Patents Examined by Aminah Asghar
  • Patent number: 10758208
    Abstract: A device for ultrasound-assisted reflection and transmission tomography includes a measurement volume filled with an ultrasonic coupling medium and having an opening for inserting a body to be examined and a lateral surface remote from the opening, and a number of ultrasonic transducers arranged remotely from the opening of the measurement volume, arranged in direct contact with the ultrasonic coupling medium, and arranged oriented into the measurement volume. The arrangement of the ultrasonic transducers around the measurement volume aperiodically follows a random uniform distribution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: KARLSRUHER INSTITUT FUER TECHNOLOGIE
    Inventors: Hartmut Gemmeke, Michael Zapf, Torsten Hopp, Robin Dapp, Nicole Ruiter
  • Patent number: 10750993
    Abstract: The present discourse provides a tongue manifestation detecting device. The tongue manifestation detecting device comprises: an image acquisition component configured to acquire a surface image of a tongue; a temperature acquisition component configured to acquire parameters characterized by the temperature of the tongue; and a brightness temperature image generation component configured to generate a brightness temperature image of the tongue based on the parameters characterized by the temperature of the tongue acquired by the temperature acquisition component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignees: BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD., HEFEI BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Yangkun Jing
  • Patent number: 10750980
    Abstract: A medical image processing method performed by a computer, for measuring the spatial location of a point on the surface of a patient's body including: acquiring at least two two-dimensional image datasets, wherein each two-dimensional image dataset represents a two-dimensional image of at least a part of the surface which comprises the point, and wherein the two-dimensional images are taken from different and known viewing directions; determining the pixels in the two-dimensional image datasets which show the point on the surface of the body; and calculating the spatial location of the point from the locations of the determined pixels in the two-dimensional image datasets and the viewing directions of the two-dimensional images; wherein the two-dimensional images are thermographic images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignee: BRAINLAB AG
    Inventors: Hagen Kaiser, Stephen Froehlich, Stefan Vilsmeier
  • Patent number: 10750992
    Abstract: Certain aspects relate to apparatuses and techniques for non-invasive and non-contact optical imaging that acquires a plurality of images corresponding to both different times and different frequencies. Additionally, alternatives described herein are used with a variety of tissue classification applications including assessing the presence and severity of tissue conditions, such as necrosis and small vessel disease, at a potential or determined amputation site.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignee: SPECTRAL MD, INC.
    Inventors: Wensheng Fan, John Michael DiMaio, Jeffrey Thatcher
  • Patent number: 10716593
    Abstract: An apparatus (100) for guiding a surgical needle with improved accuracy. The apparatus (100) having a base (1) for positioning the apparatus (100) on a patient; a second arc member (6) attached to the base (1); a first arc member (4) moveably attached to the second arc member (6); an arm (2) attached to a needle guide support (3) at one end and moveably attached to the first arc member (4) at a distal end, and an angle marking device (7) attached to the arm (2) to indicate a vertical reference point for measuring the angle of tilt of the arm (2) from the vertical reference point relative to the base (1). Wherein the first arc member (4) is configured to move on the second arc member (6) to facilitate movement of the needle guide support (3) in a cranio-caudal plane and the arm (2) is configured to move on the first arc member (4) to facilitate movement of the needle guide support (3) in an axial plane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2020
    Inventor: Yen Yung Chieng
  • Patent number: 10702719
    Abstract: Methods for treating an extravascular hematoma in a patient can include liquefying a first portion of the extravascular hematoma by applying a first series of focused acoustic pulses to the extravascular hematoma at a first frequency; and liquefying a second portion of the extravascular hematoma by applying a second series of focused acoustic pulses to the extravascular hematoma at a second frequency. Liquefied remains of the extravascular hematoma can be aspirated from the patient following liquefaction and disruption.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2020
    Assignee: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
    Inventors: Tatiana Khokhlova, Thomas J. Matula, Wayne L. Monsky, Yak-Nam Wang
  • Patent number: 10694974
    Abstract: Example embodiments of system and method for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques for planning, real-time monitoring, control, and post-treatment assessment of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) mechanical fractionation of biological material are disclosed. An adapted form of HIFU, referred to as “boiling histotripsy” (BH), can be used to cause mechanical fractionation of biological material. In contrast to conventional HIFU, which cause pure thermal ablation, BH can generate therapeutic destruction of biological tissue with a degree of control and precision that allows the process to be accurately measured and monitored in real-time as well as the outcome of the treatment can be evaluated using a variety of MRI techniques. Real-time monitoring also allow for real-time control of BH.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2020
    Assignees: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V.
