Transmitter patterns for multi beam reception
First Claim
1. A method for determining a parameter of blood flow in a blood vessel of interest, comprising the steps of:
- a) providing an array of sonic transducer elements, wherein the element spacing in the array is greater than, equal or less than a half wavelength of the sonic energy produced by the elements, wherein at least one element transmits sonic energy, and a portion of the elements receive sonic energy;
b) directing sonic energy produced by the at least one element of the array into a volume of the subject'"'"'s body having the blood vessel of interest, c) receiving echoes of the sonic energy from the volume of the subject'"'"'s body having the blood vessel of interest;
d) reporting the echoes to a processor electrically connected to the elements of the array, wherein the processor is programmed to i) Doppler process the echoes to determine radial velocity of the blood flowing in the blood vessel of interest;
ii) determine a sum beam, an azimuth difference beam and an elevation difference beam from the echoes received from a portion of the blood vessel of interest;
iii) modulate the directions of the transmitted and received sonic energy based upon the sum, azimuth difference and elevation difference beams in order to lock on to the highest Doppler energy calculated from echoes from the flow of blood in the blood vessel of interest, iv) calculate the three dimensional position of the highest Doppler energy from the blood flow in the vessel of interest; and
v) calculate the parameter of blood flow in the blood vessel at the three dimensional position calculated in step (iv); and
(e) displaying the parameter on a display monitor that is electrically connected to the processor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Provided herein is a method for use in medical applications that permits (1) affordable three-dimensional imaging of blood flow using a low-profile easily-attached transducer pad, (2) real-time blood-flow vector velocity, and (3) long-term unattended Doppler-ultrasound monitoring in spite of motion of the patient or pad. The pad and associated processor collects and Doppler processes ultrasound blood velocity data in a three dimensional region through the use of a planar phased array of piezoelectric elements. The invention locks onto and tracks the points in three-dimensional space that produce the locally maximum blood velocity signals. The integrated coordinates of points acquired by the accurate tracking process is used to form a three-dimensional map of blood vessels and provide a display that can be used to select multiple points of interest for expanded data collection and for long term continuous and unattended blood flow monitoring. The three dimensional map allows for the calculation of vector velocity from measured radial Doppler.
A thinned array (greater than half-wavelength element spacing of the transducer array) is used to make a device of the present invention inexpensive and allow the pad to have a low profile (fewer connecting cables for a given spatial resolution). The full aperture is used for transmit and receive so that there is no loss of sensitivity (signal-to-noise ratio) or dynamic range. Utilizing more elements (extending the physical array) without increasing the number of active elements increases the angular field of view. A further increase is obtained by utilizing a convex non-planar surface.
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Citations
2 Claims
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1. A method for determining a parameter of blood flow in a blood vessel of interest, comprising the steps of:
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a) providing an array of sonic transducer elements, wherein the element spacing in the array is greater than, equal or less than a half wavelength of the sonic energy produced by the elements, wherein at least one element transmits sonic energy, and a portion of the elements receive sonic energy;
b) directing sonic energy produced by the at least one element of the array into a volume of the subject'"'"'s body having the blood vessel of interest, c) receiving echoes of the sonic energy from the volume of the subject'"'"'s body having the blood vessel of interest;
d) reporting the echoes to a processor electrically connected to the elements of the array, wherein the processor is programmed to i) Doppler process the echoes to determine radial velocity of the blood flowing in the blood vessel of interest;
ii) determine a sum beam, an azimuth difference beam and an elevation difference beam from the echoes received from a portion of the blood vessel of interest;
iii) modulate the directions of the transmitted and received sonic energy based upon the sum, azimuth difference and elevation difference beams in order to lock on to the highest Doppler energy calculated from echoes from the flow of blood in the blood vessel of interest, iv) calculate the three dimensional position of the highest Doppler energy from the blood flow in the vessel of interest; and
v) calculate the parameter of blood flow in the blood vessel at the three dimensional position calculated in step (iv); and
(e) displaying the parameter on a display monitor that is electrically connected to the processor.
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2-75. -75 (canceled)
Specification