Patents by Inventor Paul L. Carson

Paul L. Carson 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).

  • Patent number: 10746706
    Abstract: A method of performing a photoacoustic physio-chemical analysis is provided. The method includes performing one or more photoacoustic scans on a tissue to generate a plurality of photoacoustic signals. The photoacoustic signals are transformed into a frequency domain to form a power spectra. The method also includes generating a two dimensional (2D) physio-chemical spectrogram from the power spectra. A probe for performing a photoacoustic physio-chemical analysis is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignee: THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
    Inventors: Xueding Wang, Cheri Deng, Paul L. Carson, Guan Xu
  • Publication number: 20160327524
    Abstract: A method of performing a photoacoustic physio-chemical analysis is provided. The method includes performing one or more photoacoustic scans on a tissue to generate a plurality of photoacoustic signals. The photoacoustic signals are transformed into a frequency domain to form a power spectra. The method also includes generating a two dimensional (2D) physio-chemical spectrogram from the power spectra. A probe for performing a photoacoustic physio-chemical analysis is also provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2015
    Publication date: November 10, 2016
    Applicant: The Regents of the University of Michigan
    Inventors: Xueding WANG, Cheri DENG, Paul L. CARSON, Guan XU
  • Publication number: 20080287799
    Abstract: An ultrasound system comprises an ultrasound probe, a user interface and a processor. The ultrasound probe comprises a transducer face emitting ultrasound beams into a patient. The probe acquires a volume of ultrasound data comprising a blood vessel. The user interface defines a surface on an image that is based on the volume. The surface bisects the blood vessel and further comprises a plurality of points where at least some of the points are located at unequal distances with respect to the transducer face. The processor is configured to steer a subset of the ultrasound beams to intersect the surface at a 90 degree angle and calculate volumetric flow information through the blood vessel based on the ultrasound data corresponding to the surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2007
    Publication date: November 20, 2008
    Inventors: Anne Lindsay Hall, Jonathan Matthews Rubin, J. Brian Fowlkes, Oliver Daniel Kripfgans, Paul L. Carson
  • Patent number: 6078872
    Abstract: Methods for suppressing noise in measurements by correlating functions based on at least two different measurements of a system at two different times. In one embodiment, a measurement operation is performed on at least a portion of a system that has a memory. A property of the system is measured during a first measurement period to produce a first response indicative of a first state of the system. Then the property of the system is measured during a second measurement period to produce a second response indicative of a second state of the system. The second measurement is performed after an evolution duration subsequent to the first measurement period when the system still retains a degree of memory of an aspect of the first state. Next, a first function of the first response is combined with a second function of the second response to form a second-order correlation function. Information of the system is then extracted from the second-order correlation function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2000
    Assignee: California Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Paul L. Carson, Louis A. Madsen, Garett M. Leskowitz, Daniel P. Weitekamp
  • Patent number: 6059727
    Abstract: A 3D image data set representing a volume of material such as human tissue is created using speckle decorrelation techniques to process successive 2D data slices from a moving, standard 1D or 1.5D ultrasound transducer. This permits the use of standard ultrasound machinery, without the use of additional slice-position hardware, to create 3D images without having to modify the machinery or its operation. Similar techniques can be used for special data processing within the imaging system as well to expedite the image acquisition process. Optionally, the image quality of 2D images can be enhanced through the use of multiple 3D data sets derived using the method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2000
    Assignee: The Regents of the University of Michigan
    Inventors: J. Brian Fowlkes, Paul L. Carson, Aaron Moskalik, Jian-Feng Chen, Jonathan M. Rubin
  • Patent number: 5406163
    Abstract: An ultrasonic sensing array having ultrasonic transducer elements formed on a micromachined single-crystal semiconductor wafer provided with a deep recess under each transducer. Etch-altering dopants are diffused into the wafer to form rimmed support structures for dielectric stress-balanced elements. Composite dielectric layers are grown on both surfaces of the wafer. One composite layer serves as a diaphragm underlying the transducer elements. The other composite layer serves as a mask for etching away the substrate under each transducer element to form the deep recess while leaving the support structures and diaphragm layer. The resulting hollow or recess under each transducer element reduces the parasitic capacitance between the transducer and support substrate. The transducer elements are made by forming conductive bottom plates on the dielectric diaphragm layer, adding a piezoelectric polymer layer and thereafter forming the conductive top plates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 1992
    Date of Patent: April 11, 1995
    Inventors: Paul L. Carson, Dale W. Fitting, Andrew L. Robinson, Fred L. Terry, Jr.
  • Patent number: 5160870
    Abstract: An ultrasonic sensing array having ultrasonic transducer elements formed on a micromachined single-crystal semiconductor wafer provided with a deep recess under each transducer. Etch-altering dopants are diffused into the water to form rimmed support structures for dielectric stress-balanced elements. Composite dielectric layers are grown on both surfaces of the wafer. One composite layer serves as a diaphragm underlying the transducer elements. The other composite layer serves as a mask for etching away the substrate under each transducer element to form the deep recess while leaving the support structures and diaphragm layer. The resulting hollow or recess under each transducer element reduces the parasitic capacitance between the transducer and support substrate. The transducer elements are made by forming conductive bottom plates on the dielectric diaphragm layer, adding a piezoelectric polymer layer and thereafter forming the conductive top plates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 3, 1992
    Inventors: Paul L. Carson, Dale W. Fitting, Andrew L. Robinson, Fred L. Terry, Jr.
  • Patent number: 4689986
    Abstract: A system for detecting gas bubbles in a specimen utilizes a transducer which produces pulses, illustratively of ultrasonic acoustic energy, having predetermined frequency characteristics. A first pulse has an increasing frequency with time, and a second pulse has a decreasing frequency with time. Imaging arrangements, which may be formed of ultrasonic transducers, produce images of the region within the specimen after exposure to each such pulse. In one embodiment, a growth transducer array is utilized for dramatically increasing the size of the bubbles, which array is formed of a plurality of transducers which are moved with respect to the specimen and which have respective frequency characteristics over different frequency ranges. Thus, bubble radius is successively increased as each bubble is exposed to the acoustic energy from each such transducer within the growth transducer array.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 1985
    Date of Patent: September 1, 1987
    Assignee: The University of Michigan
    Inventors: Paul L. Carson, Richard M. Detsch