Noninvasive Endocardial Pressure Measurement via Contrast Medium Resonance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for measuring endocardial pressure are either noninvasive but lack continuous accuracy or are highly invasive, and existing ultrasonic diagnostic techniques using contrast media suffer from low accuracy due to interactions between bubbles affecting frequency spectra.
Innovation Solution
A subject information acquisition apparatus that uses a converter to receive reflected waves from a contrast medium in different pressure periods, allowing for the acquisition of pressure information within a target area by considering the presence concentration of bubbles and their frequency spectra, enabling precise endocardial pressure measurement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a bloodless measurement method using a cuff is used to measure blood pressure, then the measurement is noninvasive, but it cannot continuously measure endocardial pressure itself and may be inaccurate when heart valves are closed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses contrast medium containing microbubbles as an intermediary substance injected into the blood circulation. These microbubbles act as mediators that reflect ultrasonic waves, enabling noninvasive measurement of endocardial pressure through their resonance characteristics while being carried by the blood flow, thus combining the noninvasiveness of external measurement with the accuracy of direct endocardial pressure measurement
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical cuff-based pressure measurement system with an ultrasonic wave-based measurement system. Instead of using mechanical pressure detection through a cuff, the system uses ultrasonic waves to detect the resonance frequency of microbubbles, which correlates with endocardial pressure, thereby achieving more accurate and continuous measurement without mechanical contact
2Measurement precision
If a bloody measurement using a catheter is used to measure endocardial pressure, then high measurement accuracy is achieved, but the method is highly invasive
Solution Approach 1:
The contrast medium with microbubbles serves as an intermediary that enables ultrasonic detection of endocardial pressure without requiring direct catheter placement in the heart. The microbubbles are injected peripherally and carried to the heart, where they reflect ultrasonic waves to indicate pressure conditions, thus achieving catheter-level accuracy without catheter-level invasiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the invasive mechanical catheter system with a noninvasive ultrasonic detection system. Instead of mechanically inserting a catheter into the heart to measure pressure, the system uses ultrasonic waves to detect the resonance frequency of microbubbles in the blood, which provides equivalent measurement accuracy without the risks associated with catheter insertion
3Ease of operation
If a contrast medium method is used to measure endocardial pressure, then low invasiveness and possible direct endocardial pressure measurement are achieved, but the accuracy is reduced due to bubble interactions affecting resonance frequency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and separately analyzes the frequency spectrum components of the ultrasonic waves reflected from microbubbles. By isolating the specific frequency components related to bubble resonance from the overall signal, the system can accurately determine endocardial pressure despite the presence of bubble interactions, effectively separating the useful pressure information from the interfering effects
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs feedback mechanisms by continuously monitoring the frequency spectrum of reflected ultrasonic waves and adjusting the analysis to account for bubble interaction effects. The system uses the observed frequency shifts and spectrum changes as feedback to refine pressure calculations, compensating for the deviations caused by bubble-bubble interactions and maintaining measurement accuracy
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for the accurate and noninvasive acquisition of pressure information inside a target area, improving the measurement of endocardial pressure with high reliability and precision.
Implementation Method 1
a converter configured to receive reflected waves from a contrast medium within a target area inside a subject and output time-series receive signals
Implementation Method 2
bubbles contained in a contrast medium highly interact with surrounding bubbles and have a behavior influenced by the surrounding bubbles. For example, a resonance frequency calculated by using a theoretical formula considering a structure of bubbles
Implementation Method 3
a resonance frequency calculated by using a theoretical formula considering a structure of bubbles is higher than a resonance frequency inferred from a shape of a frequency spectrum that a signal based on reflected waves from bubbles actually has
Data Source
AI summary
A subject information acquisition apparatus includes a converter configured to receive reflected waves from a contrast medium within a target area inside a subject, and a pressure information acquisition unit configured to acquire pressure information within the target area. In this case, the converter receives reflected waves from a contrast medium in each of a first period and a second period in which a pressure within the target area is different from the first period. The pressure information acquisition unit acquires pressure information in the second period within the target area based on a receive signal based on reflected waves in the first period, a receive signal based on a reflected wave in the second period, and pressure information on a region different from the target area, the pressure information being acquired in the first period.