US20210361259A1 - Semi-rigid acoustic coupling articles for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment applications - Google Patents
Semi-rigid acoustic coupling articles for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment applications Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20210361259A1 US20210361259A1 US17/397,253 US202117397253A US2021361259A1 US 20210361259 A1 US20210361259 A1 US 20210361259A1 US 202117397253 A US202117397253 A US 202117397253A US 2021361259 A1 US2021361259 A1 US 2021361259A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- acoustic
- sacm
- transducer elements
- array
- article
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Pending
Links
- 230000008878 coupling Effects 0.000 title claims abstract description 69
- 238000010168 coupling process Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 69
- 238000005859 coupling reaction Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 69
- 238000002604 ultrasonography Methods 0.000 title abstract description 32
- 239000000523 sample Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 58
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 29
- 230000000644 propagated effect Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 11
- 239000000017 hydrogel Substances 0.000 claims description 57
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 claims description 47
- 238000003384 imaging method Methods 0.000 claims description 27
- XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N water Substances O XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 27
- 229910001868 water Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 26
- OSGAYBCDTDRGGQ-UHFFFAOYSA-L calcium sulfate Chemical compound [Ca+2].[O-]S([O-])(=O)=O OSGAYBCDTDRGGQ-UHFFFAOYSA-L 0.000 claims description 20
- IXPNQXFRVYWDDI-UHFFFAOYSA-N 1-methyl-2,4-dioxo-1,3-diazinane-5-carboximidamide Chemical compound CN1CC(C(N)=N)C(=O)NC1=O IXPNQXFRVYWDDI-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 14
- 235000010413 sodium alginate Nutrition 0.000 claims description 14
- 239000000661 sodium alginate Substances 0.000 claims description 14
- 229940005550 sodium alginate Drugs 0.000 claims description 14
- ROOXNKNUYICQNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N ammonium persulfate Chemical compound [NH4+].[NH4+].[O-]S(=O)(=O)OOS([O-])(=O)=O ROOXNKNUYICQNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 13
- 239000000178 monomer Substances 0.000 claims description 12
- 229920001400 block copolymer Polymers 0.000 claims description 11
- WHNPOQXWAMXPTA-UHFFFAOYSA-N 3-methylbut-2-enamide Chemical compound CC(C)=CC(N)=O WHNPOQXWAMXPTA-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 9
- 229910001870 ammonium persulfate Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 9
- 239000012530 fluid Substances 0.000 claims description 8
- 230000006835 compression Effects 0.000 claims description 6
- 238000007906 compression Methods 0.000 claims description 6
- 239000002131 composite material Substances 0.000 claims 9
- 230000002463 transducing effect Effects 0.000 claims 2
- 230000002194 synthesizing effect Effects 0.000 claims 1
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 21
- 210000003484 anatomy Anatomy 0.000 description 18
- 238000005516 engineering process Methods 0.000 description 12
- 239000000203 mixture Substances 0.000 description 9
- 238000012285 ultrasound imaging Methods 0.000 description 9
- 238000003491 array Methods 0.000 description 8
- 125000002091 cationic group Chemical group 0.000 description 8
- 239000003431 cross linking reagent Substances 0.000 description 8
- 229920000642 polymer Polymers 0.000 description 8
- 210000001519 tissue Anatomy 0.000 description 8
- 239000000499 gel Substances 0.000 description 7
- 239000003999 initiator Substances 0.000 description 7
- 239000004971 Cross linker Substances 0.000 description 6
- -1 N′,N′-methylene Chemical group 0.000 description 6
- 230000005540 biological transmission Effects 0.000 description 6
- 239000012528 membrane Substances 0.000 description 6
- VAZSKTXWXKYQJF-UHFFFAOYSA-N ammonium persulfate Chemical compound [NH4+].[NH4+].[O-]S(=O)OOS([O-])=O VAZSKTXWXKYQJF-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 5
- 230000001902 propagating effect Effects 0.000 description 5
- 150000003254 radicals Chemical class 0.000 description 5
- HRPVXLWXLXDGHG-UHFFFAOYSA-N Acrylamide Chemical group NC(=O)C=C HRPVXLWXLXDGHG-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 4
- 241001465754 Metazoa Species 0.000 description 4
- 239000012190 activator Substances 0.000 description 4
- 238000005452 bending Methods 0.000 description 4
- 239000003054 catalyst Substances 0.000 description 4
- 239000003795 chemical substances by application Substances 0.000 description 4
- 238000004806 packaging method and process Methods 0.000 description 4
- 229910019142 PO4 Inorganic materials 0.000 description 3
- ZMANZCXQSJIPKH-UHFFFAOYSA-N Triethylamine Chemical compound CCN(CC)CC ZMANZCXQSJIPKH-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 3
- 150000001412 amines Chemical class 0.000 description 3
- 210000000481 breast Anatomy 0.000 description 3
- 229920001971 elastomer Polymers 0.000 description 3
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 3
- 239000010452 phosphate Substances 0.000 description 3
- KWVGIHKZDCUPEU-UHFFFAOYSA-N 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone Chemical compound C=1C=CC=CC=1C(OC)(OC)C(=O)C1=CC=CC=C1 KWVGIHKZDCUPEU-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- PYMYPHUHKUWMLA-UHFFFAOYSA-N 2,3,4,5-tetrahydroxypentanal Chemical compound OCC(O)C(O)C(O)C=O PYMYPHUHKUWMLA-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- LWRBVKNFOYUCNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 2-methyl-1-(4-methylsulfanylphenyl)-2-morpholin-4-ylpropan-1-one Chemical compound C1=CC(SC)=CC=C1C(=O)C(C)(C)N1CCOCC1 LWRBVKNFOYUCNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- UVRCNEIYXSRHNT-UHFFFAOYSA-N 3-ethylpent-2-enamide Chemical compound CCC(CC)=CC(N)=O UVRCNEIYXSRHNT-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 229920002148 Gellan gum Polymers 0.000 description 2
- 241000282412 Homo Species 0.000 description 2
- DGAQECJNVWCQMB-PUAWFVPOSA-M Ilexoside XXIX Chemical compound C[C@@H]1CC[C@@]2(CC[C@@]3(C(=CC[C@H]4[C@]3(CC[C@@H]5[C@@]4(CC[C@@H](C5(C)C)OS(=O)(=O)[O-])C)C)[C@@H]2[C@]1(C)O)C)C(=O)O[C@H]6[C@@H]([C@H]([C@@H]([C@H](O6)CO)O)O)O.[Na+] DGAQECJNVWCQMB-PUAWFVPOSA-M 0.000 description 2
- XEEYBQQBJWHFJM-UHFFFAOYSA-N Iron Chemical compound [Fe] XEEYBQQBJWHFJM-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- BAVYZALUXZFZLV-UHFFFAOYSA-N Methylamine Chemical compound NC BAVYZALUXZFZLV-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- PXHVJJICTQNCMI-UHFFFAOYSA-N Nickel Chemical compound [Ni] PXHVJJICTQNCMI-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 235000010443 alginic acid Nutrition 0.000 description 2
- 229920000615 alginic acid Polymers 0.000 description 2
- 239000002585 base Substances 0.000 description 2
- 230000008901 benefit Effects 0.000 description 2
- 210000000746 body region Anatomy 0.000 description 2
- 210000000988 bone and bone Anatomy 0.000 description 2
- 239000000679 carrageenan Substances 0.000 description 2
- 229920001525 carrageenan Polymers 0.000 description 2
- 229940113118 carrageenan Drugs 0.000 description 2
- 238000013461 design Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000002059 diagnostic imaging Methods 0.000 description 2
- VFHVQBAGLAREND-UHFFFAOYSA-N diphenylphosphoryl-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)methanone Chemical compound CC1=CC(C)=CC(C)=C1C(=O)P(=O)(C=1C=CC=CC=1)C1=CC=CC=C1 VFHVQBAGLAREND-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 235000010492 gellan gum Nutrition 0.000 description 2
- 239000000216 gellan gum Substances 0.000 description 2
- 210000003127 knee Anatomy 0.000 description 2
- JUYQFRXNMVWASF-UHFFFAOYSA-M lithium;phenyl-(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)phosphinate Chemical compound [Li+].CC1=CC(C)=CC(C)=C1C(=O)P([O-])(=O)C1=CC=CC=C1 JUYQFRXNMVWASF-UHFFFAOYSA-M 0.000 description 2
- 238000002595 magnetic resonance imaging Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000005259 measurement Methods 0.000 description 2
- 229910052751 metal Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 description 2
- 150000002978 peroxides Chemical class 0.000 description 2
- 229920005597 polymer membrane Polymers 0.000 description 2
- 238000000926 separation method Methods 0.000 description 2
- 229910052708 sodium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 239000011734 sodium Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000003860 storage Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000002560 therapeutic procedure Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000003325 tomography Methods 0.000 description 2
- QNODIIQQMGDSEF-UHFFFAOYSA-N (1-hydroxycyclohexyl)-phenylmethanone Chemical compound C=1C=CC=CC=1C(=O)C1(O)CCCCC1 QNODIIQQMGDSEF-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- LNAZSHAWQACDHT-XIYTZBAFSA-N (2r,3r,4s,5r,6s)-4,5-dimethoxy-2-(methoxymethyl)-3-[(2s,3r,4s,5r,6r)-3,4,5-trimethoxy-6-(methoxymethyl)oxan-2-yl]oxy-6-[(2r,3r,4s,5r,6r)-4,5,6-trimethoxy-2-(methoxymethyl)oxan-3-yl]oxyoxane Chemical compound CO[C@@H]1[C@@H](OC)[C@H](OC)[C@@H](COC)O[C@H]1O[C@H]1[C@H](OC)[C@@H](OC)[C@H](O[C@H]2[C@@H]([C@@H](OC)[C@H](OC)O[C@@H]2COC)OC)O[C@@H]1COC LNAZSHAWQACDHT-XIYTZBAFSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 239000012956 1-hydroxycyclohexylphenyl-ketone Substances 0.000 description 1
- IUVCFHHAEHNCFT-INIZCTEOSA-N 2-[(1s)-1-[4-amino-3-(3-fluoro-4-propan-2-yloxyphenyl)pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-1-yl]ethyl]-6-fluoro-3-(3-fluorophenyl)chromen-4-one Chemical compound C1=C(F)C(OC(C)C)=CC=C1C(C1=C(N)N=CN=C11)=NN1[C@@H](C)C1=C(C=2C=C(F)C=CC=2)C(=O)C2=CC(F)=CC=C2O1 IUVCFHHAEHNCFT-INIZCTEOSA-N 0.000 description 1
- CAHKJMQXQHYLPD-UHFFFAOYSA-N 2-benzhydrylprop-2-enamide Chemical compound C=1C=CC=CC=1C(C(=C)C(=O)N)C1=CC=CC=C1 CAHKJMQXQHYLPD-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- XMLYCEVDHLAQEL-UHFFFAOYSA-N 2-hydroxy-2-methyl-1-phenylpropan-1-one Chemical compound CC(C)(O)C(=O)C1=CC=CC=C1 XMLYCEVDHLAQEL-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- RALDEEUHNXQFIN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 2-methylideneicosanamide Chemical compound CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC(=C)C(N)=O RALDEEUHNXQFIN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- IMOLAGKJZFODRK-UHFFFAOYSA-N 2-phenylprop-2-enamide Chemical compound NC(=O)C(=C)C1=CC=CC=C1 IMOLAGKJZFODRK-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- TXFPEBPIARQUIG-UHFFFAOYSA-N 4'-hydroxyacetophenone Chemical compound CC(=O)C1=CC=C(O)C=C1 TXFPEBPIARQUIG-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- FJKROLUGYXJWQN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 4-hydroxybenzoic acid Chemical compound OC(=O)C1=CC=C(O)C=C1 FJKROLUGYXJWQN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- FHVDTGUDJYJELY-UHFFFAOYSA-N 6-{[2-carboxy-4,5-dihydroxy-6-(phosphanyloxy)oxan-3-yl]oxy}-4,5-dihydroxy-3-phosphanyloxane-2-carboxylic acid Chemical group O1C(C(O)=O)C(P)C(O)C(O)C1OC1C(C(O)=O)OC(OP)C(O)C1O FHVDTGUDJYJELY-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 229920001817 Agar Polymers 0.000 description 1
- CPELXLSAUQHCOX-UHFFFAOYSA-M Bromide Chemical compound [Br-] CPELXLSAUQHCOX-UHFFFAOYSA-M 0.000 description 1
- OYPRJOBELJOOCE-UHFFFAOYSA-N Calcium Chemical compound [Ca] OYPRJOBELJOOCE-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- UXVMQQNJUSDDNG-UHFFFAOYSA-L Calcium chloride Chemical compound [Cl-].[Cl-].[Ca+2] UXVMQQNJUSDDNG-UHFFFAOYSA-L 0.000 description 1
- 241000282465 Canis Species 0.000 description 1
- VEXZGXHMUGYJMC-UHFFFAOYSA-M Chloride anion Chemical compound [Cl-] VEXZGXHMUGYJMC-UHFFFAOYSA-M 0.000 description 1
- RYGMFSIKBFXOCR-UHFFFAOYSA-N Copper Chemical compound [Cu] RYGMFSIKBFXOCR-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 206010013082 Discomfort Diseases 0.000 description 1
- 108010010803 Gelatin Proteins 0.000 description 1
- WHXSMMKQMYFTQS-UHFFFAOYSA-N Lithium Chemical group [Li] WHXSMMKQMYFTQS-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- FYYHWMGAXLPEAU-UHFFFAOYSA-N Magnesium Chemical compound [Mg] FYYHWMGAXLPEAU-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 229920000881 Modified starch Polymers 0.000 description 1
- KWYHDKDOAIKMQN-UHFFFAOYSA-N N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine Chemical compound CN(C)CCN(C)C KWYHDKDOAIKMQN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 206010028980 Neoplasm Diseases 0.000 description 1
- 239000004677 Nylon Substances 0.000 description 1
- OFSAUHSCHWRZKM-UHFFFAOYSA-N Padimate A Chemical compound CC(C)CCOC(=O)C1=CC=C(N(C)C)C=C1 OFSAUHSCHWRZKM-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- WYWZRNAHINYAEF-UHFFFAOYSA-N Padimate O Chemical compound CCCCC(CC)COC(=O)C1=CC=C(N(C)C)C=C1 WYWZRNAHINYAEF-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- ZLMJMSJWJFRBEC-UHFFFAOYSA-N Potassium Chemical compound [K] ZLMJMSJWJFRBEC-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- HDSBZMRLPLPFLQ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Propylene glycol alginate Chemical compound OC1C(O)C(OC)OC(C(O)=O)C1OC1C(O)C(O)C(C)C(C(=O)OCC(C)O)O1 HDSBZMRLPLPFLQ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 208000010040 Sprains and Strains Diseases 0.000 description 1
- QAOWNCQODCNURD-UHFFFAOYSA-L Sulfate Chemical compound [O-]S([O-])(=O)=O QAOWNCQODCNURD-UHFFFAOYSA-L 0.000 description 1
- RTAQQCXQSZGOHL-UHFFFAOYSA-N Titanium Chemical compound [Ti] RTAQQCXQSZGOHL-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- HCHKCACWOHOZIP-UHFFFAOYSA-N Zinc Chemical compound [Zn] HCHKCACWOHOZIP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- QCWXUUIWCKQGHC-UHFFFAOYSA-N Zirconium Chemical compound [Zr] QCWXUUIWCKQGHC-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 210000001015 abdomen Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- 230000035508 accumulation Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000009825 accumulation Methods 0.000 description 1
- 229920000122 acrylonitrile butadiene styrene Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 239000008272 agar Substances 0.000 description 1
- 235000010419 agar Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 229940072056 alginate Drugs 0.000 description 1
- 229910052783 alkali metal Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 150000001340 alkali metals Chemical class 0.000 description 1
- 229910052784 alkaline earth metal Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 150000001342 alkaline earth metals Chemical class 0.000 description 1
- 235000010407 ammonium alginate Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 239000000728 ammonium alginate Substances 0.000 description 1
- KPGABFJTMYCRHJ-YZOKENDUSA-N ammonium alginate Chemical compound [NH4+].[NH4+].O1[C@@H](C([O-])=O)[C@@H](OC)[C@H](O)[C@H](O)[C@@H]1O[C@@H]1[C@@H](C([O-])=O)O[C@@H](O)[C@@H](O)[C@H]1O KPGABFJTMYCRHJ-YZOKENDUSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 210000003423 ankle Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- 238000013459 approach Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000002238 attenuated effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000010009 beating Methods 0.000 description 1
- RWCCWEUUXYIKHB-UHFFFAOYSA-N benzophenone Chemical compound C=1C=CC=CC=1C(=O)C1=CC=CC=C1 RWCCWEUUXYIKHB-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 239000012965 benzophenone Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000000560 biocompatible material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000015572 biosynthetic process Effects 0.000 description 1
- MQDJYUACMFCOFT-UHFFFAOYSA-N bis[2-(1-hydroxycyclohexyl)phenyl]methanone Chemical compound C=1C=CC=C(C(=O)C=2C(=CC=CC=2)C2(O)CCCCC2)C=1C1(O)CCCCC1 MQDJYUACMFCOFT-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 230000009172 bursting Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000011575 calcium Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052791 calcium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 235000010410 calcium alginate Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 239000000648 calcium alginate Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229960002681 calcium alginate Drugs 0.000 description 1
- 229910001622 calcium bromide Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000001110 calcium chloride Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910001628 calcium chloride Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- WGEFECGEFUFIQW-UHFFFAOYSA-L calcium dibromide Chemical compound [Ca+2].[Br-].[Br-] WGEFECGEFUFIQW-UHFFFAOYSA-L 0.000 description 1
- 239000001506 calcium phosphate Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910000389 calcium phosphate Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 235000011010 calcium phosphates Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- OKHHGHGGPDJQHR-YMOPUZKJSA-L calcium;(2s,3s,4s,5s,6r)-6-[(2r,3s,4r,5s,6r)-2-carboxy-6-[(2r,3s,4r,5s,6r)-2-carboxylato-4,5,6-trihydroxyoxan-3-yl]oxy-4,5-dihydroxyoxan-3-yl]oxy-3,4,5-trihydroxyoxane-2-carboxylate Chemical compound [Ca+2].O[C@@H]1[C@H](O)[C@H](O)O[C@@H](C([O-])=O)[C@H]1O[C@H]1[C@@H](O)[C@@H](O)[C@H](O[C@H]2[C@H]([C@@H](O)[C@H](O)[C@H](O2)C([O-])=O)O)[C@H](C(O)=O)O1 OKHHGHGGPDJQHR-YMOPUZKJSA-L 0.000 description 1
- PUQLFUHLKNBKQQ-UHFFFAOYSA-L calcium;trifluoromethanesulfonate Chemical compound [Ca+2].[O-]S(=O)(=O)C(F)(F)F.[O-]S(=O)(=O)C(F)(F)F PUQLFUHLKNBKQQ-UHFFFAOYSA-L 0.000 description 1
- 238000005266 casting Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000015556 catabolic process Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000001913 cellulose Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229920002678 cellulose Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 235000010980 cellulose Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 230000008859 change Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000012512 characterization method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000003153 chemical reaction reagent Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910017052 cobalt Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000010941 cobalt Substances 0.000 description 1
- GUTLYIVDDKVIGB-UHFFFAOYSA-N cobalt atom Chemical compound [Co] GUTLYIVDDKVIGB-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 230000001427 coherent effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000007796 conventional method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 229920001577 copolymer Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 229910052802 copper Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000010949 copper Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000004132 cross linking Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000006731 degradation reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000008367 deionised water Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910021641 deionized water Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 230000003111 delayed effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000012631 diagnostic technique Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004069 differentiation Effects 0.000 description 1
- XXBDWLFCJWSEKW-UHFFFAOYSA-N dimethylbenzylamine Chemical compound CN(C)CC1=CC=CC=C1 XXBDWLFCJWSEKW-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 238000009826 distribution Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000000806 elastomer Substances 0.000 description 1
- VECQJUDXTSSYDF-UHFFFAOYSA-N ethane-1,2-diol;prop-2-enamide Chemical compound OCCO.NC(=O)C=C.NC(=O)C=C VECQJUDXTSSYDF-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- IQIJRJNHZYUQSD-UHFFFAOYSA-N ethenyl(phenyl)diazene Chemical compound C=CN=NC1=CC=CC=C1 IQIJRJNHZYUQSD-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 238000002474 experimental method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000008273 gelatin Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229920000159 gelatin Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 235000019322 gelatine Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 235000011852 gelatine desserts Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 238000001879 gelation Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000036541 health Effects 0.000 description 1
- 210000001624 hip Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- 210000004394 hip joint Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- 150000002432 hydroperoxides Chemical class 0.000 description 1
- 239000001866 hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose Substances 0.000 description 1
- 235000010979 hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 229920003088 hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose Polymers 0.000 description 1
- UFVKGYZPFZQRLF-UHFFFAOYSA-N hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose Chemical compound OC1C(O)C(OC)OC(CO)C1OC1C(O)C(O)C(OC2C(C(O)C(OC3C(C(O)C(O)C(CO)O3)O)C(CO)O2)O)C(CO)O1 UFVKGYZPFZQRLF-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 208000015181 infectious disease Diseases 0.000 description 1
- 239000004615 ingredient Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052742 iron Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 210000001503 joint Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- 210000000629 knee joint Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- 210000002414 leg Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- 229910052744 lithium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 210000004185 liver Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- 230000001050 lubricating effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 229910052749 magnesium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000011777 magnesium Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229920000609 methyl cellulose Polymers 0.000 description 1
- YLHXLHGIAMFFBU-UHFFFAOYSA-N methyl phenylglyoxalate Chemical compound COC(=O)C(=O)C1=CC=CC=C1 YLHXLHGIAMFFBU-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 239000001923 methylcellulose Substances 0.000 description 1
- 235000010981 methylcellulose Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 235000019426 modified starch Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 210000003205 muscle Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- ZIUHHBKFKCYYJD-UHFFFAOYSA-N n,n'-methylenebisacrylamide Chemical compound C=CC(=O)NCNC(=O)C=C ZIUHHBKFKCYYJD-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- QNILTEGFHQSKFF-UHFFFAOYSA-N n-propan-2-ylprop-2-enamide Chemical compound CC(C)NC(=O)C=C QNILTEGFHQSKFF-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- XFHJDMUEHUHAJW-UHFFFAOYSA-N n-tert-butylprop-2-enamide Chemical compound CC(C)(C)NC(=O)C=C XFHJDMUEHUHAJW-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 210000003739 neck Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- 229910052759 nickel Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 230000009279 non-visceral effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 229920001778 nylon Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 230000003647 oxidation Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000007254 oxidation reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 210000003800 pharynx Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- NBIIXXVUZAFLBC-UHFFFAOYSA-K phosphate Chemical compound [O-]P([O-])([O-])=O NBIIXXVUZAFLBC-UHFFFAOYSA-K 0.000 description 1
- NXGWSWBWEQYMND-UHFFFAOYSA-N piperazine;prop-2-enamide Chemical compound NC(=O)C=C.NC(=O)C=C.C1CNCCN1 NXGWSWBWEQYMND-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 229920002401 polyacrylamide Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 239000004814 polyurethane Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229920002635 polyurethane Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 229910052700 potassium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000011591 potassium Substances 0.000 description 1
- 235000010408 potassium alginate Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 239000000737 potassium alginate Substances 0.000 description 1