    Inventors: Ari Partanen, Vera Khokhlova, Navid Farr, Donghoon Lee, Wayne Kreider, Tatiana Khokhlova, Adam Maxwell, Yak-Nam Wang, George Schade, Michael Bailey
  • Patent number: 10690735
    Abstract: In certain embodiments, a coil circuitry component may be configured to detect RF signals from excited spins of at least a region of an organism, where the coil circuitry component comprises a RF detection coil and a detuning circuit for detuning the RF detection coil. A coil signal detection component may be configured to extract at least some of the RF signals detected by the coil circuitry component and to convert the extracted RF signals from analog signal to digital signals. An excitation estimation component may be configured to estimate the excitation pulses from an excitation source and to generate a control timing signal from the estimated excitation pulses to set a state of the detuning circuit. A wireless communication component may be configured to wirelessly transmit the converted RF signals, the estimated excitation pulses, and the control timing signal to an external computer system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2020
    Assignee: Aivitae LLC
    Inventors: Bob Sueh-chien Hu, Ada Shuk-Yan Poon
  • Patent number: 10667869
    Abstract: Systems and methods for surgical tool navigation, include a movable gantry. A light emitting device is connected to the movable gantry. A range meter connected to the gantry. The distance meter measures a distance between the light emitting device and a surface. In a method of surgical tool navigation, the light emitting device projects light on the surface. The range meter detects the light and measures the distance between the light emitting device and the surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Francois Kotian, Thomas McCarthy
  • Patent number: 10656009
    Abstract: A system is configured to discriminate amongst different environments based in part on characteristics of ambient light. Ambient light intensity is measured using a light-sensitive element configured to generate an output signal indicative of an intensity of light incident on the light-sensitive element. A controller is configured to obtain a set of ambient light measurements using the light-sensitive element, and determine that the measurements correspond to a particular ambient light profile. The particular ambient light profile can be one of multiple ambient light profiles that each correspond to a different environment and/or context.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Assignee: Verily Life Sciences LLC
    Inventors: Russell Norman Mirov, Mark Murphy
  • Patent number: 10639125
    Abstract: A system for an automatic multimodal real-time tracking of moving instruments for image plane alignment inside an MRI scanner includes: an MRI scanner, an MRI multi-plane pulse sequence generating unit allowing to interactively modify the position and orientation of one or several image planes in real-time, one or several external optical sensors with high frame rate, preferably a RGB-D sensor or other similar camera system like a stereovision systems, a multimodal marker including at least one MR visible feature and one visual feature able to be tracked by both the MRI scanner and the at least one external optical sensor, a computer for processing in real-time images from both MRI and optical sensor to fuse the detected marker position and orientation or pose from both modalities, and predict the next image plane position and orientation based on the estimated motion of the moving marker.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2020
    Assignees: UNIVERSITE DE STRASBOURG (ETABLISSEMENT PUBLIC NATIONAL A CARACTERE SCIENTIFIQUE, CULTUREL ET PROFESSIONNEL), CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE (ETABLISSEMENT PUBLIC NATIONAL A CARACTERE SCIENTIFIQUE ET TECHNOLOGIQUE), INSTITUT HOSPITALO-UNIVERSITAIRE DE CHIRURGIE MINI-INVASIVE GUIDEE PAR L'IMAGE (FONDATION DE COOPERATION SCIENTIFIQUE APPROUVEE PAR DECRET MINISTERIEL DU 25 NOVEMBRE 2011 PUBLIE AU JOURNAL OFFICIEL DU 27 NOVEMBRE 2011)
    Inventors: Michel De Mathelin, Markus Neumann, Loic Cuvillon, Elodie Breton
  • Patent number: 10624610
    Abstract: An existing ultrasonic diagnostic device is used to obtain a color flow image of a target object whose stiffness is to be measured. At this time, a vibration exciter applies a micro vibration with a frequency of n/4 (n represents an odd number equal to or larger than 1) to the target object with respect to a burst frequency of an ultrasonic pulse to generate a shear elastic wave. As a result, a striped pattern corresponding to the stiffness of the target object caused by the shear elastic wave appears on a display of the ultrasonic diagnostic device as a shear elastic wave detection image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2020
    Assignee: National University Corporation Gunma University
    Inventor: Yoshiki Yamakoshi
  • Patent number: 10568604
