| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20080249409 | Method of Using a Combination Imaging and Therapy transducer to Dissolve Blood Clots - A combined ultrasound imaging and therapy transducer includes a linear array of imaging transducer elements. First and second linear arrays of therapy transducer elements extend longitudinally along respective first and second sides of the imaging transducer elements and are canted inwardly toward each other. The imaging and therapy transducer is used with an ultrasound imaging system to locate clots in a region of interest. After the region of interest has been perfused with a microbubble contrast agent, the therapy transducer elements are driven by an amplifier located in the transducer to dissolve the clot. The use of the imaging transducer elements and the therapy transducer elements can be interleaved so that the therapy can be conditioned on an ultrasound image showing substantial destruction of the contrast agent microbubbles, re-perfusion of microbubbles in the region of interest, or the continued presence of the clot. | 10-09-2008 |
| 20080319316 | Combination Imaging and Therapy Transducer - A combined ultrasound imaging and therapy transducer includes a linear array of imaging transducer elements. First and second linear arrays of therapy transducer elements extend longitudinally along respective first and second sides of the imaging transducer elements and are canted inwardly toward each other. The imaging and therapy transducer is used with an ultrasound imaging system to locate clots in a region of interest. After the region of interest has been perfused with a microbubble contrast agent, the therapy transducer elements are driven by an amplifier located in the transducer to dissolve the clot. The use of the imaging transducer elements and the therapy transducer elements can be interleaved so that the therapy can be conditioned on an ultrasound image showing substantial destruction of the contrast agent microbubbles, re-perfusion of microbubbles in the region of interest, or the continued presence of the clot. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20100160779 | ULTRASOUND SYSTEM FOR CEREBRAL BLOOD FLOW IMAGING AND MICROBUBBLE-ENHANCED BLOOD CLOT LYSIS - An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system is described which utilizes one or more transducer arrays affixed to the head of a patient to diagnose and treat stroke victims. The transducer headset produces a two or three dimensional image of the vasculature inside the cranium, preferably assisted by a microbubble contrast agent. A vascular flow map is produced by the system which may be diagnosed for signs of a blood clot. If a blood clot is detected, a therapeutic beam is transmitted while the contrast agent is present to break up the blood clot by the disruption of microbubbles. The headset may also be used in a monitoring application to detect the recurrence of blood clots in a stroke victim. | 06-24-2010 |
| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20080234580 | Ultrasonic Imaging of Perfusion and Blood Flow with Harmonic Contrast Agents - An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging method and system produce diagnostic contrast images depicting both tissue perfusion and flow velocity in larger vessels by utilizing both linear and nonlinear imaging techniques. A sequence of echoes from differently modulated transmit pulses is received and processed in different ways to detect nonlinear signals from microbubble-perfused tissue and Doppler blood flow in larger vessels. The Doppler flow signals may be either linear or nonlinear or a mixture of both. A decision circuit classifies the detected signals for display pixels in a perfusion and/or flow and/or tissue image. Separate perfusion and flow images can be simultaneously displayed or an image of both perfusion and flow can be displayed. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080249417 | Non-Linear Ultrasonic Diagnostic Imaging Using Intermodulation Product Signals - An ultrasonic imaging system transmits waveforms containing first and second major frequency components which are intermodulated by passage through a nonlinear medium or interaction with a contrast agent microbubble to produce a difference frequency component. In an illustrated embodiment the second major frequency is twice the frequency of the first major frequency, resulting in a difference frequency signal at the first major frequency. Two differently modulated transmit waveforms are transmitted and the difference frequency component is separated by pulse inversion. | 10-09-2008 |
| 20080275338 | Nonlinear Ultrasonic Diagnostic Imaging Using Intermodulation Product Signals - An ultrasonic imaging system transmits waveforms containing first and second major frequency components which are intermodulated by passage through a nonlinear medium or interaction with a contrast agent microbubble to produce a difference frequency component. In an illustrated embodiment the transmit waveforms are square waves exhibiting only odd harmonic components. The first and third harmonic components are intermodulated by nonlinear effects to produce a difference frequency signal at the second harmonic frequency. | 11-06-2008 |
| 20080275345 | Ultrasonic Diagnostic Contrast Imaging at Moderate Mi Levels - A method and device for imaging contrast agents which oscillate nonlinearly in a nondestructive mode at an MI in excess of 0.1 is described. Three transmit pulses are transmitted in each beam direction which are differently modulated. In an illustrated embodiment the transmit pulses are symmetrically differently phase modulated at 0°, 120° and 240°. The echoes received in response to each transmit pulse are stored and combined by a pulse inversion processor. Pulse inversion processing results in separation of the third harmonic to the relative exclusion of the first and second harmonic signal components. Third harmonic images of the contrast image are formed which exhibit a relatively low tissue background. | 11-06-2008 |
| 20090124907 | Ultrasonic Diagnostic Imaging System and Method for Detecting Lesions of the Liver - Significant liver growths such as HCC lesions are detected during a contrast agent ultrasound exam by their early reception of contrast and brightening following a bolus injection, as compared with surrounding normal tissue and benign growths. A pixel classifier looks for and identifies pixel or voxel regions where this early wash-in of contrast occurs and denotes these pixel or voxel locations in a parametric image. The pixel classifier analyzes pixel or voxel values from a sequence of images and identifies suspicious regions in an image by uniquely coding the points in a parametric liver image where early wash-in occurs. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090148018 | Image segmentation technique for displaying myocardial perfusion that does not show the microbubbles in the cardiac chambers - A method and a device for conducting perfusion studies on myocardial tissues with contrast agents is provided. In accordance with the method, ultrasound pulses are transmitted ( | 06-11-2009 |
