
20130190622 | ULTRASOUND IMAGING SYSTEM WITH PIXEL ORIENTED PROCESSING - An ultrasound imaging system with pixel oriented processing is provided in which an acoustic signal is generated, echoes from the acoustic signal are received at a plurality of receiving elements to obtain echo signals that are then stored, a given pixel is mapped into a region of the stored signals, the mapped region of the stored echo signals is organized into array for the given pixel after which the array is processed to generate a signal response for the given pixel to obtain acoustic information for the given pixel. The system can be implemented entirely on plug-in cards for a commercial PC motherboard. The system and method can be implemented for pixel-oriented or voxel-oriented image processing and display, eliminating intermediate data computations and enabling extensive use of software processing methods. Advantages include improved acquisition of signal dynamic range, flexible acquisition modes for high frame rate 2D, 3D, and Doppler blood flow imaging. | 07-25-2013 |
20130197362 | DOPPLER ULTRASOUND BASED FETAL MONITORING - A fetal movement monitoring method that limits the ultrasound radiation to safe levels and conforms to the ALARA principle is disclosed. The disclosed method of monitoring fetal movements by Doppler ultrasound comprises accumulating the time for which ultrasound is radiated into a subject, comparing the accumulated time with a first reference total time, counting the number of fetal movements in the subject, comparing the number of movements with a reference number, deciding at least one of a further action of the device and an action to be recommended to the subject and conveying at least one of a further action of the device, an information to the subject about the counted fetal movements and an action recommended to the subject. A Doppler ultrasound device for monitoring fetal movements in a subject is also disclosed. | 08-01-2013 |
20130211253 | On-axis Shear Wave Characterization with Ultrasound - Shear wave imaging is provided in medical diagnostic ultrasound. The generation of a shear wave with acoustic energy forms a pseudo shear wave (an apparent wave) traveling towards the transducer. Transmission and reception along a single line may be used to detect the pseudo shear wave traveling towards the transducer. The shear velocity or characteristic may be determined without reception along multiple laterally spaced scan lines. One transmission to generate the shear wave may be used. With multi-beam receive or without, calculating shear velocity from along a single line allows rapid determination. | 08-15-2013 |
20130211254 | ULTRASOUND ACQUISITION - Ultrasound acquisition Information about a structure ( | 08-15-2013 |
20130211255 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IN-VIVO IMAGING - An in-vivo imaging device including a camera may include a frame storage device. Systems and methods which vary the frame capture rate of the camera and/or frame display rate of the display unit of in-vivo camera systems are discussed. The capture rate is varied based on for example, a physical quantity experienced by the camera system, or physical measurements related to the motion of the camera. Alternatively, the frame capture rate is varied based on comparative image processing of a plurality of frames. The frame display rate of the system may be varied based on comparative image processing of a multiplicity of frames. Both the frame capture and the frame display rates of such systems can be varied concurrently. | 08-15-2013 |
20130211256 | METHOD FOR MYOCARDIAL SEGMENT WORK ANALYSIS - The invention relates to medical monitoring apparatuses, methods, and computer programs for determining power or work as a function of time for individual myocardial segments based on strain and pressure measurements. Compared to prior art determinations of determination of mechanical power or work for individual segments, the invention is advantageous as it provides such determination solely from a pressure measurement or estimate and a measurement of strain, preferably by echocardiography, such as speckle tracking ultrasound imaging. This allows a fast, easy and non-invasive determination with high temporal and spatial resolution. A number of indices for segment work can be calculated which can be used as markers for the individual segment function as well as for a selection of patient for CRT. | 08-15-2013 |
20130218011 | Visualization of Associated Information in Ultrasound Shear Wave Imaging - Information associated with shear calculation is also displayed in ultrasound shear wave imaging. More information than just a shear wave image is provided for diagnosis. Information about the quality or variables used to determine shear is also displayed. This additional information may assist the user in determining whether the shear information indicates tissue characteristics or unreliable shear calculation. | 08-22-2013 |
20130218012 | Determining Material Stiffness Using Multiple Aperture Ultrasound - Changes in tissue stiffness have long been associated with disease. Systems and methods for determining the stiffness of tissues using ultrasonography may include a device for inducing a propagating shear wave in tissue and tracking the speed of propagation, which is directly related to tissue stiffness and density. The speed of a propagating shear wave may be detected by imaging a tissue at a high frame rate and detecting the propagating wave as a perturbance in successive image frames relative to a baseline image of the tissue in an undisturbed state. In some embodiments, sufficiently high frame rates may be achieved by using a ping-based ultrasound imaging technique in which unfocused omni-directional pings are transmitted (in an imaging plane or in a hemisphere) into a region of interest. Receiving echoes of the omnidirectional pings with multiple receive apertures allows for substantially improved lateral resolution. | 08-22-2013 |
20130225993 | HEAD UNIT, ULTRASONIC PROBE, ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENT, AND DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE - A head unit for an ultrasonic probe includes a connecting section, an element chip and a storing section. The connecting section is configured to electrically connect the head unit to a probe main body of the ultrasonic probe. The element chip includes an ultrasonic element array having a substrate defining a plurality of openings arranged in an array pattern and a plurality of ultrasonic transducer elements with each of the ultrasonic transducer elements being provided in each of the openings. The element chip is configured to be electrically connected to a processing device of the probe main body through the connecting section. The storing section is configured to store operation setting information of the processing device to be output to the processing device through the connecting section. | 08-29-2013 |
20130237820 | DEVICES, METHODS, AND SYSTEMS FOR MEASURING ELASTIC PROPERTIES OF BIOLOGICAL TISSUES - A device, method, and system for using an acoustic radiation force resulting from focused ultrasound energy in order to generate an internal force remotely and to measure quantitatively tissue elasticity in vivo and non-invasively. | 09-12-2013 |
20130237821 | System and Method for Model-Independent Quantification of Tissue Viscoelastic Properties Using Ultrasound - A model-independent method for producing a viscoelastic tissue property metric using ultrasound is provided. A mechanical stress, such as an acoustic force, is applied to a tissue using an ultrasound system and tissue displacement resulting from the applied acoustic force is measured. From the tissue displacement measurements, a complex modulus, such as a relative complex modulus, is extracted. A loss tangent is calculated from the extracted complex modulus. Using the calculated loss tangent, viscoelastic tissue property metrics may be calculated. | 09-12-2013 |
20130245441 | Pressure-Volume with Medical Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging - Pressure-volume analysis is provided in medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging. The heart of a patient is scanned multiple times during a given cycle. B-mode and flow information are obtained for various times. The flow information is used to estimate pressure over time. A reference pressure, such as from a cuff, may be used to calibrate the pressure waveform. The B-mode information is used to determine a heart volume over time, such as a left ventricle volume over time. The heart volume over time and pressure over time are plotted, providing a pressure-volume loop. The pressure-volume loop is determined non-invasively with ultrasound. | 09-19-2013 |
20130245442 | SYSTEMS, METHODS AND COMPUTER PROGRAMS FOR DETECTION OF TISSUE MECHANICAL PROPERTY - In accordance with embodiments disclosed herein, systems, methods, and computer programs are provided that determine a mechanical property of a subject. An excitation force is applied to a displacement origin within a subject, and a shear wave is generated in response to application of the excitation force. The displacement data indicative of displacement motion at the sample position is sampled by tracking pulses, and the timing of at least one of the tracking pulses is adjusted relative to application of the excitation force. The process continues until a peak displacement of the shear wave for the sample position is determined based upon the displacement data. | 09-19-2013 |
20130245443 | METHOD AND ARRANGEMENT FOR ESTIMATING MINERAL DENSITY OF A BONE - An arrangement is adapted to determine an estimate for mineral density related to a patient's first bone, wherein said first bone is associated with a femoral head, neck and/or a lumbar spine. The estimate determined by determining a first parameter, which is related to a property change in a measurement signal, most preferably an ultrasonic signal, launched towards some second bone of said patient other than the first bone after the measurement signal has been in interaction with said second bone. This is followed by determining an estimate for mineral density related to said patient's first bone by using said first parameter. | 09-19-2013 |
20130253318 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING VISCOELASTIC PARAMETERS IN TISSUE - Described herein are a method and apparatus for determining viscoelastic parameters of a tissue. A vibration signal is applied to the tissue and displacements at a plurality of locations within the tissue are measured at a plurality of times. The viscoelastic parameters of the tissue, including elasticity and viscosity, can then be determined by fitting a finite element model of the tissue to the vibration signal and the measured displacements and by solving for the viscoelastic parameters of the model. A value for density of each element of the model is selected and the absolute values for the viscoelastic parameters of each of the elements in the model is determined. Alternatively, the difference in relaxation-times between two locations within the tissue can be determined from the difference in phases of the strains at the two locations. | 09-26-2013 |
20130253319 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ACQUIRING AND ANALYZING MULTIPLE IMAGE DATA LOOPS - A method and system for acquiring and analyzing multiple image data loops comprising: receiving a set of ultrasound data, characterizing a tissue, collected over a first collection loop and a second collection loop; determining a tissue parameter distribution within the tissue based on the set of ultrasound data and multi-dimension speckle tracking; receiving identification of at least one region of interest represented in the set of ultrasound data in the first collection loop and the second collection loop; measuring a comparative characteristic, in the region of interest, between the first collection loop and the second collection loop; and rendering at least one of the comparative characteristic and the tissue parameter distribution. The system comprises a processor, an analysis engine, and a user interface, and may further comprise an ultrasound scanner. The system is preferably configured to perform the method. | 09-26-2013 |
20130261452 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ULTRASOUND IMAGING - A first ultrasound pulse is applied to biological tissue to create shear waves in the biological tissue, a focused ultrasound pulse is transmitted into the biological tissue, one or more ultrasound signals is received from the biological tissue, and shear waves are detected in the biological tissue based on the received one or more ultrasound signals. At least one propagation property associated with the detected shear waves is determined, and the determined at least one propagation property is displayed. A strain image is obtained by either acoustic radiation forces or mechanical compression, e.g., by an ultrasound probe. The strain image is then converted to a new shear wave velocity image by using a previously-obtained shear wave velocity image. | 10-03-2013 |
20130261453 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ULTRASOUND IMAGING - A first ultrasound pulse is applied to biological tissue to create shear waves in the biological tissue, a focused ultrasound pulse is transmitted into the biological tissue, one or more ultrasound signals is received from the biological tissue, and shear waves are detected in the biological tissue based on the received one or more ultrasound signals. At least one propagation property associated with the detected shear waves is determined, and the determined at least one propagation property is displayed. A strain image is obtained by either acoustic radiation forces or mechanical compression, e.g., by an ultrasound probe. The strain image is then converted to a new shear wave velocity image by using a previously-obtained shear wave velocity image. | 10-03-2013 |
20130267847 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ULTRASOUND IMAGING - A first ultrasound pulse is applied to biological tissue to create shear waves in the biological tissue, an ultrasound pulse is transmitted into the biological tissue, one or more ultrasound signals is received from the biological tissue, and shear waves are detected in the biological tissue based on the received one or more ultrasound signals. At least one propagation property associated with the detected shear waves is determined, and the determined at least one propagation property is displayed. | 10-10-2013 |
20130274602 | COLONOSCOPY SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Systems and methods for performing a colonoscopy or endoscopy using a scope system equipped with both diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound for more effective colorectal screening, particularly in colons with poor bowel preparation. | 10-17-2013 |
20130281852 | METHOD FOR CORRECTING BLOOD PRESSURE ESTIMATION PARAMETER AND BLOOD PRESSURE MEASUREMENT APPARATUS - As different artery blood pressure combination measurement, peripheral blood pressure combination measurement that combines blood vessel diameter measurement to measure a blood vessel diameter as a blood vessel cross-section index value of a central artery as a first artery with peripheral blood pressure measurement to measure blood pressure of a peripheral artery as a second artery is conducted. Then, a parameter for a blood pressure estimation process (for example, a blood vessel hardness parameter or a correlation parameter) that estimates the central aortic blood pressure from the blood vessel diameter of the central artery is corrected by using measurement results of the peripheral blood pressure combination measurement. | 10-24-2013 |
20130289402 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS - When multiple tissues having differing speeds of sound are intermixed in the viewing field of a measured subject such as a living body, the invention measures hardness, such as modulus of elasticity or viscosity, with high precision. As a means for detecting heterogeneity of sound speed in the tissues of a subject, a displacement-generating transmission beam is applied from a displacement generating beam-generating device ( | 10-31-2013 |
20130296697 | Imaging, Therapy, and Temperature Monitoring Ultrasonic system and Method - An ultrasonic system useful for providing imaging, therapy and temperature monitoring generally comprises an acoustic transducer assembly configured to enable the ultrasound system to perform the imaging, therapy and temperature monitoring functions. The acoustic transducer assembly comprises a single transducer that is operatively connected to an imaging subsystem, a therapy subsystem and a temperature monitoring subsystem. The ultrasound system may also include a display for imaging and temperature monitoring functions. An exemplary single transducer is configured such that when connected to the subsystems, the imaging subsystem can generate an image of a treatment region on the display, the therapy subsystem can generate high power acoustic energy to heat the treatment region, and the temperature monitoring subsystem can map and monitor the temperature of the treatment region and display the temperature on the display, all through the use of the single transducer. Additionally, the acoustic transducer assembly can be configured to provide three-dimensional imaging, temperature monitoring or therapeutic heating through the use of adaptive algorithms and/or rotational or translational movement. Moreover, a plurality of the exemplary single transducers can be provided to facilitate enhanced treatment capabilities. | 11-07-2013 |
