Patents Examined by Michael T. Rozanski
  • Patent number: 10413272
    Abstract: A medical instrument includes a printed ultrasound sensor, a surface, at least one non-conductive material, and at least one pair of contacts. The ultrasound sensor includes an array of ultrasound transducers printed on a non-conductive surface of the medical instrument. The medical instrument contains multiple conductive and nonconductive layers. The at least one pair of contacts are electrically coupled to the ultrasound sensor and operably coupled to the conductive layer, the conductive layer coupled to a measurement device, which converts electrical signals from the ultrasound sensor into images displayed on a display unit. The location of the medical instrument can be visualized in real time on the display unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2019
    Assignee: COVIDIEN LP
    Inventors: Keith E. Jasperson, H. Aaron Christmann, Michael R. Weisenberger
  • Patent number: 10398351
    Abstract: Described herein are example methods, devices and systems for motion compensation in ultrasonic respiration monitoring. A respiration detection system includes a first probe placed on a front side of a patient's body and a second probe placed on a dorsal side of the body. The first probe includes an ultrasound transducer, a first accelerometer unit and a magnetic field sensor unit, and the second probe includes a second accelerometer unit and magnetic field sensor unit. Due to respiration of the patient, the abdominal region of the body moves, creating measurement errors when an ultrasound beam is directed towards an internal structure (internal tissue region) inside the patient's body. Correction for such measurement errors uses input data from the first and second accelerometer units and the magnetic field sensor unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: Respinor AS
    Inventors: Morten Eriksen, George Refseth, Knut Løklingholm, Nicolay Berard-Andersen
  • Patent number: 10398393
    Abstract: An interventional device configured for placement in or near an internal organ or tissue is provided. The interventional device includes a reference portion having three or more sensor elements. In one implementation, the interventional device and associated sensor elements provide dynamic referencing of the internal organ, tissue or associated vasculature after registration of the sensor data with images and/or volumetric representations of the internal organ or tissue.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: STRYKER EUROPEAN HOLDINGS I, LLC
    Inventors: Daniel Eduardo Groszmann, Michel Francois Grimaud, Yves Lucien Trousset
  • Patent number: 10390726
    Abstract: A method of visualizing spinal nerves includes receiving a 3D image volume depicting a spinal cord and a plurality of spinal nerves. For each spinal nerve, a 2D spinal nerve image is generated by defining a surface within the 3D volume comprising the spinal nerve. The surface is curved such that it passes through the spinal cord while encompassing the spinal nerve. Then, the 2D spinal nerve images are generated based on voxels on the surface included in the 3D volume. A visualization of the 2D spinal images is presented in a graphical user interface that allows each 2D spinal image to be viewed simultaneously.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignee: Siemens Healthcare GmbH
    Inventors: Atilla Peter Kiraly, David Liu, Shaohua Kevin Zhou, Dorin Comaniciu, Gunnar Krüger
  • Patent number: 10390805
    Abstract: A biopsy device is provided having a shaft and a tubular member. The shaft may be movably accommodated within the tubular member and may have a longitudinal axis and a distal end with a bevel. At least two channels are formed within the shaft in a longitudinal direction of the shaft, each channel forming an opening in the bevel surface, wherein an optical fiber is accommodated within each of the channels. Furthermore, a recess for accommodating tissue to be extracted may be formed in the shaft adjacent the distal end of the shaft. The bevel is facing upwardly whereas the recess is facing sidewardly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignee: KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V.
    Inventors: Bernardus Hendrikus Wilhelmus Hendriks, Waltherus Cornelis Jozef Bierhoff, Christian Reich
  • Patent number: 10383532
    Abstract: Provided is a method of measuring a heart rate in an electronic device. The method includes obtaining a face image of a subject by using the electronic device; determining a target region within the obtained face image; analyzing color information within the determined target region; and determining a heart rate of the subject on the basis of the analyzed color information. The analyzing of color information is performed on the basis of a differential arithmetic operation between a first color component and a second color component within the target region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Toshihiro Kitajima, Edwardo Murakami, Sang-on Choi
  • Patent number: 10383545
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for determining bio-information of a target using an impulse radar are provided. The method may include generating a frame set by accumulating frames received at preset time intervals, determining a first magnitude spectrum of the frame set corresponding to a first frequency axis by performing a frequency conversion of frames included in the frame set in a sampler index axis direction, determining a second magnitude spectrum of the frame set corresponding to the first frequency axis and a second frequency axis by performing a frequency conversion of the first magnitude spectrum in a time axis direction, determining a third magnitude spectrum of the frame set by adding up values of the second magnitude spectrum for each second frequency, and determining a frequency indicating a peak in the third magnitude spectrum as a heartbeat frequency of the target.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: DAEGU GYEONGBUK INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Hui Sup Cho, Young Jin Park
  • Patent number: 10376321
    Abstract: A method comprises receiving first shape data from a first elongated optical fiber section in a first shape sensor. The first elongated optical fiber section extends between a reference fixture and a first anatomic fixture coupled to a patient anatomy. The method further comprises determining a pose of the first anatomic fixture from the first shape data and tracking a pose change for the first anatomic fixture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2019
    Assignee: INTUITIVE SURGICAL OPERATIONS, INC.
