Ultrasound system for flow measurement
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for measuring flow of a fluid in a vessel in a body, comprising the steps of:
- producing a value of the velocity of the fluid from a Doppler or time shifted ultrasound signal from each of a plurality of locations on a first scan plane and substantially across the vessel;
obtaining from said velocity values and/or said signal a first averaged velocity value and a first area measurement value;
deriving values for a cross-sectional area of the flow and the averaged velocity of fluid over the cross-sectional area from the averaged velocity value and area measurement value; and
calculating from said cross-sectional area of the flow and the averaged velocity of fluid over the cross-sectional area a value of flow of the fluid in the vessel.
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Abstract
An ultrasonic transducer is rotated until the displayed vessel has the smallest area. The transducer is then tilted to various angles with respect to a normal to a surface to obtain area and velocity measurements of fluid flow inside a vessel in a body imaged. A least mean square error calculation is then performed to find the area and velocity that will minimize such error. The product of these two quantities is the estimated flow.
129 Citations
61 Claims
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1. A method for measuring flow of a fluid in a vessel in a body, comprising the steps of:
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producing a value of the velocity of the fluid from a Doppler or time shifted ultrasound signal from each of a plurality of locations on a first scan plane and substantially across the vessel; obtaining from said velocity values and/or said signal a first averaged velocity value and a first area measurement value; deriving values for a cross-sectional area of the flow and the averaged velocity of fluid over the cross-sectional area from the averaged velocity value and area measurement value; and calculating from said cross-sectional area of the flow and the averaged velocity of fluid over the cross-sectional area a value of flow of the fluid in the vessel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 24, 25)
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16. An apparatus for measuring flow of a fluid in a vessel in a body, comprising:
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means for producing a value of the velocity of the fluid from a Doppler or time shifted ultrasound signal from each of a plurality of locations on a first scan plane and substantially across the vessel; means for obtaining from said velocity values and/or signal an averaged velocity value and an area measurement value; means for deriving values for the cross-sectional area of the flow and the averaged velocity of fluid over a cross-sectional area from the averaged velocity value and area measurement value; and means for calculating the cross-sectional area of the flow and the averaged velocity of fluid over the cross-sectional area a value of flow of the fluid in the vessel. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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26. A method for measuring flow of a fluid in a vessel in a body using ultrasound equipment, comprising the steps of:
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imaging a region of interest that includes an entire cross-sectional area of the vessel by taking data in a first view of the region at a first angle to the vessel and in a second view of the region at a second angle to the vessel; obtaining a first set of velocity data and a first set of area measurement data for a first plurality of locations within the vessel as imaged in the first view from data obtained in taking the first view; obtaining a second set of velocity data and a second set of area measurement data for a second plurality of locations within the vessel as imaged in the second view from data obtained in taking the second view; and deducing from said first and second sets of velocity data and from said first and second sets of area measurement at a value of flow of the fluid in the vessel. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method for measuring flow of a fluid in a vessel in a body, comprising the steps of:
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(a) obtaining blood flow parameters from a plurality of locations substantially across the vessel and in a plane; (b) determining an average velocity of blood flow from said blood flow parameters; and (c) determining a value of cross-sectional area of the vessel in said plane by integrating areas associated with information obtained from ultrasound echoes in the plane (d) using the average velocity and value of cross-sectional area to measure the fluid flow. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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50. A method for measuring a cross section of flow of a fluid in a vessel in a body, comprising the steps of:
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obtaining ultrasound echo information from a plurality of locations located substantially throughout the cross section and in a plane; scan converting said information; and determining a value of cross-sectional area of the vessel in said plane by integrating areas associated with said scan converted information.
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51. A method for measuring a flow parameter of a fluid in a zone such as a vessel in a body, comprising the steps of:
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designating a region of interest that encloses said zone; producing a value of a parameter related to velocity, energy or variance of velocity information of a Doppler or time shifted ultrasound signal from the fluid flow at each of a plurality of locations in an area of the region of interest in the body; and obtaining an averaged value of said parameter over said region. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. A method for measuring a cross section of flow of a fluid in a vessel in a body, comprising the steps of:
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obtaining ultrasound Doppler or time shifted information from a plurality of locations substantially across the vessel and in a plane; and determining a value of cross-sectional area of the vessel in said plane by integrating areas associated with said information obtained from said ultrasound Doppler or time shifted information. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61)
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Specification