Echogenic surface using reuleaux triangle
AssigneeMuffin Incorporated
InventorBenjaman B. Quearry
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed are embodiments of devices and methods for providing enhanced echogenicity to medical devices. An echogenic feature is formed in the shape of a pyramidal reuleaux triangle. A lobe is constructed at a rim of an echogenic feature to create a pocket between the lobe and a bottom surface of the feature. A test fixture is disclosed which provides a method for obtaining quantifiable echogenicity data of medical devices.
Claims21
A medical device comprising:
- a device surface having at least one echogenic feature formed as a depression in the device surface, wherein the feature has three feature surfaces, wherein each feature surface intersects the other feature surfaces, and wherein each features surface is concave toward the center of the feature.
A medical device comprising:
- a device surface having a plurality of echogenic features,
- wherein at least one of the features is a depression in the device surface and has a rim and a bottom surface,
- wherein the bottom surface is within the rim and faces outward of the depression, and
- further comprising a lobe extending over the depression, wherein a portion of the lobe faces the bottom surface and defines a pocket between the bottom surface and the lobe.
A medical device comprising:
- a cannula having a body portion and a tip portion, wherein the diameter of the cannula is tapered in the tip portion relative to the general diameter of the body portion;
- and
- at least one depression formed into the surface of the tip portion, wherein the depression has a depression surface, and wherein the surface normal at all points along the depression surface has vector components that point in a direction that is perpendicular to the cannula axis and/or toward the furthest extent of the tip portion.
A device for measuring the echogenicity of a medical device comprising:
- a fluid container,
- a transducer having a viewing window, wherein the transducer is fixed to a transducer support which is rotatable about a first axis,
- a device support which is rotatable about a second axis, and
- wherein the device support is configured to position a portion of a medical device within the fluid container and within the viewing window.
A method for measuring the visibility of a device through ultrasound, comprising:
- placing a portion of a medical device in a fluid, fixing the medical device in a first position, capturing a first ultrasound image of the medical device, converting the first ultrasound image to grayscale, setting a visibility threshold value, and summing the pixels in the first ultrasound image which are greater than the threshold value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.