System for guiding a probe over the surface of the skin of a patient or an animal

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for guiding a probe over the surface of the skin of a patient. Performing measurements with ultrasound techniques for small structures such as blood vessels need well-defined spatial relationship between the measuring probe and the tissue which has to be examined. The invention seeks to ensure a movement of the measuring probe in a controlled and precise way over the skin. Therefore, a system 1 is suggested which comprises a probe holder 2 to which a probe 4 is rigidly attachable. The probe holder 2 is moveable along at least one rail 5, 5'. The rail can be wrapped around the patient 3 or a body part 7 of the patient or the animal.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to medical diagnosis of the skin and tissues and structures below the skin, and in particular to the field of cannulation, thus the insertion of a cannula or needle into the vasculature of a human or animal. technical background [0002] For medical diagnosis of the skin or subcutaneous structures using ultrasound systems or the like, it is necessary to position the measurement probe above the skin so that the ultrasound waves can penetrate the patient's body. Ultrasound can then be used to produce two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) images of the scanned body part, producing images of blood vessels, kidneys or liver, for example. [0003] Especially when imaging of smaller objects such as blood vessels is to be performed, the movement of the probe relative to the scanned object becomes more critical. Such movement reduces the effective spatial resolution of the image and should therefore be avoided. However, ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, the results are unsatisfactory when the patient still moves too much, which happens especially in the case of small children

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