20130296698 | ADJUSTING MEASUREMENTS OF THE EFFECTS OF ACOUSTIC RADIATION FORCE FOR BACKGROUND MOTION EFFECTS - An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system for shear wave measurement transmits push pulses into tissue for the generation of shear waves. Characteristics of the shear waves such as their velocity of passage through the tissue are measured to assess properties such as tissue stiffness. The measurements are compensated for effects of background motion by sampling echo signals from the tissue at different times and comparing the samples to detect the presence of relative motion between the ultrasound probe and the region of interest where shear waves are detected. Sensed background motion is used to adjust measured shear wave characteristics. | 11-07-2013 |
20130317361 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND METHOD - An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus with which elastic modulus can be measured when measuring elastic modulus using shear wave generation. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus includes an ultrasound probe that sends and receives echo signals, a strain-computing unit that receives an echo signal from the body by radiating a first displacement-detecting beam and computes strain information in a Region | 11-28-2013 |
20130317362 | SHEAR WAVE VELOCITY ESTIMATION USING CENTER OF MASS - The weighted-average-based position ( | 11-28-2013 |
20130324848 | BIOMETRIC INFORMATION MEASURING DEVICE AND BIOMETRIC INFORMATION MEASURING SYSTEM - Though mechanocardiogram is considered to have a high medical value, mechanocardiogram recording device is large in size and very expensive, obtained data lacks reliability, a measurement algorithm has not been settled, use of an apexcardiogram for diagnosis is not useful for diagnosis of the circulatory system, and there has been no measuring equipment capable of measuring pexcardiogram which contribute to determination of heal condition of a living body to be measured. For measurement of heartbeat of a living body, measuring device which allows simple measurement of apexcardiogram at bedside has been developed using a pressure sensor and/or wave sensor capable of measuring change in pressure at multiple portions adjacent to one another, and simple electronic circuit. Data processing algorithm for obtaining health information of a living body to be measured with high reliability from measured apexcardiogram and a biometric information measuring device having a new data processing algorithm on board have been developed to solve the problem. | 12-05-2013 |
20130331695 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSIS METHOD AND APPARATUS USING ELECTROCARDIOGRAM - An ultrasound diagnosis method using an electrocardiogram (ECG) including: obtaining ECG information; generating first volume data using at least one piece of sub volume data obtained in a first ECG cycle based on the ECG information; generating second volume data using at least one piece of sub volume data obtained in a second ECG cycle based on the ECG information; and displaying at least one of the first volume data and the second volume data. | 12-12-2013 |
20140012133 | METHOD AND/OR APPARATUS FOR MEASURING RENAL DENERVATION EFFECTIVENESS - The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to methods and/or apparatus for measuring the effectiveness of a renal denervation treatment. In some embodiments, a method for determining effectiveness of the denervation treatment comprises tracking at least one of arterial wall movement, arterial blood flow rate, arterial blood flow velocity, blood pressure and arterial diameter at one or more selected locations in the renal artery over time, and assessing the effectiveness of said renal denervation treatment according to results obtained by tracking. | 01-09-2014 |
20140018676 | METHOD OF GENERATING TEMPERATURE MAP SHOWING TEMPERATURE CHANGE AT PREDETERMINED PART OF ORGAN BY IRRADIATING ULTRASOUND WAVE ON MOVING ORGANS, AND ULTRASOUND SYSTEM USING THE SAME - A method of generating a temperature map showing a temperature change in a predetermined part by irradiating ultrasound waves on a moving organ includes generating reference frames indicating images of an observed part including a treatment part in the predetermined organ during a predetermined period related to a movement cycle of the predetermined organ from echo signals transduced from reflected waves of ultrasound waves for diagnosis irradiated on the observed part during the predetermined period; generating a current frame indicating an image of the observed part at a time an ultrasound wave for treatment is irradiated on the treatment part from the echo signals; selecting a comparison frame that is one of the reference frames based on a similarity between the reference frames and the current frame; and generating a temperature map showing a temperature change in the observed part based on a difference between the comparison and current frames. | 01-16-2014 |
20140018677 | HEAT-DISTRIBUTION INDICATORS, THERMAL ZONE INDICATORS, ELECTROSURGICAL SYSTEMS INCLUDING SAME AND METHODS OF DIRECTING ENERGY TO TISSUE USING SAME - An electrosurgical system includes an electrosurgical power generating source, an energy applicator operably associated with the electrosurgical power generating source, a heat-distribution indicator adapted to change echogenic properties in response to heat generated by energy delivered by the energy applicator, and a processor unit configured to generate at least one electrical signal for controlling at least one operating parameter associated with the electrosurgical power generating source. The system also includes an imaging system capable of acquiring image data. The imaging system is communicatively-coupled to the processor unit. The processor unit is adapted to determine an ablation rate at least in part based on analysis of one or more images acquired by the imaging system. | 01-16-2014 |
20140018678 | ULTRASONIC EVALUATION OF VENOUS STRUCTURES - Provided are methods and systems for detecting a maturing arterio-venous fistula comprising a vein. An exemplary method comprises determining a wall thickness of the fistula and a lumen diameter of the fistula vein using a high frequency ultrasound imaging system. A blood pressure of the subject is determined. A circumferential vessel wall stress is determined from the measured blood pressure, the wall thickness of the fistula and a determined radius of the measured diameter of the fistula. The determined circumferential vessel stress is compared to a predetermined threshold stress to determine if the fistula is mature. | 01-16-2014 |
20140018679 | GENERATION AND ASSESSMENT OF SHEAR WAVES IN ELASTICITY IMAGING - A method for generation and analysis of shear waves in a subject with an ultrasound system. Multiple short ultrasound push pulses are applied, as a set and optionally more than once, to one or more push origins at the subject to produce first and second shear waves of large amplitudes and desired spatial distributions, which are separated in space and time and which have opposite polarity such that initial movements of the subject tissue, respectively caused by the first and second shear waves, occur in opposite directions. At least one mechanical property of the subject (including that represented by shear wave group velocity, phase velocity, and attenuation of a shear wave) is determined based at least in part on a distance between wavefronts of the first and second shear waves. | 01-16-2014 |
20140024937 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MEASURING AN AMOUNT OF URINE IN A BLADDER - An apparatus for measuring an amount of urine in a bladder using ultrasonic signals comprises: a transducer; a switch for selecting one of operational modes, which include a preliminary scan mode and a scan mode; a transducer drive unit for driving the transducer; and a central control unit for operating according to the operational mode to provide an amount of urine in the bladder. The central control unit in the preliminary scan mode acquires the ultrasonic signals for a single scan plane from the transducer, generates a 2-dimensional B-Mode ultrasonic image using the acquired ultrasonic signals, displays the B-Mode ultrasonic image, and marks a vertical center-line on the B-Mode ultrasonic image. The central control unit in the scan mode acquires ultrasonic signals for a plurality of scan planes from the transducer, measures an amount of urine in the bladder using the acquired ultrasonic signals, and provides the amount of urine. | 01-23-2014 |
20140031685 | Three-Dimensional Tissue Hardness Imaging - A method for generating hardness information of tissue subject to a varying pressure. The method comprises receiving signals from the tissue from a sensor for measuring the deformation of the tissue in a measuring plane defined by the sensor, which sensor, during a varying pressure exerted on the tissue, is moved along the tissue in a direction transverse to the measuring plane; identifying strain of the tissue from the resulting signals; and relating the strain to elasticity and/or hardness parameters of the tissue. The method may comprise the step of displaying elasticity and/or hardness parameters of a tissue surface or tissue volume part extending practically parallel to the direction of motion of the sensor. | 01-30-2014 |
20140039313 | DIAGNOSING LUNG DISEASE USING TRANSTHORACIC PULMONARY DOPPLER ULTRASOUND DURING LUNG VIBRATION - Operation of a patient's lungs may be analyzed by transmitting ultrasound energy into the patient's lung, and obtain power and velocity Doppler data while a vibration is being induced in the lung. At least one portion of the power and velocity data that corresponds to a fundamental harmonic is then identified. In some embodiments, portions of the power and velocity data that corresponds to higher order harmonics are also identified. The power observed in the fundamental harmonic and optionally the higher order harmonics can then be used to determine the condition of the lungs. | 02-06-2014 |
20140046183 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ANALYZING ELASTOGRAPHY OF TISSUE USING ULTRASOUND WAVES - A method and apparatus for analyzing elastography of tissue using ultrasound waves, wherein elastography information of tissue in a region of interest (ROI) is analyzed by irradiating ultrasound waves for diagnosis towards the ROI to which a shear wave is induced from an ultrasound probe, receiving echo ultrasound waves, and acquiring three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound images with respect to the ROI. | 02-13-2014 |
20140046184 | CONTACTLESS SLEEP DISORDER SCREENING SYSTEM - Provided are systems ( | 02-13-2014 |
20140051998 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING AN ELASTIC IMAGE - An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is provided. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus includes a physical quantity calculating unit configured to calculate a physical quantity related to elasticity of biological tissue of a subject based on echo signals obtained by transmission/reception of ultrasound, an elastic image data generating unit configured to generate elastic image data having information indicative of a display form corresponding to the physical quantity calculated, a display unit configured to display an elastic image having the display form corresponding to the calculated physical quantity, and a calculating unit configured to calculate values related to a cardiac pulsation of the subject, wherein the calculated physical quantity and the information indicative of the display form correspond to each other such that the information indicative of the display form changes according to the calculated physical quantity over a range of physical quantities set according to the cardiac pulsation values. | 02-20-2014 |
20140058259 | MEASURING DEVICE - A measuring device is provided. The measuring device includes a propagation velocity calculating unit configured to calculate a propagation velocity of a shear wave generated in a living tissue by an ultrasonic pulse transmitted to the living tissue, wherein the propagation velocity calculating unit is configured to calculate propagation velocities of shear waves in a plurality of parts whose distances from the ultrasonic pulse are equal, a comparing unit configured to compare the propagation velocities of the shear waves in the plurality of parts, and a notifying unit configured to perform a notification based on a result of the comparison performed by the comparing unit. | 02-27-2014 |
20140058260 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EVALUATING TISSUE - The present invention provides a sensor system for measuring an elastic modulus and a shear modulus and a method for using the sensor system to evaluate a tissue by determining the presence of and/or characterizing abnormal growths. The method involves applying a set of forces of different magnitudes to one or more locations of tissue, detecting the corresponding displacements due to said applied forces, determining the forces acting on those locations of tissue which are a combination of forces from the applied voltages and the countering forces from tissue deformation, obtaining the elastic modulus and/or shear modulus for a plurality of locations, and determining abnormal growth invasiveness, malignancy or the presence of a tumor from said elastic and/or shear moduli. | 02-27-2014 |
20140066763 | TRANSMISSIVE IMAGING AND RELATED APPARATUS AND METHODS - Apparatus and methods are described that include ultrasound imaging devices, which may operate in a transmissive ultrasound imaging modality, and which may be used to detect properties of interest of a subject such as index of refraction, density and/or speed of sound. Devices suitable for performing high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), as well as HIFU and ultrasound imaging, are also described. | 03-06-2014 |
20140066764 | CHARACTERIZATION OF TISSUE BY ULTRASOUND ECHOGRAPHY - Various embodiments concern sensing a first signal indicative of a plurality of different phases of a cardiac cycle with a sensor and sensing a second signal with an ultrasound sensor within the heart over different phases, the second signal indicative of the density of a section of cardiac tissue. Each phase can be associated with an indication of the density of the section of cardiac tissue during the phase based on the second signal. It can be determined whether the section of cardiac tissue compressed during the cardiac cycle based on a change in the indication of density of the cardiac tissue over the plurality of different phases. The efficacy of ablation therapy can be evaluated based on the compressibility of the section of cardiac tissue. | 03-06-2014 |
20140081135 | METHOD, APPARATUS, AND SYSTEM FOR ANALYZING ELASTOGRAPHY OF TISSUE USING ONE-DIMENSIONAL ULTRASOUND PROBE - A method of analyzing elastography of tissue using a one-dimensional (1D) ultrasound probe. The method includes: acquiring two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound images with respect to a region of interest (ROI) of an object to be diagnosed, to which a shear wave is induced, using the 1D ultrasound probe; measuring a displacement of the shear wave from the acquired 2D ultrasound images; estimating a change rate in the displacement of the shear wave along a y-axis direction orthogonal to a 2D plane on which the 2D ultrasound images are shown, using the measured displacement; and analyzing elastography information of tissue in the ROI using the measured displacement and the estimated displacement change rate. | 03-20-2014 |
20140081136 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR NON-INVASIVE MEASUREMENT OF CARPAL TUNNEL PRESSURE - Method and system for non-invasive determination of a pressure characteristic associated with carpal tunnel (CT) region of a subject. Speed of a shear wave induced in the tissue of the subject and propagating through the CT region is measured at least once. The pressure characteristic is substantially proportional to determined speed. | 03-20-2014 |
20140081137 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING AN ULTRASOUND IMAGE - An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is provided. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus includes a physical quantity calculating unit configured to set correlation windows to two echo signals different in time from each other on the same sound ray, and perform a correlation computation to calculate a physical quantity related to elasticity. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus further includes a computing unit configured to compute a computed value from a computational equation, the computed value emphasizing parameter characteristics of a cyst in a biological tissue, the computational equation using at least two of the following three parameters: an absolute value of the physical quantity, a correlation coefficient related to the correlation computation, and an intensity of each echo signal of ultrasound obtained from the biological tissue. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus further includes a display unit configured to display an image having a display form corresponding to the computed value. | 03-20-2014 |
20140081138 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR MEASURING A MEAN VALUE OF VISCO-ELASTICITY OF A REGION OF INTEREST - The invention relates to a method for measuring a mean visco-elasticity value for a soft material. Said method using a single probe carrying at least one transducer comprises the steps of: | 03-20-2014 |
20140088421 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LOCAL ESTIMATION OF NONLINEAR TISSUE ELASTICITY WITH ACOUSTIC RADIATION FORCE - Ultrasound system and method configured to locally determine a parameter of nonlinear tissue elasticity by monitoring shear wave propagating through the tissue. The shear wave is caused by an acoustic radiation force (ARF) which is applied to the tissue by ultrasound irradiation locally, in a focal region of the ultrasound beam and which is a function of the intensity of ultrasound irradiation, its time rate, and the featured nonlinearity parameter. The irradiation does not involve a quasi-static compression of the tissue, thereby permitting local estimation of nonlinear tissue elasticity and circumventing the need to solve the global inverse problem. | 03-27-2014 |
