Patents by Inventor Charles Cain
Charles Cain has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
-
Publication number: 20120010541Abstract: Therapy methods using pulsed cavitational ultrasound therapy can include the subprocesses of initiation, maintenance, therapy, and feedback of the histotripsy process, which involves the creation and maintenance of ensembles of microbubbles and the use of feedback in order to optimize the process based on observed spatial-temporal bubble cloud dynamics. The methods provide for the subdivision or erosion of tissue, liquification of tissue, and/or the enhanced delivery of therapeutic agents. Various feedback mechanisms allow variation of ultrasound parameters and provide control over the pulsed cavitational process, permitting the process to be tuned for a number of applications. Such applications can include specific tissue erosion, bulk tissue homogenization, and delivery of therapeutic agents across barriers.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 22, 2011Publication date: January 12, 2012Applicant: The Regents of the University of MichiganInventors: Charles A. Cain, Zhen Xu, J. Brian Fowlkes, Timothy L. Hall, William W. Roberts
-
Patent number: 8057408Abstract: Therapy methods using pulsed cavitational ultrasound therapy can include the subprocesses of initiation, maintenance, therapy, and feedback of the histotripsy process, which involves the creation and maintenance of ensembles of microbubbles and the use of feedback in order to optimize the process based on observed spatial-temporal bubble cloud dynamics. The methods provide for the subdivision or erosion of tissue, liquification of tissue, and/or the enhanced delivery of therapeutic agents. Various feedback mechanisms allow variation of ultrasound parameters and provide control over the pulsed cavitational process, permitting the process to be tuned for a number of applications. Such applications can include specific tissue erosion, bulk tissue homogenization, and delivery of therapeutic agents across barriers.Type: GrantFiled: May 15, 2008Date of Patent: November 15, 2011Assignee: The Regents of the University of MichiganInventors: Charles A. Cain, Zhen Xu, J. Brian Fowlkes, Timothy L. Hall, William W. Roberts
-
Publication number: 20110067624Abstract: A cavitational ultrasound (e.g., Histotripsy) gel phantom and cavitational ultrasound testing system are provided that may include any of a number of features. One feature of the phantom and system is that it can allow for instant visual feedback on the efficacy and dosage of a Histotripsy transducer. The changes in the gel phantom can be visualized with the naked eye without having to wait for histology. The changes in the gel phantom can also be visualized with a camera, with ultrasound imaging, or with microscopy. In various embodiments, the phantom includes indicators such as carbon particles, dye-encapsulated beads, and red blood cells. Methods associated with use of the cavitational ultrasound gel phantom and testing system are also covered.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 22, 2010Publication date: March 24, 2011Inventors: CHARLES A. CAIN, Zhen Xu, Adam Maxwell, Tzu-Yin Wang, Simone Park
-
Publication number: 20110054363Abstract: A medical imaging and therapy device is provided that may include any of a number of features. One feature of the device is that it can deliver Lithotripsy therapy to a patient, so as to fractionate urinary stones. Another feature of the device is that it can deliver Histotripsy therapy to a patient, so as to erode urinary stones. In some embodiments, the medical imaging and therapy device is configured to target and track urinary stones in the patient during therapy. Methods associated with use of the medical imaging and therapy device are also covered.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 26, 2010Publication date: March 3, 2011Inventors: Charles A. Cain, Timothy L. Hall, William W. Roberts, Zhen Xu, J. Brian Fowlkes, Thomas W. Davison
-
Publication number: 20110054315Abstract: A medical imaging and therapy device is provided that may include any of a number of features. One feature of the device is that it can image a target tissue volume and apply ultrasound energy to the target tissue volume. In some embodiments, the medical imaging and therapy device is configured controllably apply ultrasound energy into the prostate by maintaining a cavitational bubble cloud generated by an ultrasound therapy system within an image of the prostate generated by an imaging system. The medical imaging and therapy device can be used in therapeutic applications such as Histotripsy, Lithotripsy, and HIFU, for example. Methods associated with use of the medical imaging and therapy device are also covered.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 26, 2010Publication date: March 3, 2011Inventors: WILLIAM W. ROBERTS, Timothy L. Hall, Charles A. Cain, J. Brian Fowlkes, Zhen Xu, Michael Thomas Kusner, JR., Dejan Teofilovic
