79 results about "Real time ultrasound" patented technology

A medical device having enhanced ultrasonic visibility is provided. The device permits localized drug delivery, probe positioning, fluid drainage, biopsy, or ultrasound pulse delivery, through the real-time ultrasound monitoring of the needle tip position within a patient. The device permits controlled dispersion of a drug into solid tissue, the lodging of particles into solid tissue, and drug delivery into specific blood vessels. As a needle is inserted, a fluid that contrasts echogenically with the organ environment is injected into the patient. The fluid travels a brief distance before being slowed and stopped by the patient's tissue and this fluid flow will be detectable by ultrasound. The needle position during insertion will be monitored using ultrasound until it is at the desired point of action. A therapeutic drug is then delivered or a probe inserted

The invention relates to an ultrasound phased array imaging system comprising: probe (10) with a 2-D array of transducer elements (12) for acquiring 3-D ultrasound data of a volume of a body, including moving tissue and fluid flow; a beamforming system (10, 12, 14, 16) for emitting and receiving in real time ultrasound beams in said volume, which provides, in real time and in 3-D, more than one spatial receive beams signals for each transmission beam within an ensemble length of more than two temporal samples, among which the receive flow beam signals and the receive tissue beam signals are substantially temporally uncorrelated but spatially correlated; separation means (30) for processing in real time the receive beams signals, comprising adaptive spatial tissue filtering means using simultaneously more than one spatial receive beam signals acquired in 3-D within the ensemble length of more than two temporal samples, which separation means analyzes temporal variations of the respective successive receive signals and extracts flow receive beam signals from spatial combinations of receive beam signals; processing means (40, 50) and display means (62, 60) for processing flow Doppler signals and for displaying images based on said processed flow Doppler signals.

A method and system for real-time ultrasound guided prostate needle biopsy based on a biomechanical model of the prostate from 3D planning image data, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, is disclosed. The prostate is segmented in the 3D ultrasound image. A reference patient-specific biomechanical model of the prostate extracted from planning image data is fused to a boundary of the segmented prostate in the 3D ultrasound image, resulting in a fused 3D biomechanical prostate model. In response to movement of an ultrasound probe to a new location, a current 2D ultrasound image is received. The fused 3D biomechanical prostate model is deformed based on the current 2D ultrasound image to match a current deformation of the prostate due to the movement of the ultrasound probe to the new location.

The present invention includes an apparatus, method and system for monitoring and controlling radiation therapy, the system including a radiative source that emits energy that enters a tissue and is absorbed at or a near a target site in the tissue to heat the tissue; an ultrasound transmitter directed at the target site, wherein the ultrasound transmitter emits ultrasound signals to the tissue that has been heated by the radiative source; an ultrasound receiver directed at the target site, wherein the ultrasound receiver receives ultrasound signals emitted from the ultrasound transmitter and reflected from the tissue that has been heated by the radiative source; and a signal processor that processes the received ultrasound signal to calculate a tissue composition scan or tissue temperature scan.

A method of real time ultrasound imaging of an object in at least three two-dimensional scan planes that are rotated around a common axis, is given, together with designs of ultrasound transducer arrays that allows for such imaging. The method is also introduced into a monitoring situation of cardiac function where, combined with other measurements as for example the LV pressure, physiological parameters like ejection fraction and muscular fiber stress is calculated.

A method, apparatus and system for fusing real-time ultrasound images with pre-acquired medical images are described.

Various implementations of the invention provide techniques and supporting systems that facilitate real-time or near-real-time ultrasound tracking for the purpose of calculating changes in anatomical features during a medical procedure. More specifically, anatomical features within a patient undergoing a medical procedure are tracked by obtaining temporally-distinct three dimensional ultrasound images that include the feature of interest and obtaining a targeted subset of ultrasound images focused on the feature. Based on the targeted subset of ultrasound images, a displacement of the feature is determined and image parameters used to obtain the targeted subset of ultrasound images are adjusted based on the displacement. This results in a time-based sequence of three dimensional images and targeted ultrasound images of the feature that identify changes in the position, size, location, and/or shape of the feature.

An ultrasound system is provided that includes a probe for successively acquiring ultrasound information from an object along at least three distinct scan planes. The scan planes intersect one another along an axis extending from the probe through the object. A memory is included for storing data slices corresponding to the at least three distinct scan planes based on the ultrasound information. Also included is a processor that accesses the memory to select and obtain the data slices and generates ultrasound images based on the data slices. A display is included for co-displaying the ultrasound images.

Various implementations of the invention provide techniques and supporting systems that facilitate real-time or near-real-time ultrasound tracking for the purpose of calculating changes in anatomical features during a medical procedure. More specifically, anatomical features within a patient undergoing a medical procedure are tracked by obtaining temporally-distinct three dimensional ultrasound images that include the feature of interest and obtaining a targeted subset of ultrasound images focused on the feature. Based on the targeted subset of ultrasound images, a displacement of the feature is determined and image parameters used to obtain the targeted subset of ultrasound images are adjusted based on the displacement. This results in a time-based sequence of three dimensional images and targeted ultrasound images of the feature that identify changes in the position, size, location, and/or shape of the feature.