20140094701 | DEVICES THAT COOPERATE WITH ULTRASOUND PROBES FOR MUSCOSKELETAL EVALUATIONS AND RELATED SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Adaptors for ultrasound probes can have an adaptor body can have an open lower end that allows a distal end of the ultrasound probe to extend therethrough to contact skin of a patient. The adaptor can include a plurality of spaced apart resilient members held by the adaptor body that, in operation, are able to change in length such that the resilient members translate from a first longer length to a second shorter length when the probe applies compressive force to the target tissue. | 04-03-2014 |
20140094702 | METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR MEASURING TISSUE STIFFNESS CHANGES USING ULTRASOUND ELASTICITY IMAGING - A method of evaluating tissue stiffness of a target area includes positioning an ultrasound elasticity imaging apparatus adjacent a surface of an area of tissue where the target area is located and applying a dynamic range of force to the tissue. A plurality of ultrasound beams can be directed at the tissue and a plurality of ultrasound echoes can be acquired from the strained tissue in the target area to calculate an amount of developed strain within the target area. | 04-03-2014 |
20140100458 | METHOD, APPARATUS, AND SYSTEM FOR MEASURING PROPAGATION OF SHEAR WAVE USING ULTRASOUND TRANSDUCER - A method of measuring propagation of a shear wave by using an ultrasound transducer includes generating a shear wave inside the object, setting a region of interest (ROI) on which propagation of the shear wave is to be observed, and determining a position of a second focus on which ultrasound signals are to be directed to obtain information about the ROI, irradiating the ultrasound signals toward the second focus, and receiving echo signals reflected from the ROI. | 04-10-2014 |
20140114189 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND METHOD - According to an embodiment, an analyzer analyzes the state of a tissue at a position in a subject from which an ultrasound wave that is transmitted by an ultrasound probe into the subject is reflected, the analysis being on the basis of a received signal of the ultrasound wave. A signal acquiring unit acquires noises signal information corresponding to an area that is analyzed by the analyzer. A noise area extracting unit determines, regarding each area analyzed by the analyzer, whether the received signal that is used for the analysis performed by the analyzer is a noise signal, the determination being on the basis of the noise signal information acquired by the signal acquiring unit. A display controller configured controls a display unit such that the display unit displays an area regarding which the area extracting unit determines that the received signal is a noise signal. | 04-24-2014 |
20140121517 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITORING TEMPERATURE USING ULTRASOUND - Provided are a method and apparatus for monitoring a temperature using an ultrasound wave. The method of monitoring a temperature using an ultrasound wave may include generating ultrasound speed data according to temperature in tissue of a target object, from ultrasound speed data according to temperature in each component forming the tissue, based on volume fraction of each of the components; and estimating a temperature of the tissue based on an ultrasound echo signal reflected by the tissue and the generated ultrasound speed data according to temperature. | 05-01-2014 |
20140135624 | Integrated Sensor For Medical Applications - A sensing assemblage for capturing a transit time, phase, or frequency of energy waves propagating through a medium is disclosed to measure a parameter of the muscular-skeletal system. The sensing assemblage comprises a transducer and a waveguide. The transducer is coupled to the waveguide at a first location. A reflective surface can be coupled to the waveguide at a second location. The reflective surface is configured to reflect energy waves away from the reflective surface. An interface material that is transmissive to acoustic energy waves can be placed between the transducer and a waveguide to improve transfer. | 05-15-2014 |
20140142429 | ULTRASOUND GUIDED ROBOT FOR FLEXIBLE NEEDLE STEERING - A robotic system for flexible needle steering under ultrasound imaging. A robot is used to steer the needle along a predetermined curved trajectory by maneuvering the needle base. The needle tip position is detected by an ultrasound sensor and the tracking error of the needle tip from a predetermined needle path is input to a controller which solves the inverse kinematic based on the needle position, and the needle and tissue properties. The control algorithm uses a novel method to detect the elastic properties of the tissue by analyzing tissue motion at the region in front of the needle tip. The inverse kinematic solution may be performed on a model of the needle as a flexible beam having laterally connected virtual springs to simulate lateral forces exerted by the tissue elasticity. The system is able to direct the needle to a target within the tissue while circumventing forbidden regions. | 05-22-2014 |
20140148697 | NON-INVASIVE ASSESSMENT OF LIVER FAT BY CRAWLING WAVE DISPERSION - Using a modified ultrasound device, crawling waves are applied to the liver over a range of shear wave frequencies. Dispersion measurements are obtained that reflect tissue viscosity and these correlate with the degree of steatosis. A device for the process has an actuator on either side of the ultrasound transducer to apply shear waves, which interfere to produce the crawling waves. | 05-29-2014 |
20140148698 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND SHEAR-ELASTICITY MEASUREMENT METHOD THEREFOR - An inventive ultrasound diagnostic device is provided, which can display information on the temperature rise in a biological object under ultrasound radiation for measurement of a shear elasticity of a biological tissue of interest, thereby drawing attention of an examiner of the device and enabling him to retain the temperature rise within a predetermined safe range while performing the shear elasticity measurement. The device is adapted to measure the shear elasticity of a tissue by ultrasonic waves emitted from a probe. The device has a calculation unit configured to calculate a rise in temperature of the biological tissue irradiated with a focused ultrasonic (US) beam, and a display unit configured to display the temperature information obtained. | 05-29-2014 |
20140155746 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING ELASTICITY IMAGE - An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus is provided. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus includes a physical quantity data generating unit configured to generate physical quantity data by calculating a physical quantity related to elasticity of parts in a living tissue based on an echo signal obtained by transmission and reception of an ultrasound wave to and from the living tissue, an elasticity image data generating unit configured to generate elasticity image data including information indicative of a display form corresponding to the calculated physical quantity, and a display unit configured to display an elasticity image generated based on the elasticity image data and having a display form corresponding to the physical quantity, wherein the elasticity image is generated based on physical quantity data for a plurality of frames within a predetermined time period having a length that includes a plurality of heartbeats. | 06-05-2014 |
20140180089 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GUIDEWIRE CONTROL - The invention generally relates to guidewires for intravascular procedures that include an electroactive polymer. An electroactive polymer can be at one or a number of locations on or within a guidewire. The polymer reacts to an applied electrical potential by changing a dimension (e.g., contracting or expanding). Electroactive polymers can be disposed along or within the guidewires in any pattern, such as wrapped helically within a surface, placed longitudinally parallel to an axis of the guidewire, dispose circumferentially around the guidewire, others, or a combination thereof. Depending on the designed geometry, a potential difference applied by an actuator will cause the guidewire to change a shape, a property, a surface characteristic, a dimension, or a combination thereof. | 06-26-2014 |
20140180090 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS, TISSUE ELASTICITY MEASUREMENT METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM - When tissue elasticity of a subject is measured, an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus sets a sound velocity for each of segment regions established by dividing the subject, processes reception signals output by a piezoelectric element array based on the set sound velocities, and performs tissue elasticity measurement based on the reception signals processed based on the set sound velocities. Owing to this configuration, when tissue elasticity of a subject is measured, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus prevents the accuracy of tissue elasticity measurement from deteriorating due to image distortions. | 06-26-2014 |
20140180091 | Shear-Modulus Estimation by Application of Spatially Modulated Impulse Acoustic Radiation Force Approximation - A method for determining a shear modulus of an elastic material with a known density value is provided. In this method, a spatially modulated acoustic radiation force is used to initially generate a disturbance of known spatial frequency or wavelength. The propagation of this initial displacement as a shear wave is measured using ultrasound tracking methods. A temporal frequency is determined based on the shear wave. The shear modulus of the elastic material at the point of excitation may be calculated using the values of the spatial wavelength, material density, and temporal frequency. | 06-26-2014 |
20140180092 | TRANSMISSIVE IMAGING AND RELATED APPARATUS AND METHODS - Apparatus and methods are described that include ultrasound imaging devices, which may operate in a transmissive ultrasound imaging modality, and which may be used to detect properties of interest of a subject such as index of refraction, density and/or speed of sound. Devices suitable for performing high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), as well as HIFU and ultrasound imaging, are also described. | 06-26-2014 |
20140180093 | TRANSMISSIVE IMAGING AND RELATED APPARATUS AND METHODS - Apparatus and methods are described that include ultrasound imaging devices, which may operate in a transmissive ultrasound imaging modality, and which may be used to detect properties of interest of a subject such as index of refraction, density and/or speed of sound. Devices suitable for performing high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), as well as HIFU and ultrasound imaging, are also described. | 06-26-2014 |
20140180094 | TRANSMISSIVE IMAGING AND RELATED APPARATUS AND METHODS - Apparatus and methods are described that include ultrasound imaging devices, which may operate in a transmissive ultrasound imaging modality, and which may be used to detect properties of interest of a subject such as index of refraction, density and/or speed of sound. Devices suitable for performing high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), as well as HIFU and ultrasound imaging, are also described. | 06-26-2014 |
20140180095 | TRANSMISSIVE IMAGING AND RELATED APPARATUS AND METHODS - Apparatus and methods are described that include ultrasound imaging devices, which may operate in a transmissive ultrasound imaging modality, and which may be used to detect properties of interest of a subject such as index of refraction, density and/or speed of sound. Devices suitable for performing high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), as well as HIFU and ultrasound imaging, are also described. | 06-26-2014 |
20140180096 | ULTRASOUND IMAGING AND RELATED APPARATUS AND METHODS - Apparatus and methods are described that include ultrasound imaging devices, which may operate in a transmissive ultrasound imaging modality, and which may be used to detect properties of interest of a subject such as index of refraction, density and/or speed of sound. Devices suitable for performing high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), as well as HIFU and ultrasound imaging, are also described. | 06-26-2014 |
20140180097 | VOLUMETRIC IMAGING AND RELATED APPARATUS AND METHODS - Apparatus and methods are described that include ultrasound imaging devices, which may operate in a transmissive ultrasound imaging modality, and which may be used to detect properties of interest of a subject such as index of refraction, density and/or speed of sound. Devices suitable for performing high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), as well as HIFU and ultrasound imaging, are also described. | 06-26-2014 |
20140187940 | METHOD OF CALCULATING DISPLACEMENT OF SHEAR WAVE, METHOD OF CALCULATING MECHANICAL MODULUS OF BODY, AND SYSTEM USING THE METHODS - A method of calculating a displacement of a shear wave includes inducing a shear wave in a body, obtaining a plurality of propagation frames including propagation information of the shear wave from an echo signal received from the body, determining a reference frame from among the plurality of propagation frames, and calculating a displacement of the shear wave based on the plurality of propagation frames and the reference frame. A shear modulus may be calculated by using a displacement of the shear wave after the displacement of the shear wave is calculated by comparing the reference frame and propagation frames. A mechanical modulus may be obtained by selecting an ultrasound image as a reference image after a shear modulus is calculated. | 07-03-2014 |
20140187941 | Evaluating arterial pressure, vasomotor activity and their response to diagnostic tests - Method and system for evaluating arterial pressure waves, vascular properties, as well as for diagnostic, physiological and pharmacological testing using various combinations of the following data acquisition and processing steps (some of the steps are optional): 1. Perturbing arterial pressure from its steady state. 2. Measuring the dynamics of at least one parameter related to the passage of arterial pressure waves along blood vessels. 3. Characterizing the magnitude and functional relation of changes in parameters described above in relation to changes in blood pressure during its displacement from and/or return to the steady state. 4. Classifying (comparing) the individual functional relation described above with a databank of parameters/functional relations for different states of vasomotor activity. | 07-03-2014 |
20140206995 | SPECIMEN INFORMATION ACQUISITION APPARATUS - The present invention relates to formation of an image indicating viscoelastic characteristics in a specimen by a simple method. | 07-24-2014 |
20140206996 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING A TEMPERATURE IMAGE - Disclosed is a method and apparatus of generating a temperature image during ultrasonic treatment, the method including setting a first plane indicating a heating region where ultrasonic waves for treatment are irradiated and setting a second plane indicating a protective region around the heating region; irradiating the first plane with ultrasonic waves for diagnosis at a first frame rate, and irradiating the second plane with the ultrasonic waves for diagnosis at a second frame rate, the second frame rate being lower than the first frame rate; and generating the temperature image using frame images acquired from irradiating the ultrasonic waves for diagnosis. | 07-24-2014 |
20140213902 | SUBJECT INFORMATION OBTAINING APPARATUS, METHOD FOR OBTAINING SUBJECT INFORMATION, AND PROGRAM - A subject information obtaining apparatus includes: a plurality of conversion elements configured to receive an elastic wave and convert the elastic wave into a plurality of received signals, a storage unit configured to store a plurality of reference signals corresponding to shapes of the object inside a subject, and an FDI adaptive processing unit configured to execute the FDI method and the adaptive signal processing using the plurality of received signals and two or more reference signals among the plurality of reference signals, in order to obtain two or more power intensity distributions for the two or more reference signals. | 07-31-2014 |
20140221833 | SUBJECT INFORMATION ACQUISITION APPARATUS - Viscoelastic characteristics in a subject are imaged by a simple method. | 08-07-2014 |
20140236008 | ULTRASOUND IMAGING EQUIPMENT AND METHOD - In ultrasonic imaging, a physically consistent value of blood flow velocity is measured in the vicinity of body tissues. The ultrasound imaging apparatus comprises a shape extraction part for recognizing shape data of biological tissues by using echo signals reflected from a test subject irradiated with ultrasonic waves, a flow velocity distribution acquisition part for detecting blood flow velocities in the vicinity of the tissues from the echo signals, and a velocity determination part for extracting velocity information desired by a tester (objective velocity information). The velocity determination part sets a model of the objective blood flow, and determines a velocity of actually measured velocity distribution consistent with velocity distribution estimated from the model. | 08-21-2014 |
