Rotating Ultrasound Probe for Bladder Volumetry
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional three-dimensional ultrasound probes face limitations in frame rate and accuracy due to mechanical constraints, leading to image blurring and reduced volumetric resolution, especially when measuring bladder volume, which requires improved diagnostic imaging capabilities and ease of use.
Innovation Solution
A compact, robust ultrasound probe design featuring a housing with a rotating ultrasound module, transducers, and a motor, coupled with a control and processing system, and a bio-compatible coupling fluid, allowing for efficient three-dimensional data collection with minimal operator skill required, and enabling wireless data transmission and LED-based user feedback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a single piston transducer is swept through spherical coordinates with a multi-angular stepper motor, then the system is reasonably inexpensive to manufacture, but the frame rate becomes one of the slowest available which increases image blurring and reduces measurement accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the single transducer system into multiple fixed transducers arranged in a circular array, each handling a specific angular sector. This segmentation allows parallel data acquisition from multiple angles simultaneously, dramatically increasing frame rate while maintaining the mechanical simplicity and low cost of the overall system architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a static single transducer requiring mechanical sweeping to a dynamic multi-transducer array that rotates as a unit. This dynamic configuration enables the system to capture volumetric data from multiple angles during a single rotation cycle, improving frame rate without requiring complex multi-axis mechanical systems.
2Device complexity
If a two-axis mechanical stepper topology is used, then the system structure is simple and inexpensive, but the volumetric resolution decreases with depth in both angular directions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adds a temporal dimension to the spatial arrangement by rotating the transducer array through multiple angles during data acquisition. This allows the system to achieve high volumetric resolution at depth by combining data from multiple angular perspectives, effectively adding an angular dimension to the resolution capability without increasing mechanical complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements continuous rotation of the transducer array during the imaging process, allowing uninterrupted data collection from all angular positions. This continuous action ensures that volumetric data is acquired systematically throughout the entire scan volume, maintaining high resolution at all depths without the mechanical complexity of multi-axis stepping systems.
3Ease of operation
If smaller scan cone angles are used, then the system is easier to aim and operate, but bladders closer to the patient's skin surface have a much smaller probability of fitting within the total scan solid angle
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a rotating transducer array that dynamically adjusts the effective scan coverage throughout the imaging process. The array rotates to sweep through a large angular range, allowing the system to maintain ease of aiming (the probe points in one direction) while achieving comprehensive scan coverage of the target volume, including bladders at various depths and positions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extends the scan coverage by adding rotational motion in the angular dimension. Instead of being limited to a fixed small cone angle, the rotating array sweeps through multiple angular sectors, effectively increasing the total scan solid angle in the angular dimension while maintaining simple probe positioning in the spatial dimension.
4Productivity
If a full up three dimensional electronically steered phased-array transducer is used, then the frame rate and resolution are improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the volumetric imaging function into multiple discrete transducers arranged in a circular array, with each transducer handling a specific angular sector. This segmentation allows the system to achieve three-dimensional imaging capability through mechanical rotation rather than requiring a complex fully-electronic phased array, reducing device complexity while maintaining frame rate and resolution.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the fully electronic beam steering of a phased array with a hybrid approach using mechanical rotation of a simpler transducer array. This substitution reduces the electronic complexity and manufacturing cost while achieving similar frame rates and resolution through the combination of mechanical motion and electronic processing.
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
The solution enables accurate and efficient three-dimensional data collection for diagnostic purposes, such as bladder volume measurement, with improved frame rates and reduced operator dependency, while maintaining a small form factor and ensuring safety through reduced tissue exposure.
Implementation Method 1
the transducers to emit ultrasound waves and to process ultrasound signals received via the transducers to collect ultrasonic data representative of a target biological tissue
Implementation Method 2
Since ultrasound is a pulse-echo technology, the frame rate is limited by the transit time of the pulse-echo cycle
Implementation Method 3
a motor received in the housing and drivingly coupled to rotate the ultrasound module about the longitudinal axis of the housing
Implementation Method 4
a coupling fluid received in the housing to at least partially surround the ultrasound module and the motor
Data Source
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Figure 5
AI summary
An ultrasound probe is provided having an ultrasound module received in a housing thereof, the ultrasound module including a plurality of transducers longitudinally spaced apart within the housing and a control and processing system electrically coupled to the transducers for collecting ultrasonic data representative of a target biological tissue when the ultrasound probe is in operation. A motor is likewise received in the housing to rotate, oscillate and/or translate the ultrasound module in a data collection mode. Coupling fluid is received in the housing to at least partially surround the ultrasound module and the motor. A method of obtaining ultrasonic data representative of a target biological tissue, such as a bladder, for diagnostic purposes is also provided.