Apparatus with a catheter for examining hollow organs or bodies with the ultrasonic waves
First Claim
1. A device for examining a hollow organ, such as the heart, said device comprising a catheter having an axis and adapted to be placed inside the follow organ and including at an end, at least four circumferentially arranged, equidistantly distributed elements, each of which is adapted for the transmission and the reception of ultrasonic waves in successive transmission-reception periods, each of said elements having a width in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the catheter which is smaller than the wavelength of the ultrasonic waves such that they show substantially no directivity in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the catheter, the elements haveing axial dimensions which are larger than said wavelength, such that they do show directivity in a plane containing the said axis;
- an excitation device which successively excites groups of adjacently arranged elements at a rate of at least 25 times per second, each group having a center line;
time delays for delaying the pulses transmitted and received during a transmission-reception period by the elements of a group so that the differences in travel times among the elements for the pulses to or from a plane perpendicular to the center line of the group are compensated;
an adder for the summation of the echo pulses brought into coincidence by the time delays; and
means controlled by the adder, for visually displaying the part of the examined hollow organ surrounding the catheter.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A device for examining the heart is provided with a catheter adapted to be placed within the heart and including at one end thereof, circumferentially arranged, equidistantly distributed elements, serving for the transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves. The catheter has an axis and the elements have no directivity in a plane perpendicular to this axis. The elements are so dimensioned in axial direction that in a plane through the axis they do show directivity. An excitation device is provided which successively excites groups of adjacently arranged elements and time delays are provided for delaying the transmitted and received pulses for the elements of a group that the differences in travel times are compensated. An adder is provided for the summation of echo pulses and a device is provided for visually displaying the part of the examined heart surrounding the catheter.
361 Citations
19 Claims
-
1. A device for examining a hollow organ, such as the heart, said device comprising a catheter having an axis and adapted to be placed inside the follow organ and including at an end, at least four circumferentially arranged, equidistantly distributed elements, each of which is adapted for the transmission and the reception of ultrasonic waves in successive transmission-reception periods, each of said elements having a width in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the catheter which is smaller than the wavelength of the ultrasonic waves such that they show substantially no directivity in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the catheter, the elements haveing axial dimensions which are larger than said wavelength, such that they do show directivity in a plane containing the said axis;
- an excitation device which successively excites groups of adjacently arranged elements at a rate of at least 25 times per second, each group having a center line;
time delays for delaying the pulses transmitted and received during a transmission-reception period by the elements of a group so that the differences in travel times among the elements for the pulses to or from a plane perpendicular to the center line of the group are compensated;
an adder for the summation of the echo pulses brought into coincidence by the time delays; and
means controlled by the adder, for visually displaying the part of the examined hollow organ surrounding the catheter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
- an excitation device which successively excites groups of adjacently arranged elements at a rate of at least 25 times per second, each group having a center line;
Specification