Abstract: Methods of treating the skin and in particular removing pigment from a tattoo are provided. In preferred embodiments, a piezoelectric transducer is placed at a plurality of locations above the skin and focused acoustic waves at 7 MHz or more are transmitted into the skin. The focal point of the focused acoustic waves is between 0.1 mm and 5 mm below the surface of the skin. The design of the piezoelectric transducer along with the frequency of operation are carefully chosen to create points of treatment with a desired size and shape. The correct amount of energy is supplied to the points of treatment to produce a lesion of a desired size and shape. The lesions are spaced and located to effect the treatment of the skin.

Abstract: An approach is provided for image guided procedures. The approach includes acquiring image data of at least one object of a subject, in which the acquired image data is registered to one or more coordinate systems. The approach includes receiving the acquired image data. The approach includes displaying, on one or more smartglasses, one or more superimposed images over a portion of the subject. The one or more superimposed images may be related to the acquired image data. The approach includes aligning the one or more superimposed images to correspond with a position of the at least one object.

Abstract: Various embodiments are described herein for an imaging device and associated method for performing fluence compensation on a photoacoustic (PA) image of at least a portion of an object for sets of RF acoustic response signals that are obtained using different illumination wavelengths. A first set of RF acoustic response signals is fluence matched to a second set of RF acoustic response signals by determining relative frequency data for first set of RF acoustic response signals relative to the second set of RF acoustic response signals and using the relative frequency data to filter the first set of RF acoustic response signals.

Abstract: A switch circuit connected to a transducer, a reception circuit connected to the switch circuit, a first switch element connected to a reception terminal provided between the switch circuit and the reception circuit, a first resistance element connected to a control terminal of the switch circuit, a second resistance element provided inside the reception circuit, and a second switch element provided inside the reception circuit are provided.

Abstract: A needle assembly for use with an autonomous ultrasound imaging system includes a needle having a proximal end and a distal end adapted to be inserted into a patient. The needle assembly also includes a needle transducer mounted to an exterior surface of the needle and is electrically coupled to a power source. The needle transducer is configured to receive data signals from the autonomous ultrasound imaging system which contain information relating to a plurality of ultrasound waves generated by an ultrasound probe of the autonomous ultrasound imaging system.

Abstract: The ultrasonic imaging apparatus includes: a display; a probe configured to acquire an ultrasound signal of a heart; and a controller configured to generate an ultrasound image of the heart based on the ultrasound signal, control the display to display the ultrasound image of the heart, and determine an exercise cycle of the heart based on the movement of at least one valve included in the ultrasound image, wherein the ultrasound image comprises an atrium and a ventricle of the heart.

Abstract: A guidance system for guiding insertion of a needle into a body of a patient utilizes ultrasound imaging or other suitable imaging technology. The guidance system can include an imaging device including a probe for producing an image of the internal body portion target, such as a blood vessel. The imaging device can be configured to provide at least one indication of status via sensory feedback based on a determined position of the needle, for example via a plurality of light-emitting diodes located on the device. One or more sensors can be included with the probe that can sense a magnetic field associated with the needle. The system may include a processor that can receive magnetic field data sensed by the at-least-one sensor to determine the position of the needle. The system can also include a display that depicts the determined position of the needle.

Abstract: Provided are a failure prediction system of an ultrasonic endoscope apparatus, a failure prediction method of the ultrasonic endoscope apparatus, and a non-transitory computer readable recording medium storing a failure prediction program of the ultrasonic endoscope apparatus capable of predicting a failure occurrence timing in the ultrasonic endoscope apparatus. A system controller includes an abnormality detection unit that acquires a reception signal of an ultrasonic vibrator of an ultrasonic endoscope and detects an abnormality of an ultrasonic endoscope apparatus including the ultrasonic endoscope, a storage control unit that stores information on the abnormality detected by the abnormality detection unit in association with time information, and a failure prediction unit that predicts a failure timing of the ultrasonic endoscope apparatus on the basis of the plurality of pieces of abnormality information stored by the storage control unit and time information corresponding the information.

Abstract: A method of imaging a tissue region may comprise visualizing lesions over a tissue region via an imaging catheter by viewing the tissue region through a viewing region purged by a fluid and identifying, with a computer, a location of each of the lesions relative to one another over the tissue region. The method may also include registering, with the computer, a unique set of ablation parameters received from a treatment device for lesion generation for each of the lesions and generating, with the computer, a map of the lesions based on the identified locations of the lesions. The method may also include visually displaying the map of the lesions in a common display with a real-time field of view image of a first lesion; and visually displaying the registered unique set of ablation parameters for the first lesion with the real-time field of view image of the first lesion.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for improved S/N measurements useful for electron paramagnetic resonance imaging in situ and in vivo, using high-isolation transmit/receive surface coils and temporally spaced pulses of RF energy (e.g., in some embodiments, a RF pi pulse) having an amplitude sufficient to rotate the magnetization by 180 degrees followed after varied delays, by a second RF pulse having an amplitude half that of the initial pulse to rotate the magnetization by, e.g., 90 degrees (a pi/2 pulse), to the plane orthogonal to the static field where it evolves for a short time. Then a third RF pi pulse sufficient to rotate the magnetization by, e.g., 180 degrees, forms an echo (in some embodiments, the second and third pulses are from the same signal as the first pulse but are phase shifted by 0, 90, 180, or 270 degrees to reduce signal artifact), to image human body.

