Method and system for identifying and quantifying particles in flow systems

• US 20090209857A1
• Filed: 11/06/2008
• Published: 08/20/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Kingston General Hospital, Queen's University At Kingston
• Original Assignee: Kingston General Hospital
• Inventors: Ali, Mohamed, Secretain, Frank, Ball, Christopher G., Uddin, A.K. Mesbah, Pollard, Andrew, Hamilton, G. Andrew Y., Milne, Brian
• Application Number:
  US12/289,918
• Publication Number:
  US 20090209857A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/437
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0833 involving detecting or locating foreign bodies or organic structures
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/12 in body cavities or body tracts, e.g. by using catheters catheters per se A61M25/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/481 involving the use of contrast agent, e.g. microbubbles introduced into the bloodstream analysis of echo signal exploiting properties of a contrast enhancer in devices for short-range imaging with acoustic waves G01S7/52039

Abstract

A method and system for quantifying particles in a flow system are provided.

Claims

1. A system for quantifying particles in a flow system, comprising:

a detection device for imaging a 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional region of a conduit of the flow system; and

a means for quantifying particles from the image.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the detection device uses an imaging technology selected from acoustic, optical, x-ray and magnetic resonance imaging.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the detection device uses acoustic imaging technology.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the acoustic detection device comprises a transesophageal echocardiograph transducer or a footprint transducer.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the detection device is designed to attach to an aorta of an animal.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the animal is a human.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the means for quantifying particles comprises an algorithm capable of:

extracting image data;

detecting particles according to a mathematical thresholding function; and

outputting data relating to particles in the image.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the algorithm is DETECTS™

.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the means quantifies particles from raw data of the image.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the means quantifies particles by processing the image.

11. A method for non-invasively quantifying particles in a flow system, comprising:

2-dimensionally or 3-dimensionally imaging non-invasively a region of a conduit of the flow system; and

quantifying particles in the image.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional image is generated using an imaging technology selected from acoustic, optical, x-ray, and magnetic resonance imaging.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional image is generated via an acoustic imaging technology.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the acoustic technology comprises a transesophageal echocardiograph transducer or a footprint transducer.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the flow system is the circulatory system of an animal and the conduit is the aorta.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the particles quantified are potential emboli.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the animal is a human.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the human is undergoing a surgical procedure.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein quantifying particles in the image comprises:

extracting image data;

detecting particles according to a mathematical thresholding function; and

outputting data relating to particles in the image

20. The method of claim 19, wherein quantifying includes a DETECTS™

algorithm.

21. The method of claim 19, comprising quantifying particles from raw data of the image.

22. The method of claim 19, comprising quantifying particles by processing the image.