- MZYRDLHIWXQJCQ-YZOKENDUSA-L potassium alginate Chemical compound [K+].[K+].O1[C@@H](C([O-])=O)[C@@H](OC)[C@H](O)[C@H](O)[C@@H]1O[C@@H]1[C@@H](C([O-])=O)O[C@@H](O)[C@@H](O)[C@H]1O MZYRDLHIWXQJCQ-YZOKENDUSA-L 0.000 description 1
- 239000003755 preservative agent Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000008569 process Effects 0.000 description 1
- 235000010409 propane-1,2-diol alginate Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 239000000770 propane-1,2-diol alginate Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000005855 radiation Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000005096 rolling process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 150000003839 salts Chemical class 0.000 description 1
- 210000002832 shoulder Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- 210000004872 soft tissue Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- 239000007787 solid Substances 0.000 description 1
- 210000000952 spleen Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- 230000003393 splenic effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000003068 static effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000001954 sterilising effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000004659 sterilization and disinfection Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000008399 tap water Substances 0.000 description 1
- 235000020679 tap water Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 210000002435 tendon Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- MDDUHVRJJAFRAU-YZNNVMRBSA-N tert-butyl-[(1r,3s,5z)-3-[tert-butyl(dimethyl)silyl]oxy-5-(2-diphenylphosphorylethylidene)-4-methylidenecyclohexyl]oxy-dimethylsilane Chemical compound C1[C@@H](O[Si](C)(C)C(C)(C)C)C[C@H](O[Si](C)(C)C(C)(C)C)C(=C)\C1=C/CP(=O)(C=1C=CC=CC=1)C1=CC=CC=C1 MDDUHVRJJAFRAU-YZNNVMRBSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 230000001225 therapeutic effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000009210 therapy by ultrasound Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000010936 titanium Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052719 titanium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 238000012876 topography Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000011573 trace mineral Substances 0.000 description 1
- 235000013619 trace mineral Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 238000012546 transfer Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000007704 transition Effects 0.000 description 1
- 229910052723 transition metal Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 150000003624 transition metals Chemical class 0.000 description 1
- QORWJWZARLRLPR-UHFFFAOYSA-H tricalcium bis(phosphate) Chemical compound [Ca+2].[Ca+2].[Ca+2].[O-]P([O-])([O-])=O.[O-]P([O-])([O-])=O QORWJWZARLRLPR-UHFFFAOYSA-H 0.000 description 1
- 229940086542 triethylamine Drugs 0.000 description 1
- ITMCEJHCFYSIIV-UHFFFAOYSA-M triflate Chemical compound [O-]S(=O)(=O)C(F)(F)F ITMCEJHCFYSIIV-UHFFFAOYSA-M 0.000 description 1
- 230000000007 visual effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 229920003169 water-soluble polymer Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 229910052725 zinc Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000011701 zinc Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052726 zirconium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
- A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
- A61B8/42—Details of probe positioning or probe attachment to the patient
- A61B8/4272—Details of probe positioning or probe attachment to the patient involving the acoustic interface between the transducer and the tissue
- A61B8/4281—Details of probe positioning or probe attachment to the patient involving the acoustic interface between the transducer and the tissue characterised by sound-transmitting media or devices for coupling the transducer to the tissue
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
- A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
- A61B8/44—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device
- A61B8/4422—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device related to hygiene or sterilisation
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
- A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
- A61B8/44—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device
- A61B8/4483—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device characterised by features of the ultrasound transducer
- A61B8/4494—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device characterised by features of the ultrasound transducer characterised by the arrangement of the transducer elements
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
- A61K49/00—Preparations for testing in vivo
- A61K49/22—Echographic preparations; Ultrasound imaging preparations ; Optoacoustic imaging preparations
- A61K49/222—Echographic preparations; Ultrasound imaging preparations ; Optoacoustic imaging preparations characterised by a special physical form, e.g. emulsions, liposomes
- A61K49/226—Solutes, emulsions, suspensions, dispersions, semi-solid forms, e.g. hydrogels
Definitions
- This patent document relates to methods, devices and articles for an acoustic coupling medium useful for ultrasound imaging.
- Acoustic imaging is an imaging modality that employs the properties of sound waves traveling through a medium to render a visual image.
- High frequency acoustic imaging has been used as an imaging modality for decades in a variety of biomedical fields to view internal structures and functions of animals and humans.
- High frequency acoustic waves used in biomedical imaging may operate in different frequencies, e.g., between 1 and 20 MHz, or even higher frequencies, and are often termed ultrasound waves.
- an acoustic coupling article includes a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) operable to conform to a receiving body to propagate an acoustic signal within the SACM to and from the receiving body.
- SACM semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium
- an acoustic coupling article includes a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) operable to contact and conform to an array of transducer elements at a first end of the SACM and to a receiving body at a second end of the SACM to propagate acoustic signals within the SACM between the array of transducer elements and the receiving body.
- SACM semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium
- the SACM includes one or more hydrogel materials in a single acoustic coupling article, where the SACM is structured to have one or more attachment portions located at the first end and an acoustic interface portion spanning away from the one or more attachment portions and terminating at the second end, such that an outward surface of the acoustic interface portion at the second end is structured to (i) be substantially flat, at least at a portion of the outward surface, (ii) have a single curve along one direction of the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface, and/or (iii) have multiple curves in multiple directions along the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface.
- the outward surface is operable to conform to the receiving body for propagation of the acoustic signals into and from the receiving body.
- the one or more attachment portions are configured to be secured by an acoustic probe device having the array of transducer elements to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signals.
- an acoustic coupling article includes a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) operable to contact and conform to an array of transducer elements at a first end of the SACM and to a receiving body at a second end of the SACM to propagate acoustic signals within the SACM between the array of transducer elements and the receiving body.
- SACM semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium
- the SACM includes a single hydrogel material and is structured to have a shape including one or more attachment portions located at the first end and an acoustic interface portion spanning away from the one or more attachment portions and terminating at the second end, such that an outward surface of the acoustic interface portion at the second end is structured to (i) have a single curve along one direction of the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface, and/or (ii) have multiple curves in multiple directions along the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface.
- the outward surface is operable to conform to the receiving body to propagate the acoustic signals into and from the receiving body.
- the attachment portions are configured to be secured by an acoustic probe device having the array of transducer elements to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signals through the single hydrogel material.
- an acoustic probe device includes a housing; an array of transducer elements attached to the housing and operable to transmit acoustic signals toward a target volume in a receiving body and received returned acoustic signals that return from at least part of the target volume; and a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) operable to contact and conform to the array of transducer elements at a first end of the SACM and, when the acoustic probe device is engaged with the receiving body, to contact and conform to the receiving body at a second end of the SACM for propagating the transmitted and received returned acoustic signals within the SACM between the array of transducer elements and the receiving body.
- SACM semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium
- the SACM includes one or more individual hydrogel materials in a single SACM, where the SACM is structured to have one or more attachment portions located at the first end and an acoustic interface portion spanning away from the one or more attachment portions and terminating at the second end, such that an outward surface of the acoustic interface portion at the second end is structured to (i) be substantially flat, at least at a portion of the outward surface, (ii) have a single curve along one direction of the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface, and/or (iii) have multiple curves in multiple directions along the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface.
- the outward surface is able to conform to the receiving body for propagation of the acoustic signals into and from the receiving body.
- the one or more attachment portions are configured to be secured by the acoustic probe device having the array of transducer elements to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signals.
- the device is included in an acoustic imaging system configured to produce a synthetic aperture and/or a tomographic image with high resolution of an anatomical structure of a human or non-human subject based on mechanical and acoustic properties of the SACM.
- FIGS. 1A and 1B show diagrams illustrating a conventional acoustic couplant which exhibits a lack of conformability to a patient's skin.
- FIG. 2 shows diagrams illustrating conventional acoustic couplants, which can be comprised of polymers that create rigid gaps between the interface of the coupling medium and the patient's skin.
- FIG. 3A-3D show diagrams depicting an example embodiment of a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium in accordance with the present technology.
- FIG. 4 shows an image of an example ionically, crosslinked semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium.
- FIGS. 5A-5F show images of an example semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium under mechanical stress.
- FIGS. 6A-6C show schematic diagrams of an acoustic probe device including in accordance with the example embodiments of the disclosed acoustic couplant medium technology.
- FIG. 7 shows a diagram illustrating an acoustic imaging system employing an example embodiment of the semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium in accordance with the present technology for generating synthetic aperture or tomographic, high-resolution, images of various human anatomical structures.
- Acoustic imaging can be performed by emitting an acoustic waveform (e.g., pulse) within a physical elastic medium, such as a biological medium, including tissue.
- the acoustic waveform is transmitted from a transducer element (e.g., of an array of transducer elements) toward a target volume of interest (VOI).
- VOI target volume of interest
- Propagation of the acoustic waveform in the medium toward the target volume can encounter structures that cause the acoustic waveform to become partly reflected from a boundary between two mediums (e.g., differing biological tissue structures) and partially transmitted.
- the reflection of the transmitted acoustic waveform can depend on the acoustic impedance difference between the two mediums (e.g., at the interface between two different biological tissue types).
- some of the acoustic energy of the transmitted acoustic waveform can be scattered back to the transducer at the interface to be received, and processed to extract information, while the remainder may travel on and to the next medium.
- scattering of the reflection may occur as the result of two or more impedances contained in the reflective medium acting as a scattering center.
- the acoustic energy can be refracted, diffracted, delayed, and/or attenuated based on the properties of the medium and/or the nature of the acoustic wave.
- Acoustic wave speed and acoustic impedance differences can exist at the interface between the transducer and the medium to receive the acoustic waveform, e.g., referred to as the receiving medium, for propagation of the acoustic waveform toward the target volume, which can disrupt the transmission of the acoustic signal for imaging, range-Doppler measurement, tissue characterization (e.g., Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse—ARFI), or therapeutic applications.
- Acoustic impedance differences caused due to differing material properties (e.g., material density) of the two mediums and the acoustic wave velocity, such that a substantial amount of the emitted acoustic energy will be reflected at the interface rather than transferred in full across the interface.
- a transmission gel is applied to the receiving medium (i.e., the skin of a subject) at the interface where the transducers will make contact to improve the transfer of the acoustic waveform(s) from the transducer to the body and the reception of the returned acoustic waveform(s) from the body back to the transducer.
- the interface may include air as a component of the medium between the receiving medium (e.g., living skin tissue) and the transducer, and an acoustic impedance mismatch in the transducer-to-air and the air-to-body discontinuity causes the scattering (e.g., reflection) of the emitted acoustic energy.
- the receiving medium e.g., living skin tissue
- the transducer e.g., living skin tissue
- acoustic transmission gels may contain tiny packets of air that can disrupt the transmission of acoustic signals. Additionally, many patients complain of discomforts with the use of gels dispensed on their skin, e.g., such as temperature, stickiness, or other. More concerning, however, acoustic transmission gels can become contaminated during production or storage, which has led to infections within some patients. For subjects with hair on their skin at the location where the transducer is to be placed, these subjects typically must shave or otherwise remove the external hair which exasperates the trapping of air between the skin and gel.
- the differences in the acoustic wave speed can result in refraction of the acoustic sound wave.
- Acoustic wave speed differences at the interface cause the propagation path of longitudinal acoustic waves to refract or change direction according to Snell's Law as a function of the angle of incidence and the acoustic wave speeds either side of the interface.
- Accumulations of infinitesimal amounts of refraction as the wave propagates in a heterogeneous material results in bending or curvature in the path of the acoustic wave.
- Ultrasound imaging gained interest in the medical imaging community for portability, multiple anatomic target modalities, safety, and relatively low cost when compared to X-ray, computerized tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques.
- Some modalities focus entirely on cardiology and can create 4-D images of beating ventricles.
- Other modalities are dedicated calculators that compute fluid flow through tiny corpuscular capillaries in the liver and spleen whereas other modalities simply use the US as a general-purpose machine. Regardless how narrow or broad the application, all US machines suffer from the same limitations engendered from traditional ultrasound design, i.e., loss of image quality at depth and low near field resolution. While the image depth depends mostly on array design and transducer frequency, the obfuscated near field is the result of large impedance mismatch differences between the transducer interface and patient interface and the focal point of the transducer.
- Near field convolution is also a problem encountered in many clinical, US diagnostic techniques, especially for synovial joints which are bundles of tendon, fluid, bone, and muscle tightly bound together under a thin, sinewy veil of skin and tissue.
- This is a ubiquitous problem, and many clinicians have resorted to filling a rubber glove with tap water to act as a portable, quasi-water bath that doubled as a standoff, e.g., any acoustic coupling material providing distance between the transducer interface and patient interface.
- Simple, cost effective, and fast to implement, this artifice was a solution, albeit inadequate, for generating quick non-visceral US images with linear arrays.
- the ultrasound transducer array or the patient's anatomy is large or possesses particular curvature, e.g., being singly curved or doubly curved
- acoustic coupling of the transducer array to the patient anatomy for clinical medical imaging purposes has not been practicable without resorting to a water bath, where both the transducer array and the patient's anatomy are immersed in a volume of water.
- all synthetic aperture or tomographic ultrasound devices employ a large, non-portable water bath couplant that are limited to only a few applications, such as breast imaging applications.
- FIGS. 1A, 1B and 2 illustrate some of the shortcomings of conventional water-filled sacs as acoustic couplants for use in high-resolution, clinical ultrasound imaging.
- FIGS. 1A and 1B show diagrams illustrating a typical quasi-water bath acoustic couplant example that exhibits a lack of conformability to a patient's skin.
- This example depicts a conventional balloon-like acoustic couplant interface that contains water (e.g., degassed deionized (DI) water) or a semi-fluid (e.g. gel) acoustic coupling medium.
- the balloon-like couplant in this example, includes a polymer balloon-like outer membrane that encompasses degassed water or other semi-fluid within the polymer outer membrane.
- the acoustic coupling material entrapped within the outer membrane provides a pressure on the inner surface of the outer membrane, such that the shape of the balloon couplant is defined by the external forces exerted upon the balloon—in this example, the external forces include a normal force (F N ) exerted by a flat surface in contact with the balloon couplant and outer force (F L ) from the outer environment.
- the outer membrane of the balloon couplant is typically flexible, and can be bent to attempt to fit around singly or doubly curved surfaces, as shown by the diagram in FIG. 1B . However, such bending always creates creases and hence entrained air at inflexion points along the outer membrane and within the fluidic interior of the balloon couplant due to fundamental topological incompatibility of the two surfaces.
- the balloon couplant still lacks conformability needed to successfully image curved anatomic targets of large variety of shapes since the encapsulated acoustic medium is essentially an incompressible fluid (e.g., k ⁇ 50 ⁇ 10 ⁇ 6 atm ⁇ 1 ) and conservation of volume principles apply.
- FIG. 2 shows diagrams illustrating a conventional acoustic couplant, such as a balloon couplant, that is comprised of polymers that create rigid gaps between the interface of the coupling medium and the patient's skin.
- Diagram 200 A shows the example balloon-like acoustic couplant in contact with a surface, illustrating maximum compression on the balloon couplant between applied external forces from a surface in contact with the couplant (normal force F N ) and forces (F L ) from the surrounding environment.
- Diagram 200 B shows the example balloon acoustic couplant with folds/creases/ridges formed by the outer polymer membrane of the balloon couplant slacking when balloon couplant is bent to conform to the array, trapping air that acts as a strong acoustic reflector.
- Diagram 200 B also shows an example of the balloon acoustic couplant unable to uniformly couple to the target volume because the balloon couplant is unable to conform to the contour of the target to fill in the divot and escarpment.
- Diagram 200 C shows an example balloon couplant in contact with a target volume (e.g., patient's skin of a body part), illustrating how the balloon couplant will have gaps between the couplant and target volume due to divots and/or changes in the contour of the target.
- a target volume e.g., patient's skin of a body part
- hydrogel pucks or sheets e.g., ⁇ 1.0-1.5 cm
- These hydrogel puck or sheet standoffs aim at minimizing the impedance mismatch between the rigid, symmetrical transducer interface and the asymmetrical, conformable patient interface for linear arrays.
- thin hydrogel sheets can fill in divots and escarpments along planar surfaces and form to eclectic curved topography. Additionally, depending on the hydrogel chemistry and morphology, hydrogels can either be sticky for long, static US diagnostic scans or generate a lubricating layer via syneresis when conducting short, dynamic scans under pressure.
- hydrogels on the current market have a large bulk modulus which increases hydrogel rigidity as the thickness increases. Coupled with low fracture toughness and paraben preservatives, the stiffness and brittleness, the ease of crack propagation, and the ambiguity of health safety render these conventional hydrogel standoffs useless in applications where a thick (e.g., >2 cm), tough, and conformable semi-rigid standoff is needed for non-linear arrays like the aforementioned ACT semicircular array.
- SACM semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium
- SAC semi-rigid acoustic couplant
- the disclosed SACM articles include a hydrogel interface pad that is semi-solid and sonolucent and can minimize impedance-mismatching of acoustic signals propagating between the acoustic transducer elements and the body having the target volume of interest (VOI).
- VOI target volume of interest
- Implementations of a semi-rigid material with engineered acoustic and mechanical properties can enable tomographic or synthetic aperture ultrasound imaging of general anatomical shapes.
- human or animal patient anatomy to be imaged by a tomographic or synthetic aperture ultrasound device come in almost an unlimited number of three-dimensional curvilinear shapes and sizes.
- the example embodiments of the disclosed SACs can be coupled to an acoustic transducer probe device (e.g., ultrasound scanner). Details of example embodiments of an acoustic transducer probe device that can attach and utilize the example SACM are described in U.S. Publication No. 2016/0242736A1, which is incorporated by reference as part of the technical disclosure of this patent document.
- the transducer array aperture surface of an ultrasound scanner used for tomographic and/or synthetic aperture ultrasound imaging can be configured to have a 3D curvilinear shape, which can be a simple 3D curvilinear shape or complex 3D curvilinear shape defined by the number of transducers in the array and their angular arrangement with one another to create a curvilinear transducer array surface.
