Abstract: The present invention relates to multi-band antenna. This antenna comprises a substrate and at least one conductive layer provided with a plurality of antennas, such as PIFAs, resonating in specific frequency bands. The antennas are cascaded in order to achieve a compact antenna. The first antenna comprises a first radiating element, a first feed element connected to said first radiating element and a first ground return element and the second antennas comprises a second radiating element, a second feed element connected to said second radiating element and a second ground return element. The ground plane is printed in the same layer as the first or second antenna.

Abstract: In a diagnostic scanner for shear wave elastography imaging an ultrasound exposure safety processoris is configured for spatially relating respective definitions of an imaging zone (324), and an extended dead-tissue zone (312) that includes both a dead-tissue zone and a surrounding margin. Based on whether a push pulse focus (344, 348, 352) is to be within the extended dead-tissue zone, the processor automatically decides as to a level of acoustic power with which the pulse is to be produced. If it is to be within, the pulse may be produced with a mechanical index, a thermal index, and/or a spatial-peak-temporal-average intensity that exceeds respectively 1.9, 6.0 and 720 milliwatts per square centimeter. The imaging zone may be definable interactively so as to dynamically trigger the deciding and the producing, with optimal push pulse settings being dynamically derived automatically, without the need for user intervention.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus including medium-encoded computer program products for generating and visualizing 3D scenes include, in one aspect, a method including: obtaining site data acquired by one or more capture devices, wherein the site data comprises data sets corresponding to two or more locations about a physical site, and each respective data set comprises (i) imaging data of the physical site, (ii) coordinate data for the imaging data, and (iii) time metadata for the imaging data; reconstructing a series of three dimensional (3D) modeled scenes of the physical site from the site data using the imaging data, the coordinate data, and the time metadata; receiving a request having associated position, orientation and time data; and generating, in response to the request, output for display of a portion of the 3D modeled scenes to represent the physical site based on the position, orientation and time data.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including medium-encoded computer program products, for generating and visualizing 3D scenes include, in one aspect, a method including: obtaining metadata for 2D images that are related to a location of interest; searching for discrete image correspondences between pairs of the 2D images; grouping the 2D images into different time periods, including inferring one or more time periods for a portion of the 2D images that do not have date metadata; receiving a selection of at least one of the different time periods; finding camera intrinsic and extrinsic parameters for each image grouped into the selected time period; reconstructing a 3D scene of the location during the selected time period from the 2D images grouped into the selected time period using the camera intrinsic and extrinsic parameters; and providing the 3D scene for use in displaying the location of interest from different 3D perspectives.

Abstract: An apparatus and method of imaging an imaging region (7) employ an acoustic transducer array (10?) to produce image data for the imaging region (7), wherein there are one or more obstructions (15-1, 15-2, 15-3) between the acoustic transducer array (10?) and at least a portion (5) of the imaging region (7). One or more processors exploit redundancy in transmit/receive pair paths among the acoustic transducers in the acoustic transducer array (10?) to compensate for missing image data of the imaging region (7) due to the one or more obstructions (15-1, 15-2, 15-3), and produce an image of the imaging region (7) from the compensated image data.

Abstract: In one aspect, an ultrasound receive beamformer (212) is configured for one-way only beamforming (112) of transmissive ultrasound using one-way delays. The receive beamforming in some embodiments is used to track, in real time, a catheter, needle or other surgical tool within an image of a region of interest. The tool can have embedded at its tip a small ultrasound transmitter or receiver for transmitting or receiving the transmissive ultrasound. Optionally, additional transducers are fixed along the tool to provide the orientation of the tool.