Disclosed are systems for performing a microwave ablation procedure comprising an ablation probe, an electromagnetic tracking system configured to track the location of the ablation probe inside a patient's body while the ablation probe is navigated inside the patient's body, an ultrasound imager configured to generate real-time ultrasound images, and a computing device configured to display guidance for navigating the ablation probe to at least one ablation target within the patient's body, display the tracked location of the ablation probe on the real-time ultrasound images based on the tracked location of the ablation probe inside the patient's body, iteratively update the displayed location of the ablation probe as the location of the ablation probe is tracked while the ablation probe is navigated inside the patient's body, and display guidance for ablating the at least one target when the ablation probe is navigated proximate to the at least one target.

A series of ultrasound strain images of a breast lesion are acquired along with corresponding B-mode images using a real-time ultrasound strain imaging system and a free-hand technique. A visual assessment of the lesion is made by the sonographer after image acquisition. A conspicuity metric is calculated from the strain images based on the weighted sum of lesion contrast values in each strain image. The weighting of each lesion contrast value is based on observed characteristics of malignant lesions in a series of strain images. Diagnosis is made based on the visual assessment and the conspicuity metric

In a method for implanting a cardiac implant, a 3D CT dataset of a cardiac region of interest at which an implant is to be implanted, is displayed and the implantation procedure is planned, which includes the physician electronically marking a best implantation site in the displayed image. This marking is then included in the 3D CT dataset. A 3D ultrasound dataset of the region of interest is acquired, and is brought into registration with the 3D CT dataset that incorporates the marking, and a fused image is produced therefrom. The fused image is displayed during the implantation procedure, and is updated with multiple real-time 2D ultrasound images obtained using the catheter that is employed to deliver the implant to the implantation site.

ECG and ultrasound data of the heart are acquired in real-time during a scan. A data acquisition module is controlled during the scan to prospectively gate acquisition of CT data as a function of the real-time ECG data and the real-time ultrasound data. An image is reconstructed from the acquired CT data.

Disclosed are methods for displaying guidance for navigating an ablation probe to at least one ablation target within a patient's body comprising tracking the location of the ablation probe inside the patient's body while the ablation probe is navigated, displaying the position of the ablation probe on real-time ultrasound images, iteratively updating the displayed position of the ablation probe as the location of the ablation probe is tracked while the ablation probe is navigated inside the patient's body, and displaying guidance for ablating the at least one target when the ablation probe is navigated proximate to the at least one target.

The present application relates to an ultrasound fusion imaging method and an ultrasound fusion imaging navigation system. The ultrasound fusion imaging method comprises: a selection step, comprising selecting at least one ultrasound image from at least one previously stored piece of ultrasound video data according to an input instruction, wherein the ultrasound video data comprises an ultrasound image obtained by acquiring a target object from at least one plane and location-pointing information corresponding to the ultrasound image; a registration step, comprising registering the selected at least one ultrasound image with a modality image, wherein the registration process uses the location-pointing information of the at least one ultrasound image; and a fusion step, comprising image fusion of the registered ultrasound image with the modality image. The present invention differs from the existing registration-fusion methods based on real-time ultrasound in using a recorded registration video by scanning a target object prior to registration, and then selecting one or more ultrasound images to perform registration.

The invention provides a sample sealing device and method for testing active and passive real-time acoustic waves in the rock breaking process, and belongs to the technical field of rock breaking testing. The sample sealing device comprises a load application module, a displacement monitoring module, a load ultrasonic monitoring module and an acoustic emission monitoring and positioning module; the load application module comprises a rigid cushion block and a triaxial electro-hydraulic servo tester; the displacement monitoring module comprises a longitudinal extensometer upper clamp, a longitudinal extensometer lower clamp, extensometer helical wires, extensometer helical wire sleeves, a longitudinal extensometer circular hoop ring and miniature screws; and the load ultrasonic monitoring module comprises ultrasonic probes and U-shaped ultrasonic probes, and the acoustic emission monitoring and positioning module comprises an acoustic emission sensor and an acoustic emission clamping device. According to the sample sealing device, a rock sample is subjected to real-time ultrasonic testing through an acoustic wave instrument and the six ultrasonic probes, rock acoustic emission damage parameters are obtained through an acoustic emission acquisition instrument and eight acoustic emission probes, and the sample sealing device has high laboratory guiding significance.

The invention discloses a compressive sense ultrasound imaging method through GPU (graphics processing unit) and solves the problem that the imaging reconstruction is performed slowly by the compressive sense theory. The method includes 1, according to a set resolution, discretizing the detection region and performing broadband pulse scanning on the region, acquiring echo vectors and observation matrix, and establishing an ultrasound imaging mathematical model; 2, partitioning and copying the echo vectors and observation matrix to a GPU video memory; 3, calculating an iteration step in the GPU; 4, substituting the iteration step into a fast iterative shrinkage threshold algorithm to figure out a reconstructed observation scene scattering intensity; 5, copying the scattering intensity to a main memory and arraying two-dimensional matrix, and obtaining a reconstructed ultrasound image. Compared with a traditional fast iterative shrinkage threshold algorithm, the method has the advantages that the reconstructing time is reduced by the millisecond level from the minute level, the real-time performance of ultrasound imaging is improved greatly, and the method can be applied to the field of real-time ultrasound processing.

An intravascular ultrasound catheter having an imaging array and ablation electrodes is provided. The imaging array and ablation electrodes are forward facing and the catheter can be used to ablate plaque in partially or totally occluded blood vessels under real time ultrasound visualization. The ablation electrodes are integrated into the distal face of the catheter and allow ultrasound to pass through them, which provides the ability to achieve highly accurate real time visualization of the tissue undergoing treatment.