Ultrasound system for cerebral blood flow monitoring
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
InventorsWendy Swan, Jeffry Powers
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Abstract
An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system is described which utilizes one or more transducer arrays affixed to the head of a patient to diagnose and treat stroke victims. The transducer headset produces a two or three dimensional image of the vasculature inside the cranium, preferably assisted by a microbubble contrast agent. A vascular flow map is produced by the system which may be diagnosed for signs of a blood clot. If a blood clot is detected, a therapeutic beam is transmitted while the contrast agent is present to break up the blood clot by the disruption of microbubbles. The headset may also be used in a monitoring application to detect the recurrence of blood clots in a stroke victim.
Claims16
An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system for monitoring for blood clots in the cranial vasculature comprising:
- a transducer array headset adapted to maintain a transducer array in acoustic contact with the head of a subject;
- an image data processor, coupled to the transducer array, which periodically produces temporally different image data sets of blood flow in the vasculature of the cranium of the subject;
- and
- a flow change detector, coupled to the image processor and configured to process the temporally different image data sets of cranial vasculature and, as long as the flow characteristics of successive image data sets appear the same, continues to monitor the cranial vasculature and, if the flow characteristics of successive image data sets indicate the occurrence of a flow blockage, actuates an alarm.
An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system for monitoring for blood clots in the cranial vasculature comprising:
- a transducer array headset adapted to maintain a transducer array in acoustic contact with the head of a subject;
- a flow data processor, coupled to the transducer array, which periodically produces temporally different, spatially defined image data of blood flow in the cranium of the subject;
- and
- a flow change detector, coupled to the flow data processor and configured to process the temporally different image data of the cranial vasculature and, as long as the flow characteristics of successive image data appear the same, continues to monitor the cranial vasculature and, if the flow characteristics of successive image data sets indicate the occurrence of a flow blockage, actuates an alarm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.