Patents Examined by James M Kish
  • Patent number: 11642080
    Abstract: It is known in the art to use an apparatus to enhance the visual appearance of the veins and arteries in a patient to facilitate insertion of needles into those veins and arteries. This application discloses a number of inventions that add additional data collection and presentation capabilities to a handheld vein enhancement apparatus and a set of processes for the collection of blood and the delivery of IV medicines that use the handheld device to mediate the process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: AccuVein, INC.
    Inventors: Fred Wood, Ron Goldman, Stephen P. Conlon, Vincent Luciano
  • Patent number: 11638611
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a system for locating a tip of a catheter that has been inserted into a patient includes an implantable catheter having a distal tip, a pulsed light source that is co-located with the distal tip of the implantable catheter, the pulsed light source being configured to emit pulses of light into surrounding patient tissue, an optoacoustic sensor configured to be applied so a skin surface of the patient at a position proximate to the pulsed light source and to sense optoacoustic waves generated when the pulses of light are absorbed by the surrounding patient tissue, and an optoacoustic console configured to receive optoacoustic wave signals from the optoacoustic sensor and to display an indication of the optoacoustic wave signals to a medical professional to provide an indication of the location of the pulsed light source and, therefore, the distal tip of the implantable catheter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2023
    Assignee: Board of Regents, The University of Texas System
    Inventors: Rovnat Babazade, Yuriy Petrov, Irene Petrov, Rinat O. Esenaliev
  • Patent number: 11638558
    Abstract: The present invention is a Miniature Vein Enhancer that includes a Miniature Projection Head. The Miniature Projection Head may be operated in one of three modes, AFM, DBM, and RTM. The Miniature Projection Head of the present invention projects an image of the veins of a patient, which aids the practitioner in pinpointing a vein for an intravenous drip, blood test, and the like. The Miniature projection head may have a cavity for a power source or it may have a power source located in a body portion of the Miniature Vein Enhancer. The Miniature Vein Enhancer may be attached to one of several improved needle protectors, or the Miniature Vein Enhancer may be attached to a body similar to a flashlight for hand held use. The Miniature Vein Enhancer of the present invention may also be attached to a magnifying glass, a flat panel display, and the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2023
    Assignee: AccuVein, Inc.
    Inventors: Ron Goldman, David Hunt, Mark Mock, Graham Marshall, Stephen P. Conlon, Robert Roth
  • Patent number: 11612377
    Abstract: A method and system utilizes an imaging device that generates images of target tissue of a patient during a surgical procedure that acts on the target tissue imaged by the imaging device. The method and system enables visual detection of patient movement during the surgical procedure by marking at least one spatial attribute of one or more identifiable features of the target tissue illustrated in an image presented in a display window. Prior to acting on the target tissue, a visual indicator of the spatial attribute(s) is superimposed on one or more subsequent images captured by the imaging device and displayed to the operator. The operator can visually compare a position of the visual indicator to a position of the operator-identified feature in order to detect movement of the patient during the procedure. The system and methodology also facilitates realignment that corrects for detected patient movement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: Best Medical International, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark D. Glaenzer, Robert A. Whitman, Bruce A. Olson
  • Patent number: 11609294
    Abstract: The invention provides for a magnetic resonance imaging system (100, 200) comprising a memory (148) for storing machine executable instructions (150) and pulse sequence commands (152). The pulse sequence commands are configured for acquiring a four dimensional magnetic resonance data set (162) from an imaging region of interest (109). The four dimensional magnetic resonance data set is at least divided into three dimensional data magnetic resonance data sets (400, 402, 404, 406, 408) indexed by a repetitive motion phase of the subject. The three dimensional data magnetic resonance data sets are further at least divided into and indexed by k-space portions (410, 412, 414, 416, 418, 420, 422, 424, 426, 428, 430, 432, 434, 436). The magnetic resonance imaging system further comprises a processor (144) for controlling the magnetic resonance imaging system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
    Inventors: Falk Uhlemann, Tim Nielsen, Jan Hendrik Wuelbern
  • Patent number: 11553967
    Abstract: Systems and methods for electromagnetic field generator alignment are disclosed. In one aspect, the system includes an electromagnetic (EM) sensor configured to generate, when positioned in a working volume of the EM field, one or more EM sensor signals based on detection of the EM field, the EM sensor configured for placement on a patient. The system may also include a processor and a memory storing computer-executable instructions to cause the processor to: determine a position of the EM sensor with respect to the field generator based on the one or more EM sensor signals, encode a representation of the position of the EM sensor with respect to the working volume of the EM field, and provide the encoded representation of the position to a display configured to render encoded data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: Auris Health, Inc.