    Inventors: Simon P. DiMaio, Vincent Duindam, David Q. Larkin
  • Patent number: 10368830
    Abstract: A method of navigating and positioning an endovascular device in a vasculature is disclosed. Initially, a system including an endovascular device and at least one transducer is inserted into the lumen of a patient. An acoustic signal is then transmitted within the lumen. A reflected signal is pre-processed to extract one or more acoustic features. The one or more acoustic features are processed using a computer readable set of rules to produce an output related to guidance of the instrument within a blood vessel or a position of the instrument within the blood vessel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: ARROW INTERNATIONAL INC.
    Inventors: Wenkang Qi, Bradley Hill
  • Patent number: 10363015
    Abstract: An ultrasound system comprises an ultrasound unit including: an ultrasound probe including a first set of imaging transducer elements and a second set of localisation transducer elements. The first set of imaging transducer elements are configured to: (i) produce ultrasound imaging transmissions into the human body, wherein the ultrasound imaging transmissions are focussed into an image scan plane, and (ii) receive reflections of the ultrasound imaging transmissions for generating a two-dimensional anatomical image corresponding to the image scan plane. The second set of localisation transducer elements are configured to produce ultrasound localisation transmissions into the human body for locating the medical instrument with respect to the anatomical image, wherein the ultrasound localisation transmissions extend outside the image scan plane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: UCL BUSINESS PLC
    Inventor: Adrien Desjardins
  • Patent number: 10362943
    Abstract: An overlay of anatomy is created for a fluoroscopy image. Anatomy detected in angiographic images is used to locate anatomy in the fluoroscopy image. For each cardiac phase, the anatomy is detected multiple times from different cardiac cycles using angiographic images. The fluoroscopic overlay for each cardiac phase is formed from a combination of angiographic candidates fit from the different cardiac cycles to the fluoroscopic image. To further enhance the combination, prediction of the anatomy position from one phase to the next phase is used.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: Siemens Healthcare GmbH
    Inventors: Guillaume Dumont, Peng Wang
  • Patent number: 10360674
    Abstract: A method is provided for flow analysis in a target volume of a moving organ, which involves a sequence of first volumetric image data sets that include structural information and three-directional velocity information of the target volume and a sequence of second volumetric image data sets that include structural information of the target volume. The method involves tracking a feature of interest within the sequence of the second volumetric data sets, determining time varying spatial orientation of a plane containing the feature of interest in the sequence of the first volumetric image data sets by transferring the plane from the second volumetric image data sets to the first volumetric image data sets, reformatting the three-directional velocity information into one-directional velocity information on the plane, and performing bi-dimensional quantitative flow analysis using the one-directional velocity information. A corresponding apparatus and computer program are also disclosed and claimed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2019
    Assignee: PIE MEDICAL IMAGING B.V.
