Apparatus and method for tracking a medical ultrasonic object

A method for tracking a medical ultrasonic object using an ultrasound imaging system having an ultrasound imaging probe and a display screen, the ultrasound imaging probe generating ultrasound imaging data in an ultrasound imaging space for generation of an ultrasound image for display on the display screen, comprising:

• alternatingly vibrating, with a generator control circuit, the medical ultrasonic object at an ultrasonic work frequency and at a tracking frequency, the ultrasonic work frequency and the tracking frequency being different frequencies;
• notifying, with the generator control circuit, the ultrasound imaging system of a change from the ultrasonic work frequency to the tracking frequency;
• initiating a search by the ultrasound imaging system to search for the tracking frequency in the ultrasound imaging space to locate the medical ultrasonic object that is vibrating at the tracking frequency;
• and
• indicating a location of the medical ultrasonic object in the ultrasound image displayed on the display screen.

A vascular occlusion treatment system, comprising:

• an ultrasound imaging system having an imaging control circuit communicatively coupled to each of an ultrasound imaging probe and a display screen, the ultrasound imaging system configured to generate an ultrasound image for display on the display screen from ultrasound imaging data collected from an ultrasound imaging space;
• and
• an ultrasonic vibration system having an ultrasonic generator operatively coupled to an ultrasonic catheter, ultrasonic catheter having a corewire with a distal portion having a distal tip, the ultrasonic generator having a generator control circuit configured to alternatingly switch between an output power level for treatment and an output power level for image tracking, while maintaining the same ultrasonic frequency, the generator control circuit being communicatively coupled to the imaging control circuit,
• the generator control circuit configured to execute program instructions to send a notification to the imaging control circuit when the generator control circuit has switched from the treatment power level to the image tracking power level,
• the imaging control circuit configured to respond to the notification by executing program instructions to:
• initiate a search in the ultrasound imaging space utilizing a Doppler function to detect any moving components in the ultrasound imaging space;
• and
• indicate a location of the distal tip in the ultrasound image displayed on the display screen.