    Inventors: David Burdick Berman, Hedyeh Rafii-Tari, Prasanth Jeevan, Nicolas E. Robert
  • Patent number: 11510617
    Abstract: A laser based vascular illumination system utilizing a FPGA for detecting vascular positions, processing an image of such vasculature positions, and projecting the image thereof onto the body of a patient.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: AccuVein, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Zott, Fred Wood, Dimitry Yavid, Seung P. Kim, Klaus Zietlow
  • Patent number: 11497401
    Abstract: This invention relates generally to methods for localization and visualization of implanted electrodes and penetrating probes in the brain in 3D space with consideration of functional brain anatomy. Particularly, this invention relates to precise and sophisticated methods of localizing and visualizing implanted electrodes to the cortical surface and/or topological volumes of a patient's brain using 3D modeling, and more particularly to methods of accurately mapping implanted electrodes to the cortical topology and/or associated topological volumes of a patient's brain, such as, for example, by utilizing recursive grid partitioning on a manipulable virtual replicate of a patient's brain. This invention further relates to methods of surgical intervention utilizing accurate cortical surface modeling and/or topological volume modeling of a patient's brain for targeted placement of electrodes and/or utilization thereof for surgical intervention in the placement of catheters or other probes into it.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM
    Inventors: Nitin Tandon, Christopher Conner, Thomas A. Pieters, Cihan Mehmet Kadipasaoglu
  • Patent number: 11490814
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein relate to detectors and their method of use for sensing electromagnetic fields, electromagnetic signals, biochemical analytes, and/or other conditions in subjects. The device may include an inductively-coupled implantable coil-based transducer that converts electrical, photonic, biochemical signals, and/or other appropriate signals and/or conditions originating in tissues and/or transplanted tissue grafts into changes in a property of the transducer, such as a resonance frequency, that may be detected using an alternating magnetic field that may be provided by a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal and/or other appropriate source. In some embodiments, the detector comprises a FET that changes state upon detection of a subject condition of interest. The change in the FET may change the resonance frequency of an associated LC or RLC circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Alan Pradip Jasanoff, Virginia Spanoudaki, Aviad Hai
  • Patent number: 11484260
    Abstract: The present invention is a Miniature Vein Enhancer, for use in imaging the subcutaneous veins of a target area of a patient by a practitioner. The miniature vein enhancer includes a Miniature Projection Head that is secured to a tourniquet, where the tourniquet may be mounted to the bicep of a patient. The Miniature Projection Head includes a housing, and apparatus that images subcutaneous veins of the target area, and projects the image(s) of the veins onto the target area to overlie the subcutaneous veins, which aids the practitioner in pinpointing a vein location for a venipuncture procedure such as an intravenous drip, blood test, and the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: AccuVein, INC.
    Inventors: Ron Goldman, David Hunt, Mark Mock, Graham Marshall, Stephen P. Conlon, Robert Roth
  • Patent number: 11464469
    Abstract: A medical imaging system a magnet unit includes a main magnet and a first housing. In an embodiment, the main magnet is arranged inside the first housing and includes coil elements and at least one coil carrier, the magnet unit defining an examination opening. The first radiation unit is embodied to irradiate the examination object and is arranged on the side of the magnet unit. The magnet unit includes a first region, transparent to radiation emitted by the first radiation unit radially to the examination axis. The first radiation unit is embodied to emit radiation through the first region of the magnet unit in a direction of the examination opening and is furthermore embodied to rotate about the examination opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: Siemens Healthcare GmbH
    Inventors: Rebecca Fahrig, Martino Leghissa, Simon James Calvert, Adrian Mark Thomas
  • Patent number: 11439847
    Abstract: Systems and methods for treating a lung of a patient. One embodiment of a method comprises positioning a leadless marker in the lung of the patient relative to the target, and collecting position data of the marker. This method further comprises determining the location of the marker in an external reference frame outside of the patient based on the collected position data, and providing an objective output in the external reference frame that is responsive to movement of the marker. The objective output is provided at a frequency (i.e., periodicity) that results in a clinically acceptable tracking error. In addition, the objective output can also be provided at least substantially contemporaneously with collecting the position data used to determine the location of the marker.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: VARIAN MEDICAL SYSTEMS, INC.