- the transducer array aperture can be described by a closed analytically-described curve lying in a plane, such as a cylinder or an ellipse, or by a synthetically-described curve lying in a plane, such as a spline.
- the transducer array aperture can be composed of one or more segments of analytically- or synthetically-described curves not necessarily lying in a plane, such as for example a conical spiral. Yet, for practical reasons, the number of transducer array apertures are of a limited number.
- the disclosed SACs can address the challenges for acoustically coupling a limited number of tomographic or synthetic aperture ultrasound transducer arrays to a relatively unlimited number of anatomical shapes and sizes of the various kind of subjects (e.g., humans, animals, etc.).
- the disclosed SACs are engineered to have mechanical properties that allow it to sufficiently deform to entirely conform to both the array aperture and the surface of patient without gaps or air entrainment, while having a minimal acoustic attenuation and optimal acoustic impedance matching.
- the disclosed SACs when attached to the transducer array, allow the array to be conveniently positioned multiple times during the imaging procedure over varying tissue geometry to capture the desired anatomical region of interest.
- the disclosed SACs include an engineered polymer network having the ability to form elaborate geometries and entrap water to a high percentage (e.g., 85% or greater) that provides acoustic impedance matching between ultrasound transducer elements and the target biological volume.
- the disclosed SACs are semi-flexible, -stretchable and- bendable, for example, while also being semi-stiff, e.g., analogous to a bendable rubber.
- the semi-flexible SAC is stiffer than a soft elastomer, but soft enough to stretch and bend considerably without breaking.
- the disclosed SACs provide additional advantages in their manner of manufacture, distribution and application based on their low-cost of fabrication, simultaneous step of sterilization and curing, stable storage, and biocompatibility.
- FIG. 3A shows a diagram depicting an example embodiment of a semi-rigid acoustic couplant article 300 in accordance with the present technology.
- the SAC article 300 is configured from a single, uniform acoustic coupling material having an interface portion 302 and attachment portions 301 A and 301 B formed on both sides of the interface portion 302 .
- the SAC article 300 is structured to have a “T-like” shape where the attachment portions 301 A and 301 B are located at one end 303 of the interface portion 302 , which can provide a wider acoustic coupling medium in the elevation dimension for tomographic and/or synthetic aperture ultrasound imaging applications.
- the SAC article 300 is configured to physically contact and conform to an array of transducer elements at the surface along the end 303 of the SAC article 300 to acoustically interface an ultrasound probe device to the acoustic couplant.
- the SAC article 300 is configured to physically contact and conform to a receiving body at another end 304 of the SAC article 300 to acoustically interface the acoustic couplant for propagating acoustic signals between the array of transducer elements and the receiving body.
- the transducer-interfacing surface at end 303 is positioned at an opposing side to the receiving body-interfacing surface at end 304 across the interface portion 302 of the SAC article 300 .
- the end 304 is an outward-facing surface (outward surface 312 ) providing the receiving body-interfacing surface of the SAC article 300 .
- the outward surface 312 of the interface portion 302 includes a singly-curved face or multiply-curved face in one or more directions between the ends defined by the attachment portions 301 A and 301 B, like that shown in the example of FIG. 3B .
- a multiply-curved face of the outward surface 312 includes a convex face in the two planar directions that define the surface.
- FIG. 3B shows a diagram of the inset 309 shown in FIG. 3A , depicting a cross-sectional (planar) view of a multiply-curved face that forms a convex region of the outward surface 312 .
- the convex shape of this example is one of an infinite number of mathematically possible, singly- or multiply-curved shapes, e.g., such as concave or convex shapes, that can be presented on the outward surface 312 of the SAC article 300 .
- FIG. 3C shows a diagram of the inset 309 shown in FIG. 3A , depicting a cross-sectional (planar) view of a multiply-curved face that forms a concave region of the outward surface 312 .
- the concave shape of this example is an example where the curvature of the outward surface 312 is in multiple directions (although only a planar view is shown in the diagram).
- the singly-curved surface or multiply-curved surface can additionally or alternatively be configured on the first end to improve conformation of the semi-rigid acoustic couplant to the transducer array, e.g., particularly for transducer elements having curved or otherwise non-flat shapes.
- SAC article 300 overcomes the aforementioned problems of interfacing rigid, singly- or doubly-curved shaped transducer arrays to complex anatomical structures such as shoulders, knees, elbows, elbows, small parts, etc.
- the deformable nature of semi-rigid acoustic couplants permits them to conform to a singly-, doubly-or multiply-curved transducer array and to arbitrarily shaped anatomical structures.
- synthetic aperture or tomographic imaging techniques can be employed without requiring both the transducer array and anatomical structure to be immersed in a water bath, as currently done in existing tomographic imaging devices.
- Arbitrarily shaped, relatively large arrays (e.g., >100 mm in extent, which are notably larger than almost all current US arrays) using an example SACM couplant, such as the SAC article 300 , can be used to generate synthetic aperture or tomographic, high-resolution, images of various human anatomical structures without requiring a water bath couplant, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 7 and discussed later below. Therefore, such semi-rigid acoustic couplants enable many new portable, high definition, diagnostic and point-of-care (e.g., inter-operative) clinical imaging applications that previously were not possible.
- the SAC article 300 includes one or more hydrogel materials in a single SACM couplant.
- a single hydrogel material can be fabricated in the desired shape (e.g., including but not limited to the example T-shape shown in FIG. 3A ), where the single hydrogel material that forms the SAC article 300 is structured to have one or more attachment portions located at the end 303 and the interface portion 302 spanning away from the end 303 and terminating at the end 304 , which provides the outward surface 312 to interface with the receiving body.
- the outward surface 312 of the interface portion 302 is structured to (i) be flat, at least at a portion of the outward surface, (ii) have a single curve along one direction of the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface, and/or (iii) have multiple curves in multiple directions along the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface.
- the SAC article 300 is able to conform to the receiving body for propagation of the acoustic signals into and from the receiving body, and such that the one or more attachment portions are configured to be secured by an acoustic probe device having the array of transducer elements to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signals, e.g., where the SAC article 300 conforms to both the receiving body and array of transducer elements of an acoustic probe device, including by deformations like stretching and bending of the SAC article 300 , without resulting in gaps, creases, or air entrainments at any interface of the SACM with the receiving body and the transducer elements.
- the SAC article 300 includes a plurality of individual hydrogel materials, where the individual hydrogel materials of the plurality couple and conform to each other without resulting in gaps, creases, or air entrainments in between to form a single hydrogel material.
- the SAC article 300 including the plurality of individual hydrogel materials is able to perform like the single hydrogel material embodiment, e.g., where the SAC article 300 conforms to both the receiving body and array of transducer elements of an acoustic probe device, including by deformations like stretching and bending of the SAC article 300 , without resulting in gaps, creases, or air entrainments at any interface of the SACM with the receiving body and the transducer elements.
- Example compositions of the individual hydrogel materials are described later below.
- FIG. 3D shows a diagram of two example implementations where the SAC 300 is interfaced with an array of acoustic transducers in an acoustic probe device 390 , e.g., like the example acoustic probe device 600 shown later in FIGS. 6A-6C or the acoustic probe devices shown in the disclosure of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2016/0242736A1, the contents of which are incorporated by reference as part of this disclosure for all purposes.
- the SAC 300 is interfaced with the array of acoustic transducers in the acoustic probe device 390 in a manner such that the acoustic coupling medium material, i.e., the SAC 300 , conforms between a receiving body (e.g., breast and an abdomen) and the acoustic transducers of the probe 390 .
- a receiving body e.g., breast and an abdomen
- the SAC article 300 when interfaced to an acoustic probe device, is operable to propagate acoustic signals with an acoustic impedance matching of 10 MRayls or less (e.g., more preferably 4 MRayls or less for certain applications, and capable of 2 MRayls or less or 1.6 MRayls or less).
- the SAC article 300 when interfaced to the acoustic probe device, is operable to propagate acoustic signals with an acoustic attenuation in a range of about 0.0001-1.00 dB/cm/MHz.
- the SAC conforms to the surfaces of both an acoustic probe device having one or more transducer elements and receiving body (having the target biological volume) based on its semi-rigidity.
- the SAC article 300 can be configured to include one or more of the following properties: stretchability of 10% to 1000% elongation or greater, e.g., 2500%; compression of 20% to 99.99%, and a Young's modulus of 30 kPa to 500 kPa, or in some embodiments lower than 30 kPa, e.g., as low as 1 kPa.
- the SAC 300 is configured as a hydrogel formed of a composition that includes a monomer, a block copolymer, and a dispersive phase.
- the hydrogel composition includes the monomer, the block copolymer, the dispersive phase and a covalent crosslinker agent, a cationic crosslinking agent, a catalyst, and/or a free radical initiator.
- the monomer can serve as the primary, structural network for the hydrogel.
- the monomer is an acrylamide.
- acrylamide monomers include dimethylacrylamide (DMA), diethylacrylamide (DEAA), phenyl acrylamide, tert-butylacrylamide, octadecylacrylamide, isopropylacrylamide, or diphenylmethylacrylamide.
- DMA dimethylacrylamide
- DEAA diethylacrylamide
- phenyl acrylamide phenyl acrylamide
- tert-butylacrylamide octadecylacrylamide
- isopropylacrylamide or diphenylmethylacrylamide.
- the monomer is sometimes referred to as the “1° network”.
- the 1° network monomer includes DMA.
- the block copolymer can provide a secondary, grated sacrificial network for the hydrogel.
- the block copolymer is an alginate.
- alginates include sodium alginate (SA), potassium alginate, calcium alginate, ammonium alginate, low acetylated gellan gum, high acetylated gellan gum, modified starches, agar, k-Carrageenan, I-Carrageenan, low methoxy pectin, high methoxy pectin, methyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, cellulose/gelatin, or propylene glycol alginate.
- the block copolymer is sometimes referred to as the “2° network”.
- the block copolymer includes SA.
- the dispersive phase is water (e.g., deionized water (DI H 2 O)), which can be present in an amount of about 75.65 wt % to about 95.98 wt % of the total weight of the hydrogel interface pad.
- DI H 2 O deionized water
- the covalent crosslinker agent is an acrylamide.
- acrylamide covalent crosslinkers include N′,N′-methylene bisacrylamide (MBA), bisacrylamide, ethylene bisacrylamide, piperazine diacrylamide, or ethylene glycol bisacrylamide.
- MBA N′,N′-methylene bisacrylamide
- the covalent crosslinker agent is sometimes referred to as the 1°-network crosslinker.
- the 1°-network crosslinker agent includes SA.
- the cationic crosslinking agent is a monovalent, divalent, trivalent metal.
- a cationic crosslinking agent can be a transition metal, an alkali metal, or an alkaline earth metal where the metal is the 1 + , 2 + , or 3 + oxidation state.
- the cationic crosslinking agent is lithium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, zinc, zirconium, iron, cobalt, nickel, titanium, or copper.
- the cationic crosslinking agent is in the form of any monovalent divalent, or trivalent salt.
- the cationic crosslinking agent is any sulfate, phosphate, chloride, bromide, triflate, amine, or carboxylate salt.
- the cationic crosslinking agent is calcium sulfate (CA), calcium phosphate, calcium chloride, calcium bromide, or calcium triflate.
- CA calcium sulfate
- the cationic crosslinking agent is sometimes referred to as the 2°-network activator.
- the 2°-network activator includes CA.
- the catalyst can promote and/or increase the rate of the chemical reaction that forms the hydrogel composition.
- the catalyst is an amine.
- Non-limiting examples of amine catalyst include aliphatic amines, N′,N′,N,N-tetramethylethylenediamine (TMED), benzyldimethylamine, methylamine, or triethyl amine.
- the free radical initiator can generate free radicals that initiate the formation of the polymeric network of the hydrogel composition.
- free radical initiators includes ammonium persulfate (APS), peroxides such as dialkyl peroxides, hydroperoxides, diacyl periods, or azo-compounds (i.e., —N ⁇ N— moieties).
- the initiator is a photoinitiator.
- Non-limiting examples of photo initiators include ribofalvin-5′-phosphate, ribofalvin-5′-phosphate sodium, ethyl (2,4,5-trimethylbenzoyl) phenyl phosphinate (TPO-L), bis-acylphosphine oxide (BAPO), 2-hydroxy-2-methyl propiophenone, methylbenzoyl formate, isoamyl 4-(dimethylamino) benzoate, 2-ethyl hexyl-4-(dimethylamino) benzoate, or diphenyl(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl) phosphine oxide (TPO).
- photo-initiators include 1-hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone (Irgacure 184), 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone (Irgacure 651), and 2-methyl-1-[4-(methylthio) phenyl]-2-(4-morpholinyl)-1-propanone (Irgacure 907), hydroxyacetophenone, phosphineoxide, benzophenone, and lithium phenyl-2,4,6-trimethylbenzoylphosphinate (LAP).
- the free radical initiator is sometimes referred to as the 1°-network activator.
- the 1°-network activator includes TMED.
- a semi-rigid hydrogel interface pad is made up of two water soluble polymer networks: a primary (1° network) scaffold and a secondary (2° network) sacrificial graft.
- the hydrogel interface pad includes a dimethyl acrylamide monomer (DMAm), a sodium alginate block copolymer (P(SA)), and water.
- DMA concentration can be engineered to affect the elasticity and conformability.
- the hydrogel interface pad further comprises MBA, TMED, CA, and APS.
- FIG. 4 shows an image of an example embodiment of a SAC in accordance with the present technology produced as an ionically, crosslinked hydrogel interface pad (HIP) 402 .
- HIP crosslinked hydrogel interface pad
- mechanical and acoustic properties of the HIP 402 and a second example hydrogel interface pad 401 used as a control were compared, as shown in Table 1.
- the example HIP 401 is composed of Poly(Acrylamide) (Poly(AA)) with low viscosity P(SA) 2° network with good elastic, conformability, and clarity properties. Rippling on exposed surface of the example HIP 401 was due to surface tension differentials during the gelation process.
- the example HIP 402 was configured to have the same composition of P(SA) as the HIP 401 but includes Poly(DMAm) instead of Poly(AA).
- Table 1 shows tested acoustic and mechanical properties of the example HIP sample 402 and for the example control hydrogel sample 401 .
- SOS speed of sound
- Z acoustic impedance
- ATTN attenuation
- E Young's Modulus
- ⁇ is the engineering strain.
- FIGS. 5A-5F show images of the pliability, stretchability, deformability, and robustness of an example semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium article.
- FIG. 5A shows the example SACM prior to localized compression
- FIG. 5B which shows the SACM during localized compression
- FIG. 5C shows the SACM prior to squeezing
- FIG. 5D which shows the SACM during squeezing
- FIG. 5E shows the SACM conformability characteristics
- FIG. 5F shows the SACM under full compression.
- the example SACM is able to undergo all of these physical deformations while maintaining its full acoustic propagation properties, thereby allowing an acoustic imaging system employing the SACM to form an acoustic image without artifacts.
- FIGS. 6A-6C show schematic diagrams of an acoustic probe device 600 in accordance with the example embodiments of the disclosed semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment techniques.
- the probe device 600 includes a housing structure 601 to contain and position one or more transducers for transmitting and receiving acoustic signals to/from a mass (e.g., body part) to which the acoustic probe device 600 is applied.
- the couplant device 600 includes an acoustic coupling article 605 that is an embodiment of any of the disclosed SACMs, e.g., including but not limited to the semi-rigid acoustic couplant article 300 shown in FIGS. 3A-3D .
- the acoustic coupling medium article 605 is attached to the housing structure 601 such that the acoustic coupling article 605 is in contact with the external surface area of the transducer elements disposed in the housing structure 601 .
- the housing structure 601 includes a curved section where transducer elements (not shown) of an acoustic transmit and/or receive transducer array are positioned.
- the curved section of the housing structure 601 can be configured to various sizes and/or curvatures tailored to a particular body region or part where the couplant device 600 is to be applied in acoustic imaging, measurement, and/or therapy implementations.
- the length, depth, and arc of the curved section of the housing structure 601 can be configured to make complete contact with a region of interest on an anatomical structure, e.g., such as a breast, arm, leg, neck, throat, knee joint, hip joint, ankle, waist, shoulder, or other anatomical structure of a human or animal (e.g., canine) subject to image or apply ultrasonic treatment to target volumes within such structures, such as splenic masses, cancerous or noncancerous tumors, legions, sprains, tears, bone outlines and other signs of damage or maladies.
- an anatomical structure e.g., such as a breast, arm, leg, neck, throat, knee joint, hip joint, ankle, waist, shoulder, or other anatomical structure of a human or animal (e.g., canine) subject to image or apply ultrasonic treatment to target volumes within such structures, such as splenic masses, cancerous or noncancerous tumors, legions, sprains, tears,
- the curved section of the housing structure 601 can include an aperture length in a range of a few centimeters to tens or hundreds of centimeters (e.g., such as an 18 cm baseline as depicted in FIG. 6A ), an aperture depth in a range of a few centimeters to tens or hundreds of centimeters, and an arc or curvature of 1/(half or a few centimeters) to 1/(tens or hundreds of centimeters), e.g., 1/0.5 cm ⁇ 1 to 1/18 cm ⁇ 1 .
- the transducer section of the probe device 600 can be flat, angled or arranged in other geometries in addition or alternative from being curved.
- the housing structure 601 can include a relatively flat section where transducer elements (not shown) of an acoustic transmit and/or receive transducer array are positioned, such that the transducer-interfacing surface of the acoustic coupling article 605 is matched in geometry to conform with the transducer elements.
- the semi-rigid acoustic coupling article 605 may include a convex face on the outward surface 612 of the article 605 that interfaces with the receiving medium.
- the acoustic coupling article 605 is operable to conduct acoustic signals between the transducer elements of the probe device 600 and a receiving medium (e.g., body region or part of the subject, e.g., such as the subject's midsection, head, or appendage) where the probe device 600 is to be placed in contact to transmit and receive the acoustic signals propagating toward and from a target volume of interest in the subject.
- the acoustic coupling article 605 is able to conform to the receiving medium to provide acoustic impedance matching between the transducer elements and the receiving medium (e.g., the skin of the subject, including body hair protruded from the skin).
- the housing structure 601 includes a flexible bracket 602 that attaches to a portion of the housing structure 601 body on the transducer facing side, e.g., the curved section of the housing structure 601 body in the illustrative example in FIGS. 6A-6C .
- the acoustic coupling article 605 can be molded into the flexible bracket 602 , which can also include the acoustic coupling article 605 being adhesively attached (e.g., glued) to the flexible bracket 602 at portions of the acoustic coupling article 605 away from acoustic signal propagation with the transducer elements.
- the flexible bracket 602 is structured to flex such that it can conform to the receiving body that it surrounds.
- the flexible bracket 602 can include flexible materials, e.g., including, but not limited to, ABS plastic, polyurethane, nylon, and/or acetyl copolymer.
- the acoustic coupling article 605 is coupled to the flexible bracket 602 via notch attachments and/or arches.
- the flexible bracket 602 can include a base component 612 to attach to the ends of the acoustic coupler 605 .
- the base component 612 can include clips to secure and/or adhere the acoustic coupler 605 .
- the flexible bracket 602 includes one or more arch components 613 configured to a size and curvature to span across the curved section of the housing structure 601 body.
- the one or more arch components 613 are positioned at one or more respective locations on the base component 612 away from where the transducer elements are to be positioned when the flexible bracket 602 is attached to the housing structure 601 .
- the flexible bracket 602 can include a pattern of notches 614 , e.g., disposed on one side of the arch component(s) 613 , to allow the flexible bracket 602 to bend easily without breaking.
- the spacing of the notches 614 can be configured based on the curvature section of the housing structure 601 .
- the flexible bracket 602 can include an undercut lip with a chamfer, e.g., located on the other side of the arch component(s) 113 , so that when it is flexed into the shape of the array and pressed into position, the chamfered lip flexes over the lip on the curved section of the housing structure 601 and secures the flexible bracket 602 , and thereby the acoustic coupler 605 , in place.
- a chamfer e.g., located on the other side of the arch component(s) 113
- the acoustic coupling article 605 can be bonded or molded into the flexible bracket 602 when cross-linking of SACM occurs.
- the SACM of the acoustic coupling article 605 can also be molded on the subject-facing side to smooth or curve the edges, e.g., which can allow the probe device 600 to contact and release from the subject easier.
- the acoustic coupling article 605 couples to the transducers of the probe device 600 via a flexible, overmolded bracket.
