4191results about "Using subsonic/sonic/ultrasonic vibration means" patented technology

An excisional biopsy device includes a tubular member having a window near a distal tip thereof; a cutting tool, a distal end of the cutting tool being attached near the distal tip of the tubular member, at least a distal portion of the cutting tool being configured to selectively bow out of the window and to retract within the window; and a tissue collection device externally attached at least to the tubular member, the tissue collection device collecting tissue excised by the cutting tool as the biopsy device is rotated and the cutting tool is bowed. An excision al biopsy method for soft tissue includes the steps of inserting a generally tubular member into the tissue, the tubular member including a cutting tool adapted to selectively bow away from the tubular member and an external tissue collection device near a distal tip of the tubular member; rotating the tubular member; selectively varying a degree of bowing of the cutting tool; collecting tissue severed by the cutting tool in the tissue collection device; and retracting the tubular member from the soft tissue. The tubular member may include an imaging transducer and the method may include the step of displaying information received from the transducer on a display device and the step of varying the degree of bowing of the cutting tool based upon the displayed information from the imaging transducer. Alternatively, the imaging transducer may be disposed within a removable transducer core adapted to fit within the tubular member.

Ultrasonic waveguides having improved velocity gain are disclosed for use in ultrasonic medical devices. Specifically, the ultrasonic waveguides comprises a first material having a higher acoustic impedance and a second material having a lower acoustic impedance.

The invention relates to a measurement method for determining the position and the orientation of a moving assembly in a base frame of reference. According to the invention, the method comprises the steps of: taking an image of an optical reference mark associated with the moving assembly by means of a first camera having a focal axis lying in a direction that is known in the base frame of reference; taking an image of an optical reference mark associated with the first camera by means of a second camera associated with the moving assembly; measuring the distance between a point associated with the first camera and a point associated with the second camera by using self-contained measurement means that are independent of said first and second cameras; and computing the position and the orientation of the moving assembly in the base frame of reference on the basis of the images taken and of the measured distance.

A method for ultrasonically inspecting a tubular member, the tubular member having an inner surface, an outer surface, and two spaced-apart ends including a first end of the tubular member, the method including transmitting sonic beams to the tubular member with transducers such that sonic beams are reflected from: the first end and the inner and outer surface of the tubular member, completing inspection of the outer surface of the tubular member while continuing to inspect the inner surface of the tubular member, and sensing a distance from the transducers to the first end of the tubular member, continuing to transmit sonic beams for the inspection of the inner surface of the tubular member until the transducers are near its first end; and, in one aspect, detecting an inner surface defect near the first end of the tubular member after the outer surface inspection has ceased.

An ultrasonic probe has a probe proper, a connector and a cable for electrically connecting between the probe proper and the connector. The probe proper includes a transducer that converts between ultrasonic wave and electricity, and a phase change member having a property to cause a phase change of from solid to liquid at a particular temperature reached in an operation time period of the transducer and a phase change of from liquid to solid at lower than the particular temperature.

A system and method for analyzing a surface. The system includes a computer including a CPU and a memory medium operable to store programs executable by the CPU to perform the method. The method may include: 1) receiving data describing an n-dimensional surface defined in a bounded n-dimensional space, where the surface is embedded in an m-dimensional real space via embedding function x( ), and where m>n; 2) determining a diffeomorphism f of the n-dimensional space; 3) computing the inverse transform f-1 of the diffeomorphism f; 4) selecting points, e.g., a Low Discrepancy Sequence, in the n-dimensional space; 5) mapping the points onto the surface using x(f-1), thereby generating mapped points on the surface; 6) sampling the surface using at least a subset of the mapped points to generate samples of the surface; and 7) analyzing the samples of the surface to determine characteristics of the surface.

The invention relates to a tool for non-destructive inspection of a three-dimensional wall, the tool including a plurality of juxtaposed non-destructive inspection sensors. The sensors are mounted on a support for moving the set of sensors in common relative to the wall. The support is deformable for each of the sensors so that the sensors are movable relative to one another. Also provided are a constraint element for constraining the application face of each sensor to press individually against the wall and a sliding element for causing the application face of each sensor to slide against the wall.

A method for measuring a mechanical property of a subject includes using an ultrasonic transducer to apply ultrasonic vibration pulses to a vibration origin in the subject in an on-off time sequence in order to impart a harmonic motion at a prescribed frequency to the subject, and when the vibration pulses are off, using the same transducer to apply ultrasonic detection pulses to a motion detection point and to receive echo signals therefrom in order to sense the harmonic motion on the subject at the motion detection point. From the harmonic signal information, a harmonic signal is detected and a characteristic such as amplitude or phase of the detected harmonic signal is measured. The mechanical property is calculated using the measured characteristic using for example a wave speed dispersion method.

A method of correcting for phasefront aberrations in ultrasound imaging uses highly spaced apart point scatterers artificially placed in the tissue being imaged. The point scatterers reflect the transmitted sound and are individually differentiated to provide singular reference points for correction of signals reflected from the surrounding tissue. The differentiation is performed by comparison of the third or fourth harmonic frequencies of the reflected signals. To ensure the necessary high dispersal of the point scatterers, high amplitude pulses of the transmitted signal destroy point scatterers in selected image regions. In an alternate embodiment, correction is performed by stochastic analysis of signals reflected from the highly dispersed point scatterers. A reference signal is compared to the second harmonic of the reflected signal to reduce noise.

A method, in at least certain aspects, for ultrasonically inspecting a tubular member, the tubular member having an inner surface, an outer surface, and two spaced-apart ends including a first end of the tubular member, the method including transmitting sonic beams to the tubular member with transducers such that sonic beams are reflected from the inner surface of the tubular member, the outer surface of the tubular member, and from the first end of the tubular member, sensing the first end of the tubular member, completing inspection of all or of substantially all of the outer surface of the tubular member for outer surface defects while continuing to inspect the inner surface of the tubular member for inner surface defects, continuing to inspect the inner surface of the tubular member for inner surface defects, the transducers continuing to transmit sonic beams for the inspection of the inner surface of the tubular member until the transducers are near the first end of the tubular member; and apparatus for such methods.