-
Publication number: 20110040190Abstract: A medical imaging and therapy device is provided that may include any of a number of features. One feature of the device is that it can acoustically couple an ultrasound therapy transducer to a patient. In some embodiments, the medical imaging and therapy device is configured to conform to the anatomy of a patient's perineal area to acoustically couple an ultrasound therapy transducer to the patient for treatment of BPH. The medical imaging and therapy device can be used in therapeutic applications such as Histotripsy, Lithotripsy, and HIFU, for example. Methods associated with use of the medical imaging and therapy device are also covered.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 17, 2010Publication date: February 17, 2011Inventors: Russell C. Jahnke, James A. Bertolina, William W. Roberts, Charles A. Cain, Dejan Teofilovic, Thomas W. Davison
-
Publication number: 20100069797Abstract: Therapy methods using pulsed cavitational ultrasound therapy can include the subprocesses of initiation, maintenance, therapy, and feedback of the histotripsy process, which involves the creation and maintenance of ensembles of microbubbles and the use of feedback in order to optimize the process based on observed spatial-temporal bubble cloud dynamics. The methods provide for the subdivision or erosion of tissue, liquification of tissue, and the enhanced delivery of therapeutic agents. Various feedback mechanisms allow variation of ultrasound parameters and provide control over the pulsed cavitational process, permitting the process to be tuned for a number of applications. Such applications can include specific tissue erosion, bulk tissue homogenization, and delivery of therapeutic agents across barriers.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 29, 2009Publication date: March 18, 2010Inventors: Charles A. Cain, J. Brian Fowlkes, Zhen Xu, Timothy L. Hall
-
Publication number: 20090177085Abstract: Methods for performing non-invasive thrombolysis with ultrasound using, in some embodiments, one or more ultrasound transducers to focus or place a high intensity ultrasound beam onto a blood clot (thrombus) or other vascular inclusion or occlusion (e.g., clot in the dialysis graft, deep vein thrombosis, superficial vein thrombosis, arterial embolus, bypass graft thrombosis or embolization, pulmonary embolus) which would be ablated (eroded, mechanically fractionated, liquefied, or dissolved) by ultrasound energy. The process can employ one or more mechanisms, such as of cavitational, sonochemical, mechanical fractionation, or thermal processes depending on the acoustic parameters selected. This general process, including the examples of application set forth herein, is henceforth referred to as “Thrombolysis.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 23, 2009Publication date: July 9, 2009Inventors: Adam Maxwell, Zhen Xu, Hitinder S. Gurm, Charles A. Cain
-
Publication number: 20080319356Abstract: Therapy methods using pulsed cavitational ultrasound therapy can include the subprocesses of initiation, maintenance, therapy, and feedback of the histotripsy process, which involves the creation and maintenance of ensembles of microbubbles and the use of feedback in order to optimize the process based on observed spatial-temporal bubble cloud dynamics. The methods provide for the subdivision or erosion of tissue, liquification of tissue, and/or the enhanced delivery of therapeutic agents. Various feedback mechanisms allow variation of ultrasound parameters and provide control over the pulsed cavitational process, permitting the process to be tuned for a number of applications. Such applications can include specific tissue erosion, bulk tissue homogenization, and delivery of therapeutic agents across barriers.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 15, 2008Publication date: December 25, 2008Inventors: CHARLES A. CAIN, Zhen Xu, J. Brian Fowlkes, Timothy L. Hall, William W. Roberts
-