- the bracket is imbedded in gel-sol during pour-casting; and once the gel-sol cures, the overmolded bracket 602 can then retain the acoustic coupling article 605 to the probe device 600 via snap fit features on the probe device housing.
- FIG. 7 shows a diagram illustrating an acoustic imaging system employing an example embodiment of the SAC article 300 for generating synthetic aperture or tomographic, high-resolution, images of various human anatomical structures.
- the acoustic imaging system 700 includes a frame 701 to hold the acoustic probe device 600 (having the array of transducers) that is coupled to the example SAC article 300 , which conform to the array of transducers and to the patient's body.
- the frame 701 can be configured in various ways to present the probe device 600 and SAC article 300 to the desired part of the patient's body.
- the acoustic probe device 600 can be configured such that the array of transducer elements are presented in a flat or curved arrangement, and is not limited by the specific example shown in the diagrams of FIGS. 6A-6C .
- the SAC article 300 can conform to both a large array, which curves around the patients back as illustrated in the diagram. This example figure depicts how the SAC article 300 would enable synthetic aperture tomographic imaging of selected hard, soft or combined hard and soft tissue anatomical features with our resorting to a water bath.
- the acoustic imaging system 700 is able to generate such high-resolution images on any part of the patient's anatomy in contact with the SAC article 300 without requiring a water bath or water bath-like inferior couplant.
- an acoustic coupling article includes a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) operable to conform to a receiving body to propagate an acoustic signal within the SACM to and from the receiving body.
- SACM semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium
- Example A2 includes the article of any of examples A1-A10, wherein the SACM is configured in a shape having two attachment portions located at one end of an acoustic interface portion, such that the acoustic interface portion is operable to contact the receiving body to propagate the acoustic signal and the attachment portions are configured to be secured by an acoustic probe device to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signal.
- the SACM is configured in a shape having two attachment portions located at one end of an acoustic interface portion, such that the acoustic interface portion is operable to contact the receiving body to propagate the acoustic signal and the attachment portions are configured to be secured by an acoustic probe device to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signal.
- Example A3 includes the article of any of examples A1-A10, wherein the SACM is operable to propagate the acoustic signal between the receiving body and the SACM with an acoustic impedance matching of 2 MRayls or less.
- Example A4 includes the article of any of examples A1-A10, wherein the SACM is operable to conform to both the receiving body and an acoustic probe device having one or more transducer elements without gaps in between the external layer of the SACM and the receiving body and one or more transducers.
- Example A5 includes the article of example A5, wherein the SACM is stretchable in a range of 10% to 1000% elongation.
- Example A6 includes the article of example A5, wherein the SACM is compressible in a range of 20% to 99.9%.
- Example A7 includes the article of any of examples A1-A10, wherein the SACM includes an elasticity with a Young's modulus in a range of 30 kPa to 500 kPa.
- Example A8 includes the article of any of examples A1-A10, wherein the SACM includes a biocompatible material.
- Example A9 includes the article of any of examples A1-A10, wherein the SACM is sterile within a packaging container.
- Example A10 includes the article of any of examples A1-A9, wherein the SACM is clean and non-sterile within a packaging container.
- an acoustic coupling article includes a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) operable to contact and conform to an array of transducer elements at a first end of the SACM and to a receiving body at a second end of the SACM to propagate acoustic signals within the SACM between the array of transducer elements and the receiving body.
- SACM semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium
- the SACM includes one or more hydrogel materials in a single acoustic coupling article, where the SACM is structured to have one or more attachment portions located at the first end and an acoustic interface portion spanning away from the one or more attachment portions and terminating at the second end, such that an outward surface of the acoustic interface portion at the second end is structured to (i) be substantially flat, at least at a portion of the outward surface, (ii) have a single curve along one direction of the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface, and/or (iii) have multiple curves in multiple directions along the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface.
- the outward surface is operable to conform to the receiving body for propagation of the acoustic signals into and from the receiving body.
- the one or more attachment portions are configured to be secured by an acoustic probe device having the array of transducer elements to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signals.
- Example B2 includes the article of example B 1 , which can be embodied as the article in any of examples C1-C15.
- an acoustic coupling article includes a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) operable to contact and conform to an array of transducer elements at a first end of the SACM and to a receiving body at a second end of the SACM to propagate acoustic signals within the SACM between the array of transducer elements and the receiving body.
- SACM semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium
- the SACM includes a single hydrogel material and is structured to have a shape including one or more attachment portions located at the first end and an acoustic interface portion spanning away from the one or more attachment portions and terminating at the second end, such that an outward surface of the acoustic interface portion at the second end is structured to (i) have a single curve along one direction of the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface, and/or (ii) have multiple curves in multiple directions along the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface.
- the outward surface is operable to conform to the receiving body to propagate the acoustic signals into and from the receiving body.
- the attachment portions are configured to be secured by an acoustic probe device having the array of transducer elements to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signals through the single hydrogel material.
- Example C2 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the SACM is capable to conform to both the receiving body and an acoustic probe device having one or more transducer elements without resulting in gaps, creases, or air entrainments in between an external surface of the SACM and the receiving body and one or more transducers.
- Example C3 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the multiple curves in multiple directions forms a convex surface on at least a portion of the outward surface of the SACM.
- Example C4 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the multiple curves in multiple directions forms a concave surface on at least a portion of the outward surface of the SACM.
- Example C5 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the multiple curves in multiple directions forms a convex surface on at least a first portion of the outward surface and a concave surface on at least a second portion of the outward surface of the SACM.
- Example C6 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the SACM is structured to have a T-shape including two attachment portions located at the first end, and the acoustic interface portion spans away from the two attachment portions and terminates at the second end.
- Example C7 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the SACM is operable to propagate the acoustic signals between the receiving body and the SACM with an acoustic impedance matching of 2 MRayls or less.
- Example C8 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the SACM is operable to propagate the acoustic signals between the receiving body and the SACM with an acoustic attenuation of about 0.001-1.00 dB/cm/MHz.
- Example C9 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the SACM is stretchable in a range of 10% to 1000% elongation.
- Example C10 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the SACM is compressible in a range of 20% to 99.9%.
- Example C11 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the SACM includes an elasticity with a Young's modulus in a range of 30 kPa to 500 kPa.
- Example C12 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the single hydrogel material comprises a dimethyl acrylamide monomer (DMAm), a sodium alginate block copolymer (P(SA)), and water.
- the single hydrogel material comprises a dimethyl acrylamide monomer (DMAm), a sodium alginate block copolymer (P(SA)), and water.
- Example C13 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the single hydrogel material further comprises N,N′-methylenebisacrylaminde (MBA), N′,N′,N,N-tetramethlethylenediamine (TMED), calcium sulfate (CA), and ammonium persulfate (APS).
- MAA N,N′-methylenebisacrylaminde
- TMED N′,N′,N,N-tetramethlethylenediamine
- CA calcium sulfate
- APS ammonium persulfate
- Example C14 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the SACM is configured to have the following properties: a speed of sound (SOS) of about 1549 m/s, an attenuation (ATTN) of about 0.14 dB/MHz ⁇ cm, an acoustic impedance (Z) of about 1.597 MRayls, a Young's Modulus (E) of about 32 kPa, and an engineering strain ( ⁇ ) of about ⁇ 15 mm.
- SOS speed of sound
- ATTN attenuation
- Z acoustic impedance
- E Young's Modulus
- ⁇ engineering strain
- Example C15 includes the article of any of examples C1-C14, wherein the SACM is storable in a sterile or a non-sterile form within a packaging container such that the SACM is ready for use in a clinical imaging application upon removal from the packaging container.
- an acoustic probe device in some embodiments in accordance with the present technology (example C16), includes a housing; an array of transducer elements attached to the housing and operable to transmit acoustic signals toward a target volume in a receiving body and received returned acoustic signals that return from at least part of the target volume; and a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) operable to contact and conform to the array of transducer elements at a first end of the SACM and, when the acoustic probe device is engaged with the receiving body, to contact and conform to the receiving body at a second end of the SACM for propagating the transmitted and received returned acoustic signals within the SACM between the array of transducer elements and the receiving body.
- SACM semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium
- the SACM includes one or more individual hydrogel materials in a single SACM, where the SACM is structured to have one or more attachment portions located at the first end and an acoustic interface portion spanning away from the one or more attachment portions and terminating at the second end, such that an outward surface of the acoustic interface portion at the second end is structured to (i) be substantially flat, at least at a portion of the outward surface, (ii) have a single curve along one direction of the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface, and/or (iii) have multiple curves in multiple directions along the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface.
- the outward surface is able to conform to the receiving body for propagation of the acoustic signals into and from the receiving body.
- the one or more attachment portions are configured to be secured by the acoustic probe device having the array of transducer elements to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signals.
- Example C17 includes the device of example C16, wherein the SACM is capable to conform to both the receiving body and an acoustic probe device having one or more transducer elements without resulting in gaps, creases, or air entrainments in between an external surface of the SACM and the receiving body and the array of transducers.
- Example C18 includes the device of any of examples C16-C21, comprising a bracket coupled to the housing to secure the attachment portions of the SACM to the acoustic probe device.
- Example C19 includes the device of any of examples C16-C21, wherein the SACM comprises a plurality of the one or more individual hydrogel materials, where the individual hydrogel materials of the plurality couple and conform to each other without resulting in gaps, creases, or air entrainments in between to form a single hydrogel material, the plurality of the individual hydrogel materials each comprising a dimethyl acrylamide monomer (DMAm), a sodium alginate block copolymer (P(SA)), and water.
- DAm dimethyl acrylamide monomer
- P(SA) sodium alginate block copolymer
- Example C20 includes the device of any of examples C16-C21, wherein the SACM includes the SACM in any of examples B1 or C1-C15.
- Example C21 includes the device of any of examples C16-C20, wherein the device is included in an acoustic imaging system configured to produce a synthetic aperture and/or a tomographic image with high resolution of an anatomical structure of a human or non-human subject based on mechanical and acoustic properties of the SACM.
- a ratio in the range of about 1 to about 200 should be understood to include the explicitly recited limits of about 1 and about 200, but also to include individual ratios such as about 2, about 3, and about 4, and sub-ranges such as about 10 to about 50, about 20 to about 100, and so forth. It also is to be understood, although not always explicitly stated, that the reagents described herein are merely exemplary and that equivalents of such are known in the art.
- compositions and methods include the recited elements, but not excluding others.
- Consisting essentially of when used to define compositions and methods, shall mean excluding other elements of any essential significance to the combination for the stated purpose. Thus, a composition consisting essentially of the elements as defined herein would not exclude other materials or steps that do not materially affect the basic and novel characteristic(s) of the claimed invention.
- Consisting of shall mean excluding more than trace elements of other ingredients and substantial method steps. Embodiments defined by each of these transition terms are within the scope of this invention.
Abstract
Description
- This patent document is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/856,326, titled “SEMI-RIGID ACOUSTIC COUPLING ARTICLES FOR ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC AND TREATMENT APPLICATIONS” filed on Apr. 23, 2020, which claims priorities to and benefits of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/837,716 titled “SEMI-RIGID ACOUSTIC COUPLING ARTICLES FOR ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC AND TREATMENT APPLICATIONS” filed on Apr. 23, 2019. The entire content of the aforementioned patent application is incorporated by reference as part of the disclosure of this patent document.
- This patent document relates to methods, devices and articles for an acoustic coupling medium useful for ultrasound imaging.
- Acoustic imaging is an imaging modality that employs the properties of sound waves traveling through a medium to render a visual image. High frequency acoustic imaging has been used as an imaging modality for decades in a variety of biomedical fields to view internal structures and functions of animals and humans. High frequency acoustic waves used in biomedical imaging may operate in different frequencies, e.g., between 1 and 20 MHz, or even higher frequencies, and are often termed ultrasound waves. Some factors, including inadequate spatial resolution and tissue differentiation, can lead to less than desirable image quality using conventional techniques of ultrasound imaging, which can limit its use for many clinical indications or applications.
- Disclosed are articles, devices and systems providing a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment techniques.
- In some aspects, an acoustic coupling article includes a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) operable to conform to a receiving body to propagate an acoustic signal within the SACM to and from the receiving body.
- In some aspects, an acoustic coupling article includes a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) operable to contact and conform to an array of transducer elements at a first end of the SACM and to a receiving body at a second end of the SACM to propagate acoustic signals within the SACM between the array of transducer elements and the receiving body. The SACM includes one or more hydrogel materials in a single acoustic coupling article, where the SACM is structured to have one or more attachment portions located at the first end and an acoustic interface portion spanning away from the one or more attachment portions and terminating at the second end, such that an outward surface of the acoustic interface portion at the second end is structured to (i) be substantially flat, at least at a portion of the outward surface, (ii) have a single curve along one direction of the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface, and/or (iii) have multiple curves in multiple directions along the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface. The outward surface is operable to conform to the receiving body for propagation of the acoustic signals into and from the receiving body. The one or more attachment portions are configured to be secured by an acoustic probe device having the array of transducer elements to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signals.
- In some aspects, an acoustic coupling article includes a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) operable to contact and conform to an array of transducer elements at a first end of the SACM and to a receiving body at a second end of the SACM to propagate acoustic signals within the SACM between the array of transducer elements and the receiving body. The SACM includes a single hydrogel material and is structured to have a shape including one or more attachment portions located at the first end and an acoustic interface portion spanning away from the one or more attachment portions and terminating at the second end, such that an outward surface of the acoustic interface portion at the second end is structured to (i) have a single curve along one direction of the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface, and/or (ii) have multiple curves in multiple directions along the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface. The outward surface is operable to conform to the receiving body to propagate the acoustic signals into and from the receiving body. The attachment portions are configured to be secured by an acoustic probe device having the array of transducer elements to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signals through the single hydrogel material.
- In some aspects, an acoustic probe device includes a housing; an array of transducer elements attached to the housing and operable to transmit acoustic signals toward a target volume in a receiving body and received returned acoustic signals that return from at least part of the target volume; and a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) operable to contact and conform to the array of transducer elements at a first end of the SACM and, when the acoustic probe device is engaged with the receiving body, to contact and conform to the receiving body at a second end of the SACM for propagating the transmitted and received returned acoustic signals within the SACM between the array of transducer elements and the receiving body. The SACM includes one or more individual hydrogel materials in a single SACM, where the SACM is structured to have one or more attachment portions located at the first end and an acoustic interface portion spanning away from the one or more attachment portions and terminating at the second end, such that an outward surface of the acoustic interface portion at the second end is structured to (i) be substantially flat, at least at a portion of the outward surface, (ii) have a single curve along one direction of the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface, and/or (iii) have multiple curves in multiple directions along the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface. The outward surface is able to conform to the receiving body for propagation of the acoustic signals into and from the receiving body. The one or more attachment portions are configured to be secured by the acoustic probe device having the array of transducer elements to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signals. In some implementations, the device is included in an acoustic imaging system configured to produce a synthetic aperture and/or a tomographic image with high resolution of an anatomical structure of a human or non-human subject based on mechanical and acoustic properties of the SACM.
- The subject matter described in this patent document can be implemented in specific ways that provide one or more of the following features.
-
FIGS. 1A and 1B show diagrams illustrating a conventional acoustic couplant which exhibits a lack of conformability to a patient's skin. -
FIG. 2 shows diagrams illustrating conventional acoustic couplants, which can be comprised of polymers that create rigid gaps between the interface of the coupling medium and the patient's skin. -
FIG. 3A-3D show diagrams depicting an example embodiment of a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium in accordance with the present technology. -
FIG. 4 shows an image of an example ionically, crosslinked semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium. -
FIGS. 5A-5F show images of an example semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium under mechanical stress. -
FIGS. 6A-6C show schematic diagrams of an acoustic probe device including in accordance with the example embodiments of the disclosed acoustic couplant medium technology. -
FIG. 7 shows a diagram illustrating an acoustic imaging system employing an example embodiment of the semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium in accordance with the present technology for generating synthetic aperture or tomographic, high-resolution, images of various human anatomical structures. - Acoustic imaging can be performed by emitting an acoustic waveform (e.g., pulse) within a physical elastic medium, such as a biological medium, including tissue. The acoustic waveform is transmitted from a transducer element (e.g., of an array of transducer elements) toward a target volume of interest (VOI). Propagation of the acoustic waveform in the medium toward the target volume can encounter structures that cause the acoustic waveform to become partly reflected from a boundary between two mediums (e.g., differing biological tissue structures) and partially transmitted. The reflection of the transmitted acoustic waveform can depend on the acoustic impedance difference between the two mediums (e.g., at the interface between two different biological tissue types). For example, some of the acoustic energy of the transmitted acoustic waveform can be scattered back to the transducer at the interface to be received, and processed to extract information, while the remainder may travel on and to the next medium. In some instances, scattering of the reflection may occur as the result of two or more impedances contained in the reflective medium acting as a scattering center. Additionally, for example, the acoustic energy can be refracted, diffracted, delayed, and/or attenuated based on the properties of the medium and/or the nature of the acoustic wave.
- Acoustic wave speed and acoustic impedance differences can exist at the interface between the transducer and the medium to receive the acoustic waveform, e.g., referred to as the receiving medium, for propagation of the acoustic waveform toward the target volume, which can disrupt the transmission of the acoustic signal for imaging, range-Doppler measurement, tissue characterization (e.g., Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse—ARFI), or therapeutic applications. Acoustic impedance differences caused due to differing material properties (e.g., material density) of the two mediums and the acoustic wave velocity, such that a substantial amount of the emitted acoustic energy will be reflected at the interface rather than transferred in full across the interface. In typical acoustic (e.g., ultrasound) imaging or therapy applications, for example, a transmission gel is applied to the receiving medium (i.e., the skin of a subject) at the interface where the transducers will make contact to improve the transfer of the acoustic waveform(s) from the transducer to the body and the reception of the returned acoustic waveform(s) from the body back to the transducer. In such applications without the ultrasound gel, the interface may include air as a component of the medium between the receiving medium (e.g., living skin tissue) and the transducer, and an acoustic impedance mismatch in the transducer-to-air and the air-to-body discontinuity causes the scattering (e.g., reflection) of the emitted acoustic energy.
- Despite relatively good success in reducing acoustic impedance difference at the interface, when dispensed on the VOI, acoustic transmission gels may contain tiny packets of air that can disrupt the transmission of acoustic signals. Additionally, many patients complain of discomforts with the use of gels dispensed on their skin, e.g., such as temperature, stickiness, or other. More concerning, however, acoustic transmission gels can become contaminated during production or storage, which has led to infections within some patients. For subjects with hair on their skin at the location where the transducer is to be placed, these subjects typically must shave or otherwise remove the external hair which exasperates the trapping of air between the skin and gel.
- For non-normal angles of incidence of the acoustic wave relative to the interface, the differences in the acoustic wave speed can result in refraction of the acoustic sound wave. Acoustic wave speed differences at the interface cause the propagation path of longitudinal acoustic waves to refract or change direction according to Snell's Law as a function of the angle of incidence and the acoustic wave speeds either side of the interface. Accumulations of infinitesimal amounts of refraction as the wave propagates in a heterogeneous material results in bending or curvature in the path of the acoustic wave.
- As conventional ultrasound (US) imaging assumes that acoustic waves travel in straight lines, refraction along the acoustic path causes degradation and distortion in the resulting image due the ambiguity it creates for the arrival time and location of an acoustic waveform in space for both transmission and reception. A material that matches the acoustic wave speed at the interface significantly reduces the effects of refraction, resulting in a clearer and less ambiguous image. Additionally, a semi-rigid material that has a homogeneous acoustic wave speed throughout will minimize the potential for curvature of acoustic wave paths inside the material.
- Ultrasound imaging gained interest in the medical imaging community for portability, multiple anatomic target modalities, safety, and relatively low cost when compared to X-ray, computerized tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Some modalities focus entirely on cardiology and can create 4-D images of beating ventricles. Other modalities are dedicated calculators that compute fluid flow through tiny corpuscular capillaries in the liver and spleen whereas other modalities simply use the US as a general-purpose machine. Regardless how narrow or broad the application, all US machines suffer from the same limitations engendered from traditional ultrasound design, i.e., loss of image quality at depth and low near field resolution. While the image depth depends mostly on array design and transducer frequency, the obfuscated near field is the result of large impedance mismatch differences between the transducer interface and patient interface and the focal point of the transducer.
- Near field convolution is also a problem encountered in many clinical, US diagnostic techniques, especially for synovial joints which are bundles of tendon, fluid, bone, and muscle tightly bound together under a thin, sinewy veil of skin and tissue. This is a ubiquitous problem, and many clinicians have resorted to filling a rubber glove with tap water to act as a portable, quasi-water bath that doubled as a standoff, e.g., any acoustic coupling material providing distance between the transducer interface and patient interface. Simple, cost effective, and fast to implement, this artifice was a solution, albeit inadequate, for generating quick non-visceral US images with linear arrays.
