Abstract: This invention discloses an apparatus for measuring the weight of a fetus in utero including an ultrasonic imager providing at least one ultrasonic image, a volume determiner operative to employ the at least one ultrasonic image to provide volume information relating to at least part of the volume of the fetus in utero, and a weight determiner operative to employ said volume information relating to at least part of the volume of the fetus and density information relating to the at least part of the volume of the fetus for providing an output indication representing the weight of the fetus in utero. A method for measuring the weight of a fetus in is also disclosed.

Abstract: Described herein is an ultrasound probe for ultrasound imaging using contrast enhancing agents and including two interleaved arrays of transducer elements. Each array has a longitudinal dimension along which transducer elements are placed. One interleaved array includes transducer elements having a lower center frequency. Another interleaved array includes transducer elements having a higher center frequency. The transducer elements are provided on inter-fitting support members. A length of the transducer elements of one array is larger than a corresponding length of the transducer elements of the other array.

Abstract: A vascular catheter system comprises a catheter body having a proximal portion with a proximal end, a distal end and work lumen therebetween and a distal portion with a proximal end, a distal end, a work lumen therebetween and a guidewire lumen distal to the work lumen. A first connector is secured to the distal end of the proximal portion and a second connector is secured to the proximal end of the distal portion. The first and second connectors can be selectively connected to each other to join the work lumens of the proximal and distal portions together.

Abstract: A method of ultrasound imaging, including the following steps, transmitting ultrasonic beams generated by transducers (20) into an object volume (v) such as an object body or a part thereof, receiving (20) and storing (3) signals reflected from said object volume, processing and receiving signals into image data associated to image dots or lines of a video display (8), and displaying at least a few image data on the display (8) in accordance with parameters set by a user and related to a predetermined section or projection plane of the image of said object volume. According to the invention, scanning is only performed in the region of the object body which coincides with the section plane or the image projection plane (P) of the object volume along which imaging is to be performed.

Abstract: A 3-D ultrasound imaging system acquires partially complete image volumes interspersed with substantially complete image volumes. The partially complete image volumes contain speckle that is processed by a cross-correlation algorithm to track the movement of an ultrasound scanhead. By tracking the movement of the scanhead, the substantially complete image volumes can be properly registered with each other and combined to create a 3-D extended field of view image. The partially complete image volumes contain significantly less data than the substantially complete image volumes. Therefore, the partially complete image volumes can be acquired more quickly than the substantially complete image volumes to allow the scanhead to be scanned at a relatively fast speed.

Abstract: A system records use of a structure deployed in operative association with heart tissue in a patient. An image controller generates an image of the structure while in use in the patient. An input receives data including information identifying the patient. An output processes the image in association with the data as a patient-specific, data base record for storage, retrieval, or manipulation.

Abstract: A system for estimating the volume of fluid in the bladder sequentially scans the bladder with ultrasonic beams that section the bladder into a number of transverse planes. The system determines, from the scan lines associated with a given plane, a plurality of points on each of the front and back walls of the bladder. It then fits a curve to the set of front wall points and another curve to the set of back wall points, to determine an outline of the bladder in the plane. The system next calculates the cross sectional area of the bladder in the plane based on the two curves. After determining the area in each of the planes, the system determines the volume of the bladder by summing weighted version of the planar areas. The system includes a transducer that consists of a plurality of piezo-electric elements held in a relatively thin elastomeric pad and/or substrate that is acoustically impedance matched to skin.

Abstract: A portable medical diagnostic ultrasound system is provided which includes shielding for electromagnetic interference by forming shielded enclosed compartments around the individual components of the ultrasound system. This compartmentalization of components isolates EMI between the components themselves as well as the outside world. Further, the EMI shielding provides structural rigidity and support for the entire ultrasound system. In another aspect, the EMI shielding provides heat dissipation capability for the internal components of the ultrasound system. The portable medical diagnostic ultrasound system further provides a transducer connector which provides high density interconnects between the transducer and the ultrasound system while providing an ergonomically easy to handle connector. Further, the connector is rugged, providing a high number of connection and disconnection cycles.

Abstract: An ultrasound image of a transverse cross-sectional outline of the prostate gland is acquired. For three-dimensional imaging, a series of images can be taken, one of each slice of the prostate. The initial ultrasound images are pre-processed to remove the noise and increase the contrast. The rectum edge is located from the bottom of the images. The key points on the prostate boundaries are located and connected under the iterative training of a knowledge-based model until the shape of the boundary reaches a stable state. The urethra is segmented near the center of the prostate.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method of recording and displaying in context of an image a location of at least one point-of-interest in a body during an intra-body medical procedure. The method includes establishing locations of the body, an imaging instrument and a location implement included within a catheter, and allows at least one point-of-interest to be displayed in the context of an image of the portion of the body, even in cases in which a relative location of the body and the imaging instrument are changed.

Abstract: A medical diagnostic ultrasonic imaging system includes a transmit waveform generator that uses stored parameters to completely define an arbitrarily complex transmit waveform. Preferably, the stored parameters define an envelope function and a modulation function in a piecewise fashion using a number of sets of quadratic parameters. These quadratic parameters are used to calculate the desired envelope function and modulation function in the log domain, and the envelope and modulation functions are combined in the log domain and then converted to the linear domain. Multiple separate transmit waveforms may be combined in a single channel, and individual channels may be combined prior to application to the transducer elements.

Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system and method are described for more uniformly sector scanning a volumetric or planar image region. The acquired data set comprises raylines extending over the full depth of field and raylines for which near-field image data is omitted. This results in a more uniform spatial sampling of both the near- and far-field regions when scanning with radially steered beams. Processing and storage requirements of the ultrasound system are correspondingly lessened.

Abstract: A pulse Doppler ultrasound system and associated methods are described for monitoring blood flow and detecting emboli. A graphical information display includes simultaneously displayed depth-mode and spectrogram displays. The depth-mode display indicates the various positions along the ultrasound beam axis at which blood flow is detected. These positions are indicated as one or more colored regions, with the color indicating direction of blood flow and varying in intensity as a function of detected Doppler ultrasound signal amplitude or detected blood flow velocity. The depth-mode display also includes a pointer whose position may be selected by a user. The spectrogram displayed corresponds to the location identified by the pointer. Embolus detection and characterization are also provided.

Abstract: An architecture and protocol are provided for allowing flexible, low cost, and upgradable ultrasound information processing systems. Ultrasound information processing functions are performed by a plurality of ultrasound modules coupled to a high-speed, multiple-drop serial ultrasound information bus. The ultrasound information bus is used for packetized data transfer among the ultrasound modules in accordance with an ultrasound information exchange protocol. Additional or upgraded ultrasound modules are designed to connect to the ultrasound information bus and to communicate using the ultrasound information exchange protocol. Thus, according to a preferred embodiment, as improvements in hardware technology or software algorithms are made, additional or upgraded ultrasound modules are simply “plugged in” to the ultrasound information bus, hereby reducing costs and increasing system versatility and upgradability.

Abstract: An ultrasound imaging system that produces a seemingly real-time display by obtaining ultrasound data in an interleaved manner. The system includes a transducer that outputs and receives ultrasonic signals and circuitry that causes the transducer to output the ultrasonic signals in a series of frames in an interleaved manner so as to isonify each of a plurality of portions of a subject matter at different times and forms an image based on the echoes from a plurality of frames.

Abstract: The present invention is a system for placing cryoprobes in a treatment area of a human patient. The system includes a computer system for displaying an image of a treatment area, a template of suggested cryoprobe palcements in the treatment area and images of actual cryoprobes placed within treatment area. The computer system is programmed to perform the steps of: acquiring the image of the treatment area, determining desired dimensions of the treatment area based on the image of the treatment area, determining the optimal cryoprobe placements in the treatment area based on the determined desired dimensions to provide the template of suggested cryoprobe placement, acquiring the images of actual cryoprobes placed within the treatment area, and overlaying the template of suggested cyroprobe placements on the acquired images of actual cryoprobes.

Abstract: A parametric imaging ultrasound catheter apparatus is capable of obtaining parametric images of the surrounding insonated environment. Parametric imaging is defined as the imaging of quantifiable “parameters” which of visible two-, three-, fourth-dimensional or non-visible higher-dimensional temporal physiologic events. Visible motion is a fourth-dimensional event and includes surrogate features of cardiac muscle contraction, wall motion, valve leaflet motion, etc. Non-visible motion is a higher-dimensional event and includes slow non-visible events (i.e., remodeling, transformation, aging, healing, etc.) or fast non-visible events (i.e., heat, electricity, strain, compliance, perfusion, etc.). An ultrasound catheter with parametric imaging capability can obtain dynamic digital or digitized information from the surrounding environment and display information features or quanta as a static or dynamic geometric figures from which discrete or gross quantifiable information can be obtained.

Abstract: An acoustoelectronic method and apparatus for generating real-time three-dimensional images of an object and characterizing such object are provided. The object is insonified with an incident acoustic signal derived from an electrical signal. Acoustic signals scattered from the object are collected by an acoustic receiver, which generates analog electrical signals that are subsequently converted to digital electronic signals. The digital electronic signals are used in both direct-imaging and holographic methods to produce a three-dimensional representation of the object from which images and characterizations can be generated.

Abstract: Strain rate analysis is performed for ultrasonic images in which the spatial gradient of velocity is calculated in the direction of tissue motion. Strain rate is calculated for cardiac ultrasound images in the direction of motion which, for myocardial images, may be either in the plane of the myocardium or across the myocardium. Strain rate information is calculated for a sequence of images of a heart cycle and displayed for an automatically drawn border such as the endocardial border over the full heart cycle.

Abstract: A one piece, sealed ultrasound probe head for measuring volume flow in vessels, which comprises a conventional ultrasound reflector (20) and piezo-electric crystals (23), mounted on a support element (30) which is permanently inserted into a housing (10) which is made of a resilient material and having gel spill guards (11) for limiting acoustic coupling gel spillage; and vessel retainer flaps (12) for retaining the vessel in a stationary position in the probe head. The probe head contains a supporting channel (16) capable of receiving and retaining on its surfaces an acoustic coupling gel. The resilient vessel retainer flaps (12) are capable of being flexed in order to selectively receiving or releasing the vessel into or out of the channel (16), and securing the vessel in a stationary position in said channel in order to allow flow measurement. The probe head in accordance with the invention may be used with any known probe device, including endoscopic probe devices.