# US 10,307,136 B2 · Monitoring apparatus

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- Number: US 10,307,136 B2
- Document ID: US10307136B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/908,181
- Filed: 2014-08-18
- Published: 2016-06-16
- Granted: 2019-06-04
- Earliest claimed: 2013-08-21
- Assignees: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
- Applicants: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
- Inventors: Szabolcs Deladi
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10307136B2

## CPC

- A61B 8/0883: {for diagnosis of the heart}
- A61B 8/0858: {involving measuring tissue layers, e.g. skin, interfaces}
- A61B 8/12: in body cavities or body tracts, e.g. by using catheters
- A61B 8/486: {involving arbitrary m-mode}
- A61B 8/488: {involving Doppler signals}
- A61B 8/5223: {for extracting a diagnostic or physiological parameter from medical diagnostic data (for algorithms to analyse biomedical images G06T7/0012)}
- A61B 18/1492: {having a flexible, catheter-like structure, e.g. for heart ablation (A61B18/1477 takes precedence)}
- A61B 2018/00351: {Heart}
- A61B 2018/00577: {Ablation}
- A61B 2018/00982: {combined with or comprising means for visual or photographic inspections inside the body, e.g. endoscopes}
- A61B 2090/062: {penetration depth}
- A61B 2090/3784: {both receiver and transmitter being in the instrument or receiver being also transmitter}
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)

## Abstract

The present invention relates to a monitoring apparatus (100, 200) for monitoring a structural change in an object (280, 340), such as a heart wall tissue. Tissue at first and second locations exhibits first and second velocities. The monitoring apparatus (100, 200) comprises an ultrasound signal providing unit for providing ultrasound signals of the object (280, 340) for different times. The monitoring apparatus (100, 200) further comprises a discontinuity determination unit (120, 220) for determining a discontinuity of the first and second velocities based at least in part on a change in time of tissue velocity differences and of tissue velocity sums. From the discontinuity an ablation depth can be determined, which is an important parameter while performing an ablation procedure. For example, it can be used for determining the progress of ablation within the object and for determining when the ablation has reached a desired dimension.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A monitoring apparatus for monitoring a structural change in an object, where the object comprises material at first and second locations along a depth direction within the object, where ultrasound signals have a first velocity at the first location of the material, where the ultrasound signals have a second velocity at the second location of the material, the monitoring apparatus comprising:
an ultrasound signal providing unit for providing the ultrasound signals to the object at different times, the ultrasound signals being indicative of the first and second velocities; and
a discontinuity determination unit for determining a discontinuity of the first and second velocities based at least in part on a difference between the first velocity and the second velocity at a first time and at a second time, and further based at least in part on a sum of the first velocity and the second velocity at the first time and at the second time.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The monitoring apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the discontinuity determination unit is configured to determine the discontinuity based at least in part on an expression:
(v(tj,xi)−v(tj,xi-1))a(v(tj,xi)+(v(tj,xi-1))b
where (v(tj,xi) corresponds to the first velocity at the first location xi at the first time tj, where (v(tj,xi-1) corresponds to the second velocity at the second location xi-1 at the first time tj, and where b is not equal to zero.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The monitoring apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein
b is equal to or larger than a; and/or
a is less than zero; and/or
b is larger than one.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The monitoring apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the monitoring apparatus further comprises a velocity determination unit for determining the first and second velocities from the ultrasound signals of the object for different times.

### Claim 5 (depends on 2)

The monitoring apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the discontinuity determination unit is further configured to determine the discontinuity based at least in part on an expression:
(
v
⁡
(
t
j
,
x
i
)
-
v
⁡
(
t
j
,
x
i
-
1
)
)
a
⁢
(
v
⁡
(
t
j
,
x
i
)
+
v
⁡
(
t
j
,
x
i
-
1
)
)
b
(
x
i
-
x
i
-
1
)
c
where c is not equal to zero.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The monitoring apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the ultrasound signal providing unit comprises an ultrasound unit for
sending ultrasound pulses out to the object,
receiving dynamic echo series after the ultrasound pulses have been sent out to the object,
generating an ultrasound signal depending on the received dynamic echo series.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The monitoring apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the object is a tissue wall to which energy is applied for influencing the tissue wall such that the ultrasound signal providing unit provides ultrasound signals of the tissue wall for different times.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The monitoring apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the monitoring apparatus further comprises a sensing probe, in which the ultrasound signal providing unit and an energy application unit for applying energy to the object are integrated.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The monitoring apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the ultrasound signals represent ultrasound reflection properties of the object at different depths and at different times, wherein the monitoring apparatus further comprises an ablation depth determination unit adapted to determine an ablation depth as the depth of the ultrasound signals at which the discontinuity occurs.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The monitoring apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein the object is a wall, wherein the monitoring apparatus is adapted to determine a thickness of the object and repeatedly the ablation depth, wherein the ablation depth determination unit is adapted to determine repeatedly a degree of transmurality of ablation from the determined thickness and the determined ablation depth.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The monitoring apparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein the monitoring apparatus is adapted to terminate an ablation procedure, if a predetermined degree of transmurality of ablation has been reached.

### Claim 12 (depends on 9)

The monitoring apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein the object is a wall, wherein the ablation depth determination unit is adapted to determine the position of a front surface and a back surface of the wall from the ultrasound signals, and wherein the ablation depth determination unit is adapted to determine the thickness of the wall from the determined positions of the front surface and the back surface of the wall.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

A non transitory computer comprising a monitoring computer program for monitoring a structural change in an object, the monitoring computer program comprising program code, which when executed by a processor, causes a monitoring apparatus as defined in claim 1 to carry out the steps of a monitoring method for monitoring a structural change in the object, where the object comprises material at first and second locations within the object, where the material at the first location exhibits a first velocity, where the material at the second location exhibits a second velocity, when the computer program is ran on a computer controlling the monitoring apparatus, the monitoring method comprising the steps of:
providing ultrasound signals of the object for different times by an ultrasound signal providing unit, the ultrasound signals being indicative of the first and second velocities,
determining a discontinuity of the first and second velocities based at least in part on a difference between the first velocity and the second velocity at a first time and at a second time, and further based at least in part on a sum of the first velocity and the second velocity at the first time and at the second time.