20140243667 | Adaptive Acoustic Pressure Estimation in Medical Ultrasound - Adaptive acoustic pressure estimation is provided in medical ultrasound. The responses of tissue of a specific patient at different frequencies (e.g., linear and non-linear responses) are measured. The responses are used to determine the acoustic pressure. The measurement in a specific patient adapts the estimate to the patient. The acoustic pressure for the desired locations is determined in order to set the transmit power to the desired level, such as for contrast agent imaging with high SNR but with limited destruction of the contrast agents or to provide the desired thermal dose the acoustic therapy. | 08-28-2014 |
20140243668 | Method and Apparatus for Rapid Acquisition of Elasticity Data in Three Dimensions - High-speed three-dimensional reconstruction of elasticity data is obtained by acquiring a sparse set of data in planes sharing a common axis line and angularly arrayed about the axis line. The axis line may be an RF ablation probe and the reconstruction may enforce a circumferential smoothness in the reconstruction about the probe, as is compatible with an ablation volume. | 08-28-2014 |
20140276046 | Ultrasound ARFI Displacement Imaging Using an Adaptive Time Instance - In ARFI imaging, a cost function is used to identify a time of displacement that best or sufficiently indicates the desired information. For example, the displacements associated with a combination of contrast and signal-to-noise ratio are identified. The time at which the desired displacements occur may be other than the time of the maximum. Since the time is common to displacements for one or more scan lines, the displacement image may be assembled line-by-line or by groups of lines. | 09-18-2014 |
20140276047 | Method and Apparatus for Quantifying Organization in Collagenous Tissue - An apparatus uses a steered ultrasound beam to assess microstructure of the cervix revealed by backscatter power variation at a range of angles and depth. Analysis of a distribution of power loss at different angles and depths referenced to the structure of the cervix may be used to characterize cervical tissue. | 09-18-2014 |
20140276048 | AUTOMATIC CONTINUOUS A-MODE ULTRASOUND MONITOR FOR PNEUMOTHORAX - Automated continuous analysis of ultrasound data is provided to determine occurrence of pneumothorax in a patient. Specifically, A-mode ultrasound data is processed by a processing system to identify automatically if pneumothorax has occurred in a patient. | 09-18-2014 |
20140276049 | ULTRASOUND SYSTEMS, METHODS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR ESTIMATING TISSUE DEFORMATION WITH HARMONIC SIGNALS - An ultrasound system for estimating tissue deformation in ultrasound elasticity imaging includes a controller configured to deliver a plurality of tracking pulses and to obtain a plurality of data sets for a region of interest from an ultrasound transducer array; a harmonic data analyzing circuit configured to receive the plurality of data sets and to extract one or more harmonic data sets including harmonic signals from the plurality of image data sets; and a displacement estimator circuit configured to estimate tissue deformation in the region of interest responsive to the one or more harmonic data sets. | 09-18-2014 |
20140288424 | System and Device for Tumor Characterization Using Nonlinear Elastography Imaging - The present invention provides a method and a device to image and characterize human tumors, and to classify the tumors as either malignant or benign. The method includes using a multi-compression technique upon the tissue or organ combined with a 3D ultrasound strain imaging of the compressed tissue or organ for acquiring raw data and analyzing the raw data using a computer processing unit equipped with a nonlinear biomechanical tissue model for tumor classification. A device is provided having a compression stage for delivering multi-compression with continuous force measurements, and a 3D ultrasound transducer strain imaging probe, wherein the imaging probe and the compression stage are in communication with a computer processing unit. | 09-25-2014 |
20140288425 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING ELASTICITY INFORMATION - Provided is a method for providing elasticity information. The method includes: acquiring an elasticity image of an object; classifying the elasticity image into at least one similar tissue; determining a reference strain based on a strain of a reference similar tissue among the at least one similar tissue; and outputting a ratio or a difference between the reference strain and a strain of an interesting region of the elasticity image. | 09-25-2014 |
20140288426 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS - An object information acquiring apparatus includes a probe configured to irradiate ultrasonic waves to an object, receive ultrasonic echoes, and convert the ultrasonic echoes into electric signals, a scanning unit configured to cause the probe to perform back-and-forth scanning on the object, an ultrasonic control unit configured to control irradiation of ultrasonic waves, a signal processing unit configured to obtain an ultrasonic, and a combining unit configured to combine a plurality of ultrasonic images. The scanning unit causes the probe to perform back-and-forth scanning on the object such that regions subjected to ultrasonic irradiation performed by the probe in forward and backward paths in the back-and-forth scanning overlap with each other. The ultrasonic control unit employs different methods for irradiating ultrasonic waves in the forward and backward paths. The combining unit combines a plurality of ultrasonic images with one another. | 09-25-2014 |
20140296709 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR NON-INVASIVE DETERMINATION OF TISSUE WALL VISCOELASTICITY USING ULTRASOUND VIBROMETRY - System and method for determining viscoelasticity of curved tissue walls using ultrasound bladder vibrometry (UBV). The UBV is a non-invasive technique utilizing, in a specific case, a focused ultrasound radiation force to excite Lamb waves in a curved bladder wall and pulse-echo techniques to track the tissue deformation propagating through such curved wall. Cross-spectral analysis is used to calculate the wave velocity, which is directly related to the elastic properties of the bladder wall. | 10-02-2014 |
20140316266 | LUNG VENTILLATION MEASUREMENTS USING ULTRASOUND - An ultrasound-based system determines dynamic strain measurements over a surface using ultrasound speckle analysis that allows for accurate measurement of surface area displacement. The system additionally determines an approximate displacement along a third axis, the z-axis. From these, an estimation of a local volume change is determined. In this way, a volume change can be determined for the lung or any other region of interest. | 10-23-2014 |
20140316267 | NON-INVASIVE ASSESSMENT OF LIVER FAT BY CRAWLING WAVE DISPERSION WITH EMPHASIS ON ATTENUATION - Using a modified ultrasound device, crawling waves are applied to the liver over a range of shear wave frequencies. Dispersion measurements are obtained that reflect tissue viscosity and these correlate with the degree of steatosis. A device for the process has an actuator on either side of the ultrasound transducer to apply shear waves, which interfere to produce the crawling waves. | 10-23-2014 |
20140323862 | SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR DETERMINING TISSUE ELASTICITY - The present disclosed subject matter is directed to medical devices and methods that assist in non-invasively determining elastic properties (e.g., elasticity, viscosity, etc.) of superficial tissues, especially superficial corneal tissues such as the epithelium and stroma, using acoustic energy. | 10-30-2014 |
20140330120 | MEDICAL IMAGING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF PROVIDING MEDICAL IMAGES - Disclosed herein are a medical imaging apparatus and a method of providing medical images which may more accurately quantify elasticity of tissues. The medical imaging apparatus includes a display unit displaying an elastic image in which different colors are mapped according to strain values of tissues within an object, and a controller, when a target area containing lesion tissues and a reference area containing normal tissues are set in the elastic image, calculating a representative target area value representing strain values of the target area and a representative reference area value representing strain values of the reference area, and displaying a color reference area, expressing distribution of the representative reference area value in the reference area in color, through the display unit. | 11-06-2014 |
20140330121 | ULTRASONIC IMAGING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - An ultrasonic imaging apparatus includes an ultrasonic probe, a volume data generator to generate a plurality of volume data corresponding to echo signals received as the ultrasonic probe transmits the ultrasonic signals to the object a plurality of times before and while external stress is applied to the object, an elasticity data generator to generate elasticity data based on displacement of the plurality of volume data, a controller to adjust parameters of volume rendering using the elasticity data, and an image processor to perform the volume rendering using the adjusted parameters and generate a volume-rendered image. | 11-06-2014 |
20140330122 | Elastography Using Ultrasound Imaging of a Thin Volume - The embodiments described herein relate generally to an elastography method and system for obtaining ultrasound images of an excited tissue over a certain time period, then computationally determining one or more mechanical properties of the tissue within a real time refresh rate. This method can perform elastography in real time as only a thin volume of the excited tissue is imaged and processed. The thin volume includes a desired cross-sectional plane of the tissue and at least two adjacent planes that are adjacent to the desired cross-sectional plane. A maximum number of adjacent planes is selected so that a computer system is capable of computationally determining mechanical properties within a real time refresh rate. | 11-06-2014 |
20140330123 | IMPLANTABLE SONIC WINDOWS - A sonic window includes a body sized and configured to close an opening formed through the cranium, wherein at least a part of the body is made of a sonically transparent material through which ultrasonic waves can pass. | 11-06-2014 |
20140343421 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY PERFORMING RADIOTHERAPY AND HYPERTHERMIA THERAPY - Provided are medical apparatuses for simultaneously performing radiotherapy and hyperthermia therapy and methods of treating an affected area. The medical apparatus includes a table where a subject is placed; a driving unit configured to move the table; a treatment device configured to treat an affected area of the subject; and an ultrasonic transducer configured to increase treatment efficiency of the affected area. | 11-20-2014 |
20140343422 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE AND ULTRASONIC IMAGE GENERATION METHOD - Provided is an ultrasonic diagnostic device that improves the frame rate (or volume rate), is resistant to movement, and is capable of constructing ultrasonic images at a high frame rate or a high volume rate. The ultrasonic diagnostic device comprises: a plurality of transducers arranged on an ultrasonic probe, that oscillate at the same time, and irradiate an ultrasonic beam on a subject; and an ultrasonic image generation unit that generates a first ultrasonic data as a result of the plurality of transducers oscillating at the same time and irradiating a first ultrasonic beam on the subject, generates a second ultrasonic data as a result of the plurality of transducers oscillating at the same time and irradiating a second ultrasonic beam on the subject, and generates an acoustic image on the basis of the first ultrasonic data and the second ultrasonic data. | 11-20-2014 |
20140343423 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSIS DEVICE AND ULTRASOUND IMAGE GENERATION METHOD - In an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, a vascular wall tracker tracks pulsation-originated vascular wall movement based on reception signals obtained through transmission and reception of ultrasonic beams by an ultrasound probe to and from a subject, and a pulsating timing determiner determines pulsating timing by detecting pulsation-originated periodic changes in the vascular wall movement tracked by the vascular wall tracker in each of sound rays, obtaining a detection time point as a pulsating timing candidate in each of the sound rays, and statistically analyzing pulsating timing candidates in the respective sound rays within a single pulse duration. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus can accurately measure the state of a blood vessel merely using information obtained through ultrasound examination without electrocardiographic waveforms. | 11-20-2014 |
20140343424 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ELECTROMECHANICAL WAVE IMAGING OF BODY STRUCTURES - A system and method for detecting electromechanical wave propagation within a body structure of a patient in a series of image frames representing movement the body structure. Image data is acquired comprising a series of image frames corresponding to the movement of a body structure. A correlation calculation is performed on the image frames to generate a displacement map representing the relative displacement between the first and second image frames. A video is generated comprising a series of displacement maps. The parameters of movement of the body structure are detected by analysis of the displacement maps. The image acquisition may detect the movement of the body structure without inducing such movement. | 11-20-2014 |
20140350397 | ULTRASOUND TRANSDUCER PROBE AND METHODS - There is set forth herein a uterine probe having one or more transducer for detecting a uterine parameter. The one or more parameter can be a fetal heart rate. The one or more parameter can be uterine contraction. In one embodiment a uterine probe can include a transducer operative to emit sound waves for detection of a fetal heart rate (FHR). In one embodiment a uterine probe can include a transducer operative to emit sound waves for detection of a uterine contraction. The one or more transducer can be of a common technology or can be of different technology. In one embodiment a uterine probe can include one or more transducer that is operative to be driven in different signaling configurations. A first signaling configuration can be a signaling configuration for detection of a fetal heart rate. A second signaling configuration can be a signaling configuration for detection of uterine contraction. | 11-27-2014 |
20140350398 | ULTRASOUND ELASTOGRAPHY SYSTEM AND METHOD - The present invention relates to an ultrasound elastography system and method for providing a strain image of an anatomical site. The system comprises a signal processing unit ( | 11-27-2014 |
20140350399 | METHOD FOR EXAMINING HUMAN OR ANIMAL TISSUE - The invention relates inter alia to a method for examining human or animal tissue, wherein at least one time-harmonic mechanical excitation wave of predetermined excitation frequency is coupled into the tissue, the wave speed of a shear wave in the tissue caused by the mechanical excitation wave and having the frequency of the excitation wave is measured by means of an ultrasound method, and an elasticity measurement specifying the elastic properties of the tissue is determined using the measured wave speed. | 11-27-2014 |
20140350400 | Lesion assessment using six degree of freedom ultrasound thermography - A diagnostic device and method for assessing lesion formation by measuring temperature changes during endocardial ablation. Intracardiac echo catheter data is accurately mapped into a model maintained by a visualization, navigation, or mapping system using the position and orientation of the intracardiac echo catheter transducer within the model. For each point in the model, either a frequency shift or echo time shift is calculated from the intracardiac echo data to determine local temperature changes, and the local temperature changes are displayed within a rendering of the model for the user. | 11-27-2014 |
20140357994 | ULTRASOUND SYSTEM AND METHOD OF DETECTING PRESSURE APPLIED TO OBJECT - Provided are an ultrasound system and a method of detecting a pressure applied to an object through an ultrasound probe. The ultrasound system includes: an ultrasound data acquiring unit configured to acquire, by using an ultrasound probe including a strain gauge that is strained by a pressure applied thereto and has a damping factor and an elasticity factor, ultrasound data corresponding to an object; and a processor configured to generate an ultrasound image by using the ultrasound data, calculate a strain rate of the strain gauge caused by the pressure by using the ultrasound image, and detect the pressure by using the strain rate calculated. | 12-04-2014 |
20140357995 | HEMODYNAMIC RISK SEVERITY BASED UPON DETECTION AND QUANTIFICATION OF CARDIAC DYSRHYTHMIA BEHAVIOR USING A PULSE VOLUME WAVEFORM - A method for identifying cardiac dysrhythmia behavior may include acquiring pulse volume wave data from a sensor associated with a patient, and calculating metrics associated with peaks detected therein. The metrics may include differences in amplitudes of successive pulse volume peaks and differences in the times of occurrence of successive pulse volume peaks. A dispersion analysis of the time differences, obtained during a defined time window, may result in one or more time difference dispersion metrics. Amplitude differences may be compared to an amplitude baseline, and time differences may be compared to a time baseline. Cardiac dysrhythmia behavior may be identified by a combination of an amplitude difference outside of the amplitude baseline, a corresponding time difference outside of the time baseline, and the values of one or more time difference dispersion metrics. | 12-04-2014 |
