Microwave hemorrhagic stroke detector
First Claim
1. A microwave hemorrhage detector, comprising:
- means for producing a pulsed microwave signal, wherein said microwave signal is transmitted across a medium selected from a group consisting of a portion of a human body and a portion of an animal body to produce a transmitted signal;
means for detecting said transmitted signal to produce a detected signal; and
means for analyzing said microwave signal and said detected signal to determine whether a hemorrhage exists within said medium, wherein said microwave signal and said detected signal are analyzed to produce a value selected from the group consisting of the real part of the refractive index and the loss due to absorption.
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Abstract
The microwave hemorrhagic stroke detector includes a low power pulsed microwave transmitter with a broad-band antenna for producing a directional beam of microwaves, an index of refraction matching cap placed over the patients head, and an array of broad-band microwave receivers with collection antennae. The system of microwave transmitter and receivers are scanned around, and can also be positioned up and down the axis of the patients head. The microwave hemorrhagic stroke detector is a completely non-invasive device designed to detect and localize blood pooling and clots or to measure blood flow within the head or body. The device is based on low power pulsed microwave technology combined with specialized antennas and tomographic methods. The system can be used for rapid, non-invasive detection of blood pooling such as occurs with hemorrhagic stroke in human or animal patients as well as for the detection of hemorrhage within a patient'"'"'s body.
67 Citations
60 Claims
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1. A microwave hemorrhage detector, comprising:
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means for producing a pulsed microwave signal, wherein said microwave signal is transmitted across a medium selected from a group consisting of a portion of a human body and a portion of an animal body to produce a transmitted signal;
means for detecting said transmitted signal to produce a detected signal; and
means for analyzing said microwave signal and said detected signal to determine whether a hemorrhage exists within said medium, wherein said microwave signal and said detected signal are analyzed to produce a value selected from the group consisting of the real part of the refractive index and the loss due to absorption. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method for determining whether a hemorrhage exists within a medium, comprising:
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producing a pulsed microwave signal;
transmitting said microwave signal through a medium selected from a group consisting of a portion of a human body and a portion of an animal body to produce a transmitted signal;
detecting said transmitted signal after it has passed through said medium to produce a detected signal; and
analyzing said microwave signal and said detected signal to determine whether a hemorrhage exists within said medium, wherein said microwave signal and said detected signal are analyzed to produce a value selected from the group consisting of the real part of the refractive index and the loss due to absorption. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
suppressing the effects of said pulse shape of said transmitted signal in each said detected signal;
calculating a normal signal;
storing said normal signal in the memory of a controlling computer system; and
reconstructing a data set from said normal signal to form a map of said medium by means of a standard tomographic back projection method.
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32. The method of claim 31, further comprising applying a post-processing algorithm to said map to highlight hemorrhage regions in a head map.
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33. The method of claim 30, further comprising inserting a contrast agent comprising microbubbles into said medium to increase the difference between the index of refraction between a hemorrhage and said medium.
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34. An apparatus, comprising:
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means for producing a microwave signal, wherein said microwave signal is transmitted through a medium selected from a group consisting of a portion of a human body and a portion of an animal body to produce a transmitted signal;
means for detecting said transmitted signal to produce a detected signal; and
means for analyzing said microwave signal and said detected signal to determine the index of refraction, at the wavelength of said microwave signal, of selected points within said medium. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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Specification