- Since conventional acoustic couplants are inadequate for high resolution ultrasound imaging, the lack of a practical, portable and non-water bath-like couplant has impeded clinical use of high resolution ultrasound imaging techniques, such as for example synthetic aperture or tomographic ultrasound techniques, for many types of diagnostic purposes and procedures, resulting in reliance on X-Ray, CT and MRI which come at high costs or substantial risk to patients. If high-resolution, synthetic aperture or tomographic, ultrasound were to be used, then it requires an impractical and highly-inconvenient set-up to acoustically couple the transducer array to the patient's anatomy to be imaged. For example, when the ultrasound transducer array or the patient's anatomy (to be imaged) is large or possesses particular curvature, e.g., being singly curved or doubly curved, acoustic coupling of the transducer array to the patient anatomy for clinical medical imaging purposes has not been practicable without resorting to a water bath, where both the transducer array and the patient's anatomy are immersed in a volume of water. For example, at present, all synthetic aperture or tomographic ultrasound devices employ a large, non-portable water bath couplant that are limited to only a few applications, such as breast imaging applications. Alternative existing approaches to provide ‘quasi-water bath’ acoustic couplants fill a polymer skin with water or other fluid, akin to the water filled glove or balloon.
FIGS. 1A, 1B and 2 illustrate some of the shortcomings of conventional water-filled sacs as acoustic couplants for use in high-resolution, clinical ultrasound imaging. -
FIGS. 1A and 1B show diagrams illustrating a typical quasi-water bath acoustic couplant example that exhibits a lack of conformability to a patient's skin. This example depicts a conventional balloon-like acoustic couplant interface that contains water (e.g., degassed deionized (DI) water) or a semi-fluid (e.g. gel) acoustic coupling medium. As shownFIG. 1A , the balloon-like couplant, in this example, includes a polymer balloon-like outer membrane that encompasses degassed water or other semi-fluid within the polymer outer membrane. The acoustic coupling material entrapped within the outer membrane provides a pressure on the inner surface of the outer membrane, such that the shape of the balloon couplant is defined by the external forces exerted upon the balloon—in this example, the external forces include a normal force (FN) exerted by a flat surface in contact with the balloon couplant and outer force (FL) from the outer environment. The outer membrane of the balloon couplant is typically flexible, and can be bent to attempt to fit around singly or doubly curved surfaces, as shown by the diagram inFIG. 1B . However, such bending always creates creases and hence entrained air at inflexion points along the outer membrane and within the fluidic interior of the balloon couplant due to fundamental topological incompatibility of the two surfaces. - Furthermore, for non-linear arrays and non-planar surfaces, technical issues become too challenging for simple balloon couplants to surmount. Take for instance a semicircular array for Acoustic Coherent Tomography (ACT) which has several array elements that need to couple to a swath of variegated patient interface geometries during a multi-anatomic target examination. The first challenge with balloon couplants is contorting it's at-rest geometry to the transducer interface surface without creasing on the patient interface surface, as shown, for example, in
FIG. 1B . Creases will trap air that produce artifacts and shadowing in ultrasound images. For example, even if a few mil-thick (e.g., ≈0.001 inch-thick) polymer membrane was designed to fit in the array without creasing, the balloon couplant still lacks conformability needed to successfully image curved anatomic targets of large variety of shapes since the encapsulated acoustic medium is essentially an incompressible fluid (e.g., k≈50×10−6 atm−1) and conservation of volume principles apply. - For polymers with thick walls, high young modulus, and low strain before failure the load on the transducer side of the balloon couplant is directly transmitted to the patient interface without dispersing the load over a larger surface area and without conforming to the non-symmetric patient geometry. Low elastic modulus, high strain before failure, and thin walled polymers might deform more, but are not conformable enough to bridge large gaps between the rigid, symmetrical transducer interface and the asymmetric, deformable patient interface, and are more prone to bursting and rolling during examinations, as illustrated in
FIG. 2 . -
FIG. 2 shows diagrams illustrating a conventional acoustic couplant, such as a balloon couplant, that is comprised of polymers that create rigid gaps between the interface of the coupling medium and the patient's skin. Diagram 200A shows the example balloon-like acoustic couplant in contact with a surface, illustrating maximum compression on the balloon couplant between applied external forces from a surface in contact with the couplant (normal force FN) and forces (FL) from the surrounding environment. Diagram 200B shows the example balloon acoustic couplant with folds/creases/ridges formed by the outer polymer membrane of the balloon couplant slacking when balloon couplant is bent to conform to the array, trapping air that acts as a strong acoustic reflector. Diagram 200B also shows an example of the balloon acoustic couplant unable to uniformly couple to the target volume because the balloon couplant is unable to conform to the contour of the target to fill in the divot and escarpment. Diagram 200C shows an example balloon couplant in contact with a target volume (e.g., patient's skin of a body part), illustrating how the balloon couplant will have gaps between the couplant and target volume due to divots and/or changes in the contour of the target. - Another example of the fundamental topological incompatibility of a balloon couplant between two surfaces is exacerbated when a doubly or multiply curved (e.g., hemispherical-like) shaped transducer is applied to multiply curved, anatomical structures such as shoulders, knees, elbows, elbows, small parts, etc. In such instances, multiple creases and divots would by necessity occur that will degrade ultrasound images due to couplant induced artifacts.
- A more conformable and durable standoff was needed, so thin, semisolid, hydrogel pucks or sheets (e.g., ˜1.0-1.5 cm) have been developed to accommodate traditional US imaging in the near field. These hydrogel puck or sheet standoffs aim at minimizing the impedance mismatch between the rigid, symmetrical transducer interface and the asymmetrical, conformable patient interface for linear arrays. More conformable than balloon couplants, thin hydrogel sheets can fill in divots and escarpments along planar surfaces and form to eclectic curved topography. Additionally, depending on the hydrogel chemistry and morphology, hydrogels can either be sticky for long, static US diagnostic scans or generate a lubricating layer via syneresis when conducting short, dynamic scans under pressure.
- Yet, despite greater conformability than balloon couplants, hydrogels on the current market have a large bulk modulus which increases hydrogel rigidity as the thickness increases. Coupled with low fracture toughness and paraben preservatives, the stiffness and brittleness, the ease of crack propagation, and the ambiguity of health safety render these conventional hydrogel standoffs useless in applications where a thick (e.g., >2 cm), tough, and conformable semi-rigid standoff is needed for non-linear arrays like the aforementioned ACT semicircular array.
- Disclosed are articles, devices and systems providing a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM), also referred to as a semi-rigid acoustic couplant (SAC), for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment techniques. In some embodiments, the disclosed SACM articles include a hydrogel interface pad that is semi-solid and sonolucent and can minimize impedance-mismatching of acoustic signals propagating between the acoustic transducer elements and the body having the target volume of interest (VOI).
- Implementations of a semi-rigid material with engineered acoustic and mechanical properties can enable tomographic or synthetic aperture ultrasound imaging of general anatomical shapes. For example, human or animal patient anatomy to be imaged by a tomographic or synthetic aperture ultrasound device come in almost an unlimited number of three-dimensional curvilinear shapes and sizes.
- In some implementations, the example embodiments of the disclosed SACs can be coupled to an acoustic transducer probe device (e.g., ultrasound scanner). Details of example embodiments of an acoustic transducer probe device that can attach and utilize the example SACM are described in U.S. Publication No. 2016/0242736A1, which is incorporated by reference as part of the technical disclosure of this patent document.
- The transducer array aperture surface of an ultrasound scanner used for tomographic and/or synthetic aperture ultrasound imaging can be configured to have a 3D curvilinear shape, which can be a simple 3D curvilinear shape or complex 3D curvilinear shape defined by the number of transducers in the array and their angular arrangement with one another to create a curvilinear transducer array surface. For example, the transducer array aperture can be described by a closed analytically-described curve lying in a plane, such as a cylinder or an ellipse, or by a synthetically-described curve lying in a plane, such as a spline. For example, the transducer array aperture can be composed of one or more segments of analytically- or synthetically-described curves not necessarily lying in a plane, such as for example a conical spiral. Yet, for practical reasons, the number of transducer array apertures are of a limited number.
- The disclosed SACs can address the challenges for acoustically coupling a limited number of tomographic or synthetic aperture ultrasound transducer arrays to a relatively unlimited number of anatomical shapes and sizes of the various kind of subjects (e.g., humans, animals, etc.). The disclosed SACs are engineered to have mechanical properties that allow it to sufficiently deform to entirely conform to both the array aperture and the surface of patient without gaps or air entrainment, while having a minimal acoustic attenuation and optimal acoustic impedance matching. Moreover, the disclosed SACs, when attached to the transducer array, allow the array to be conveniently positioned multiple times during the imaging procedure over varying tissue geometry to capture the desired anatomical region of interest.
- In some embodiments, the disclosed SACs include an engineered polymer network having the ability to form elaborate geometries and entrap water to a high percentage (e.g., 85% or greater) that provides acoustic impedance matching between ultrasound transducer elements and the target biological volume. The disclosed SACs are semi-flexible, -stretchable and- bendable, for example, while also being semi-stiff, e.g., analogous to a bendable rubber. In some embodiments, the semi-flexible SAC is stiffer than a soft elastomer, but soft enough to stretch and bend considerably without breaking. The disclosed SACs provide additional advantages in their manner of manufacture, distribution and application based on their low-cost of fabrication, simultaneous step of sterilization and curing, stable storage, and biocompatibility.
- Example Embodiments of Semi-Rigid Acoustic Couplant
-
FIG. 3A shows a diagram depicting an example embodiment of a semi-rigidacoustic couplant article 300 in accordance with the present technology. TheSAC article 300 is configured from a single, uniform acoustic coupling material having aninterface portion 302 andattachment portions interface portion 302. In some embodiments, like that shown inFIG. 3A (albeit not drawn to scale), theSAC article 300 is structured to have a “T-like” shape where theattachment portions end 303 of theinterface portion 302, which can provide a wider acoustic coupling medium in the elevation dimension for tomographic and/or synthetic aperture ultrasound imaging applications. TheSAC article 300 is configured to physically contact and conform to an array of transducer elements at the surface along theend 303 of theSAC article 300 to acoustically interface an ultrasound probe device to the acoustic couplant. TheSAC article 300 is configured to physically contact and conform to a receiving body at anotherend 304 of theSAC article 300 to acoustically interface the acoustic couplant for propagating acoustic signals between the array of transducer elements and the receiving body. In various embodiments, the transducer-interfacing surface atend 303 is positioned at an opposing side to the receiving body-interfacing surface atend 304 across theinterface portion 302 of theSAC article 300. - When the
SAC article 300 is coupled to an acoustic probe device, theend 304 is an outward-facing surface (outward surface 312) providing the receiving body-interfacing surface of theSAC article 300. In some embodiments, theoutward surface 312 of theinterface portion 302 includes a singly-curved face or multiply-curved face in one or more directions between the ends defined by theattachment portions FIG. 3B . In some embodiments, a multiply-curved face of theoutward surface 312 includes a convex face in the two planar directions that define the surface. -
FIG. 3B shows a diagram of theinset 309 shown inFIG. 3A , depicting a cross-sectional (planar) view of a multiply-curved face that forms a convex region of theoutward surface 312. The convex shape of this example is one of an infinite number of mathematically possible, singly- or multiply-curved shapes, e.g., such as concave or convex shapes, that can be presented on theoutward surface 312 of theSAC article 300. -
FIG. 3C shows a diagram of theinset 309 shown inFIG. 3A , depicting a cross-sectional (planar) view of a multiply-curved face that forms a concave region of theoutward surface 312. The concave shape of this example is an example where the curvature of theoutward surface 312 is in multiple directions (although only a planar view is shown in the diagram). - The singly-curved surface or multiply-curved surface (e.g., doubly-curved surface) can additionally or alternatively be configured on the first end to improve conformation of the semi-rigid acoustic couplant to the transducer array, e.g., particularly for transducer elements having curved or otherwise non-flat shapes.
- These examples of the
SAC article 300 overcomes the aforementioned problems of interfacing rigid, singly- or doubly-curved shaped transducer arrays to complex anatomical structures such as shoulders, knees, elbows, elbows, small parts, etc. In such instances, the deformable nature of semi-rigid acoustic couplants permits them to conform to a singly-, doubly-or multiply-curved transducer array and to arbitrarily shaped anatomical structures. By using semi-rigid acoustic couplants, synthetic aperture or tomographic imaging techniques can be employed without requiring both the transducer array and anatomical structure to be immersed in a water bath, as currently done in existing tomographic imaging devices. Arbitrarily shaped, relatively large arrays (e.g., >100 mm in extent, which are notably larger than almost all current US arrays) using an example SACM couplant, such as theSAC article 300, can be used to generate synthetic aperture or tomographic, high-resolution, images of various human anatomical structures without requiring a water bath couplant, for example, as illustrated inFIG. 7 and discussed later below. Therefore, such semi-rigid acoustic couplants enable many new portable, high definition, diagnostic and point-of-care (e.g., inter-operative) clinical imaging applications that previously were not possible. - In various embodiments, the
SAC article 300 includes one or more hydrogel materials in a single SACM couplant. For example, in some embodiments, a single hydrogel material can be fabricated in the desired shape (e.g., including but not limited to the example T-shape shown inFIG. 3A ), where the single hydrogel material that forms theSAC article 300 is structured to have one or more attachment portions located at theend 303 and theinterface portion 302 spanning away from theend 303 and terminating at theend 304, which provides theoutward surface 312 to interface with the receiving body. In various example embodiments, theoutward surface 312 of theinterface portion 302 is structured to (i) be flat, at least at a portion of the outward surface, (ii) have a single curve along one direction of the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface, and/or (iii) have multiple curves in multiple directions along the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface. TheSAC article 300 is able to conform to the receiving body for propagation of the acoustic signals into and from the receiving body, and such that the one or more attachment portions are configured to be secured by an acoustic probe device having the array of transducer elements to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signals, e.g., where theSAC article 300 conforms to both the receiving body and array of transducer elements of an acoustic probe device, including by deformations like stretching and bending of theSAC article 300, without resulting in gaps, creases, or air entrainments at any interface of the SACM with the receiving body and the transducer elements. - Yet, in some embodiments, for example, the
SAC article 300 includes a plurality of individual hydrogel materials, where the individual hydrogel materials of the plurality couple and conform to each other without resulting in gaps, creases, or air entrainments in between to form a single hydrogel material. In this manner, theSAC article 300 including the plurality of individual hydrogel materials is able to perform like the single hydrogel material embodiment, e.g., where theSAC article 300 conforms to both the receiving body and array of transducer elements of an acoustic probe device, including by deformations like stretching and bending of theSAC article 300, without resulting in gaps, creases, or air entrainments at any interface of the SACM with the receiving body and the transducer elements. Example compositions of the individual hydrogel materials are described later below. -
FIG. 3D shows a diagram of two example implementations where theSAC 300 is interfaced with an array of acoustic transducers in anacoustic probe device 390, e.g., like the exampleacoustic probe device 600 shown later inFIGS. 6A-6C or the acoustic probe devices shown in the disclosure of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2016/0242736A1, the contents of which are incorporated by reference as part of this disclosure for all purposes. TheSAC 300 is interfaced with the array of acoustic transducers in theacoustic probe device 390 in a manner such that the acoustic coupling medium material, i.e., theSAC 300, conforms between a receiving body (e.g., breast and an abdomen) and the acoustic transducers of theprobe 390. - In some embodiments, the
SAC article 300, when interfaced to an acoustic probe device, is operable to propagate acoustic signals with an acoustic impedance matching of 10 MRayls or less (e.g., more preferably 4 MRayls or less for certain applications, and capable of 2 MRayls or less or 1.6 MRayls or less). In such examples, theSAC article 300, when interfaced to the acoustic probe device, is operable to propagate acoustic signals with an acoustic attenuation in a range of about 0.0001-1.00 dB/cm/MHz. In such devices, the SAC conforms to the surfaces of both an acoustic probe device having one or more transducer elements and receiving body (having the target biological volume) based on its semi-rigidity. In some embodiments, theSAC article 300 can be configured to include one or more of the following properties: stretchability of 10% to 1000% elongation or greater, e.g., 2500%; compression of 20% to 99.99%, and a Young's modulus of 30 kPa to 500 kPa, or in some embodiments lower than 30 kPa, e.g., as low as 1 kPa. - In some embodiments in accordance with the present technology, the
SAC 300 is configured as a hydrogel formed of a composition that includes a monomer, a block copolymer, and a dispersive phase. In some embodiments, the hydrogel composition includes the monomer, the block copolymer, the dispersive phase and a covalent crosslinker agent, a cationic crosslinking agent, a catalyst, and/or a free radical initiator. - For example, the monomer can serve as the primary, structural network for the hydrogel. In some embodiments, the monomer is an acrylamide. Non-limiting examples of acrylamide monomers include dimethylacrylamide (DMA), diethylacrylamide (DEAA), phenyl acrylamide, tert-butylacrylamide, octadecylacrylamide, isopropylacrylamide, or diphenylmethylacrylamide. The monomer is sometimes referred to as the “1° network”. In some embodiments, for example, the 1° network monomer includes DMA.
- For example, the block copolymer can provide a secondary, grated sacrificial network for the hydrogel. In some embodiments, the block copolymer is an alginate. Non-limiting examples of alginates include sodium alginate (SA), potassium alginate, calcium alginate, ammonium alginate, low acetylated gellan gum, high acetylated gellan gum, modified starches, agar, k-Carrageenan, I-Carrageenan, low methoxy pectin, high methoxy pectin, methyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, cellulose/gelatin, or propylene glycol alginate. The block copolymer is sometimes referred to as the “2° network”. In some embodiments, for example, the block copolymer includes SA.
- In some embodiments, the dispersive phase is water (e.g., deionized water (DI H2O)), which can be present in an amount of about 75.65 wt % to about 95.98 wt % of the total weight of the hydrogel interface pad.
- In some embodiments, the covalent crosslinker agent is an acrylamide. Non-limiting examples of acrylamide covalent crosslinkers include N′,N′-methylene bisacrylamide (MBA), bisacrylamide, ethylene bisacrylamide, piperazine diacrylamide, or ethylene glycol bisacrylamide. The covalent crosslinker agent is sometimes referred to as the 1°-network crosslinker. In some embodiments, for example, the 1°-network crosslinker agent includes SA.
- In some embodiments, the cationic crosslinking agent is a monovalent, divalent, trivalent metal. For example, a cationic crosslinking agent can be a transition metal, an alkali metal, or an alkaline earth metal where the metal is the 1+, 2+, or 3+ oxidation state. In some embodiments, the cationic crosslinking agent is lithium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, zinc, zirconium, iron, cobalt, nickel, titanium, or copper. In some embodiments, the cationic crosslinking agent is in the form of any monovalent divalent, or trivalent salt. For example, in some embodiments the cationic crosslinking agent is any sulfate, phosphate, chloride, bromide, triflate, amine, or carboxylate salt. In some embodiments, the cationic crosslinking agent is calcium sulfate (CA), calcium phosphate, calcium chloride, calcium bromide, or calcium triflate. The cationic crosslinking agent is sometimes referred to as the 2°-network activator. In some embodiments, for example, the 2°-network activator includes CA.
- For example, the catalyst can promote and/or increase the rate of the chemical reaction that forms the hydrogel composition. In some embodiments, the catalyst is an amine. Non-limiting examples of amine catalyst include aliphatic amines, N′,N′,N,N-tetramethylethylenediamine (TMED), benzyldimethylamine, methylamine, or triethyl amine.
- For example, the free radical initiator can generate free radicals that initiate the formation of the polymeric network of the hydrogel composition. Non-limiting examples of free radical initiators includes ammonium persulfate (APS), peroxides such as dialkyl peroxides, hydroperoxides, diacyl periods, or azo-compounds (i.e., —N═N— moieties). In some embodiments, the initiator is a photoinitiator. Non-limiting examples of photo initiators include ribofalvin-5′-phosphate, ribofalvin-5′-phosphate sodium, ethyl (2,4,5-trimethylbenzoyl) phenyl phosphinate (TPO-L), bis-acylphosphine oxide (BAPO), 2-hydroxy-2-methyl propiophenone, methylbenzoyl formate, isoamyl 4-(dimethylamino) benzoate, 2-ethyl hexyl-4-(dimethylamino) benzoate, or diphenyl(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl) phosphine oxide (TPO). Additional, non-limiting examples of suitable photo-initiators include 1-hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone (Irgacure 184), 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone (Irgacure 651), and 2-methyl-1-[4-(methylthio) phenyl]-2-(4-morpholinyl)-1-propanone (Irgacure 907), hydroxyacetophenone, phosphineoxide, benzophenone, and lithium phenyl-2,4,6-trimethylbenzoylphosphinate (LAP). The free radical initiator is sometimes referred to as the 1°-network activator. In some embodiments, for example, the 1°-network activator includes TMED.