20140357996 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF ULTRASOUND IMAGE PROCESSING - An ultrasound system includes an ultrasound transducer adapted to obtain a dynamic series of echo signals of a subject tissue at different deformation states, and an image processor for generating and displaying ultrasound images of the tissue. The processor is configured to generate dynamic images that correspond to the dynamic series of echo signals, identify a plurality of pixels within a region of interest (ROI) of a first of the generated images, evaluate local tissue mechanical behavior by tracking the displacement, deformation, and echo intensity of the identified plurality of pixels from the first image to subsequent images based on groups of pixels that correspond to each of the identified plurality of pixels, determine tissue functionality in the subject at the tracked pixel locations, and display the tissue functionality in dynamic images that corresponds to the tracked pixel locations. | 12-04-2014 |
20140364729 | BLOOD VESSEL FUNCTION INSPECTING APPARATUS - It is provided a blood vessel function inspecting apparatus including: a blood vessel diameter measuring portion configured to measure a diameter of a blood vessel; a blood vessel wall thickness measuring portion configured to measure a wall thickness of the blood vessel; and a blood vessel function index value calculating portion configured to calculate a function index value for diagnosing the blood vessel of its function, after releasing of the blood vessel from blood flow obstruction, by dividing an amount of dilatation of said diameter of the blood vessel continuously measured by said blood vessel diameter measuring portion, by the wall thickness measured by said blood vessel wall thickness measuring portion. | 12-11-2014 |
20140371587 | Ultrasound Machine Providing Composite Image Data - An ultrasound imaging system combines successive images of a time series to produce high-resolution ultrasound. A piecewise registration process and deemphasizing of high-frequency spatial components may be used to aid in the combination process. A high-definition image may be obtained with or separately from this process by combining different images obtained with different ultrasound frequencies. The images are weighted to accentuate the contribution of high-frequency ultrasound data at the leading edge of imaged structure. | 12-18-2014 |
20140371588 | DISTRIBUTED EXTRAVASATION DETECTON SYSTEM - A system and method enhance clinical effectiveness for monitoring for a change in a level of fluid in tissue by using a device attached to a body portion that wirelessly reports to a remote apparatus or receiver a current received power level for indications of extravasation or infiltration. Adjusting an activation rate of fluid detection, reporting or both extends service life of the device. | 12-18-2014 |
20140378832 | METHOD OF DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF TUMORS USING HIGH INTENSITY FOCUSED ULTRASOUND - A method of diagnosis and treatment of tumors using High Intensity Focused Ultrasound is provided. The method of diagnosing the presence of a tumor in a patient comprises the steps of subjecting a tumor to high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) to cause the tumor cells to release cellular material and evaluating the cellular material for a tumor marker. The method of treating a tumor in a patient can also comprise the step of subjecting a tumor to high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) to provoke an immune response. | 12-25-2014 |
20150018679 | ULTRASONIC MEASURING DEVICE, ULTRASONIC IMAGE DEVICE, AND ULTRASONIC MEASURING METHOD - An ultrasonic measuring device including: an ultrasonic transducer device; a force sensor that measures pressing force; an emission unit that performs processing for emitting an ultrasonic beam; a reception unit that performs processing for receiving an ultrasonic echo obtained from the ultrasonic beam being reflected by a test subject; and a processing unit that performs analysis processing based on a reception signal from the reception unit and detection information from the force sensor, wherein the processing unit obtains elasticity information of a biological tissue layer of the test subject based on thickness information and pressing force information, the thickness information being thickness information of the biological tissue layer acquired based on the reception signal from the reception unit, and the pressing force information being pressing force information regarding the pressing force applied to the test subject from the force sensor. | 01-15-2015 |
20150018680 | ULTRASOUND OBSERVATION SYSTEM - An ultrasound observation system includes an ultrasound transducer that generates an ultrasound signal by transmitting and receiving ultrasound to and from a subject, an automatic pressurizing mechanism that applies a pressing force to the subject to cause pressurizing displacement, an elastic-image-generation displacement measuring circuit that measures an imaging displacement amount of the subject based on the ultrasound signal, an elastic modulus calculation circuit that calculates an elastic modulus of the subject based on the imaging displacement amount, a pressurizing-mechanism-control displacement measuring circuit that measures a controlling displacement amount in accordance with spontaneous displacement of the subject based on the ultrasound signal, and a pressurizing mechanism control circuit that controls the automatic pressurizing mechanism based on the controlling displacement amount. | 01-15-2015 |
20150025380 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - An ultrasound diagnosis apparatus according to an embodiment includes a transmitting and receiving unit, a detecting unit, and a chart display unit. The transmitting and receiving unit transmits an ultrasound pulse to a subject and receives an echo signal from the subject. The detecting unit detects thrombi that are present in the blood of the subject from the echo signal and generates numerical value information that quantifies a thrombus detection result. The chart display unit displays a chart indicating the thrombus detection result on a display unit, on the basis of the numerical value information. | 01-22-2015 |
20150032000 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC METHOD AND APPARATUS USING SHEAR WAVES - An ultrasound diagnostic method and apparatus determines a transmission condition for generating shear waves at two or more positions of an object, for each of a plurality of elements of a transducer, and generates an ultrasound signal transmitted to the object through a full aperture of the transducer, according to the transmission condition. | 01-29-2015 |
20150032001 | DIAGNOSTIC ULTRASOUND APPARATUS - In tomographic image data, a reference region-setting unit ( | 01-29-2015 |
20150038842 | IMAGING SYSTEM FOR IMAGING A PERIODICALLY MOVING OBJECT - The invention relates to an imaging system for imaging a periodically moving object. An assigning unit ( | 02-05-2015 |
20150051488 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD FOR ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM - An ultrasound diagnostic device including a component specifier. Assume a first direction is a depth direction substantially perpendicular to a surface of a subject, a second direction is a direction orthogonal to the first direction, a first pixel is a pixel at a pixel location N in the second direction, a second pixel is a pixel at a pixel location N+1 in the second direction, and N is a positive integer. The component specifier detects one or more feature lines from the ultrasound image by repeatedly, while incrementing N, linking the first pixel with the second pixel when luminance of the second pixel is high and the second pixel is in close proximity to the first pixel, and specifies which of the one or more feature lines indicates a boundary between components, based on an order in the first direction of the one or more feature lines. | 02-19-2015 |
20150057542 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE, ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC METHOD AND ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC PROGRAM STORAGE MEDIUM - An ultrasound diagnostic device includes an ultrasound probe including plural ultrasound transducers that transmit ultrasound toward an imaging subject, receive ultrasound reflected from the imaging subject, and output ultrasound detection signals; an alteration unit that alters transmission frequencies of the ultrasound transmitted from the ultrasound probe or reception frequencies of the ultrasound received by the ultrasound probe; and a calculation unit that calculates an index for diagnosing a tissue characteristic based on a relationship between reception signals of at least two different ultrasound transducers for at least two different frequencies of the transmission frequencies or reception frequencies altered by the alteration unit. | 02-26-2015 |
20150057543 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE, ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC METHOD AND ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC PROGRAM STORAGE MEDIUM - An ultrasound diagnostic device includes an ultrasound probe including ultrasound transducers that transmit ultrasound toward an imaging subject, receive ultrasound reflected from the imaging subject, and output ultrasound detection signals; an alteration unit that alters a transmission frequency of the transmitted ultrasound or a reception frequency of the received ultrasound, from a frequency for converting amplitudes, of the ultrasound detection signals outputted from the ultrasound probe, into an intensity distribution of brightnesses and displaying the distribution, to a frequency for carrying out diagnosis of tissue characteristics; and a calculation unit that calculates an index for diagnosing tissue characteristics, based on a relationship between received signals, at a time when the transmission frequency or the reception frequency is altered to a frequency at which diagnosis of tissue characteristics is carried out, at two or more different ultrasound transducers at the ultrasound probe. | 02-26-2015 |
20150065876 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TARGET MUSCLE GLYCOGEN SCORE DETERMINATION AND EVALUATION - Provided is a non-invasive system and method for determining a target glycogen score value for a target muscle and potentially at least one indicator muscle. The method includes receiving an ultrasound scan of a target muscle; evaluating at least a portion of the ultrasound scan to determine glycogen store value within the target muscle; recording the determined glycogen store value for the muscle as an element of a glycogen value data set for the muscle; evaluating the glycogen value data set to determine a value range; and in response to the range being at least above a pre-determined threshold, establishing a target score for the muscle as based on an upper portion of the value range. The method may be repeated to identify ranges for a plurality of muscles, the muscle with the greatest range being identified as an indicator muscle. An associated system is also disclosed. | 03-05-2015 |
20150065877 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR GENERATING A COMPOSITE ULTRASOUND IMAGE - A method and ultrasound imaging system includes acquiring first ultrasound data from a volume, acquiring second ultrasound data of a plane, the second ultrasound data including a different mode than the first ultrasound data. The method and system includes generating a composite image from both the first ultrasound data and the second ultrasound data, the composite image including a combination of a volume-rendering based on the first ultrasound data and a slice based on the second ultrasound data. The method and system includes displaying the composite image. | 03-05-2015 |
20150065878 | METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR MONITORING TEMPERATURE CHANGE OF REGION OF INTEREST BY USING PERIODIC BIO-SIGNALS OF OBJECT - A method of generating an image by using ultrasound waves. The method includes acquiring a first bio-signal of an object, generating at least one first ultrasound frame by using at least one echo signal obtained from at least one first ultrasound wave transmitted to a preset region of interest (ROI) of the object, generating a second ultrasound frame by using an echo signal obtained from a second ultrasound wave transmitted to the preset ROI, and acquiring a second bio-signal of the object at a time when the second ultrasound wave is transmitted to be used for generating the second ultrasound frame, and determining a reference frame from among the generated at least one first ultrasound frame based on the generated second ultrasound frame and the acquired second bio-signal. | 03-05-2015 |
20150080722 | WEIGHT SCALE WITH ULTRASOUND IMAGING FOR ANKLE DISPLACEMENT MEASUREMENT - A device for correlating trend data with respect to a patient's weight and lower extremity displacement can identify conditions indicative of congestive heart failure. An imaging mechanism is operable to measure lower extremity displacement over a period of time. An over-time trend analysis of both the patient's weight and the lower extremity displacement measurements is performed to determine whether over a particular sample period an increase in a patient's lower extremity displacement can be correlated with an increase in the patient's weight. When such a correlation does not exist, an alert can be issued of conditions indicative of congestive heart failure. | 03-19-2015 |
20150087975 | ELASTOGRAPHY-BASED ASSESSMENT OF CRYOABLATION - A method of monitoring the cryoablation of a target volume of tissue with ultrasound elastography, the method comprising acquiring a first elastography image encompassing said target volume of tissue, performing at least one cycle of freezing and thawing of tissue encompassed in said target volume, acquiring a second elastography image encompassing said target volume, and comparing said first and said second elastography images over said target volume. The elastography provides either relative or quantitative measurements of tissue elasticity. The elastography maps of tissue elasticity, before and after cryoablation of one region, can guide the cryoablation of another region. The use of elastography provided feedback to the operator to achieve effective treatment with cryoblation over a planned target. | 03-26-2015 |
20150087976 | Shear Wave Estimation from Analytic Data - Shear wave characteristics are estimated from analytic data. Measures of displacement are converted into complex representations. The magnitude and/or phase components of the complex representation may be used for estimating various characteristics, such as velocity, center frequency, attenuation, shear modulus, or shear viscosity. The zero-phase of the phase component represents an occurrence of the shear wave at that location. | 03-26-2015 |
20150094579 | Shear Wave Detection in Medical Ultrasound Imaging - Shear waves are detected with ultrasound. The detection of the shear wave is constrained using prior measurements in a more controlled environment (e.g., less noise). For example, shear waves measured in a phantom are used to constrain the detection of shear waves in a patient to avoid false positive detections. | 04-02-2015 |
20150094580 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE AND LOCUS DISPLAY METHOD - In an ultrasonic diagnostic device, on the basis of a displacement distribution in a 2D direction, a locus related to displacement in a discretionary region of an ultrasonic image is formed. The ultrasonic diagnostic device includes: an image forming unit (tomographic image forming unit and elastic image forming unit) for forming an ultrasonic image of a diagnosis location on a subject via an ultrasonic probe; an image display for displaying the ultrasonic image; and a locus forming unit (display parameter calculation unit, display data storing unit, 2D locus creating unit) that, on the basis of a displacement distribution in a 2D direction in a discretionary region of the ultrasonic image, forms a locus related to displacement in such region, and that display the formed locus on the image display. | 04-02-2015 |
20150099971 | DEVICE FOR MEASURING AN ULTRASONIC OR BIOMECHANICAL PARAMETER OF A VISCOELASTIC MEDIUM - A device for measuring an ultrasonic or biomechanical parameter of a viscoelastic medium, includes an ultrasound transducer; at least one vibrator having a fixed part and a mobile part, the ultrasound transducer being secured to the mobile part of the at least one vibrator; at least one adhesive element secured to the vibrator, the adhesive element being configured to be fixed adhesively to a surface facing it belonging to the viscoelastic medium and to keep the emission and reception face of the ultrasound transducer facing the surface. | 04-09-2015 |
20150099972 | MYOGRAPHY METHOD AND SYSTEM - A myography system and method involves the use of reflected energy and/or pass-through energy to determine muscle activity as an alternative or in addition to using native signals which originate from the muscle being studied. | 04-09-2015 |
20150112197 | ELASTICITY IMAGING-BASED METHODS FOR IMPROVED GATING EFFICIENCY AN DYNAMIC MARGIN ADJUSTMENT IN RADIATION THERAPY - A therapy planning system ( | 04-23-2015 |