Abstract: In some embodiments, ultrasound receive beamforming yields beamformed samples, based upon which spatially intermediate pixels (232, 242, 244) are dynamically reconstructed. The samples have been correspondingly derived from acquisition through respectively different acoustic windows (218, 220). The reconstructing is further based on temporal weighting of the samples. In some embodiments, the sampling is via synchronized ultrasound phased-array data acquisition from a pair of side-by-side, spaced apart (211) acoustic windows respectively facing opposite sides of a central region (244) to be imaged. In particular, the pair is used interleavingly to dynamically scan jointly in a single lateral direction in imaging the region. The acquisition in the scan is, along a synchronization line (222) extending laterally across the region, monotonically progressive in that direction. Rotational scans respectively from the window pair are synchronizable into a composite scan of a moving object.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a filtering circuit comprising at least two slot line resonators arranged side by side and realized on a dielectric substrate having a first face equipped with a conductive layer and a second parallel face, each of said at least two resonators comprising a slot line etched in the conductive layer and folded according to a spiral pattern counting a plurality of turns, with a shape factor such that the slot line has parts noticeably parallel or concentric. According to embodiments of the invention, at least one turn of the spiral pattern of each of the resonators comprises at least one discontinuity, the discontinuities of said at least two slot line resonators being arranged in such a manner as to increase the electromagnetic coupling between said at least two slot line resonators.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for realizing a short-circuited slot-line on a multilayer substrate comprising at least a first conductive layer, a dielectric layer and a second conductive layer, the method comprising the following steps: etching in the first conductive layer a slot-line having an electrical length L, etching in the first conductive layer, around the slot-line, a first portion of a first band having an electrical length L1?L, etching in the first conductive layer, around the slot-line, a second portion of said first band, having an electrical length L2?L, etching in the second conductive layer, a second band in the form of a loop having an electrical length L3, one end of the second band being connected to the first part of the first band and the other end of the second band being connected to the second part of the first band so as to form a conductive loop. The method is used notably to realize isolating slot-lines and slot-antennae.

Abstract: Ultrasound motion-estimation includes issuing multiple ultrasound pulses, spaced apart from each other in a propagation direction of a shear wave, to track axial motion caused by the wave. The wave has been induced by an axially-directed push. Based on the motion, autocorrelation is used to estimate an axial displacement. The estimate is used as a starting point (234) in a time-domain based motion tracking algorithm for modifying the estimate so as to yield a modified displacement. The modification can constitute an improvement upon the estimate. The issuing may correspondingly occur from a number of acoustic windows, multiple ultrasound imaging probes imaging respectively via the windows. The autocorrelation, and algorithm, operate specifically on the imaging acquired via the pulses used in tracking the motion caused by the wave that was induced by the push, the push being a single push.

Abstract: In one aspect, an ultrasound receive beamformer is configured for one-way only beamforming of transmissive ultrasound using one-way delays. The receive beamforming in some embodiments is used to track, in real time, a catheter, needle or other surgical tool within an image of a region of interest. The tool can have embedded at its tip a small ultrasound transmitter or receiver for transmitting or receiving the transmissive ultrasound. Optionally, additional transducers are fixed along the tool to provide the orientation of the tool.

Abstract: The invention relates to a device for receiving signals in a MIMO system comprising: m signal receiver channels, where m is greater than 1; an antenna system constituted either by n directive antennae n>m, each antenna being able to receive signals in one of its own angular sectors, the angular sectors of the n antennae essentially not overlapping each other and together thrilling a total angular sector of 360 degrees, or a multi-sector antenna with n angular sectors n>m the n angular sectors essentially not overlapping each other and having a distinct access; and switching means to associate with each signal receiver channel an antenna from among the n antennae according to a switching schema selected by control means, the switching schema being selected from a plurality of switching schemas of a switching matrix according to a criterion representing the quality of the reception of the signals by said signal receiver channels.