- In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, a semi-rigid hydrogel interface pad is made up of two water soluble polymer networks: a primary (1° network) scaffold and a secondary (2° network) sacrificial graft. In some embodiments, the hydrogel interface pad includes a dimethyl acrylamide monomer (DMAm), a sodium alginate block copolymer (P(SA)), and water. For example, the DMA concentration can be engineered to affect the elasticity and conformability. In some embodiments, the hydrogel interface pad further comprises MBA, TMED, CA, and APS.
-
FIG. 4 shows an image of an example embodiment of a SAC in accordance with the present technology produced as an ionically, crosslinked hydrogel interface pad (HIP) 402. - In example implementations, mechanical and acoustic properties of the
HIP 402 and a second example hydrogel interface pad 401 used as a control (not shown) were compared, as shown in Table 1. The example HIP 401 is composed of Poly(Acrylamide) (Poly(AA)) with low viscosity P(SA) 2° network with good elastic, conformability, and clarity properties. Rippling on exposed surface of the example HIP 401 was due to surface tension differentials during the gelation process. Theexample HIP 402 was configured to have the same composition of P(SA) as the HIP 401 but includes Poly(DMAm) instead of Poly(AA). - Table 1 shows tested acoustic and mechanical properties of the
example HIP sample 402 and for the example control hydrogel sample 401. Note, in Table 1, “SOS” stands for speed of sound; “Z” is acoustic impedance, “ATTN” is attenuation, “E” is the Young's Modulus, and “ϵ” is the engineering strain. -
TABLE 1 Hydrogel SOS Z ATTN E ϵ Sample (#) (m/s) (MRayls) (dB/cm/MHz) (kPa) (mm) 401 1548 1.595 0.14 48 −15 402 1549 1.597 0.14 32 −15 -
FIGS. 5A-5F show images of the pliability, stretchability, deformability, and robustness of an example semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium article. Specifically,FIG. 5A shows the example SACM prior to localized compression, contrastingFIG. 5B which shows the SACM during localized compression. Similarly,FIG. 5C shows the SACM prior to squeezing, contrastingFIG. 5D which shows the SACM during squeezing. Lastly,FIG. 5E shows the SACM conformability characteristics andFIG. 5F shows the SACM under full compression. Taken together, these experiments support that the SACM is resistant to fracturing, which can be attributed to an overall increase in toughness and elasticity. Notably, the example SACM is able to undergo all of these physical deformations while maintaining its full acoustic propagation properties, thereby allowing an acoustic imaging system employing the SACM to form an acoustic image without artifacts. -
FIGS. 6A-6C show schematic diagrams of anacoustic probe device 600 in accordance with the example embodiments of the disclosed semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment techniques. Theprobe device 600 includes ahousing structure 601 to contain and position one or more transducers for transmitting and receiving acoustic signals to/from a mass (e.g., body part) to which theacoustic probe device 600 is applied. Thecouplant device 600 includes anacoustic coupling article 605 that is an embodiment of any of the disclosed SACMs, e.g., including but not limited to the semi-rigidacoustic couplant article 300 shown inFIGS. 3A-3D . The acousticcoupling medium article 605 is attached to thehousing structure 601 such that theacoustic coupling article 605 is in contact with the external surface area of the transducer elements disposed in thehousing structure 601. - In this non-limiting example, the
housing structure 601 includes a curved section where transducer elements (not shown) of an acoustic transmit and/or receive transducer array are positioned. The curved section of thehousing structure 601 can be configured to various sizes and/or curvatures tailored to a particular body region or part where thecouplant device 600 is to be applied in acoustic imaging, measurement, and/or therapy implementations. For example, the length, depth, and arc of the curved section of thehousing structure 601 can be configured to make complete contact with a region of interest on an anatomical structure, e.g., such as a breast, arm, leg, neck, throat, knee joint, hip joint, ankle, waist, shoulder, or other anatomical structure of a human or animal (e.g., canine) subject to image or apply ultrasonic treatment to target volumes within such structures, such as splenic masses, cancerous or noncancerous tumors, legions, sprains, tears, bone outlines and other signs of damage or maladies. For example, the curved section of thehousing structure 601 can include an aperture length in a range of a few centimeters to tens or hundreds of centimeters (e.g., such as an 18 cm baseline as depicted inFIG. 6A ), an aperture depth in a range of a few centimeters to tens or hundreds of centimeters, and an arc or curvature of 1/(half or a few centimeters) to 1/(tens or hundreds of centimeters), e.g., 1/0.5 cm−1 to 1/18 cm−1. Notably, in some examples, the transducer section of theprobe device 600 can be flat, angled or arranged in other geometries in addition or alternative from being curved. - Similarly, in another non-limiting example, the
housing structure 601 can include a relatively flat section where transducer elements (not shown) of an acoustic transmit and/or receive transducer array are positioned, such that the transducer-interfacing surface of theacoustic coupling article 605 is matched in geometry to conform with the transducer elements. - In any geometrical embodiment of the
acoustic coupling article 605, the semi-rigidacoustic coupling article 605 may include a convex face on theoutward surface 612 of thearticle 605 that interfaces with the receiving medium. - The
acoustic coupling article 605 is operable to conduct acoustic signals between the transducer elements of theprobe device 600 and a receiving medium (e.g., body region or part of the subject, e.g., such as the subject's midsection, head, or appendage) where theprobe device 600 is to be placed in contact to transmit and receive the acoustic signals propagating toward and from a target volume of interest in the subject. Theacoustic coupling article 605 is able to conform to the receiving medium to provide acoustic impedance matching between the transducer elements and the receiving medium (e.g., the skin of the subject, including body hair protruded from the skin). - In some embodiments of the
probe device 600, for example, thehousing structure 601 includes aflexible bracket 602 that attaches to a portion of thehousing structure 601 body on the transducer facing side, e.g., the curved section of thehousing structure 601 body in the illustrative example inFIGS. 6A-6C . In some implementations, for example, theacoustic coupling article 605 can be molded into theflexible bracket 602, which can also include theacoustic coupling article 605 being adhesively attached (e.g., glued) to theflexible bracket 602 at portions of theacoustic coupling article 605 away from acoustic signal propagation with the transducer elements. Theflexible bracket 602 is structured to flex such that it can conform to the receiving body that it surrounds. For example, theflexible bracket 602 can include flexible materials, e.g., including, but not limited to, ABS plastic, polyurethane, nylon, and/or acetyl copolymer. - As illustrated in
FIG. 6C , in some embodiments, theacoustic coupling article 605 is coupled to theflexible bracket 602 via notch attachments and/or arches. For example, theflexible bracket 602 can include abase component 612 to attach to the ends of theacoustic coupler 605. In some embodiments, thebase component 612 can include clips to secure and/or adhere theacoustic coupler 605. In the example shown inFIG. 6C , theflexible bracket 602 includes one or morearch components 613 configured to a size and curvature to span across the curved section of thehousing structure 601 body. The one or morearch components 613 are positioned at one or more respective locations on thebase component 612 away from where the transducer elements are to be positioned when theflexible bracket 602 is attached to thehousing structure 601. In some embodiments, theflexible bracket 602 can include a pattern ofnotches 614, e.g., disposed on one side of the arch component(s) 613, to allow theflexible bracket 602 to bend easily without breaking. The spacing of thenotches 614 can be configured based on the curvature section of thehousing structure 601. In some embodiments, for example, theflexible bracket 602 can include an undercut lip with a chamfer, e.g., located on the other side of the arch component(s) 113, so that when it is flexed into the shape of the array and pressed into position, the chamfered lip flexes over the lip on the curved section of thehousing structure 601 and secures theflexible bracket 602, and thereby theacoustic coupler 605, in place. - In some implementations, for example, the
acoustic coupling article 605 can be bonded or molded into theflexible bracket 602 when cross-linking of SACM occurs. In some implementations, for example, the SACM of theacoustic coupling article 605 can also be molded on the subject-facing side to smooth or curve the edges, e.g., which can allow theprobe device 600 to contact and release from the subject easier. - In some embodiments, the
acoustic coupling article 605 couples to the transducers of theprobe device 600 via a flexible, overmolded bracket. For example, the bracket is imbedded in gel-sol during pour-casting; and once the gel-sol cures, theovermolded bracket 602 can then retain theacoustic coupling article 605 to theprobe device 600 via snap fit features on the probe device housing. -
FIG. 7 shows a diagram illustrating an acoustic imaging system employing an example embodiment of theSAC article 300 for generating synthetic aperture or tomographic, high-resolution, images of various human anatomical structures. In this example, theacoustic imaging system 700 includes aframe 701 to hold the acoustic probe device 600 (having the array of transducers) that is coupled to theexample SAC article 300, which conform to the array of transducers and to the patient's body. Theframe 701 can be configured in various ways to present theprobe device 600 andSAC article 300 to the desired part of the patient's body. Theacoustic probe device 600 can be configured such that the array of transducer elements are presented in a flat or curved arrangement, and is not limited by the specific example shown in the diagrams ofFIGS. 6A-6C . Here, theSAC article 300 can conform to both a large array, which curves around the patients back as illustrated in the diagram. This example figure depicts how theSAC article 300 would enable synthetic aperture tomographic imaging of selected hard, soft or combined hard and soft tissue anatomical features with our resorting to a water bath. Due to the mechanical and acoustic properties of theSAC article 300, theacoustic imaging system 700 is able to generate such high-resolution images on any part of the patient's anatomy in contact with theSAC article 300 without requiring a water bath or water bath-like inferior couplant. - The following examples are illustrative of several embodiments of the present technology. Other exemplary embodiments of the present technology may be presented prior to the following listed examples, or after the following listed examples.
- In some embodiments in accordance with the present technology (example A1), an acoustic coupling article includes a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) operable to conform to a receiving body to propagate an acoustic signal within the SACM to and from the receiving body.
- Example A2 includes the article of any of examples A1-A10, wherein the SACM is configured in a shape having two attachment portions located at one end of an acoustic interface portion, such that the acoustic interface portion is operable to contact the receiving body to propagate the acoustic signal and the attachment portions are configured to be secured by an acoustic probe device to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signal.
- Example A3 includes the article of any of examples A1-A10, wherein the SACM is operable to propagate the acoustic signal between the receiving body and the SACM with an acoustic impedance matching of 2 MRayls or less.
- Example A4 includes the article of any of examples A1-A10, wherein the SACM is operable to conform to both the receiving body and an acoustic probe device having one or more transducer elements without gaps in between the external layer of the SACM and the receiving body and one or more transducers.
- Example A5 includes the article of example A5, wherein the SACM is stretchable in a range of 10% to 1000% elongation.
- Example A6 includes the article of example A5, wherein the SACM is compressible in a range of 20% to 99.9%.
- Example A7 includes the article of any of examples A1-A10, wherein the SACM includes an elasticity with a Young's modulus in a range of 30 kPa to 500 kPa.
- Example A8 includes the article of any of examples A1-A10, wherein the SACM includes a biocompatible material.
- Example A9 includes the article of any of examples A1-A10, wherein the SACM is sterile within a packaging container.
- Example A10 includes the article of any of examples A1-A9, wherein the SACM is clean and non-sterile within a packaging container.
- In some embodiments in accordance with the present technology (example B1), an acoustic coupling article includes a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) operable to contact and conform to an array of transducer elements at a first end of the SACM and to a receiving body at a second end of the SACM to propagate acoustic signals within the SACM between the array of transducer elements and the receiving body. The SACM includes one or more hydrogel materials in a single acoustic coupling article, where the SACM is structured to have one or more attachment portions located at the first end and an acoustic interface portion spanning away from the one or more attachment portions and terminating at the second end, such that an outward surface of the acoustic interface portion at the second end is structured to (i) be substantially flat, at least at a portion of the outward surface, (ii) have a single curve along one direction of the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface, and/or (iii) have multiple curves in multiple directions along the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface. The outward surface is operable to conform to the receiving body for propagation of the acoustic signals into and from the receiving body. The one or more attachment portions are configured to be secured by an acoustic probe device having the array of transducer elements to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signals.
- Example B2 includes the article of example B 1, which can be embodied as the article in any of examples C1-C15.
- In some embodiments in accordance with the present technology (example C1), an acoustic coupling article includes a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) operable to contact and conform to an array of transducer elements at a first end of the SACM and to a receiving body at a second end of the SACM to propagate acoustic signals within the SACM between the array of transducer elements and the receiving body. The SACM includes a single hydrogel material and is structured to have a shape including one or more attachment portions located at the first end and an acoustic interface portion spanning away from the one or more attachment portions and terminating at the second end, such that an outward surface of the acoustic interface portion at the second end is structured to (i) have a single curve along one direction of the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface, and/or (ii) have multiple curves in multiple directions along the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface. The outward surface is operable to conform to the receiving body to propagate the acoustic signals into and from the receiving body. The attachment portions are configured to be secured by an acoustic probe device having the array of transducer elements to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signals through the single hydrogel material.
- Example C2 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the SACM is capable to conform to both the receiving body and an acoustic probe device having one or more transducer elements without resulting in gaps, creases, or air entrainments in between an external surface of the SACM and the receiving body and one or more transducers.
- Example C3 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the multiple curves in multiple directions forms a convex surface on at least a portion of the outward surface of the SACM.
- Example C4 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the multiple curves in multiple directions forms a concave surface on at least a portion of the outward surface of the SACM.
- Example C5 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the multiple curves in multiple directions forms a convex surface on at least a first portion of the outward surface and a concave surface on at least a second portion of the outward surface of the SACM.
- Example C6 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the SACM is structured to have a T-shape including two attachment portions located at the first end, and the acoustic interface portion spans away from the two attachment portions and terminates at the second end.
- Example C7 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the SACM is operable to propagate the acoustic signals between the receiving body and the SACM with an acoustic impedance matching of 2 MRayls or less.
- Example C8 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the SACM is operable to propagate the acoustic signals between the receiving body and the SACM with an acoustic attenuation of about 0.001-1.00 dB/cm/MHz.
- Example C9 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the SACM is stretchable in a range of 10% to 1000% elongation.
- Example C10 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the SACM is compressible in a range of 20% to 99.9%.
- Example C11 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the SACM includes an elasticity with a Young's modulus in a range of 30 kPa to 500 kPa.
- Example C12 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the single hydrogel material comprises a dimethyl acrylamide monomer (DMAm), a sodium alginate block copolymer (P(SA)), and water.
- Example C13 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the single hydrogel material further comprises N,N′-methylenebisacrylaminde (MBA), N′,N′,N,N-tetramethlethylenediamine (TMED), calcium sulfate (CA), and ammonium persulfate (APS).
- Example C14 includes the article of any of examples C1-C15, wherein the SACM is configured to have the following properties: a speed of sound (SOS) of about 1549 m/s, an attenuation (ATTN) of about 0.14 dB/MHz·cm, an acoustic impedance (Z) of about 1.597 MRayls, a Young's Modulus (E) of about 32 kPa, and an engineering strain (ε) of about −15 mm.
- Example C15 includes the article of any of examples C1-C14, wherein the SACM is storable in a sterile or a non-sterile form within a packaging container such that the SACM is ready for use in a clinical imaging application upon removal from the packaging container.
- In some embodiments in accordance with the present technology (example C16), an acoustic probe device includes a housing; an array of transducer elements attached to the housing and operable to transmit acoustic signals toward a target volume in a receiving body and received returned acoustic signals that return from at least part of the target volume; and a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) operable to contact and conform to the array of transducer elements at a first end of the SACM and, when the acoustic probe device is engaged with the receiving body, to contact and conform to the receiving body at a second end of the SACM for propagating the transmitted and received returned acoustic signals within the SACM between the array of transducer elements and the receiving body. The SACM includes one or more individual hydrogel materials in a single SACM, where the SACM is structured to have one or more attachment portions located at the first end and an acoustic interface portion spanning away from the one or more attachment portions and terminating at the second end, such that an outward surface of the acoustic interface portion at the second end is structured to (i) be substantially flat, at least at a portion of the outward surface, (ii) have a single curve along one direction of the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface, and/or (iii) have multiple curves in multiple directions along the outward surface, at least at a portion of the outward surface. The outward surface is able to conform to the receiving body for propagation of the acoustic signals into and from the receiving body. The one or more attachment portions are configured to be secured by the acoustic probe device having the array of transducer elements to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signals.
- Example C17 includes the device of example C16, wherein the SACM is capable to conform to both the receiving body and an acoustic probe device having one or more transducer elements without resulting in gaps, creases, or air entrainments in between an external surface of the SACM and the receiving body and the array of transducers.
- Example C18 includes the device of any of examples C16-C21, comprising a bracket coupled to the housing to secure the attachment portions of the SACM to the acoustic probe device.
- Example C19 includes the device of any of examples C16-C21, wherein the SACM comprises a plurality of the one or more individual hydrogel materials, where the individual hydrogel materials of the plurality couple and conform to each other without resulting in gaps, creases, or air entrainments in between to form a single hydrogel material, the plurality of the individual hydrogel materials each comprising a dimethyl acrylamide monomer (DMAm), a sodium alginate block copolymer (P(SA)), and water.
- Example C20 includes the device of any of examples C16-C21, wherein the SACM includes the SACM in any of examples B1 or C1-C15.
- Example C21 includes the device of any of examples C16-C20, wherein the device is included in an acoustic imaging system configured to produce a synthetic aperture and/or a tomographic image with high resolution of an anatomical structure of a human or non-human subject based on mechanical and acoustic properties of the SACM.
- All numerical designations, e.g., pH, temperature, time, concentration, and molecular weight, including ranges, are approximations which are varied (+) or (−) by increments of 1.0 or 0.1, as appropriate, or alternatively by a variation of +/−15%, or alternatively 10%, or alternatively 5%, or alternatively 2%. It is to be understood, although not always explicitly stated, that all numerical designations are preceded by the term “about.” It is to be understood that such range format is used for convenience and brevity and should be understood flexibly to include numerical values explicitly specified as limits of a range, but also to include all individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly specified. For example, a ratio in the range of about 1 to about 200 should be understood to include the explicitly recited limits of about 1 and about 200, but also to include individual ratios such as about 2, about 3, and about 4, and sub-ranges such as about 10 to about 50, about 20 to about 100, and so forth. It also is to be understood, although not always explicitly stated, that the reagents described herein are merely exemplary and that equivalents of such are known in the art.
- The term “about,” as used herein when referring to a measurable value such as an amount or concentration and the like, is meant to encompass variations of 20%, 10%, 5%, 1%, 0.5%, or even 0.1% of the specified amount.
- The terms or “acceptable,” “effective,” or “sufficient” when used to describe the selection of any components, ranges, dose forms, etc. disclosed herein intend that said component, range, dose form, etc. is suitable for the disclosed purpose.
- “Comprising” or “comprises” is intended to mean that the compositions and methods include the recited elements, but not excluding others. “Consisting essentially of” when used to define compositions and methods, shall mean excluding other elements of any essential significance to the combination for the stated purpose. Thus, a composition consisting essentially of the elements as defined herein would not exclude other materials or steps that do not materially affect the basic and novel characteristic(s) of the claimed invention. “Consisting of” shall mean excluding more than trace elements of other ingredients and substantial method steps. Embodiments defined by each of these transition terms are within the scope of this invention.
- It is intended that the specification, together with the drawings, be considered exemplary only, where exemplary means an example. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Additionally, the use of “or” is intended to include “and/or”, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
- While this patent document contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any invention or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments of particular inventions. Certain features that are described in this patent document in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
- Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described in this patent document should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments.
- Only a few implementations and examples are described and other implementations, enhancements and variations can be made based on what is described and illustrated in this patent document.