Publication number: 20070083120Abstract: Therapy methods using pulsed cavitational ultrasound therapy can include the subprocesses of initiation, maintenance, therapy, and feedback of the histotripsy process, which involves the creation and maintenance of ensembles of microbubbles and the use of feedback in order to optimize the process based on observed spatial-temporal bubble cloud dynamics. The methods provide for the subdivision or erosion of tissue, liquification of tissue, and the enhanced delivery of therapeutic agents. Various feedback mechanisms allow variation of ultrasound parameters and provide control over the pulsed cavitational process, permitting the process to be tuned for a number of applications. Such applications can include specific tissue erosion, bulk tissue homogenization, and delivery of therapeutic agents across barriers.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 19, 2006Publication date: April 12, 2007Inventors: Charles Cain, J. Fowlkes, Zhen Xu, Timothy Hall
-
Publication number: 20050149070Abstract: Apparatuses and methods for performing non-invasive vasectomies are provided. In a preferred embodiment, an apparatus according to the present invention comprises a main body defining a recess and an ultrasonic transducer disposed adjacent said recess and adapted to emit ultrasonic energy into said recess. A tissue clamp is removeably disposed in the recess and is adapted to receive parallel sections of a scrotum that include a portion of the vas deferens. The clamp is further adapted to position the vas deferens within an effective distance of the ultrasonic transducer. Also, the apparatus includes means for retaining the parallel sections and the vas deferens within the clamp during a procedure.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 7, 2005Publication date: July 7, 2005Inventors: Adam Strickberger, Charles Cain, Matthew O'Donnell
-
Patent number: 6852082Abstract: Apparatuses and methods for performing non-invasive vasectomies are provided. In a preferred embodiment, an apparatus according to the present invention comprises a main body defining a recess and an ultrasonic transducer disposed adjacent said recess and adapted to emit ultrasonic energy into said recess. A tissue clamp is removeably disposed in the recess and is adapted to receive parallel sections of a scrotum that include a portion of the vas deferens. The clamp is further adapted to position the vas deferens within an effective distance of the ultrasonic transducer. Also, the apparatus includes means for retaining the parallel sections and the vas deferens within the clamp during a procedure.Type: GrantFiled: July 17, 2002Date of Patent: February 8, 2005Inventors: Adam Strickberger, Charles Cain, Matthew O'Donnell
-
Publication number: 20040015083Abstract: Apparatuses and methods for performing non-invasive vasectomies are provided. In a preferred embodiment, an apparatus according to the present invention comprises a main body defining a recess and an ultrasonic transducer disposed adjacent said recess and adapted to emit ultrasonic energy into said recess. A tissue clamp is removeably disposed in the recess and is adapted to receive parallel sections of a scrotum that include a portion of the vas deferens. The clamp is further adapted to position the vas deferens within an effective distance of the ultrasonic transducer. Also, the apparatus includes means for retaining the parallel sections and the vas deferens within the clamp during a procedure.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 17, 2002Publication date: January 22, 2004Inventors: Adam Strickberger, Charles Cain, Matthew O'Donnell
-
Patent number: 6483952Abstract: In an optical system having a detector means and processor means in which imaging data is obtained comprising noisy blurred scene data containing an object to be reconstructed, and noisy blurred background data of the same scene, a method for increasing the spatial resolution of the imaging data produced by the optical system, comprising the steps of converting the imaging data into a first matrix, regularizing the first matrix by performing nth order Tikhonov regularization to the first matrix to provide a regularized pseudo-inverse (RPI) matrix and applying the RPI matrix to the first matrix to provide a reconstructed image of the object.Type: GrantFiled: May 16, 2001Date of Patent: November 19, 2002Assignee: ITT Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc.Inventors: Donald David Gregory, Peter Michael Mantica, Stephen Charles Cain, Douglas Lent Cohen, John Bourne Abbiss
-
Patent number: 6413216Abstract: A method and assembly are provided which use cavitation induced by an ultrasound beam for creating a controlled surgical lesion in a selected treatment volume of a patient, such as an internal body cavity or organ. First, a plurality of microbubbles are provided in the treatment volume. Preferably, the threshold for cavitation of microbubbles in the treatment volume is lowered compared with the threshold for cavitation in surrounding tissues. The expected location of the surgical lesion within the treatment volume may be previewed, and then the microbubbles in the treatment volume are cavitated with the ultrasound beam to create the controlled surgical lesion. In addition, substances can be associated with the microbubbles such that cavitation of the microbubbles delivers the substances to the treatment volume. Preferably, the creation of the surgical lesion at the expected lesion location is then verified.Type: GrantFiled: December 22, 1999Date of Patent: July 2, 2002Assignee: The Regents of the University of MichiganInventors: Charles A. Cain, J. Brian Fowlkes
-
Patent number: 6309355Abstract: A method and assembly are provided which use cavitation induced by an ultrasound beam for creating a controlled surgical lesion in a selected treatment volume of a patient. First, a plurality of microbubbles are provided in the treatment volume. Preferably, the threshold for cavitation of microbubbles in the treatment volume is lowered compared with the threshold for cavitation in surrounding tissues. The expected location of the surgical lesion within the treatment volume may be previewed, and then the microbubbles in the treatment volume are cavitated with the ultrasound beam to create the controlled surgical lesion. Preferably, the creation of the surgical lesion at the expected lesion location is then verified. Using the method and assembly of the present invention, the cavitation threshold within the treatment volume is made predictable, and a low frequency ultrasound beam may be used to cavitate the microbubbles within the treatment volume without causing damage to surrounding tissues.Type: GrantFiled: December 22, 1998Date of Patent: October 30, 2001Assignee: The Regents of the University of MichiganInventors: Charles A. Cain, J. Brian Fowlkes
-
Publication number: 20010024534Abstract: In an optical system having a detector means and processor means in which imaging data is obtained comprising noisy blurred scene data containing an object to be reconstructed, and noisy blurred background data of the same scene, a method for increasing the spatial resolution of the imaging data produced by the optical system, comprising the steps of converting the imaging data into a first matrix, regularizing the first matrix by performing nth order Tikhonov regularization to the first matrix to provide a regularized pseudo-inverse (RPI) matrix and applying the RPI matrix to the first matrix to provide a reconstructed image of the object.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 16, 2001Publication date: September 27, 2001Inventors: Donald David Gregory, Peter Michael Mantica, Stephen Charles Cain, Douglas Lent Cohen, John Bourne Abbiss
-
Patent number: 6295392Abstract: There is disclosed in an optical system having a predetermined Numerical aperture which provides a corresponding level of spatial resolution and having detector means and processor means in which image data is obtained comprising noisy blurred scene data containing an object to be reconstructed, and noisy blurred background data of the same scene, an improved method for increasing the spatial resolution of the imaging data produced by the diffraction limited optical system.Type: GrantFiled: May 20, 1998Date of Patent: September 25, 2001Assignee: ITT Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc.Inventors: Donald David Gregory, Peter Michael Mantica, Stephen Charles Cain, Douglas Lent Cohen, John Bourne Abbiss
-
Patent number: 6128958Abstract: Architecture for driving a ultrasound phased array. The architecture includes a series of amplifiers which produce discrete driving signals. The amplifiers number less than the number of transducer elements in the array and an integrated circuit multiplexer chip is coupled to each transducer and to all the amplifiers. A controller provides first control signals to the amplifiers causing the amplifiers to produce their discrete driving signals. The controller further provides second control signals to each multiplexer chip and these signals cause the multiplexer chips to pass a specified one of the driving signals to a selected one of the transducer elements. The result is that a focused ultrasonic beam is formed on a selected target volume.Type: GrantFiled: September 11, 1997Date of Patent: October 10, 2000Assignee: The Regents of the University of MichiganInventor: Charles A. Cain
-
Patent number: 5966272Abstract: A magnetoresistive (MR) read transducer having an exchange layer adjacent a soft adjacent layer (SAL). The exchange layer generates a transverse bias field which saturates the SAL with little or no sense current.Type: GrantFiled: June 21, 1993Date of Patent: October 12, 1999Assignee: Read-Rite CorporationInventor: William Charles Cain