20150119710 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS - An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus is provided. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus includes an ultrasonic probe configured to transmit ultrasonic push pulses to a biological tissue of a test object and further configured to transmit measuring ultrasonic pulses to the biological tissue subjected to the transmitted push pulses in order to measure an elasticity of the biological tissue, a respiration detection part configured to detect respiration of the test object, and a notification part which, based on the detection by the respiration detection part, is configured to give notification allowing a transmission timing of the push pulses to be recognized. | 04-30-2015 |
20150119711 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - An ultrasound diagnosis apparatus includes: a transmitting and receiving unit that transmits and receives an ultrasound wave to and from a subject; a first image data generating unit that generates first image data based on a first parameter, from a reception signal received by the transmitting and receiving unit; a second image data generating unit that generates second image data having an image taking region of which at least a part overlaps with that of the first image data and being based on a second parameter that is different from the first parameter, from a reception signal received by the transmitting and receiving unit; and an image processing unit that calculates a feature amount from at least such a part of the second image data that overlaps with the first image data and corrects the overlapping part of the first image data on a basis of the calculated feature amount. | 04-30-2015 |
20150119712 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE AND CONTROL PROGRAM THEREFOR - An ultrasonic diagnostic device is provided. The ultrasonic diagnostic device includes a transmission control unit configured to control an ultrasonic probe such that transmission of a push pulse of an ultrasonic wave to a biological tissue of a test object and transmission of an ultrasonic pulse for measurement for measuring a shear wave generated in the biological tissue with the push pulse are alternately performed a plurality of times, the transmission control unit configured to control the ultrasonic probe such that an ultrasonic pulse for detection is transmitted, wherein the ultrasonic pulse for detection is for detecting that a first shear wave generated with a first push pulse has passed through a region through which an ultrasonic pulse for measurement corresponding to a second push pulse to be transmitted next to the first push pulse is scheduled to be transmitted. | 04-30-2015 |
20150126866 | ULTRASOUND OBSERVATION SYSTEM AND OPERATION METHOD OF ULTRASOUND OBSERVATION SYSTEM - An ultrasound observation system includes: an ultrasound transducer that transmits ultrasound to a subject and receives ultrasound from the subject and generates an ultrasound signal; a displacement measurement circuit for elasticity image generation that measures a displacement of the subject based on the ultrasound signal; an elasticity modulus calculation circuit that calculates an elasticity modulus of the subject based on the measured displacement; a first automatic pressurization mechanism that generates a pressurization displacement in the subject; a signal waveform analysis circuit that analyzes a periodic motion based on a waveform of a signal that is based on a spontaneous displacement of the subject; and a pressurization mechanism control circuit that controls the first automatic pressurization mechanism so as to generate a pressurization displacement that reduces an influence of the spontaneous displacement of the subject at a time that an elasticity modulus is calculated based on the signal waveform analysis result. | 05-07-2015 |
20150126867 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment includes a signal processing unit, an indicator calculating unit, a storage unit and a controller. The signal processing unit generates, based on a reflection wave signal of an ultrasonic wave that is transmitted into a subject, strain information about a strain of a tissue that is pressured and released in the subject in chronological order. The indicator calculating unit calculates an indicator of a state of pressure and release to the tissue at generation of the strain information. The storage unit stores a time phase at generation of the strain information and the indicator at generation of the strain information in an associated manner. The controller extracts a candidate time phase being a time phase of a candidate based on the indicator associated with each of the time phase. | 05-07-2015 |
20150133781 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR INTERFACING TIME-VARIANT SIGNALS - An improved apparatus and method for interfacing a time variant waveform between two hardware environments. In one aspect, the invention comprises a circuit for accurately simulating the output of one or more types of sensing device (e.g., passive bridge pressure transducer) for use with a plurality of different monitoring and/or analysis devices, thereby obviating the need for specialized interface circuitry adapted to each different monitor/analyzer. In one exemplary embodiment, the sensing device comprises a non-invasive blood pressure monitor (NIBPM), which universally interfaces with prior art patient monitors via the interface circuit of the invention. In a second aspect of the invention, an improved NIBPM device incorporating the interface circuit is disclosed. An improved disconnect circuit adapted to sense the status of the electrical connection between the sensing device and monitor is also described. | 05-14-2015 |
20150133782 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND ELASTIC EVALUATION METHOD - An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and a method having a highly-reliable elastic evaluation unit for tissues. The invention includes a signal processing unit that processes received data obtained after ultrasonic waves are transmitted and received to/from an inspection target through a probe. An ROI detection unit of the processing unit obtains a distance index indicating a region proper for an elastic evaluation based on brightness distribution of the received data obtained by transmitting and receiving first ultrasonic waves to/from the probe, and sets an ROI based on the distance index. Then, second ultrasonic waves are transmitted to the ROI to generate shear waves. An elastic evaluation unit calculates a shear wave velocity based on the received data obtained by transmitting and receiving third ultrasonic waves in the ROI, and outputs the shear wave velocity and an elastic evaluation value of the ROI as a reliability index. | 05-14-2015 |
20150133783 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSIS - When subject tissue such as a living body is a viscoelastic body, a shear wave propagation velocity is changed according to the frequency of a shear wave. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus applies a displacement generating transmission beam from an ultrasound probe based on a signal from a displacement generating unit to generate a shear wave, applies a pulse wave to the biological tissue by a displacement detecting unit, detects the particle velocity of the shear wave, estimates a viscosity parameter from a temporal extent of a waveform of the particle velocity of the shear wave detected at a viscoelasticity analyzing unit, and displays the estimated viscoelasticity on a display unit. | 05-14-2015 |
20150133784 | THREE-DIMENSIONAL ULTRASOUND RECONSTRUCTION WITH CONFIDENCE INFORMATION - For simpler scanning in 3D ultrasound imaging, free hand 3D ultrasound imaging is used. Various registration techniques, such as filtering of position signals based on density of scanning and/or counteracting depth deformation due to pressure, may be used for aligning frames relative to each other in 3D space. To deal with curvature of the skin surface resulting in different frames of data representing the same locations, the frames are grouped by orientation. Data representing the same locations in frames of the same or similar orientation are combined. Frame groups of different orientations but of a same sweep of the transducer along the skin are combined into a volume. Volumes from different sweeps are combined. For combining data representing a same location, the values are weighted based on the likelihoods of ultrasound values representing different locations being accurate or correct. | 05-14-2015 |
20150141821 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND ELASTIC EVALUATION METHOD - Provided is an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus provided with an elasticity evaluation technology that an error caused by a tissue structure has been reduced. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that measures a velocity of a shear wave that propagates in a test object by utilizing an ultrasonic wave to evaluate elasticity of the aforementioned test object transmits and receives a first ultrasonic wave to the test object to detect a position and a size of the tissue structure of the test object and to automatically decide a measurement region except the tissue structure, transmits a second ultrasonic wave to the measurement region to make it generate the shear wave, and transmits and receives a third ultrasonic wave to the measurement region to measure an amount of displacement in association with propagation of the shear wave and to calculate the shear wave velocity by utilizing this displacement amount. | 05-21-2015 |
20150141822 | METHOD FOR SETTING REGIONS OF INTEREST AND ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - A method for generating a region of interest (ROI) wherein in setting ROIs in biological tissues to be compared, burden on a subject can be reduced and the reproducibility of elasticity measurement improved, including: setting candidate points in an arbitrary designated region in a notable tissue in a contrast image of an object designated by an input device; determining partial differential values of pixel values in a two-dimensional direction in the contrast image and thus detecting a tissue boundary; acquiring a shortest distance between the detected tissue boundary and each point, and setting a circle or polygonal region inscribed in the circle having the maximum shortest distance as a radius around the candidate point having the maximum shortest distance as a region of interest; and imaging the region of interest and superimposing it on the contrast image and displaying it on an image display unit. | 05-21-2015 |
20150148671 | Non-invasive Liver Fibrosis Evaluation Device and a Method Thereof - A non-invasive liver fibrosis evaluation device and a method thereof are related. The device comprises an ultrasound unit, a Nakagami parameter generation unit, a hardness value generation unit, a data base, and a determination unit. The method comprises steps of: scanning the external body part corresponding to the liver by a transducer of the ultrasound unit to produce plural ultrasound image data sets; analyzing one ultrasound image data set with the Nakagami distribution to produce a Nakagami parameter by using the. Nakagami parameter generation unit; analyzing plural ultrasound image data sets to produce a hardness value by using the hardness value generation unit; and evaluating the liver fibrosis by comparing the Nakagami parameter and the hardness value with plural reference parameter sets stored in the data base by using the determination unit. | 05-28-2015 |
20150148672 | ULTRASOUND TRANDUCER ASSEMBLY AND METHOD FOR DRIVING AN ULTRASOUND TRANSDUCER HEAD - The present invention relates to an ultrasound transducer assembly (10) comprising: an ultrasound transducer head ( | 05-28-2015 |
20150148673 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND ELASTICITY EVALUATION METHOD - Provided is an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured to perform speed measurement while lessening the influence of the wave surface feature and scattering resulting from the shear wave propagation, which transmits burst wave as first ultrasonic wave to the subject from the probe | 05-28-2015 |
20150148674 | METHOD AND ULTRASOUND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING ULTRASOUND ELASTOGRAPHY IMAGE - A method of providing an ultrasound elastography image that includes inducing a shear wave by transmitting a first ultrasound signal pushing an object to the object, transmitting a second ultrasound signal tracing the shear wave to the object to receive a response signal to the second ultrasound signal from the object; acquiring an elastography image of the object, based on the response signal, and providing the elastography image of the object and transmission position information of the first ultrasound signal. | 05-28-2015 |
20150148675 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ANALYZING TISSUE USING SHEAR WAVES - A system and method for determining tissue changes. Shear waves are transmitted across the tissue in response to an ultrasonic signal input exterior to the tissue surface. Adaptive beam forming signal processing is applied to signal returns and arrivals to remove distortions by targeting velocity contrasts. Shear-wave dispersion, such as due to viscosity and mass changes in the tissue, are then estimated and compared to reference data to determine tissue health. | 05-28-2015 |
20150148676 | METHOD AND ULTRASOUND APPARATUS FOR MARKING TUMOR ON ULTRASOUND ELASTOGRAPHY IMAGE - An elasticity information providing method performed by an ultrasound apparatus includes acquiring an elastography image of an object, detecting a region corresponding to a predetermined elastic modulus in the elastography image, and providing information about the region that is detected along with the elastography image. | 05-28-2015 |
20150289835 | ULTRASONIC BLOOD PRESSURE MEASURING DEVICE AND ULTRASONIC BLOOD PRESSURE MEASURING METHOD - An ultrasonic blood pressure measuring device receives a reflected wave of an ultrasonic wave transmitted to a blood vessel, and measures the degree of displacement of a blood vessel wall of the blood vessel based on the reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave during at least one heartbeat period. Then, cardiac systolic blood pressure and cardiac diastolic blood pressure are calculated from a maximum value of the blood vessel diameter, which appears after the peak of the degree of displacement of the blood vessel wall, and a minimum value of the blood vessel diameter, which appears before the peak, using a correlation between the diameter of blood vessel and blood pressure set in advance. | 10-15-2015 |
20150289836 | ULTRASONIC BLOOD PRESSURE MEASURING DEVICE AND ULTRASONIC BLOOD PRESSURE MEASURING METHOD - An ultrasonic blood pressure measuring device receives a reflected wave of an ultrasonic wave transmitted to a blood vessel, and measures the diameter of the blood vessel based on the reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave during at least one heartbeat period. Then, the ultrasonic blood pressure measuring device calculates cardiac systolic blood pressure and cardiac diastolic blood pressure from the maximum value of the blood vessel diameter, which appears after the peak of the degree of change in the measured blood vessel diameter, and the minimum value of the blood vessel diameter, which appears before the peak, using a correlation between the diameter of the blood vessel and blood pressure set in advance. | 10-15-2015 |
20150289840 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MECHANICAL MAPPING OF CARDIAC RHYTHM - Techniques for mapping behavior of a heart include acquiring a series of two or more images of the heart. The series of images is taken at one or more pixel locations, each pixel location corresponding to a region of the heart. Image data corresponding to the pixel locations can be obtained, and a periodicity of the image data measured for each of the pixel locations over the series of images. The periodicity corresponds to an electromechanical signal of the heart in the region corresponding to the measured one or more pixel locations. | 10-15-2015 |
20150297187 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND METHOD OF DISPLAYING ULTRASOUND IMAGE - Shading of a site other than a site of interest is disabled to allow construction of a visually good three-dimensional image even when the site other than the site of interest is displayed in a translucent manner. An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus includes a sending section that sends an ultrasonic wave to a diagnosing object via an ultrasound probe, a receiving section that receives a reflected echo signal from the diagnosing object, a three-dimensional elasticity image constructing section that performs volume rendering with shading on elasticity volume data with an elasticity value based on the reflected echo signal to construct a three-dimensional elasticity image, and an image display section that displays the three-dimensional elasticity image. The three-dimensional elasticity image constructing section performs the volume rendering using an elasticity opacity according to the elasticity value and disables the shading of a portion with the elasticity opacity with a predetermined value. | 10-22-2015 |
20150305706 | ESTIMATION OF A MECHANICAL PROPERTY OF ANATOMY FROM MEDICAL SCAN DATA - A mechanical property of anatomy is estimated from a patient in vivo, such as estimating a patient-specific material property of a valve. A morphological model is used to determine anatomy dynamics. A biomechanical model, using the anatomy dynamics, predicts the dynamics, based, at least in part, on one or more material properties. Using an inverse solution based on comparison of dynamics predicted by the biomechanical model and the dynamics determined from the morphological model, values for the material properties are determined. | 10-29-2015 |
