Apparatus and method for locating an interventional medical device with a ultrasound color imaging system

A method for use in conjunction with a color ultrasound imaging system for locating on a color image display of said system a medical device directed into a body, said system impressing ultrasonic imaging pulses on said medical device and detecting a Doppler shift in said imaging pulses reflected from said vibrating medical device, said Doppler shift being indicative of a change in displacement of said medical device and enabling said system to provide a color image on said display, comprising, the steps of:

• generating said ultrasonic imaging pulses at a selected sampling frequency;
• securing a vibrating means to said medical device,
• vibrating said medical device at a frequency to create flexural waves in said medical device with said vibrations being greatest at resonance with said vibrations creating said Doppler shift to enable said system to provide said color image on said display,
• detecting said frequency and amplitude of said vibrations, and
• applying a signal to said vibrating means to vary said vibrations according to said detected values to maintain said frequency near resonance independent of the position of said device on said body.

A method for transmitting mechanical motions to an interventional device, comprising the steps of:

• providing a wall structure;
• providing a drive element which causes preselected mechanical motions of said wall structure;
• and
• providing an elastically deformable mounting element for coupling said interventional device to said wall structure thereby causing said preselected mechanical motions of said wall structure to be transmitted to said interventional device as flexural mechanical waves.