Abstract: A medical ultrasound acquisition-data analysis device acquires channel data (144) via ultrasound received on the channels, uses the acquired channel data to estimate data coherence and derive dominance of an eigen-value of a channel covariance matrix and, based on the estimate and dominance, distinguishes microcalcifications (142) from background. Microcalcifications may then be made distinguishable visually on screen via highlighting, coloring, annotation, etc. The channel data operable upon by the estimating may have been subject to beamforming delays and may be summed in a beamforming procedure executed in the estimating. In the estimating and deriving, both field point-by-field point, multiple serial transmits (116, 118) may be used for each field point. In one embodiment results of the estimating and deriving are multiplied point-by-point and submitted to thresholding.

Abstract: The present invention relates to multi-band antenna. This antenna comprises a substrate and at least one conductive layer provided with a plurality of antennas, such as PIFAs, resonating in specific frequency bands. The antennas are cascaded in order to achieve a compact antenna. The first antenna comprises a first radiating element, a first feed element connected to said first radiating element and a first ground return element and the second antennas comprises a second radiating element, a second feed element connected to said second radiating element and a second ground return element. The ground plane is printed in the same layer as the first or second antenna.

Abstract: A temperature monitoring apparatus (40) is disclosed for monitoring a temperature within a tissue (10), in particular during a thermal ablation process. The monitoring apparatus comprises a temperature application unit (42) configured to introduce heating power into the tissue for heating the tissue. The monitoring apparatus further comprises an ultrasound unit (44) for emitting and receiving ultrasound waves and for determining a temperature in the measurement region (22, 24) of the tissue on the basis of ultrasound shear wave detection. The monitoring apparatus further comprises a temperature estimation unit (46) including a heat transfer model (48) for estimating a temperature in a region of interest (26) within the tissue, wherein the heat transfer model is based on medical images of the tissue.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a band-rejection filter comprising, on a substrate with a ground plane, three printed line sections or “stubs” open circuit at one of their extremities, called first extremities, and first and second printed transmission lines connected in series between an input terminal and an output terminal and connecting between each other the other extremities, called second extremities, said stubs, each of said first and second transmission lines being inserted between the second extremities of two stubs, said stubs being dimensioned to reject a first frequency band. According to the invention, an open circuit stub is inserted in at least one of said first and second printed transmission lines to reject a second frequency band.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an ultrasound elastography system (10) for providing a shear wave elastography measurement result of an anatomical site (32), wherein the ultrasound signal and image processing assembly (16) is further configured to determine a location (94, 95, 96) of a shear wave elastography measurement result within the three-dimensional image (98) of the anatomical site (32) and to display the location (94, 95, 96) of a shear wave elastography measurement result to the user. Further, a corresponding method is provided.

Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system produces an image with an extended focal range by transmitting a plurality of beams spaced along an array for multiline reception. The receive multilines of a plurality of transmit beams are spatially aligned and are combined with phase adjustment between the respective receive multilines to prevent undesired phase cancellation. The combined multilines produce the effect of an extended transmit focus so that an image produced using the combined multilines exhibits an extended focal range. To prevent motion artifacts the multiline order is adjustable as a function of image motion.

Abstract: In one aspect, an ultrasound receive beamformer (212) is configured for one-way only beamforming (112) of transmissive ultrasound using one-way delays. The receive beamforming in some embodiments is used to track, in real time, a catheter, needle or other surgical tool within an image of a region of interest. The tool can have embedded at its tip a small ultrasound transmitter or receiver for transmitting or receiving the transmissive ultrasound. Optionally, additional transducers are fixed along the tool to provide the orientation of the tool.

Abstract: An electrical activity monitoring device based on an RFID sensor device attachable to a power cable of an electrical device for monitoring the electrical status of the electrical device. The device comprises an antenna element which performs the dual functions of magnetically coupling with an electrical pulse generated in the power cable in response to a change of electrical power state of the electrical device and to wirelessly transmit data to an RFID reader. An electrical activity monitoring apparatus is also provided for monitoring the electrical status of at least one electrical device connected to a power supply network by a respective power cable provided with an RFID sensor device. The electrical activity monitoring apparatus comprises an RFID reader for communicating with the RFID sensor device.