Abstract: A method for ultrasound imaging a target region including: (a) transmitting a tracking beam from at least a subset of the elements of the array to the region, each of the subset of the elements emitting a signal of the tracking beam with a respective transmission time shift; (b) receiving echo signals at at least some of the subset of the elements of the array, each echo signal being responsive to the tracking beam; (c) applying the time shift to at least some of the subset of the respective elements to the echo signals received at corresponding elements; (d) modifying the time shift and repeating (a)-(c) to provide an ultrasound dataset representing a recovered source element domain; (e) focusing and beamforming the dataset to map time signals of the dataset and combine channel signals to provide spatial pixel data; and (f) forming an ultrasound image from the spatial pixel data.

Abstract: A control apparatus detects a misalignment between an irradiation position of a transdermal treatment device and a target irradiation position. When the misalignment is detected, the control unit stops irradiation of the transdermal treatment device or moves the irradiation position closer to the target irradiation position.

Abstract: A system for constructing fluoroscopic-based three-dimensional volumetric data of a target area within a patient from two-dimensional fluoroscopic images including a structure of markers, a fluoroscopic imaging device configured to acquire a sequence of images of the target area and of the structure of markers, and a computing device. The computing device is configured to estimate a pose of the fluoroscopic imaging device for at least a plurality of images of the sequence of images based on detection of a possible and most probable projection of the structure of markers as a whole on each image of the plurality of images. The computing device is further configured to construct fluoroscopic-based three-dimensional volumetric data of the target area based on the estimated poses of the fluoroscopic imaging device.

Abstract: A medical information processing system in an embodiment includes processing circuitry. The processing circuitry acquires an ultrasound image including an observation target and having additional information, positional information indicating a position of an ultrasound probe in a subject at time of collection of the ultrasound image, and a reference image obtained by taking an image of a region including the observation target at a time point other than the time of collection. The processing circuitry generates, based on the positional information, correspondence information in which the ultrasound image and the reference image are associated with each other. The processing circuitry causes an output unit to output the generated correspondence information.

Abstract: A medical ultrasound (US) imaging system includes a US probe and a processor. The US probe includes an array of transducers arranged in a reflection geometry, the probe configured to emit US waves and to receive reflected ultrasound waves that are reflected from a body portion of a patient. The processor is configured to generate an image of the body portion of the patient by applying an inverse model to the emitted and reflected US waves.

Abstract: An ultrasonic endoscope includes: an ultrasonic transducer having an ultrasonic vibrator; a distal end portion body disposed continuously with a proximal end side of the ultrasonic transducer; an erecting base housing portion that is disposed in the distal end portion body and has an opening which opens toward one side in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the distal end portion body; a treatment tool lead-out port that communicates with the inside of the erecting base housing portion, an erecting base that is disposed in the inside of the erecting base housing portion and changes a lead out direction of a treatment tool led out from the treatment tool lead-out port; and a cleaning communication hole that is formed in a wall surface on a side opposite to a side where the opening of the erecting base housing portion is disposed and communicates with an outside.

Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system is used to acquire a fetal image in a sagittal view for the performance of a nuchal translucency measurement. After a fetal image has been acquired, a zoom box is positioned over the image, encompassing a region of interest. The size of the zoom box is automatically set for the user in correspondence with gestational age or crown rump length. The system automatically tracks the region of interest within the zoom box in the presence of fetal motion in an effort to maintain the region of interest within the zoom box despite movement by the fetus.

Abstract: An ultrasonic includes: a piezoelectric layer; an absorbing layer disposed at a lower portion of the piezoelectric layer, configured to absorb an acoustic signal; and a connection part disposed between the piezoelectric layer and the absorbing layer. The connection part may deform at least partially so that a plurality of acoustic signals radiated from the piezoelectric layer due to the connection part have different magnitudes. In the case of the ultrasonic probe, since the magnitude of the acoustic energy radiated from the center of the ultrasonic probe is larger than the magnitude of the acoustic energy radiated from the side of the ultrasonic probe, the directivity of the ultrasonic signal is improved and a side lobe is decreased. In addition, an apodization effect capable of suppressing overlapping between adjacent phases can be obtained by using a difference in the magnitude of the acoustic energy to be radiated.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides an ultrasonic probe assembly and a method using the same. The ultrasonic probe assembly includes: a handle and a probe body separable from the handle; wherein the handle is configured to control movement of the probe body in a body of an examinee; the probe body includes an ultrasonic component for emitting ultrasonic waves to the body of the examinee and receiving reflected ultrasonic waves to generate examination information, and a driving component for driving the ultrasonic component to move to change a direction of the ultrasonic waves emitted by the ultrasonic component.

Abstract: Ultrasound apparatus and methods of processing signals are described. The ultrasound apparatus may include multiple channels. In some embodiments, signal processing techniques are described, which in some embodiments are performed on a per-channel basis. The signal processing techniques may involve using down-conversion and filtering of signals on multiple channels. The down-conversion and filtering may be done prior to beamforming.