    Inventors: Enrico Contini, Jean-Paul Aben, Dennis Koehn, Rianne Reinartz
  • Patent number: 10349904
    Abstract: Two detector units and two holding arms are provided. The detector units are each disposed on a part of an arc of a circle surrounding a subject. The holding arms each disposed on the arc hold the detector units individually. The holding arms move independently along the circle surrounding the subject, thereby causing the detector units to move. Consequently, a first detector unit is held with a first holding arm entirely, and a second detector unit is held with a second holding arm entirely. This causes less swing of the detector units achieving a simple configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2019
    Assignee: SHIMADZU CORPORATION
    Inventor: Masafumi Furuta
  • Patent number: 10342512
    Abstract: Disclosed is an ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus which displays an ultrasound image on a display screen of a display unit based on ultrasound image data. The ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus includes a touch panel and a control unit. The control unit is able to execute a vertical display mode to display two ultrasound images aligned vertically on the display screen and a horizontal display mode to display two ultrasound images aligned horizontally on the display screen. In each display mode, the control unit sets operation reception regions aligned vertically or horizontally on the touch panel. When the control unit detects an operation of touching one of the operation reception regions, the control unit sets an ultrasound image displayed in the touched side to a selected state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2019
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventor: Kazushi Ota
  • Patent number: 10342513
    Abstract: Provided is a method of operating a medical diagnostic apparatus that displays a medical image, including: modifying an operating state of the medical diagnostic apparatus from a first state to a second state based on sequential first user inputs; storing a history of a plurality of operating states respectively corresponding to the first user inputs; receiving a recovery input; selecting a third state from among the plurality of operating state included in the history, based on the recovery input; and modifying the operating state of the medical diagnostic apparatus from the second state to the third state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2019
    Assignee: SAMSUNG MEDISON CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Young-kwon You, Jun-kyo Lee, Sung-yoon Kim, Gil-ju Jin
  • Patent number: 10342411
    Abstract: A surgical system includes an extended working channel, a magnetic field generator, a sensor, a workstation, a computer readable recording medium, and a remote control handle. The extended working channel is sized for insertion into the working channel of a bronchoscope and to receive one or more instruments therethrough. The sensor is associated with a distal end of the extended working channel for detecting a magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generator. The workstation includes a display and is operably connected to the sensor. The computer readable recording medium is associated with the workstation for storing a software program that enables association of the sensed magnetic field with a location of the sensor and that generates one or more images including one or more fields for presentation on the display. The remote control handle enables manipulation of the one or more fields generated by the software.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2019
    Assignee: COVIDIEN LP
    Inventors: Keith E. Jasperson, Andrew E. Brown
  • Patent number: 10335119
    Abstract: An ultrasound image diagnostic apparatus includes an ultrasound probe, a transmitter and an image generator. The ultrasound probe transmits ultrasound to a subject and generates a reception signal. The transmitter drives the ultrasound probe to transmit ultrasound that satisfies the following requirements: a wave packet duration is equivalent to or more than the length of 1.5 waveforms at the lower limit frequency of the ?6 dB transmission bandwidth of the ultrasound probe; signal intensity of frequency components in the ?6 dB transmission bandwidth has a standard deviation of 6 or less; and lower limit frequency components in the ?6 dB transmission bandwidth have a signal intensity of ?8 [dB] or higher, the signal intensity being normalized with respect to the maximum intensity of 0 [dB]. The image generator extracts harmonic components from the reception signal and generates ultrasound image data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2019
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventor: Tetsuya Taniguchi
  • Patent number: 10327739
    Abstract: Ultrasound radiation using a single tone burst pulse is applied to a selected location in a tissue region. The induced shear wave is detected in the region and its spectral distribution is calculated and analyzed. This detection may be repeated with other excitation pulses having different widths or different shapes at the same location. The spectral analysis of the detected shear wave is performed according to a nonlinear shear model for solving nonlinearity and viscoelasticity of the tissue at a single location. The detection location can be at one point at a time for imaging two-dimensional or three-dimensional tissue nonlinearities and shear wave properties including nonlinear magnitude variations, nonlinear phase variations, nonlinear coefficients, and viscoelasticity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2019
    Inventors: Yi Zheng, Siping Chen, Tianfu Wang, Xin Chen, Haoming Lin
  • Patent number: 10307131
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for assessing the severity of plaque and/or stenotic lesions using contrast distribution predictions and measurements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2019
    Assignee: HeartFlow, Inc.
    Inventors: Charles A. Taylor, Leo Grady, Sethuraman Sankaran, Souma Sengupta, Hyun Jin Kim, Nan Xiao
  • Patent number: 10299762
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, a signal processing method, and a recording medium which are capable of eliminating a ghost signal with a small number of data when correcting element data by superimposing a plurality of element data, obtaining a high quality ultrasound image while preventing a decrease in the frame rate, and reducing the capacity of a memory. Information on a transmission frequency of an ultrasonic beam is acquired, and second element data is generated using a plurality of first element data on the basis of the acquired information on a transmission frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2019
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Corporation
    Inventor: Hiroaki Yamamoto