Embedded Motion Sensing Technology for Integration within Commercial Ultrasound Probes
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorsEric Savitsky, Dan Katz, Gabriele Nataneli
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Abstract
An ultrasound system including an ultrasound machine and an ultrasound probe. The ultrasound probe includes an ultrasound transducer, ultrasound circuitry, a six degree of freedom (6-DOF) sensor, and a probe housing. The probe housing encases the ultrasound transducer and the 6-DOF sensor. By embedding motion-sensing technology directly within the housing of the ultrasound transducer, the position and orientation of the ultrasound probe can be tracked in an automated manner in relation to an indicator mark on the ultrasound screen. This allows assisting technologies to mitigate human error that arises from misalignment of the transducer indicator.
Claims20
An ultrasound system, the ultrasound system comprising:
- (a) an ultrasound machine, the ultrasound machine displaying a probe indicator icon;
- and
- (b) an ultrasound probe, the ultrasound probe communicating with the ultrasound machine through a data cable, the ultrasound probe comprising:
- (i) a sensing head;
- (ii) an ultrasound transducer that, when operated, transmits acoustic waves from and measures reflected waves received at the sensing head to produce a reflected wave signal,
- (iii) ultrasound circuitry, the ultrasound circuitry receiving the reflected wave signal from the ultrasound transducer and transmitting an image signal to the ultrasound machine,
- (iv) a reference indicator, the reference indicator comprising a direction indicator to orient the ultrasound probe,
- (v) a six degree of freedom (6-DOF) inertial sensor, the 6-DOF sensor measuring a position and an orientation of the ultrasound probe, the 6-DOF sensor comprising an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer,
- (vi) a compression sensor, the compression sensor comprising a resistive strain gauge and measuring a force on the sensor head, and
- (vii) a probe housing encasing the ultrasound transducer, the 6-DOF sensor, and the compression sensor;
- whereby, the position and the orientation of the ultrasound probe are tracked relative to the probe indicator icon displayed on the ultrasound machine.
An ultrasound system, the ultrasound system comprising:
- (a) an ultrasound machine, the ultrasound machine displaying an ultrasound image;
- and
- (b) an ultrasound probe, the ultrasound probe communicating with the ultrasound machine, the ultrasound probe comprising:
- (i) an ultrasound transducer that, when operated, transmits acoustic waves and measures reflected waves to produce a reflected wave signal,
- (ii) ultrasound circuitry, the ultrasound circuitry receiving the reflected wave signal from the ultrasound transducer and transmitting an image signal to the ultrasound machine,
- (iii) a six degree of freedom (6-DOF) sensor, the 6-DOF sensor measuring a position and an orientation of the ultrasound probe, and
- (iv) a probe housing encasing the ultrasound transducer and the 6-DOF sensor.
A method of using a ultrasound system having a training mode and a standard mode, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing an ultrasound system comprising:
- (i) an ultrasound machine;
- and
- (ii) an ultrasound probe, the ultrasound probe communicating with the ultrasound machine, the ultrasound probe comprising (A) an ultrasound transducer, (B) ultrasound circuitry, (C) a six degree of freedom (6-DOF) sensor, the 6-DOF sensor measuring a position and an orientation of the ultrasound probe, and (D) a probe housing encasing the ultrasound transducer and the 6-DOF sensor;
- (b) using the ultrasound system in the standard mode by:
- (i) operating the ultrasound probe to scan a patient, the ultrasound transducer transmitting acoustic waves and measuring reflected waves to produce a reflected wave signal,
- (ii) the ultrasound circuitry receiving the reflected wave signal from the ultrasound transducer and transmitting an image signal to the ultrasound machine, and
- (iii) the ultrasound machine displaying an ultrasound image;
- and
- (c) using the ultrasound system in the training mode by employing the ultrasound probe as a motion sensing peripheral to navigate previously-recorded ultrasound data based on the measured position and orientation of the ultrasound probe, the ultrasound machine displaying the previously-recorded ultrasound data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.