AUTOMATED MOVEMENT DETECTION WITH AUDIO AND VISUAL INFORMATION

• US 20080188752A1
• Filed: 02/05/2007
• Published: 08/07/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Siemens Medical Solutions USA Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Penrith Corporation (Siemens AG)
• Inventors: Randall, Kevin S., Klessel, Jodi Schwartz, Urbano, Joseph A., Lannutti, Anthony P., Cannon, Michael G., Engle, Lawrence A., Weymer, Raymond F.
• Application Number:
  US11/671,307
• Publication Number:
  US 20080188752A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/455
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/489 Blood vessels
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/06 Measuring blood flow measuring volume flow in general G01F, e.g. G01F1/66, G01F1/72; measuring speed of fluids in general G01P5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/08 Detecting organic movements or changes, e.g. tumours, cysts, swellings A61B8/02 - A61B8/06 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/13 Tomography A61B8/10, A61B8/12 take precedence; tomography for radiation diagnosis A61B6/02
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4472 Wireless probes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/463 characterised by displaying multiple images or images and diagnostic data on one display composite display in devices for short-range imaging with acoustic waves G01S7/52074
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/582 using transmission of interrupted pulse-modulated waves and based upon the Doppler effect resulting from movement of targets
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8979 Combined Doppler and pulse-echo imaging systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52073 Production of cursor lines, markers or indicia by electronic means

Abstract

The embodiments contemplate systems and methods for detecting moving tissue within an object. In one such method, a transducer is directed to transmit a first and second ultrasound pulse at a sample volume within a patient. The transducer receives a first and second echo signal of the first and second ultrasound pulses containing information related to the sample volume. A determination is made from the information as to the location and type of blood vessel located within the sample volume, and the located blood vessel information is processed to create an audio representation of the blood flow within the located blood vessel.

Claims

1. An ultrasound system comprising:

a probe comprising;

a transducer that transmits a first and second ultrasound pulse at a sample volume within an object and receives a first and second echo signal of the first and second ultrasound pulses; and

a main unit comprising;

a vessel locator that determines from the first and second echo signals a location of a blood vessel located within the sample volume; and

a position displacement audio processor that creates an audio representation of the blood flow within the located blood vessel.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the transducer transmits the first and second ultrasound pulses at a periodic rate.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the main unit further comprises a speaker that outputs the audio representation of the blood flow characteristics.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the main unit further comprises an image processor that creates a visual representation of blood flow characteristics within the located blood vessel.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the main unit further comprises a display device that displays the visual representation of the blood flow characteristics.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the image processor further comprises a graphics overlay module that indicates the location of the blood vessel on the visual representation of the located blood vessel, wherein the visual representation is a B-mode image.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the main unit further comprises a sample volume extractor that extracts a portion of position displacement data corresponding to the blood flow within the located blood vessel for the creation of the audio representation by the position displacement audio processor.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a pre-amplifier that receives and amplifies the first and second echo signals of the first and second ultrasound pulses.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising an analog to digital converter that digitizes the amplified echo signal.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising a demodulator that converts the digitized and amplified echo signals to a baseband signal.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising an integration module that produces a baseband data pair at a pulse repetition frequency from a plurality of baseband signal samples.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the probe and the main unit communicate wirelessly through a wireless interface.

13. A blood vessel detection method, the method comprising:

directing a transducer to transmit a first and second ultrasound pulse at a sample volume within a patient;

receiving from the transducer a first and second echo signal of the first and second ultrasound pulses containing information related to the sample volume;

determining from the information a location and type of blood vessel located within the sample volume; and

processing the located blood vessel information to create an audio representation of the blood flow within the located blood vessel.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising processing the first and second echo signals to at least one of:

amplify, digitize and modulate the received echo signal.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein determining from the information a location and type of blood vessel located within the sample volume comprises:

computing position displacement data from the information of the received echo signal; and

comparing a characteristic of the position displacement data to a predetermined position displacement characteristic.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the information is first information, and further comprising:

if the characteristic of the position displacement data does not correspond with the predetermined position displacement characteristic, obtaining second information related to a second sample volume that is located at a second location within the patient;

computing second position displacement data from the second information of the second sample volume;

comparing a characteristic of the second position displacement data to the predetermined position displacement characteristic.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the information related to the sample volume comprises at least one of:

a modal velocity, a mean velocity, a maximum velocity, a variance, a power, an acceleration, a deceleration, a pulsatility, and an amplitude of the first and second echo signals.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein processing the located blood vessel to create an audio representation of the blood flow within the located blood vessel comprises:

computing a baseband data pair of the position displacement data;

producing position displacement audio from the baseband data pair;

converting the position displacement audio to an analog signal; and

outputting the analog signal.