Guidance of invasive medical procedures using implantable tags
First Claim
1. Apparatus for locating a tissue within a body of a subject, comprising:
- a wireless acoustic tag configured to be fixed to the tissue and adapted, responsive to acoustic waves incident thereon, to return acoustic echoes;
a plurality of acoustic transducers, which are adapted to be placed at respective positions so as to direct the acoustic waves into the body toward the tissue and to receive the acoustic echoes returned from the tag responsive to the acoustic waves, the transducers being further adapted to generate first signals responsive to the received echoes;
a plurality of transducer position sensors, coupled respectively to the acoustic transducers so as to generate second signals indicative of the respective location and orientation coordinates of the acoustic transducers in an external frame of reference; and
a processing unit, coupled to process the first signals and the second signals so as to determine the location and orientation coordinates of the acoustic tag in the external frame of reference.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus for locating a tissue within a body of a subject includes an acoustic tag configured to be fixed to the tissue and adapted, responsive to acoustic waves incident thereon, to return acoustic echoes. Acoustic transducers are placed at respective positions so as to direct the acoustic waves into the body toward the tissue and to receive the acoustic echoes returned from the tag responsive to the acoustic waves, generating first signals responsive to the received echoes. Transducer position sensors are coupled respectively to the acoustic transducers so as to generate second signals indicative of the respective positions of the acoustic transducers in an external frame of reference. A processing unit processes the first signals and the second signals so as to determine coordinates of the acoustic tag in the external frame of reference.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. Apparatus for locating a tissue within a body of a subject, comprising:
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a wireless acoustic tag configured to be fixed to the tissue and adapted, responsive to acoustic waves incident thereon, to return acoustic echoes; a plurality of acoustic transducers, which are adapted to be placed at respective positions so as to direct the acoustic waves into the body toward the tissue and to receive the acoustic echoes returned from the tag responsive to the acoustic waves, the transducers being further adapted to generate first signals responsive to the received echoes; a plurality of transducer position sensors, coupled respectively to the acoustic transducers so as to generate second signals indicative of the respective location and orientation coordinates of the acoustic transducers in an external frame of reference; and a processing unit, coupled to process the first signals and the second signals so as to determine the location and orientation coordinates of the acoustic tag in the external frame of reference. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for locating a tissue within a body of a subject, comprising:
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fixing a wireless acoustic tag to the tissue; placing a plurality of acoustic transducers at respective positions in proximity to the body; actuating the acoustic transducers so as to direct acoustic waves into the body toward the tissue; receiving acoustic echoes returned from the tag responsive to the acoustic waves, and generating first signals responsive to the received echoes; generating second signals indicative of the respective location and orientation coordinates of the acoustic transducers in an external frame of reference using a plurality of transducer position sensors, coupled respectively to the acoustic transducers; and processing the first signals and the second signals so as to determine the location and orientation coordinates of the acoustic tag in the external frame of reference. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification