Soft-Field Tomography Transducer Placement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing soft-field sensing technologies, such as EIT, face challenges in clinical settings due to the need for dedicated transducer sets in predetermined geometries, which are cumbersome, costly, and uncomfortable for patients, limiting flexibility and increasing clinical burden.
Innovation Solution
A soft-field tomography sensing system that uses transducers in non-soft-field configurations, such as ECG or EEG configurations, allowing for flexible positioning and reuse of existing transducer sets for acquiring soft-field sensing measurements, including EIT data, without requiring a circumferential arrangement around the patient.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If dedicated transducer sets in predetermined geometries are used for soft-field sensing, then measurement accuracy is maintained, but device complexity and clinical burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by enabling standard ECG/EEG transducer sets to serve dual purposes: their traditional cardiac/neurological monitoring functions and soft-field tomography measurements. This eliminates the need for dedicated specialized transducer arrays while maintaining measurement capability through software-based reconstruction algorithms that adapt to the standard transducer geometries.
2Measurement precision
If circumferential transducer arrays are positioned around the patient, then complete coverage for tomography is achieved, but patient comfort and ease of operation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables standard clinical transducer placements (such as 12-lead ECG or EEG configurations) to be used for soft-field tomography, eliminating the need for circumferential arrays that wrap around the patient's torso. This maintains sufficient measurement coverage for reconstruction while dramatically improving patient comfort and ease of application in clinical settings.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring the transducer geometry to match the ideal tomographic configuration (circumferential arrays), the patent inverts the approach by adapting the reconstruction algorithms to work with standard clinical transducer placements. This reversal allows clinically convenient placements to achieve tomographic measurement goals.
3Reliability
If specialized electrode arrays are used for soft-field sensing, then measurement capability is ensured, but cost and clinical burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves cost reduction by making existing standard ECG/EEG transducer sets multi-functional. Hospitals and clinics already possess these transducer sets for routine cardiac and neurological monitoring, so no additional specialized equipment needs to be purchased. The same hardware performs both traditional monitoring and soft-field tomography, eliminating duplicate equipment costs.
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
Enables flexible and cost-effective soft-field sensing by allowing transducers to be positioned in various clinically relevant configurations, reducing discomfort and clinical burden while maintaining accurate measurement capabilities.
Implementation Method 1
Soft-field sensing, such as Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) (also referred to as Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS)), may be used to measure the internal properties of an object, such as the electrical properties of materials comprising internal structures of an object
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for transducer placement in soft-field tomography are provided. One system includes a plurality of transducers configured for positioning at a surface of an object in a non-soft-field tomography configuration. The system also includes an interface and a processor communicating with the plurality of transducers via the interface. The processor is configured to perform soft-field sensing using soft-field data acquired by the plurality of transducers.