20150305717 | METHODS, SYSTEMS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR MULTI-RESOLUTION IMAGING AND ANALYSIS - Methods for determining a mechanical parameter for a sample having a target region include generating a tissue displacement in the target region; transmitting tracking pulses in the target region; receiving corresponding echo signals for the tracking pulses in the target region at a plurality of positions; analyzing the echo signals at one or more multi-resolution pairs of the positions and/or acquisition times; and determining at least one mechanical parameter of the target region based on the echo signals at the one or more multi-resolution pairs of positions and/or acquisition times. | 10-29-2015 |
20150305719 | SHEAR WAVE ATTENUATION FROM K-SPACE ANALYSIS SYSTEM - The present invention provides a system and method for ultrasound processes using wave attenuation derived from k-space analysis by analyzing spatial frequency domain data. | 10-29-2015 |
20150313485 | BLOOD PRESSURE MEASUREMENT APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD FOR BLOOD PRESSURE MEASUREMENT APPARATUS - A blood pressure measurement apparatus includes a sensor, an input section, and a circuit. The sensor is configured to measure blood flow speed in a target blood vessel. The input section is configured to input blood pressure from a measurement apparatus continuously measuring the blood pressure. The circuit is configured to estimate the blood pressure on the basis of the blood flow speed by referencing a correlation formula that indicates correlation characteristics of the blood pressure from the measurement apparatus and the blood flow speed from the sensor. | 11-05-2015 |
20150313577 | METHOD FOR REPRESENTING TISSUE STIFFNESS - A method and system for analyzing stiffness in a volume of tissue, the method including: emitting acoustic waveforms toward the volume of tissue with an array of ultrasound transmitters; detecting, with an array of ultrasound receivers, a set of acoustic signals derived from acoustic waveforms transmitted through the volume of tissue; generating, from the set of acoustic signals, a sound speed map and an acoustic attenuation map of a region of the volume of tissue, generating a stiffness map derived from combination of a set of sound speed parameter values of the sound speed map and a corresponding set of acoustic attenuation parameter values of the acoustic attenuation map, the stiffness map representing the distribution of the stiffness parameter across the region; and at a display in communication with the computer processor, rendering a stiffness image of the volume of tissue, based upon the stiffness map. | 11-05-2015 |
20150327785 | Continuous Calibration of A Blood Pressure Measurement Device - Systems, methods, and devices of the various embodiments enable continuous non-invasive monitoring of blood pressure with a minimum of interference. The various embodiments may provide a method for adaptation for the calibration for continuous measurements of blood pressure, wherein the measured quantity may be related to an arterial lumen or arterial cross sectional area comprising calibrating the conversion for incremental variations of arterial properties and absolute value adaptation by exploitation of the exponential decay during the diastole. In various embodiments, continuous calibration of a non-interfering blood pressure measurement device may be initiated based on a change in mean arterial pressure being greater than a threshold value, such as a pressure value associated with an actual measured distension of a patient's artery. | 11-19-2015 |
20150327835 | METHOD AND APPARATUS TO DETECT LIPID CONTENTS IN TISSUES USING ULTRASOUND - A method for quantifying an amount of fat contained in a liver or other tissue of a subject in vivo includes varying the temperature of a target area in a subject, imaging thermal strain of the target area using an ultrasound scanner, and quantifying the amount of fat in the targeted area based on the thermal strain imaging. In some embodiments, the thermal strain imaging is performed using high-resolution, phase-sensitive speckle tracking to differentiate between fat-based tissue and water-based tissue. | 11-19-2015 |
20150335312 | Ultrasound Imaging Probe - An elongate ultrasound probe ( | 11-26-2015 |
20150335313 | PUSH/TRACKING SEQUENCES FOR SHEAR WAVE DISPERSION VIBROMETRY - Shear Wave Dispersion Vibrometry (SDUV) is performed such that, after a single instance of their push pulse ( | 11-26-2015 |
20150335918 | ULTRASONIC PROBE HAVING GRADIENT INFORMATION AND DEVICE FOR ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT USING SAME - Disclosed are a probe having gradient information and an ultrasonic diagnosis and treatment apparatus using the same. The probe having gradient information according to the present invention includes a probe unit that generates a ultrasonic signal for diagnosis or treatment and irradiates the generated ultrasonic signal to an object, and a gradient information collecting unit that collects gradient information of the ultrasonic probe in which the probe unit is mounted. | 11-26-2015 |
20150342566 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS AND PROGRAM - An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus comprises a processor for executing by a program: a transmission/reception control function of ultrasound; a measurement-value calculating function of calculating a measurement value regarding elasticity of the biological tissue in a portion for which elasticity is to be measured in the biological tissue based on echo signals of ultrasonic detecting pulses; and an evaluating function of evaluating an impact of an inhibiting factor intercepting propagation of the shear waves toward the portion for which elasticity is to be measured on image quality of an elasticity image based on data indicating brightness for a region rr in a B-mode image BI. The transmission/reception control function transmits the push pulse to such a position that degradation of image quality of the elasticity image by the inhibiting factor may be restrained based on an evaluation by the evaluating function. | 12-03-2015 |
20150351724 | REAL TIME ULTRASOUND THERMAL DOSE MONITORING SYSTEM FOR TUMOR ABLATION THERAPY - An interventional system with real-time ablation thermal dose monitoring includes an interventional tool, an ultrasound transmitter at least one of attached to or integral with the interventional tool, an ultrasound receiver configured to receive ultrasound signals from the ultrasound transmitter after at least one of transmission through or reflection from a region of tissue while under an ablation procedure and to provide detection signals, and a signal processing system configured to communicate with the ultrasound receiver to receive the detection signals and to calculate, based on the detections signals, a thermal dose delivered to the region of tissue in real time during the ablation procedure. | 12-10-2015 |
20150359508 | METHOD OF CHARACTERIZING THE PATHOLOGICAL RESPONSE OF TISSUE TO A TREATMENT PLAN - A method of characterizing the pathological response of tissue to a treatment plan, including: obtaining a set of sequential morphology renderings of the tissue, wherein each rendering corresponds to a particular point in time during the treatment plan; generating a set of representative values of a biomechanical property of the tissue for the set of renderings, wherein each representative value is based on a corresponding rendering; determining a trend of the biomechanical property based on the set of representative values; and predicting response of the tissue to the treatment plan based on the trend of the biomechanical property. | 12-17-2015 |
20150366474 | DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS FOR MONITORING BLOOD PRESSURE - A system and method for measuring a subject's blood pressure is provided. The system includes a sphygmomanometer cuff configured to apply a pressure to a blood vessel region so as to restrict the flow of blood through a blood vessel of the region; at least one transducer configured to transmit a signal toward the region and to detect a return signal indicative of a velocity of blood flow through the blood vessel; and an apparatus having a processor configured to determine a systolic blood pressure of the subject. The processor is configured to determine whether the return signal corresponds to a first Korotkoff sound of the blood flow through the blood vessel, reduce pressure applied via the sphygmomanometer cuff if the return signal does not correspond to the first Korotkoff sound, and determine pressure applied via the sphygmomanometer cuff when the return signal corresponds to the first Korotkoff sound. | 12-24-2015 |
20150374338 | MULTIPULSE ELASTOGRAPHY METHOD - A multipulse elastography method for the quantitative measurement of at least one mechanical property of a viscoelastic medium having an ultrasonic signal after ultrasonic illumination, the method including defining characteristics of at least two mechanical pulses; generating the at least two mechanical pulses for which characteristics are defined in a viscoelastic medium; monitoring a propagation of at least two shear waves generated by the at least two mechanical pulses using acquisition and emission of ultrasonic signals, in the viscoelastic medium, and calculating at least one mechanical property of said viscoelastic medium using said acquisitions of said ultrasonic signals. | 12-31-2015 |
20160007952 | METHOD FOR GENERATING AN ELASTICITY IMAGE | 01-14-2016 |
20160015365 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ULTRASOUND ELASTOGRAPHY AND METHOD FOR DYNAMICALLY PROCESSING FRAMES IN REAL TIME - Disclosed are a system and a method for ultrasound elastography and a method for dynamically processing frames in real time. The system includes an elasticity processing apparatus having an elasticity information detecting module for extracting elasticity information representing the elasticity of a target to be detected; a quality parameter calculating module for calculating at least a quality parameter reflecting quality of each elasticity image corresponding to the elasticity information; and a frame processing module for determining whether to output corresponding elasticity image based on the quality parameter of each elasticity image. When calculating a strain of consecutive images, the parameter reflecting the quality of each image is also computed, through which, the current elasticity image is determined whether to be displayed, thus avoiding the situation that colors of acquired successive elasticity images may vary greatly due to large difference existing in stress. | 01-21-2016 |
20160022246 | Head Frame with Integrated Pressure Chamber for Non-Invasive Intracranial Pressure Measurements - A head frame for use in non-invasively determining the absolute value of intracranial pressure of a living body having a hard, flexible shield for covering the eye area of a patient. The shield has an inner surface and an outer transducer surface. An elastic film is sealed along its outer edge to the inner surface of the shield forming an expandable chamber. First and second connectors are located on the shield, permitting an inflow and outflow of pressurized liquid to the chamber. The elastic film expands inward toward the patient with an inflow of pressurized liquid, imparting a pressure against the patient's eye. An adjustable strap is attached to the shield for securing the head frame to the head of the patient. | 01-28-2016 |
20160030005 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR STEERING MULTIPLE ULTRASOUND BEAMS - An ultrasound system may include a curved probe having a first set of elements that define a first aperture, and a second set of elements that define a second aperture. The probe may be configured to simultaneously transmit first and second ultrasound signals from the first and second apertures, respectively. The first ultrasound signal is configured to be transmitted in a first direction that is parallel with a first beam axis of the first ultrasound signal. The second ultrasound signal is configured to be transmitted in a second direction that is parallel with a second beam axis of the second ultrasound signal. At least one processor is configured to independently steer each of the first and second ultrasound signals. | 02-04-2016 |
20160030007 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE AND ULTRASONIC THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGE GENERATION METHOD - An ultrasonic diagnostic device and ultrasonic three-dimensional image generation method generate a three-dimensional image by expressing interaction by dispersion, absorption, or the like of light in tissue or between tissues. The ultrasonic diagnostic device displays a three-dimensional image of a target object based on at least one piece of volume data among luminance volume data, blood flow volume data, and elasticity volume data. The ultrasonic diagnostic device includes: a light source setting unit to set light source data indicating characteristics of a light source set in a three-dimensional space; an optical characteristic setting unit to set characteristics of the volume data related to the light source; an illumination calculation unit calculates illumination of coordinates of the volume data based on the light source data and optical characteristics and generate illumination volume data based on calculated illumination; and a projection processing unit generates the three-dimensional image from the illumination volume data. | 02-04-2016 |
20160038117 | ULTRASONIC BLOOD PRESSURE MEASURING DEVICE AND BLOOD PRESSURE MEASURING METHOD - An ultrasonic blood pressure measuring device measures the blood pressure of a blood vessel by performing transmission of an ultrasonic wave and reception of a reflected wave with respect to the blood vessel using an ultrasonic probe. A blood vessel position determination unit determines the position of the blood vessel with respect to the ultrasonic probe based on the reception signal of the ultrasonic probe. A blood pressure measurement execution unit executes blood pressure measurement based on the relative position of the blood vessel determined by the blood vessel position determination unit. | 02-11-2016 |
20160051231 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC METHOD - To provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and an ultrasonic diagnostic method capable of conducting ultrasonic diagnosis using acoustic radiation pressure, without causing an increase in the temperature of an ultrasound-exposed portion. | 02-25-2016 |
20160058409 | ULTRASONIC BLOOD PRESSURE MEASUREMENT APPARATUS AND BLOOD PRESSURE MEASUREMENT METHOD - In an ultrasonic blood pressure measurement apparatus that measures a blood pressure by transmitting an ultrasonic wave toward a blood vessel and receiving a reflected wave, a storage unit stores a β blood-pressure calculation expression that is a first relationship between a vascular diameter of the blood vessel and a blood pressure; a pulse wave velocity calculation unit measures a pulse wave velocity of the blood vessel; a β blood-pressure calculation expression modifying unit calculates a modified β blood-pressure calculation expression that is a third relationship obtained by modifying the β blood-pressure calculation expression using the pulse wave velocity; a vascular diameter measurement unit configured to measure the vascular diameter of the blood vessel using the ultrasonic wave; and a temporary blood pressure calculation unit determines the blood pressure according to the modified β blood-pressure calculation expression. | 03-03-2016 |
20160058411 | ULTRASONIC URINE VOLUME MEASURING INSTRUMENT, URINE VOLUME MANAGEMENT DATA GENERATING METHOD USING ULTRASONIC URINE VOLUME MEASURING INSTRUMENT, AND BLADDER TRAINING METHOD USING ULTRASONIC URINE VOLUME MEASURING INSTRUMENT - An ultrasonic urine volume measuring instrument includes an ultrasound probe, an ultrasound controller that controls transmission and reception of ultrasound and its reflected waves, and an arithmetic unit that calculates urine volume in the bladder on the basis of the reflected waves. The arithmetic unit includes a comparator that compares the calculated urine volume in the bladder with a first threshold. The ultrasound measurement cycle becomes a longer cycle when the urine volume in the bladder is less than the first threshold, compared to the urine volume being greater than or equal to the first threshold. The ultrasonic urine volume measuring instrument includes a timer unit capable of causing, when the urine volume in the bladder compared by the comparator is less than the first threshold, the arithmetic unit to enter a sleep state during each measurement cycle, and causes the arithmetic unit to recover every measurement cycle. | 03-03-2016 |
20160058412 | ULTRASONIC URINE VOLUME MEASURING INSTRUMENT, AND METHOD OF POSITIONING ULTRASOUND PROBE IN ULTRASONIC URINE VOLUME MEASURING INSTRUMENT - A mode selector is provided, capable of selecting one of a measurement mode of measuring urine volume while an ultrasound probe is placed at a certain measurement position on the stomach of a measurement subject, and a positioning mode is provided, of measuring urine volume while moving the ultrasound probe to a plurality of tentative measurement positions on the stomach to determine the measurement position suitable for placing the ultrasound probe in the measurement mode. An index value memory is included that stores a maximum value among urine volumes at the plurality of tentative measurement positions, calculated by the arithmetic unit, while the positioning mode is being selected, and/or an allowance value determined on the basis of the maximum value. The maximum value and/or the allowance value is displayed, on a graph on a display unit, as a positioning index value for positioning the ultrasound probe. | 03-03-2016 |
