Contrast assisted intravascular ultrasound imaging
AssigneeUniversity of Pittsburgh—Of the Commonwealth Systems of Higher Education
InventorsXucai Chen, Francois T.H. Yu, Flordeliza S. Villanueva
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Abstract
A method of imaging a blood vessel includes delivering a bubble-based contrast agent within the vessel and positioning at least one ultrasound device in the vicinity of the bubble-based contrast agent within the vessel. A first burst of low-frequency ultrasound energy can be delivered to excite the bubble-based contrast agent into oscillation within the vessel, and a second burst of high-frequency ultrasound energy can be delivered at the excited bubble-based contrast agent. A return signal from the burst of high-frequency ultrasound energy can be received and processed to obtain one or more images.
Claims28
A method of imaging a blood vessel, the method comprising:
- delivering a bubble-based contrast agent within the vessel;
- positioning at least one ultrasound device in the vicinity of the bubble-based contrast agent within the vessel;
- delivering a first burst of ultrasound energy directed at the bubble-based contrast agent to excite the bubble-based contrast agent, the first burst of energy comprising a first low-frequency component and a first high-frequency component, the first high-frequency component and the first low-frequency component having a first relative timing;
- and
- delivering a second burst of ultrasound energy directed at the excited bubble-based contrast agent, the second burst of energy comprising a second low-frequency component and a second high-frequency component, the second high-frequency component and the second low-frequency component having a second relative timing;
- receiving one or more return signals from the high-frequency ultrasound energy of the first and second bursts;
- and
- processing the one or more return signals to obtain a first image of the excited bubble-based contrast agent,
- wherein the first and second relative timings are different.
An apparatus for imaging a blood vessel, the catheter comprising:
- an elongate shaft having a distal end portion;
- a delivery device for delivering a bubble-based contrast agent into the vessel;
- at least one ultrasound device coupled to the distal end portion of the elongate shaft, the at least one ultrasound device being configured to deliver first bursts of low-frequency and high-frequency ultrasound energy and second bursts of low-frequency and high-frequency ultrasound energy at the bubble-based contrast agent after it has been delivered into the vessel;
- a processor configured to control the delivery of the first and second bursts, the processor being configured to control the relative timing of the low-frequency and high-frequency ultrasound energy of the respective first and second bursts;
- and
- an image processing device capable of receiving returned signals from the first and second bursts and configured to generate one or more images corresponding to the returned signals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.