    Inventors: Edward J. Vertatschitsch, Steven C. Dimmer, Timothy P. Mate, Eric Meier, Keith Seiler, J. Nelson Wright
  • Patent number: 11439309
    Abstract: The invention provides methods for diagnosing coronary heart disease in a subject in need thereof comprising administering an admixture comprising CO2 to a subject to reach a predetermined PaCO2 in the subject to induce hyperemia, monitoring vascular reactivity in the subject and diagnosing the presence or absence of coronary heart disease in the subject, wherein decreased vascular reactivity in the subject compared to a control subject is indicative of coronary heart disease. The invention also provides methods for increasing sensitivity and specificity of BOLD MRI.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
    Inventors: Rohan Dharmakumar, Debiao Li, Sotirios A. Tsaftaris
  • Patent number: 11426144
    Abstract: Disclosed are a method and a device for elasticity detection. The method comprises: controlling an excitation device (2) to periodically excite N shear waves in a tissue at a preset time interval and controlling an ultrasonic transducer (3) to transmit ultrasonic waves (101) to the tissue, where the excitation device and the ultrasonic transducer are maintained in contact with a surface of the tissue; receiving, by the ultrasonic transducer (3), an ultrasonic echo signal (102) corresponding to each of the shear waves; acquiring a propagation characteristic parameter (103) of each of the shear waves according to the ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to each of the shear waves; calculating an elasticity parameter of the tissue (104) according to propagation characteristic parameters of the N shear waves and a tissue density of the tissue.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: WUXI HISKY MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jinhua Shao, Jin Sun, Houli Duan
  • Patent number: 11406250
    Abstract: A manipulation assembly includes a delivery catheter having a lumen extending therethrough and a deployment catheter positioned within the delivery catheter. The deployment catheter is independently manipulatable with respect to the delivery catheter. The assembly further includes a visualization element extendable distally beyond the deployment catheter and an ablation probe comprising an energy transmitting surface positionable to ablate tissue adjacent to a distal end of the ablation probe. The ablation probe is extendable distally beyond the deployment catheter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignee: INTUITIVE SURGICAL OPERATIONS, INC.
    Inventors: Vahid Saadat, Ruey-Feng Peh, Edmund A. Tam, Chris A. Rothe
  • Patent number: 11399768
    Abstract: A miniature vein enhancer is operated in one of three modes to project an image of a patient's veins onto the imaged body region, aiding a practitioner in pinpointing veins for a venipuncture procedure (intravenous drip, withdrawing blood . . . ). In one embodiment that uses two wavelengths of light (e.g., using two lasers), the image is obtained using red or infrared light, and is projected using visible light. In another embodiment using two wavelengths of light, the vein image is obtained using the first wavelength (red or infrared), and a fluorescent material (e.g., cream) sensitive to the second wavelength is applied to the skin surface, so that transmission of the imaged vein locations using the second wavelength energizes the fluorescent cream to visualize the veins on the skin surface. A three laser embodiment uses a third wavelength (violet or ultraviolet) to detect surface topology and subtract that noise from the vein image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: AccuVein, Inc.
    Inventors: Fred Wood, Ron Goldman, Stephen P. Conlon, Vincent Luciano
  • Patent number: 11357449
    Abstract: The present invention is a Miniature Vein Enhancer that includes a Miniature Projection Head. The Miniature Projection Head may be operated in one of three modes, AFM, DBM, and RTM. The Miniature Projection Head of the present invention projects an image of the veins of a patient, which aids the practitioner in pinpointing a vein for an intravenous drip, blood test, and the like. The Miniature projection head may have a cavity for a power source or it may have a power source located in a body portion of the Miniature Vein Enhancer. The Miniature Vein Enhancer may be attached to one of several improved needle protectors, or the Miniature Vein Enhancer may be attached to a body similar to a flashlight for hand held use. The Miniature Vein Enhancer of the present invention may also be attached to a magnifying glass, a flat panel display, and the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2022
    Assignee: AccuVein, Inc.
    Inventors: Ron Goldman, David Hunt, Mark Mock, Graham Marshall, Stephen P. Conlon, Robert Roth
  • Patent number: 11337771
    Abstract: Measuring fluorescence within a zone on a surface of biological tissue uses a probe that comprises first and second sensors that are constituents of corresponding first and second optical systems and that are fixed relative to each other. The first sensor is configured to detect fluorescent light emitted at said surface and the second sensor detects visible light. The measurement includes projecting a mark onto the zone, and, based on a position of an image of the mark on the second sensor, localizing and locating fluorescence detected by the first sensor in an image of the zone. The image is produced in visible light. The mark is a light mark that is detectable by said second sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: FLUOPTICS
    Inventors: Philippe Rizo, Marieke Richard, Anthony Daures
  • Patent number: 11331001
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method and system for navigating an instrument relative to a patient that can be near a field distorting feature. A localizer can generate an electromagnetic field that is sensed by a tracking device to determine a location of the tracking device with the sensed electromagnetic field. The system and related method can assist in determining whether a navigation field is distorted near a tracking device of the instrument.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: Medtronic Navigation, Inc.
    Inventors: Brad Jacobsen, Andrew Bzostek, Steven L. Hartmann
  • Patent number: 11331136
    Abstract: An electrode for use on a medical device is disclosed. The electrode may have a main body of electrically conductive material extending along an axis and may have a proximal end and a distal end. The electrode may also include a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tracking coil disposed in the body. The MRI tracking coil may comprise electrically insulated wire. A catheter including an electrode, as well as a method for determining the location of an electrode, are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: St. Jude Medical, Atrial Fibrillation Division, Inc.
    Inventors: Saurav Paul, Troy T. Tegg, Chou Thao, Harry A. Puryear