Clinical tissue examination
First Claim
1. A method for performing tissue examination comprising:
- pressing a plurality of sensors against a surface of a selected region of tissue to impose on the sensors pressure that varies in accordance with properties of tissue structures underlying the surface in the region and cause the sensors to respectively generate signals having levels that represent the pressure imposed thereon,generating an image from the signals generated by the sensors, the image comprising areas that respectively correspond to relative locations of the sensors and have attributes according to the levels of the signals generated by the respective sensors so that the image represents a spatial pressure profile of the selected region of tissue, and displaying said image, andprocessing the signals generated by the sensors to detect an underlying tissue structure in the selected region of tissue.
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Accused Products
Abstract
This invention concerns performing clinical tissue examination with a device that includes sensors which produces signals in response to pressure imposed on the sensors as the sensors are pressed against the tissue. The sensors generate signals in response to pressure imposed on the sensors when pressed against a selected region of tissue. That pressure varies in accordance with properties of underlying tissue structures. An image of the region of tissue is generated based on the signals generated by the sensors. The image is then displayed. The image represents the pressure imposed on the sensors. The image that is displayed may be a three dimensional image of the region of tissue. The signals produced by the sensors can also be processed to detect an underlying tissue structure in the region of tissue. A location or a map of the detected underlying tissue structure relative to a reference point is generated and displayed. The results of a current examination are compared to those of a previous examination.
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Citations
98 Claims
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1. A method for performing tissue examination comprising:
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pressing a plurality of sensors against a surface of a selected region of tissue to impose on the sensors pressure that varies in accordance with properties of tissue structures underlying the surface in the region and cause the sensors to respectively generate signals having levels that represent the pressure imposed thereon, generating an image from the signals generated by the sensors, the image comprising areas that respectively correspond to relative locations of the sensors and have attributes according to the levels of the signals generated by the respective sensors so that the image represents a spatial pressure profile of the selected region of tissue, and displaying said image, and processing the signals generated by the sensors to detect an underlying tissue structure in the selected region of tissue. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for performing tissue examination comprising:
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pressing a plurality of sensors against a selected region of tissue of a person to cause the sensors to generate signals in response to pressure imposed thereon by the pressing, the pressure varying in accordance with properties of different types of underlying tissue structures, processing the signals generated by the sensors to detect an underlying tissue structure in the region of tissue, generating positional signals indicative of a position of the sensors, and processing the positional signals to determine a location of the detected underlying tissue structure relative to an anatomical feature of the person. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method for examining tissue, comprising
pressing a plurality of sensors against a surface of a selected region of tissue to impose on the sensors pressure that varies in accordance with properties of tissue structures underlying the surface in the region and cause the sensors to respectively generate signals having levels that represent the pressure imposed thereon, generating an image from the signals generated by the sensors, the image comprising areas that respectively correspond to relative locations of the sensors and have attributes according to the levels of the signals generated by the respective sensors so that the image represents a spatial pressure profile of the selected region of tissue, and displaying the generated image.
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46. A method for performing a clinical breast examination using a tissue examination device, wherein the tissue examination device comprises a plurality of sensors, a processor, and a display, comprising
pressing the plurality of sensors against a surface of a selected region of tissue to impose on the sensors pressure that varies in accordance with properties of tissue structures underlying the surface in the region and cause the sensors to respectively generate signals having levels that represent the pressure imposed thereon, processing, by the processor, the signals generated by the sensors to generate an image from the signals, the image comprising areas that respectively correspond to relative locations of the sensors and have attributes according to the levels of the signals generated by the respective sensors so that the image represents a spatial pressure profile of the selected region of tissue, displaying the image with the display, and examining a shape in the displayed image of the spatial pressure profile to identify a selected type of underlying tissue structures.
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54. A tissue examination device comprising:
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a plurality of sensors which generate signals when pressed against a surface of a selected region of tissue to impose on the sensors pressure that varies in accordance with properties of tissue structures underlying the surface in the region, the signals having levels that represent the pressure imposed on the respective sensors, a processor for (1) generating an image from the signals generated by the sensors, the image comprising areas that respectively correspond to relative locations of the sensors and have attributes according to the levels of the signals generated by the respective sensors so that the image represents a spatial pressure profile of the selected region of tissue, and (2) processing the signals generated by the sensors to detect an underlying tissue structure in the selected region of tissue, and a display for displaying the image. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61)
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62. A device for performing tissue examination comprising:
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a plurality of sensors which generate signals in response to pressure imposed thereon when pressed against a selected region of tissue of a person, the pressure varying in accordance with properties of underlying tissue structures, a position indicator generating positional signals indicative of a position of the sensors, and a processor for processing the signals generated by the sensors to detect an underlying tissue structure in the region of tissue, and processing the positional signals to determine a location of the detected underlying tissue structure relative to an anatomical feature of the person. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 89)
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85. A tissue examination device comprising
a plurality of sensors which generate signals when pressed against a surface of a selected region of tissue to impose on the sensors pressure that varies in accordance with properties of tissue structures underlying the surface in the region, the signals having levels that represent the pressure imposed on the respective sensors, a processor for generating an image from the signals generated by the sensors, the image comprising areas that respectively correspond to relative locations of the sensors and have attributes according to the levels of the signals generated by the respective sensors so that the image represents a spatial pressure profile of the selected region of tissue, and a display for displaying the image.
Specification