20160058519 | MECHANISMS AND METHODS FOR THE DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A MECHANICAL INTERFACE BETWEEN A WEARABLE DEVICE AND A HUMAN BODY SEGMENT - The system includes an instrument for determining the anatomical, biomechanical, and physiological properties of a body segment that includes one or more force sensitive probes is provided. A human operator actuates one or more force sensitive probes, wherein the force sensitive probes are positioned at the surface of the body segment. The operator pushes on the force sensitive probes with varying force applied on the body segment to measure tissue deflection forces. The instrument may include one or more of gyroscopes, accelerometers, and magnetometers capable of measuring changes in tissue deflection caused by the force sensitive probes relative to a grounded reference frame in 3-D space, wherein the tissue deflection force data and the change in tissue deflection data are used to compute segment tissue viscoelastic properties. The instrument may also be untethered or wireless. | 03-03-2016 |
20160081654 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR NON-INVASIVE DETERMINATION OF HUMAN BODY FAT - Provided is a non-invasive system and method of determining human body fat based on image processing. The method includes receiving at least one ultrasound scan image of at least a portion of a skin layer as disposed above one or more additional tissue layers, the skin layer defining a horizontal axis and the image provided by a plurality of pixels. The method continues by horizontally blurring the pixels of the image and thresholding the pixels of the image to provide a binary image having a plurality of elements of different sizes. The method continues with morphing the structural elements of the binary image to remove small elements and connect large elements. With this resulting image, the method distinguishes a body fat layer from the remaining elements and determines the body fat layer thickness. An associated system is also disclosed. | 03-24-2016 |
20160081661 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING ULTRASOUND IMAGE - Provided is a method of generating an ultrasound image corresponding to a cross-section of interest, which is performed by an ultrasound imaging apparatus. Exemplary embodiments include a method of generating an ultrasound image corresponding to a cross-section of interest of an object by storing ultrasound echo signals respectively corresponding to a plurality of frames that constitute a three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound image of the object, performing beamforming on a focal point on the cross-section of interest of the object, and generating beam focused data for the focal point. | 03-24-2016 |
20160081664 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND PROBE PRESSURIZATION/DEPRESSURIZATION INFORMATION DISPLAY METHOD - An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment generates, based on the echo signal, velocity distribution information of a tissue in the object. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus generates state information representing a cycle of the pressurization or the depressurization and target information representing a target cycle of pressurization or depressurization based on the velocity distribution information. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus associates one of two variables defining a predetermined graphic pattern with the cycle, displays the state information and the target information as the graphic pattern, and displays the graphic pattern upon deforming a shape of the graphic pattern in accordance with a change in the cycle of the pressurization or the depressurization in the state information. | 03-24-2016 |
20160089109 | MAPPING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CAVITATION ACTIVITY - Apparatus for locating bubbles in a subject comprises a plurality of pressure wave detectors arranged to operate as passive detectors to generate output signals in response to the receipt of pressure waves generated at a source comprising at least one bubble, and processing means arranged to receive signals from the detectors and to determine from the signals the position of the source. | 03-31-2016 |
20160089113 | METHOD AND MEDICAL IMAGING APPARATUS FOR GENERATING ELASTIC IMAGE BY USING CURVED ARRAY PROBE - A method of generating an ultrasound elastic image includes: inducing a shear wave that propagates in a second direction by transmitting a first ultrasound signal including a push signal to an object in a first direction, by a curved array probe; transmitting a second ultrasound signal to the object and receiving an echo signal reflected by the object in response to the second ultrasound signal, via the curved array probe; and generating an elastic image of the object by using the received echo signal. The second ultrasound signal includes a plane wave having a straight line waveform parallel to the second direction. | 03-31-2016 |
20160095572 | System and Method for Non-Invasive Blood Pressure Measurement - A system and method for continuous real time measurement of blood pressure in a subject is presented. The system includes a transducer assembly (e.g., having ultrasound array elements) in a cuff applied to the subject's body. The system measures physical characteristics such as geometry, elasticity and strain in a blood vessel as well as other external physical parameters. Computer modeling and signal processing of measured signals are used during inflation and/or deflation of the cuff to iteratively estimate the blood pressure of the subject. | 04-07-2016 |
20160095574 | METHOD FOR MEASURING INTRACRANIAL ELASTICITY - A novel method to noninvasively measure intracranial pressure (ICP) and more generally brain elasticity is disclosed. ICP is determined using an algorithm coupled on a simulated artificial neural network (SANN) that calculates ICP based on a determination of a set of interacted ultrasound signals (IUSs) generated from multiple ultrasound pulses. The methods and systems of the present invention are capable of rapidly determining ICP without manual review of EPG waves by a technician. | 04-07-2016 |
20160095580 | LUNG VENTILATION MEASUREMENTS USING ULTRASOUND - An ultrasound-based system determines dynamic strain measurements over a surface using ultrasound speckle analysis that allows for accurate measurement of surface area displacement. The system additionally determines an approximate displacement along a third axis, the z-axis. From these, an estimation of a local volume change is determined. In this way, a volume change can be determined for the lung or any other region of interest. | 04-07-2016 |
20160095582 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - In general, according to one embodiment, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes an ultrasonic probe, a plurality of power supplies implemented by circuitry, at least one pulser, and a controller implemented by circuitry. The ultrasonic probe includes a plurality of piezoelectric transducers which generate ultrasonic waves in response to supplied driving signals. The pulser outputs the driving signal based on an applied voltage applied from any one of the plurality of power supplies. The controller switches the plurality of power supplies in accordance with the at least one pulser used for generation of the driving signal in one transmission mode period. | 04-07-2016 |
20160106326 | Pressure Wave Measurement of Blood Flow - Methods and devices for measuring blood flow velocity are provided. The device may include a wave source and at least two detectors positioned along a blood vessel. The wave source, which may include an ultrasound transducer or a mechanical source, is configured to induce a pressure wave in blood flowing in a blood vessel. In one example, the detectors are both positioned downstream of the wave source, with respect to the direction of blood flow. In another example, one detector is positioned upstream of the wave source, and a second detector is positioned downstream of the wave source. The difference in time it takes for the induced pressure wave to reach the first and the second detectors is indicative of the velocity of blood flow in the vessel. | 04-21-2016 |
20160106364 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR CORRECTIVE GUIDANCE OF EATING BEHAVIOR AFTER WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY - Apparatuses and methods for corrective guidance of eating behavior of a patient equipped with a gastric restriction device. The apparatus provides continuous monitoring or one or more parameters related to food passing through the gastric restriction device. Each monitored parameter is processed to provide a visual indication of the current eating behavior. The visual indication is used as input to the patient or a caregiver to modify the eating behavior. In some embodiments, the apparatus includes an emergency relief mechanism that automatically relieves excess pressure developing in the gastric restriction device. In some embodiments, the apparatus is enabled to deliver an appetite suppressant to modify the eating behavior. | 04-21-2016 |
20160128667 | METHOD OF CALCULATING FEATURE OF BLOOD VESSEL AND ULTRASOUND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING THE SAME - Disclosed is an ultrasound apparatus. The ultrasound apparatus includes an ultrasound transceiver that transmits an ultrasound signal to an object and receives an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object, a controller that detects a change amount of a diameter of a blood vessel of the object, based on the ultrasound echo signal, and a display unit that displays a blood pressure graph showing a blood pressure of the object and an image representing an inflection point in the blood pressure graph, based on the detected change amount of the diameter. The controller calculates a stiffness of the blood vessel, based on a blood pressure corresponding to the inflection point. | 05-12-2016 |
20160131540 | TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION DETERMINING APPARATUS - The invention relates to a temperature distribution measuring apparatus for measuring a temperature distribution within an object caused by heating the object. A temperature distribution measuring unit ( | 05-12-2016 |
20160135788 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ACOUSTIC RADIATION FORCE CREEP-RECOVERY AND SHEAR WAVE PROPAGATION ELASTICITY IMAGING - A model-independent method for producing a viscoelastic tissue property metric using ultrasound is provided. A mechanical stress, such as an acoustic force, is applied to a tissue during a creep period using an ultrasound system to generate a creep response. Tissue displacement resulting from the applied acoustic force is measured during a recovery period following the creep period. From the tissue displacement measurements, a relative complex modulus is extracted, and a loss tangent is calculated based on extracted complex modulus. Using the calculated loss tangent, viscoelastic tissue property metrics may be calculated. | 05-19-2016 |
20160143540 | MULTIFREQUENCY ELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE IMAGING USING LORENTZ FIELDS - In this invention, an approach is proposed to image the electrical impedance (conductivity and permittivity) properties of biological tissues. This approach is based on electrical current induction using ultrasound together with an applied static magnetic field. Acoustic vibrations are generated via piezoelectric transducers located on the surface of a biological body. A linear phased array piezoelectric transducer is used to form pressure distribution in human body/tissue. In the existence of a static magnetic field, the resultant (velocity) current density is sensed by a receiver coil encircling the tissue or placed near the tissue and used for reconstructing the conductivity and permittivity distribution. | 05-26-2016 |
20160143621 | ELASTOGRAPHY MEASUREMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD - The present invention relates to an ultrasound elastography system ( | 05-26-2016 |
20160143625 | ULTRASONIC PROBE AND ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS - An ultrasonic probe according to a present embodiment includes: at least one first transducer functioning as a transducer for excitation for executing excitation by an acoustic radiation pressure in an elastography mode; and second transducers functioning as transducers for detection for detecting a shear wave generated by the excitation in the elastography mode. | 05-26-2016 |
20160157728 | ACOUSTIC-ELECTRIC IMAGING METHOD AND DEVICE - The invention relates to an acoustic-electric imaging method, which includes: a measurement step during which incident ultrasonic waves having different wavefronts are emitted in a medium | 06-09-2016 |
20160166233 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS AND METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME | 06-16-2016 |
20160183921 | Monitor with Ultrasonic Scanning and Monitoring Functions, Ultrasonic Apparatus, and Corresponding Method - Disclosed is a monitor with ultrasonic scanning and monitoring functions including a monitoring function module ( | 06-30-2016 |
20160183926 | DIAGNOSTIC ULTRASOUND APPARATUS AND ELASTICITY EVALUATION METHOD - Disclosed is a technique capable of reducing deterioration of measurement accuracy and reproducibility due to a long measurement time and acquiring an ultrasound image with high diagnostic performance in measurement of a shear wave velocity of radiation pressure elastography. In the radiation pressure elastography, information relating to a motion (fluctuation) in a measurement region is extracted while detecting a shear wave from echo signals due to irradiation of tracking pulses, and is provided to a user as reliability information indicating the reliability of a measurement result. Further, a factor of the fluctuation is specified from the extracted information, and is presented to the user. Furthermore, when arithmetically averaging plural times of measurement results, weighting is performed using the reliability information. | 06-30-2016 |
20160192904 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MEASURING AN AMOUNT OF URINE IN A BLADDER | 07-07-2016 |
20160192906 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING ELASTIC IMAGE AND ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS | 07-07-2016 |
20160199029 | ULTRASOUND APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD | 07-14-2016 |
20160199034 | Sparse tracking in acoustic radiation force impulse imaging | 07-14-2016 |
20160199035 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING ELASTIC FEATURE OF OBJECT | 07-14-2016 |
20160249880 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ELECTROMECHANICAL ACTIVATION OF ARRHYTHMIAS | 09-01-2016 |
20160249883 | ULTRASOUND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD AND ULTRASOUND IMAGING APPARATUS THEREOF | 09-01-2016 |
20160249884 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MEASURING ELASTICITY | 09-01-2016 |
20160249887 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TARGET MUSCLE GLYCOGEN SCORE DETERMINATION AND EVALUATION | 09-01-2016 |
20170231599 | CONCURRENT ACQUISITION OF HARMONIC AND FUNDAMENTAL IMAGES FOR SCREENING APPLICATIONS | 08-17-2017 |
20190142337 | ELECTROTHERAPEUTIC TREATMENT | 05-16-2019 |
20190142366 | USING REFLECTED SHEAR WAVES FOR MONITORING LESION GROWTH IN THERMAL ABLATIONS | 05-16-2019 |
20190142384 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND CONTROL PROGRAM THEREOF | 05-16-2019 |
20190142385 | ULTRASONIC OBSERVATION APPARATUS, METHOD OF OPERATING ULTRASONIC OBSERVATION APPARATUS, AND PROGRAM FOR OPERATING ULTRASONIC OBSERVATION APPARATUS | 05-16-2019 |
20220133173 | MECHANISMS AND METHODS FOR THE DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A MECHANICAL INTERFACE BETWEEN A WEARABLE DEVICE AND A HUMAN BODY SEGMENT - The system includes an instrument for determining the anatomical, biomechanical, and physiological properties of a body segment that includes one or more force sensitive probes is provided. A human operator actuates one or more force sensitive probes, wherein the force sensitive probes are positioned at the surface of the body segment. The operator pushes on the force sensitive probes with varying force applied on the body segment to measure tissue deflection forces. The instrument may include one or more of gyroscopes, accelerometers, and magnetometers capable of measuring changes in tissue deflection caused by the force sensitive probes relative to a grounded reference frame in 3-D space, wherein the tissue deflection force data and the change in tissue deflection data are used to compute segment tissue viscoelastic properties. The instrument may also be untethered or wireless. | 05-05-2022 |
20220133269 | INTEGRATED WEARABLE ULTRASONIC PHASED ARRAYS FOR MONITORING - Systems and methods are provided that integrate control electronics with a wireless on-board module so that a conformal ultrasound device is a fully functional and self-contained system. Such systems employ integrated control electronics, deep tissue monitoring, wireless communications, and smart machine learning algorithms to analyze data. In particular, a stretchable ultrasonic patch is provided that performs the noted functions. The decoded motion signals may have implications on blood pressure estimation, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) diagnosis, heart function evaluation, and many other medical monitoring aspects. | 05-05-2022 |