Claims (21)
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US17/397,253 US20210361259A1 (en) | 2019-04-23 | 2021-08-09 | Semi-rigid acoustic coupling articles for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment applications |
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US201962837716P | 2019-04-23 | 2019-04-23 | |
US16/856,326 US11154274B2 (en) | 2019-04-23 | 2020-04-23 | Semi-rigid acoustic coupling articles for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment applications |
US17/397,253 US20210361259A1 (en) | 2019-04-23 | 2021-08-09 | Semi-rigid acoustic coupling articles for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment applications |
Related Parent Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US16/856,326 Continuation US11154274B2 (en) | 2019-04-23 | 2020-04-23 | Semi-rigid acoustic coupling articles for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment applications |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20210361259A1 true US20210361259A1 (en) | 2021-11-25 |
Family
ID=72922029
Family Applications (2)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US16/856,326 Active US11154274B2 (en) | 2019-04-23 | 2020-04-23 | Semi-rigid acoustic coupling articles for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment applications |
US17/397,253 Pending US20210361259A1 (en) | 2019-04-23 | 2021-08-09 | Semi-rigid acoustic coupling articles for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment applications |
Family Applications Before (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US16/856,326 Active US11154274B2 (en) | 2019-04-23 | 2020-04-23 | Semi-rigid acoustic coupling articles for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment applications |
Country Status (2)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (2) | US11154274B2 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2020219705A1 (en) |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US11839512B2 (en) | 2015-02-25 | 2023-12-12 | Decision Sciences Medical Company, LLC | Acoustic signal transmission couplants and coupling mediums |
Families Citing this family (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2013066821A2 (en) | 2011-10-28 | 2013-05-10 | Decision Sciences International Corporation | Spread spectrum coded waveforms in ultrasound imaging |
US9844359B2 (en) | 2013-09-13 | 2017-12-19 | Decision Sciences Medical Company, LLC | Coherent spread-spectrum coded waveforms in synthetic aperture image formation |
AU2016334258B2 (en) | 2015-10-08 | 2021-07-01 | Decision Sciences Medical Company, LLC | Acoustic orthopedic tracking system and methods |
JP2022523805A (en) * | 2019-03-06 | 2022-04-26 | ディスィジョン サイエンシズ メディカル カンパニー,エルエルシー | A method of manufacturing and distributing semi-rigid acoustically coupled articles, and a method of packaging for ultrasonic imaging. |
US20220296214A1 (en) * | 2021-03-22 | 2022-09-22 | Telefield Medical Imaging Limited | Gel pad for ultrasound imaging |
CA3232432A1 (en) * | 2021-09-13 | 2023-03-16 | Decision Sciences Medical Company, LLC | Acoustic couplant devices and interface mediums |
CN113951930B (en) * | 2021-09-16 | 2023-11-28 | 杭州影想未来科技有限公司 | Three-dimensional neck ultrasonic automatic scanning and evaluating system and method |
Citations (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP0120410A2 (en) * | 1983-03-25 | 1984-10-03 | Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | Ultrasonic probe device |
US20140180116A1 (en) * | 2009-10-08 | 2014-06-26 | C. R. Bard, Inc. | Coupling Structures for an Ultrasound Probe |
US20150274805A1 (en) * | 2012-10-23 | 2015-10-01 | Elastagen Pty Ltd. | Elastic Hydrogel |
US20160083574A1 (en) * | 2013-04-25 | 2016-03-24 | Jie Zheng | One-pot synthesis of highly mechanical and recoverable double-network hydrogels |
US20160242736A1 (en) * | 2015-02-25 | 2016-08-25 | Decision Sciences Medical Company, LLC | Acoustic signal transmission couplants and coupling mediums |
US20160270763A1 (en) * | 2015-03-18 | 2016-09-22 | Decision Sciences Medical Company, LLC | Synthetic aperture ultrasound system |
US20180244858A1 (en) * | 2015-09-01 | 2018-08-30 | President And Fellows Of Harvard College | Hydrogels with Improved Mechanical Properties Below Water Freezing Temperature |
Family Cites Families (218)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
GB1514158A (en) | 1969-09-26 | 1978-06-14 | Siemens Ag | Pulse radar systems |
US4105018A (en) | 1976-02-02 | 1978-08-08 | University Of Utah | Acoustic examination, material characterization and imaging of the internal structure of a body by measurement of the time-of-flight of acoustic energy therethrough |
US4159462A (en) | 1977-08-18 | 1979-06-26 | General Electric Company | Ultrasonic multi-sector scanner |
JPS5551351A (en) | 1978-09-22 | 1980-04-15 | Agency Of Ind Science & Technol | Sound stereoscopic image pickup system |
US4277367A (en) | 1978-10-23 | 1981-07-07 | Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation | Phantom material and method |
US4463608A (en) | 1979-05-07 | 1984-08-07 | Yokogawa Hokushin Electric Corp. | Ultrasound imaging system |
JPS58195550A (en) | 1982-05-08 | 1983-11-14 | 株式会社東芝 | Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus |
US4437468A (en) | 1982-09-03 | 1984-03-20 | Medtronic, Inc. | Ultrasound scanning system with semi-independent transducer array |
JPS6048736A (en) | 1983-08-29 | 1985-03-16 | 株式会社東芝 | Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus |
US4620546A (en) | 1984-06-30 | 1986-11-04 | Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | Ultrasound hyperthermia apparatus |
US4821206A (en) | 1984-11-27 | 1989-04-11 | Photo Acoustic Technology, Inc. | Ultrasonic apparatus for positioning a robot hand |
JPS62117535A (en) | 1985-11-18 | 1987-05-29 | アロカ株式会社 | Ultrasonic doppler apparatus |
US4830015A (en) | 1986-09-16 | 1989-05-16 | Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | Method and system for measuring an ultrasound tissue characterization |
DE3732131A1 (en) | 1987-09-24 | 1989-04-06 | Wolf Gmbh Richard | FOCUSING ULTRASONIC transducer |
US5522878A (en) | 1988-03-25 | 1996-06-04 | Lectec Corporation | Solid multipurpose ultrasonic biomedical couplant gel in sheet form and method |
US4966953A (en) | 1988-06-02 | 1990-10-30 | Takiron Co., Ltd. | Liquid segment polyurethane gel and couplers for ultrasonic diagnostic probe comprising the same |
US5329944A (en) | 1989-11-16 | 1994-07-19 | Fabian Carl E | Surgical implement detector utilizing an acoustic marker |
FR2662813B1 (en) | 1990-05-29 | 1992-08-14 | Traitement Synthese Image | PROCESS FOR ACQUIRING ECHOGRAPHY IMAGES. |
US5241964A (en) | 1990-10-31 | 1993-09-07 | Medwave, Incorporated | Noninvasive, non-occlusive method and apparatus which provides a continuous indication of arterial pressure and a beat-by-beat characterization of the arterial system |
US5417218A (en) | 1991-05-31 | 1995-05-23 | Spivey; Brett A. | Acoustic imaging device |
DE4119524C2 (en) | 1991-06-13 | 1998-08-20 | Siemens Ag | Device for the treatment of bone disorders by means of acoustic waves |
US5269309A (en) | 1991-12-11 | 1993-12-14 | Fort J Robert | Synthetic aperture ultrasound imaging system |
JP3272792B2 (en) | 1992-12-15 | 2002-04-08 | フクダ電子株式会社 | Ultrasonic coupler manufacturing method |
US5394877A (en) | 1993-04-01 | 1995-03-07 | Axon Medical, Inc. | Ultrasound medical diagnostic device having a coupling medium providing self-adherence to a patient |
US5445144A (en) | 1993-12-16 | 1995-08-29 | Purdue Research Foundation | Apparatus and method for acoustically guiding, positioning, and monitoring a tube within a body |
DE19524880C2 (en) | 1994-07-15 | 2000-09-21 | Agilent Technologies Inc | Real-time endocardial ultrasound displacement display |
JPH0838473A (en) | 1994-07-29 | 1996-02-13 | Hitachi Medical Corp | Ultrasonic diagnostic device |
US5793701A (en) | 1995-04-07 | 1998-08-11 | Acuson Corporation | Method and apparatus for coherent image formation |
US5623928A (en) | 1994-08-05 | 1997-04-29 | Acuson Corporation | Method and apparatus for coherent image formation |
US5829444A (en) | 1994-09-15 | 1998-11-03 | Visualization Technology, Inc. | Position tracking and imaging system for use in medical applications |
DE69531994T2 (en) | 1994-09-15 | 2004-07-22 | OEC Medical Systems, Inc., Boston | SYSTEM FOR POSITION DETECTION BY MEANS OF A REFERENCE UNIT ATTACHED TO A PATIENT'S HEAD FOR USE IN THE MEDICAL AREA |
DE69533828T2 (en) | 1994-09-19 | 2005-04-21 | Invitrogen Corp | PLASTIC MOLD FOR ELECTROPHERE LEVEL |
US5608690A (en) | 1995-03-02 | 1997-03-04 | Acuson Corporation | Transmit beamformer with frequency dependent focus |
US6231834B1 (en) | 1995-06-07 | 2001-05-15 | Imarx Pharmaceutical Corp. | Methods for ultrasound imaging involving the use of a contrast agent and multiple images and processing of same |
US8241217B2 (en) | 1995-06-29 | 2012-08-14 | Teratech Corporation | Portable ultrasound imaging data |
US5806518A (en) | 1995-09-11 | 1998-09-15 | Integrated Surgical Systems | Method and system for positioning surgical robot |
US5868676A (en) | 1996-10-25 | 1999-02-09 | Acuson Corporation | Interactive doppler processor and method |
US5902244A (en) | 1997-02-05 | 1999-05-11 | Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. | Ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus including simple digital scan converter |
EP0977534B1 (en) | 1997-02-06 | 2012-04-04 | Exogen, Inc. | Kits for cartilage growth stimulation |
US6205411B1 (en) | 1997-02-21 | 2001-03-20 | Carnegie Mellon University | Computer-assisted surgery planner and intra-operative guidance system |
US5800356A (en) | 1997-05-29 | 1998-09-01 | Advanced Technology Laboratories, Inc. | Ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system with doppler assisted tracking of tissue motion |
US6083164A (en) | 1997-06-27 | 2000-07-04 | Siemens Medical Systems, Inc. | Ultrasound front-end circuit combining the transmitter and automatic transmit/receiver switch |
US6050945A (en) | 1997-06-27 | 2000-04-18 | Siemens Medical Systems, Inc. | Ultrasound front-end circuit combining the transmitter and automatic transmit/receive switch with agile power level control |
US5913823A (en) | 1997-07-15 | 1999-06-22 | Acuson Corporation | Ultrasound imaging method and system for transmit signal generation for an ultrasonic imaging system capable of harmonic imaging |
AU766783B2 (en) | 1997-08-19 | 2003-10-23 | Philipp Lang | Ultrasonic transmission films and devices, particularly for hygienic transducer surfaces |
US5873830A (en) | 1997-08-22 | 1999-02-23 | Acuson Corporation | Ultrasound imaging system and method for improving resolution and operation |
JP4330268B2 (en) | 1997-09-03 | 2009-09-16 | ザ リージェンツ オブ ザ ユニバーシティ オブ カリフォルニア | Novel biomimetic hydrogel materials |
US6348058B1 (en) | 1997-12-12 | 2002-02-19 | Surgical Navigation Technologies, Inc. | Image guided spinal surgery guide, system, and method for use thereof |
US6176837B1 (en) | 1998-04-17 | 2001-01-23 | Massachusetts Institute Of Technology | Motion tracking system |
US6113545A (en) | 1998-04-20 | 2000-09-05 | General Electric Company | Ultrasonic beamforming with improved signal-to-noise ratio using orthogonal complementary sets |
JP4260920B2 (en) | 1998-05-13 | 2009-04-30 | 株式会社東芝 | Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment |
US6039694A (en) | 1998-06-25 | 2000-03-21 | Sonotech, Inc. | Coupling sheath for ultrasound transducers |
US6157592A (en) | 1998-07-06 | 2000-12-05 | Resolution Displays, Inc. | Acoustic position determination method and apparatus |
US6338765B1 (en) | 1998-09-03 | 2002-01-15 | Uit, L.L.C. | Ultrasonic impact methods for treatment of welded structures |
US6110114A (en) | 1998-09-30 | 2000-08-29 | Siemens Medical Systems, Inc. | Flexible beam sequencing for 3-dimensional ultrasound imaging |
US6045507A (en) | 1998-10-09 | 2000-04-04 | General Electric Company | Method and apparatus for adaptive color flow optimization |
US6340363B1 (en) | 1998-10-09 | 2002-01-22 | Surgical Navigation Technologies, Inc. | Image guided vertebral distractor and method for tracking the position of vertebrae |
US6113544A (en) | 1998-12-07 | 2000-09-05 | Mo; Larry Y. L. | Method and apparatus for automatic transmit waveform optimization in B-mode ultrasound imaging |
US6322567B1 (en) | 1998-12-14 | 2001-11-27 | Integrated Surgical Systems, Inc. | Bone motion tracking system |
WO2000040159A1 (en) | 1998-12-31 | 2000-07-13 | Yeung Teresa T | Tissue fastening devices and delivery means |
US6106464A (en) | 1999-02-22 | 2000-08-22 | Vanderbilt University | Apparatus and method for bone surface-based registration of physical space with tomographic images and for guiding an instrument relative to anatomical sites in the image |
DE69931074T2 (en) | 1999-03-17 | 2006-11-16 | Synthes Ag Chur | DEVICE FOR PRESENTING AND PLANNING CRANE COATING OPERATIONS |
US6132375A (en) | 1999-03-31 | 2000-10-17 | Acuson Corporation | Medical ultrasonic system and method for synthetic aperture processing in elevation |
IL129461A0 (en) | 1999-04-15 | 2000-02-29 | F R A Y Project Dev Ltd | 3-D ultrasound imaging system |
US6241676B1 (en) | 1999-06-10 | 2001-06-05 | Agilent Technologies, Inc. | Ultrasound transmit waveforms having low harmonic content |
US7520856B2 (en) | 1999-09-17 | 2009-04-21 | University Of Washington | Image guided high intensity focused ultrasound device for therapy in obstetrics and gynecology |
US7291119B1 (en) | 1999-11-01 | 2007-11-06 | Socovar, Société En Commandite | System for the analysis of 3D kinematic of the knee |
CA2427186C (en) | 1999-11-01 | 2011-08-23 | Ecole De Technologie Superieure | A system for the analysis of 3d kinematic of the knee |
US6508766B2 (en) | 2000-01-20 | 2003-01-21 | Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | Ultrasound diagnostic apparatus |
US6436045B1 (en) | 2000-04-27 | 2002-08-20 | Koninklijke Phillips Electronics N.V. | User controlled destructive waveform routine for ultrasound systems |
US6402707B1 (en) | 2000-06-28 | 2002-06-11 | Denupp Corporation Bvi | Method and system for real time intra-orally acquiring and registering three-dimensional measurements and images of intra-oral objects and features |
US8909325B2 (en) | 2000-08-21 | 2014-12-09 | Biosensors International Group, Ltd. | Radioactive emission detector equipped with a position tracking system and utilization thereof with medical systems and in medical procedures |
US7826889B2 (en) | 2000-08-21 | 2010-11-02 | Spectrum Dynamics Llc | Radioactive emission detector equipped with a position tracking system and utilization thereof with medical systems and in medical procedures |
US8565860B2 (en) | 2000-08-21 | 2013-10-22 | Biosensors International Group, Ltd. | Radioactive emission detector equipped with a position tracking system |
AU2001294157A1 (en) | 2000-09-25 | 2002-04-02 | Insightec-Image Guided Treatment Ltd. | Non-ivasive system and device for locating a surface of an object in a body |
FR2816200A1 (en) | 2000-11-06 | 2002-05-10 | Praxim | DETERMINING THE POSITION OF A KNEE PROSTHESIS |
US6475150B2 (en) | 2000-12-01 | 2002-11-05 | The Regents Of The University Of California | System and method for ultrasonic tomography |
US6583392B2 (en) | 2000-12-22 | 2003-06-24 | General Electric Company | Apparatus and method for determining properties of a cooktop using ultrasound techniques |
US6960173B2 (en) | 2001-01-30 | 2005-11-01 | Eilaz Babaev | Ultrasound wound treatment method and device using standing waves |
FR2820629B1 (en) | 2001-02-12 | 2003-09-05 | Ge Med Sys Global Tech Co Llc | METHOD FOR CALIBRATING AN ASSISTANCE SYSTEM FOR SURGICAL INTERVENTION OF THE MEDICAL IMAGING TYPE |
US6785571B2 (en) | 2001-03-30 | 2004-08-31 | Neil David Glossop | Device and method for registering a position sensor in an anatomical body |
US6537216B1 (en) | 2001-04-30 | 2003-03-25 | Acuson Corporation | Transmit circuit for imaging with ultrasound |
US7135809B2 (en) | 2001-06-27 | 2006-11-14 | Koninklijke Philips Electronics, N.V. | Ultrasound transducer |
JP2004535882A (en) | 2001-07-24 | 2004-12-02 | サンライト メディカル リミテッド | Bone age evaluation method using ultrasound |
US6620101B2 (en) | 2001-07-26 | 2003-09-16 | Dentosonic Ltd. | Bone measurement device |
US6635019B2 (en) | 2001-08-14 | 2003-10-21 | Koninklijke Philips Electronics Nv | Scanhead assembly for ultrasonic imaging having an integral beamformer and demountable array |
GB2379392B (en) | 2001-09-11 | 2004-11-17 | Johnson & Johnson Medical Ltd | Wound dressing with occlusive apertured and hydrogel layers |
EP1300690B1 (en) | 2001-10-02 | 2009-07-29 | B-K Medical A/S | Apparatus and method for velocity estimation in synthetic aperture imaging |
KR100406097B1 (en) | 2001-12-26 | 2003-11-14 | 주식회사 메디슨 | Ultrasound imaging system and method using the weighted chirp signals |
KR100406098B1 (en) | 2001-12-26 | 2003-11-14 | 주식회사 메디슨 | Ultrasound imaging system and method based on simultaneous multiple transmit-focusing using the weighted orthogonal chirp signals |
JP3665612B2 (en) | 2001-12-28 | 2005-06-29 | アロカ株式会社 | Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment |
KR100419806B1 (en) | 2001-12-31 | 2004-02-21 | 주식회사 메디슨 | Synthetic aperture focusing method for ultrasound imaging based on planar waves |
US6939300B2 (en) | 2002-02-19 | 2005-09-06 | Siemens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc. | Multiple level transmitter and method of transmitting |
JP2004005415A (en) | 2002-04-19 | 2004-01-08 | Sharp Corp | Input device and input/output integrated display |
JP4192490B2 (en) | 2002-04-26 | 2008-12-10 | 株式会社日立メディコ | Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment |
US6757582B2 (en) | 2002-05-03 | 2004-06-29 | Carnegie Mellon University | Methods and systems to control a shaping tool |
WO2003101530A2 (en) | 2002-05-30 | 2003-12-11 | University Of Washington | Solid hydrogel coupling for ultrasound imaging and therapy |
JP2004089311A (en) | 2002-08-30 | 2004-03-25 | Fuji Photo Film Co Ltd | Ultrasonic transmission/reception device |
US7207939B2 (en) | 2002-10-03 | 2007-04-24 | Coulter International Corp. | Apparatus and method for analyzing a liquid in a capillary tube of a hematology instrument |
JP3920194B2 (en) | 2002-10-30 | 2007-05-30 | 独立行政法人科学技術振興機構 | Ultrasonic measuring device |
US6585648B1 (en) | 2002-11-15 | 2003-07-01 | Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. | System, method and machine readable program for performing ultrasonic fat beam transmission and multiline receive imaging |
US7226456B2 (en) | 2002-12-31 | 2007-06-05 | Depuy Acromed, Inc. | Trackable medical tool for use in image guided surgery |
JP4269145B2 (en) | 2003-01-07 | 2009-05-27 | 株式会社日立メディコ | Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment |
US6808494B2 (en) | 2003-02-10 | 2004-10-26 | Siemens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc. | Transmit circuit for imaging with ultrasound |
US7303530B2 (en) | 2003-05-22 | 2007-12-04 | Siemens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc. | Transducer arrays with an integrated sensor and methods of use |
US8038616B2 (en) | 2003-05-30 | 2011-10-18 | Surf Technology As | Acoustic imaging by nonlinear low frequency manipulation of high frequency scattering and propagation properties |
WO2004110278A1 (en) | 2003-06-11 | 2004-12-23 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | Ultrasonographic device |