    Abstract: To accurately detect a shape and derive information of cartilage based on detected echoes, an ultrasonic diagnosing device includes an ultrasonic transmitter, an ultrasonic receiver, a low-frequency component extracting module, and a deriving module. The ultrasonic transmitter transmits ultrasonic waves to a cartilage in a plurality of bent states, in a state where a relative position of a wave transmitting and receiving surface to the cartilage is fixed. The ultrasonic receiver receives echo signals corresponding to respective frames in each of the plurality of bent states. The low-frequency component extracting module extracts, in a frame direction, low-frequency echo data which is echo data of a frequency component below a given frequency. The deriving module derives information of the cartilage based on the low-frequency echo data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2020
    Assignee: Furuno Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Wataru Kiyan, Satoshi Kawanami
  • Patent number: 10524687
    Abstract: Rapid quantitative evaluations of heart function are carried out with strain measurements from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) images using a circuit at least partially onboard or in communication with an MRI Scanner and in communication with the at least one display, the circuit including at least one processor that: obtains a plurality of series of MRI images of long and short axis planes of a heart of a patient, with each series of the MRI images is taken over a different single beat of the heart of the patient during an image session that is five minutes or less of active scan time and with the patient in a bore of the MRI Scanner; measures strain of myocardial heart tissue of the heart of the patient based on the plurality of series of MRI images of the heart of the patient; and generates longitudinal and circumferential heart models with a plurality of adjacent compartments, wherein the compartments are color-coded based on the measured strain.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2020
    Assignee: Myocardial Solutions, Inc.
    Inventor: Nael F. Osman
  • Patent number: 10485516
    Abstract: Method for generating a shear wave in a target region of a soft solid, includes the following steps: a) generating at least two shear waves with a first and a second source of shear waves in the target region; b) detecting a propagation pattern of the shear wave in the target region with a detector unit including a row of ultrasonic transducers aligned on a first direction perpendicular to a detection direction of each or a single ultrasonic transducer movable along a first direction perpendicular to its detection direction; c) proceeding to a time reversal of the detected propagation pattern; and d) submitting the target region to an inverted excitation set of forces based on the temporally inverted propagation pattern. During step b), a first propagation pattern is detected when only the first source is active and a second propagation pattern is detected when only the second source is active.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignees: INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA SANTE ET DE LA RECHERCHE MEDICALE (INSERM), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Centre Léon-Bérard
    Inventors: Stefan Catheline, Remi Souchon, Ali Zorgani, Jean-Yves Chapelon
  • Patent number: 10456108
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for automatically calculating and applying time gain compensation in a handheld or hand-carried ultrasonic imaging machine. The apparatus include an autogain unit to calculate the time gain compensation based on a processed ultrasound image. The image is divided into regions, and the image intensity is used to mask regions which satisfy a threshold. Masked regions are used to calculate a gain curve which is then spatially and temporally smoothed. Means are providing for masking entire columns of regions to remove areas where the probe is not in contact. This approach may allow less experienced users to achieve high quality images without the difficult and time-consuming task of manually adjusting the time gain compensation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: Clarius Mobile Health Corp.
    Inventors: Laurent Pelissier, Narges Afsham, Kris Dickie
  • Patent number: 10383601
    Abstract: There are included a data-processing-unit that selects two or more pieces of data from among a plurality of pieces of first element data or from among a plurality of pieces of first reception data generated by subjecting the pieces of first element data to phasing addition processing and that performs superimposition processing on the two or more pieces of data to generate processed data, an image-generation-unit that generates an acoustic wave image on the basis of the processed data, a setting-information-holding-unit that holds setting information on at least one of a transmitting-unit, a receiving-unit, the data-processing-unit, the-image-generation-unit, and a display-control-unit, and a setting-changing-unit that, in a case where a measurement condition is changed, changes setting of at least one of the transmitting-unit, the receiving-unit, the data-processing-unit, the image-generation-unit, and the display-control-unit on the basis of the held setting information, the setting being related to the aco
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Corporation
    Inventor: Hiroaki Yamamoto