US6918877B2 (en) | 2003-08-05 | 2005-07-19 | Siemens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc. | Method and system for reducing undesirable cross talk in diagnostic ultrasound arrays |
US7835778B2 (en) | 2003-10-16 | 2010-11-16 | Medtronic Navigation, Inc. | Method and apparatus for surgical navigation of a multiple piece construct for implantation |
JP4594610B2 (en) | 2003-10-21 | 2010-12-08 | 株式会社東芝 | Ultrasonic image processing apparatus and ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus |
US20050101867A1 (en) | 2003-10-28 | 2005-05-12 | Johnson Jeremy A. | Apparatus and method for phased subarray imaging |
JP4468136B2 (en) | 2003-11-06 | 2010-05-26 | 富士フイルム株式会社 | Ultrasonic transceiver |
US7335160B2 (en) | 2003-11-06 | 2008-02-26 | Fujifilm Corporation | Ultrasonic transmitting and receiving apparatus |
EP1691937B1 (en) | 2003-12-04 | 2017-03-22 | Koninklijke Philips N.V. | Ultrasound transducer and method for implementing flip-chip two dimensional array technology to curved arrays |
WO2005065407A2 (en) | 2003-12-30 | 2005-07-21 | Liposonix, Inc. | Position tracking device |
US7905836B2 (en) | 2004-02-06 | 2011-03-15 | Technion Research And Development Foundation | Localized production of microbubbles and control of cavitational and heating effects by use of enhanced ultrasound |
US7207943B2 (en) | 2004-03-24 | 2007-04-24 | Siemens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc. | Synthetic elevation aperture for ultrasound systems and methods |
US7473250B2 (en) | 2004-05-21 | 2009-01-06 | Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. | Ultrasound medical system and method |
US20060004290A1 (en) | 2004-06-30 | 2006-01-05 | Smith Lowell S | Ultrasound transducer with additional sensors |
US7004906B1 (en) | 2004-07-26 | 2006-02-28 | Siemens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc. | Contrast agent imaging with agent specific ultrasound detection |
US8409099B2 (en) | 2004-08-26 | 2013-04-02 | Insightec Ltd. | Focused ultrasound system for surrounding a body tissue mass and treatment method |
US7806823B2 (en) | 2004-09-27 | 2010-10-05 | Aloka Co., Ltd. | Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus |
EP2279698A3 (en) | 2004-10-06 | 2014-02-19 | Guided Therapy Systems, L.L.C. | Method and system for non-invasive cosmetic enhancement of stretch marks |
US10026338B2 (en) | 2004-11-30 | 2018-07-17 | The Regents Of The University Of California | Embedded motion sensing technology for integration within commercial ultrasound probes |
US20060161052A1 (en) | 2004-12-08 | 2006-07-20 | Perception Raisonnement Action En Medecine | Computer assisted orthopaedic surgery system for ligament graft reconstruction |
JP4854212B2 (en) | 2005-03-31 | 2012-01-18 | 日立アロカメディカル株式会社 | Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment |
DE102005015456A1 (en) | 2005-04-04 | 2006-10-05 | Viasys Healthcare Gmbh | Wave packet`s temporal position determining method for e.g. spirometer, involves computing sum of product as product from value of comparison function and measurement value, and computing temporal position from sum of product |
GB0508250D0 (en) | 2005-04-23 | 2005-06-01 | Smith & Nephew | Composition |
EP1887940B1 (en) | 2005-05-06 | 2013-06-26 | Vasonova, Inc. | Apparatus for endovascular device guiding and positioning |
US20070066897A1 (en) | 2005-07-13 | 2007-03-22 | Sekins K M | Systems and methods for performing acoustic hemostasis of deep bleeding trauma in limbs |
US8002705B1 (en) | 2005-07-22 | 2011-08-23 | Zonaire Medical Systems, Inc. | Continuous transmit focusing method and apparatus for ultrasound imaging system |
WO2007023477A2 (en) | 2005-08-22 | 2007-03-01 | University Of Limerick | A tracking system |
US20070046149A1 (en) | 2005-08-23 | 2007-03-01 | Zipparo Michael J | Ultrasound probe transducer assembly and production method |
US7835784B2 (en) | 2005-09-21 | 2010-11-16 | Medtronic Navigation, Inc. | Method and apparatus for positioning a reference frame |
JP5630958B2 (en) | 2005-11-02 | 2014-11-26 | ビジュアルソニックス インコーポレイテッド | High frequency array ultrasound system |
US8864686B2 (en) | 2005-12-01 | 2014-10-21 | Orthosensor Inc. | Virtual mapping of an anatomical pivot point and alignment therewith |
US8814810B2 (en) | 2005-12-01 | 2014-08-26 | Orthosensor Inc. | Orthopedic method and system for mapping an anatomical pivot point |
US7963919B2 (en) | 2005-12-07 | 2011-06-21 | Siemens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc. | Ultrasound imaging transducer array for synthetic aperture |
JP2007152861A (en) | 2005-12-08 | 2007-06-21 | Olympus Corp | Ink detector provided in image recorder, ink detecting method, and program |
ATE520353T1 (en) | 2005-12-14 | 2011-09-15 | Koninkl Philips Electronics Nv | CONVERTER CUFF FOR DELIVERY AND APPLICATION OF HIGH-INTENSITY FOCUSED ULTRASOUND TO CONTROL BLEEDING DUE TO SEVERED LIMBS |
US20070239002A1 (en) | 2005-12-28 | 2007-10-11 | Alam Sheikh K | Superfast, High-Resolution Ultrasonic Imaging Using Coded Excitation |
JP4839099B2 (en) | 2006-03-03 | 2011-12-14 | オリンパスメディカルシステムズ株式会社 | Ultrasonic transducer manufactured by micromachine process, ultrasonic transducer device, ultrasonic diagnostic device in body cavity, and control method thereof |
US7949386B2 (en) | 2006-03-21 | 2011-05-24 | A2 Surgical | Computer-aided osteoplasty surgery system |
US8253578B2 (en) | 2006-05-12 | 2012-08-28 | Panasonic Corporation | Smoke sensor of the sound wave type including a smoke density estimation unit |
US20070265690A1 (en) | 2006-05-12 | 2007-11-15 | Yoav Lichtenstein | Position tracking of passive resonance-based transponders |
JP5238693B2 (en) | 2006-05-26 | 2013-07-17 | コーニンクレッカ フィリップス エレクトロニクス エヌ ヴィ | Device for improving calibration and tracking of electromagnetic or acoustic catheters |
US7917317B2 (en) | 2006-07-07 | 2011-03-29 | Sonix, Inc. | Ultrasonic inspection using acoustic modeling |
US7938777B2 (en) | 2006-07-21 | 2011-05-10 | Orthosoft Inc. | Non-invasive tracking of bones for surgery |
JP5030081B2 (en) | 2006-08-18 | 2012-09-19 | 独立行政法人産業技術総合研究所 | AE / ultrasound detection system, and material monitoring apparatus and nondestructive inspection apparatus provided with the same |
US8220334B2 (en) | 2006-11-10 | 2012-07-17 | Penrith Corporation | Transducer array imaging system |
US7789833B2 (en) | 2006-11-16 | 2010-09-07 | Penrith Corporation | Integrated nerve stimulator and ultrasound imaging device |
EP1955668B1 (en) | 2007-02-07 | 2012-04-04 | BrainLAB AG | Method and device for the determination of alignment information during sonographically navigable repositioning of bone fragments |
US8231533B2 (en) | 2007-02-16 | 2012-07-31 | Buchalter Neal | Ultrasound coupling device |
US8147409B2 (en) | 2007-03-29 | 2012-04-03 | Supertex, Inc. | Method and apparatus for transducer excitation in medical ultrasound imaging |
CA2683717C (en) | 2007-04-19 | 2016-10-11 | Mako Surgical Corp. | Implant planning using captured joint motion information |
US8311611B2 (en) | 2007-04-24 | 2012-11-13 | Medtronic, Inc. | Method for performing multiple registrations in a navigated procedure |
PT2152167T (en) | 2007-05-07 | 2018-12-10 | Guided Therapy Systems Llc | Methods and systems for coupling and focusing acoustic energy using a coupler member |
US8771188B2 (en) | 2007-06-20 | 2014-07-08 | Perception Raisonnement Action En Medecine | Ultrasonic bone motion tracking system |
WO2009009064A1 (en) | 2007-07-09 | 2009-01-15 | Orison Corporation | Ultrasound coupling material |
US8323201B2 (en) | 2007-08-06 | 2012-12-04 | Orison Corporation | System and method for three-dimensional ultrasound imaging |
JP4500336B2 (en) | 2007-09-06 | 2010-07-14 | アロカ株式会社 | Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment |
US8251908B2 (en) | 2007-10-01 | 2012-08-28 | Insightec Ltd. | Motion compensated image-guided focused ultrasound therapy system |
EP2209424A1 (en) | 2007-10-09 | 2010-07-28 | Cabochon Aesthetics, Inc. | Ultrasound apparatus with treatment lens |
US20100268072A1 (en) | 2007-11-15 | 2010-10-21 | Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. | Method and apparatus for positional tracking of therapeutic ultrasound transducer |
JP4975829B2 (en) | 2007-12-25 | 2012-07-11 | パナソニック株式会社 | Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment |
US7938778B2 (en) | 2007-12-26 | 2011-05-10 | Aloka Co., Ltd. | Ultrasound diagnosis apparatus |
WO2014152463A1 (en) | 2013-03-15 | 2014-09-25 | Cyberheart, Inc. | Apparatus and method for real-time tracking of tissue structures |
US7763268B2 (en) | 2008-01-18 | 2010-07-27 | The Research Foundation Of State University Of New York | Load bearing hydrogel implants |
JP5192846B2 (en) | 2008-02-25 | 2013-05-08 | オリンパスメディカルシステムズ株式会社 | Biological observation apparatus and method of operating biological observation apparatus |
JP5629052B2 (en) | 2008-06-03 | 2014-11-19 | 日立アロカメディカル株式会社 | Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment |
US8372070B2 (en) | 2008-06-26 | 2013-02-12 | Olympus Medical Systems Corp. | Surgical system and surgical operation method |
WO2010009412A2 (en) | 2008-07-18 | 2010-01-21 | University Of Rochester Medical Center | Low-cost device for c-scan photoacoustic imaging |
JP5416499B2 (en) | 2008-09-03 | 2014-02-12 | 富士フイルム株式会社 | Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment |
US8165658B2 (en) | 2008-09-26 | 2012-04-24 | Medtronic, Inc. | Method and apparatus for positioning a guide relative to a base |
JP5238438B2 (en) | 2008-10-02 | 2013-07-17 | 株式会社東芝 | Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment |
US20100179425A1 (en) | 2009-01-13 | 2010-07-15 | Eyal Zadicario | Systems and methods for controlling ultrasound energy transmitted through non-uniform tissue and cooling of same |
US8444564B2 (en) | 2009-02-02 | 2013-05-21 | Jointvue, Llc | Noninvasive diagnostic system |
CN102365653B (en) | 2009-03-27 | 2015-02-25 | 皇家飞利浦电子股份有限公司 | Improvements to medical imaging |
US20100286527A1 (en) | 2009-05-08 | 2010-11-11 | Penrith Corporation | Ultrasound system with multi-head wireless probe |
US20100286518A1 (en) | 2009-05-11 | 2010-11-11 | General Electric Company | Ultrasound system and method to deliver therapy based on user defined treatment spaces |
GB2472066A (en) | 2009-07-23 | 2011-01-26 | Medi Maton Ltd | Device for manipulating and tracking a guide tube with radiopaque markers |
US9174065B2 (en) | 2009-10-12 | 2015-11-03 | Kona Medical, Inc. | Energetic modulation of nerves |
US20110092880A1 (en) | 2009-10-12 | 2011-04-21 | Michael Gertner | Energetic modulation of nerves |
US20110264012A1 (en) | 2009-10-23 | 2011-10-27 | Frans Lautzenhiser | Compliant couplant with liquid reservoir for transducer |
JP5893566B2 (en) | 2009-10-29 | 2016-03-23 | アセンディス ファーマ エー/エス | Sterilization of biodegradable hydrogels |
JP5406077B2 (en) | 2010-03-04 | 2014-02-05 | 国立大学法人 東京大学 | Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment |
GB2479930B (en) | 2010-04-29 | 2017-12-06 | Respinor As | Coupling an ultrasound probe to the skin |
JP5542534B2 (en) | 2010-06-15 | 2014-07-09 | 株式会社東芝 | Ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic flaw detection method |
US8675939B2 (en) | 2010-07-13 | 2014-03-18 | Stryker Leibinger Gmbh & Co. Kg | Registration of anatomical data sets |
US20130144135A1 (en) | 2011-08-02 | 2013-06-06 | Mohamed R. Mahfouz | Method and apparatus for three dimensional reconstruction of a joint using ultrasound |
CN102258399B (en) | 2011-04-28 | 2012-11-28 | 上海交通大学 | Ultrasonic ranging and optical positioning coupled noninvasive real-time tracker |
US9103938B2 (en) | 2011-05-06 | 2015-08-11 | Hadal, Inc. | Systems and methods for holographic simultaneous localization and mapping |
CA2840193C (en) | 2011-06-22 | 2017-11-21 | DePuy Synthes Products, LLC | Assembly for manipulating a bone comprising a position tracking system |
US8777854B2 (en) | 2011-09-06 | 2014-07-15 | General Electric Company | Method and system for ultrasound based automated detection, quantification and tracking of pathologies |
US9060794B2 (en) | 2011-10-18 | 2015-06-23 | Mako Surgical Corp. | System and method for robotic surgery |
WO2013066821A2 (en) | 2011-10-28 | 2013-05-10 | Decision Sciences International Corporation | Spread spectrum coded waveforms in ultrasound imaging |
KR20140098843A (en) | 2011-12-01 | 2014-08-08 | 마우이 이미징, 인코포레이티드 | Motion detection using ping-based and multiple aperture doppler ultrasound |
BR112014013802B1 (en) | 2011-12-28 | 2020-12-29 | Kuraray Co., Ltd. | process to manufacture a shaped article made of porous hydrogel |
WO2013103956A1 (en) | 2012-01-05 | 2013-07-11 | President And Fellows Of Harvard College | Interpenetrating networks with covalent and ionic crosslinks |
US9924923B2 (en) | 2012-06-13 | 2018-03-27 | University Of Virginia Patent Foundation | Ultrasound imaging of specular-reflecting target |
US9244169B2 (en) | 2012-06-25 | 2016-01-26 | Siemens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc. | Measuring acoustic absorption or attenuation of ultrasound |
JP5847941B2 (en) | 2012-07-18 | 2016-01-27 | 古野電気株式会社 | Waveform tracking apparatus, ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and waveform tracking method |
FR2997619B1 (en) | 2012-11-08 | 2015-04-10 | Light N | PROBE AND ULTRASONIC DEVICE FOR 3D IMAGING OF THE JAW |
US20140163377A1 (en) | 2012-12-11 | 2014-06-12 | Mako Surgical Corporation | Registration Using Phased Array Ultrasound |
US10357227B2 (en) | 2013-02-25 | 2019-07-23 | Koninklijke Philips N.V. | Determination of the concentration distribution of sonically dispersive elements |
CA3187370A1 (en) | 2013-03-15 | 2014-09-25 | Jointvue, Llc | Motion tracking system with inertial-based sensing units |
WO2014150780A2 (en) | 2013-03-15 | 2014-09-25 | Jointvue, Llc | Determination of joint condition based on vibration analysis |
EP2991557A1 (en) | 2013-04-30 | 2016-03-09 | Tractus Corporation | Hand-held imaging devices with position and/or orientation sensors for complete examination of tissue |
WO2014186904A1 (en) | 2013-05-24 | 2014-11-27 | The Governing Council Of The University Of Toronto | Ultrasonic signal processing for bone sonography |
JP6288996B2 (en) | 2013-09-11 | 2018-03-07 | キヤノンメディカルシステムズ株式会社 | Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and ultrasonic imaging program |
US9844359B2 (en) | 2013-09-13 | 2017-12-19 | Decision Sciences Medical Company, LLC | Coherent spread-spectrum coded waveforms in synthetic aperture image formation |
EP3089670A4 (en) | 2014-01-02 | 2017-10-11 | Metritrack, Inc. | System and method for tracking completeness of co-registered medical image data |
CN106470673B (en) * | 2014-02-25 | 2020-01-31 | 奥库利维公司 | Polymer formulations for nasolacrimal stimulation |
US20170245830A1 (en) | 2014-09-19 | 2017-08-31 | Think Surgical, Inc. | System and process for ultrasonic determination of long bone orientation |
US9878506B2 (en) | 2014-12-22 | 2018-01-30 | Massachusetts Institute Of Technology | Compliant yet tough hydrogel systems as ultrasound transmission agents |
AU2016334258B2 (en) | 2015-10-08 | 2021-07-01 | Decision Sciences Medical Company, LLC | Acoustic orthopedic tracking system and methods |
US11148389B2 (en) | 2016-03-20 | 2021-10-19 | Massachusetts Institute Of Technology | Hydrogel-elastomer hybrids |
US10847057B2 (en) * | 2017-02-23 | 2020-11-24 | Applied Medical Resources Corporation | Synthetic tissue structures for electrosurgical training and simulation |
-
2020
- 2020-04-23 WO PCT/US2020/029564 patent/WO2020219705A1/en active Application Filing
- 2020-04-23 US US16/856,326 patent/US11154274B2/en active Active
-
2021
- 2021-08-09 US US17/397,253 patent/US20210361259A1/en active Pending
Patent Citations (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP0120410A2 (en) * | 1983-03-25 | 1984-10-03 | Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | Ultrasonic probe device |
US20140180116A1 (en) * | 2009-10-08 | 2014-06-26 | C. R. Bard, Inc. | Coupling Structures for an Ultrasound Probe |
US20150274805A1 (en) * | 2012-10-23 | 2015-10-01 | Elastagen Pty Ltd. | Elastic Hydrogel |
US20160083574A1 (en) * | 2013-04-25 | 2016-03-24 | Jie Zheng | One-pot synthesis of highly mechanical and recoverable double-network hydrogels |
US20160242736A1 (en) * | 2015-02-25 | 2016-08-25 | Decision Sciences Medical Company, LLC | Acoustic signal transmission couplants and coupling mediums |
US20160270763A1 (en) * | 2015-03-18 | 2016-09-22 | Decision Sciences Medical Company, LLC | Synthetic aperture ultrasound system |
US20180244858A1 (en) * | 2015-09-01 | 2018-08-30 | President And Fellows Of Harvard College | Hydrogels with Improved Mechanical Properties Below Water Freezing Temperature |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US11839512B2 (en) | 2015-02-25 | 2023-12-12 | Decision Sciences Medical Company, LLC | Acoustic signal transmission couplants and coupling mediums |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US20200337674A1 (en) | 2020-10-29 |
WO2020219705A1 (en) | 2020-10-29 |
US11154274B2 (en) | 2021-10-26 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US11154274B2 (en) | Semi-rigid acoustic coupling articles for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment applications | |
US11839512B2 (en) | Acoustic signal transmission couplants and coupling mediums | |
US11744548B2 (en) | Ultrashteld devices and methods for use in ultrasonic procedures | |
JP2018506416A5 (en) | ||
US20220106424A1 (en) | Hydrogel composition for a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium in ultrasound imaging | |
Ustbas et al. | Silicone-based composite materials simulate breast tissue to be used as ultrasonography training phantoms | |
WO2019147940A1 (en) | Methods and apparatuses for ultrasound coupling | |
Biller et al. | Ultrasound scanning of superficial structures using an ultrasound standoff pad | |
US20220134608A1 (en) | Methods for manufacturing and distributing semi-rigid acoustic coupling articles and packaging for ultrasound imaging | |
CN219846620U (en) | Medical ultrasonic sound guide pad with adjustable thickness and length | |
CN219422850U (en) | Conformal linear array ultrasonic probe | |
US20210282745A1 (en) | Acoustic coupler and ultrasound imaging method | |
CN208677438U (en) | Supersonic sounding device and medical examination apparatus | |
JPH04285542A (en) | Ultrasonic phantom | |
CN107022192A (en) | A kind of Ultrasonic elasticity coupling pad | |
AU2022350481A1 (en) | Hydrogel couplant sleeve for use with intraoral ultrasonic imaging probe | |
KOCHAR | 3G WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS FOR MOBILE ROBOTIC TELE-ULTRASONOGRAPHY SYSTEMS |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: DOCKETED NEW CASE - READY FOR EXAMINATION |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: DECISION SCIENCES MEDICAL COMPANY, LLC, CALIFORNIA Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:WEGNER, ALLAN;KRUSE, DUSTIN E.;HAYES, JAMES J.;AND OTHERS;SIGNING DATES FROM 20200107 TO 20200701;REEL/FRAME:058057/0729 |
|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: NON FINAL ACTION MAILED |
|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: RESPONSE TO NON-FINAL OFFICE ACTION ENTERED AND FORWARDED TO EXAMINER |
|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: NON FINAL ACTION MAILED |
|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: FINAL REJECTION MAILED |
|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: DOCKETED NEW CASE - READY FOR EXAMINATION |
|
STPP | Information on status: patent application and granting procedure in general |
Free format text: NON FINAL ACTION MAILED |