Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Siemens Aktiengesell Schaft

Bernd Granz

Jens Fehre

Bertram Sachs

Ralf Nanke

Mario Bechtold

Fritz Breimesser

Matthias Mahler

Ralph Oppelt

Thomas Mertelmeier

Ulrich Schaetzle

Markus Lanski

Hans-Peter Heindel

Christian Meinert

Martin Hoheisel

Manfred Rattner

Gerhard Buchholtz

Georg Koehler

Werner Kruft

Peter Krammer

Markus Vester

Helmut Reichenberger

Horst Siebold

Georg Naser

Joachim Niewisch

Klaus Newerla

Guenther Winkelmann

Andrea Heilingbrunner

Hermann Hammerbacher

Ralf Holzapfel

Dieter Grenda

Franz Altmann

In a system and method for x-ray brachytherapy, a probe is introduced into the body of a subject, the probe carrying an x-ray source that radiates x-rays into an exposure area outside of the probe within the body of the subject. A number of markers are located in or on the probe, that are detectable in an image generated by an imaging device. The markers are located in or on the probe in a known spatial relation to the exposure area, so that the position of the exposure area can be determined by identifying the markers in the displayed image.

Device for X-ray brachytherapy, and method for positioning a probe introduced into a body for X-ray brachytherapy

In a shockwave system with a shockwave source for treatment of a patient with shockwaves, a control and evaluation unit for evaluating an input signal supplied directly thereto that is correlated with a blood pressure value of the patient determined during the treatment, and controls the shockwave source dependent on the input signal.

Shockwave system control dependent on patient's blood pressure

In a method to generate a three-dimensional ultrasound image of a body region of a patient, spatially varying due to breathing motions, temporally successive B-images are generated with an ultrasonic transducer arrangement in a stationary image plane that, due to the breathing motion, pertain to various slice planes of the body region, and are combined dimensionally correctly with an image processing device into a 3D image.

Method for generating a three-dimensional ultrasound image

A bellows for coupling a source of acoustic waves having an acoustic propagation medium, to a patient, has a geometrical modification in that region wherein the bellows can be seated against the patient for the introduction of acoustic waves into the patient. The geometrical modification in the propagation path of the acoustic waves generated by the source of acoustic waves shapes the acoustic waves in a designated (designed) manner. Additionally or alternatively, the bellows can have a section in the region that is formed of a different material than the rest of the bellows.

Bellows for coupling a source acoustic waves to a subject to be treated

A shockwave system for treatment of a patient has a detection unit for detection of an indicator correlated with the calmness of the patient, and a device that is operable dependent on the indicator that increases the calmness of the patient. In a method for operation of a shockwave system for treatment of a patient, an indicator correlated with the calmness of the patient is detected and a measure to increase the calmness of the patient is taken dependent on the indicator.

Shockwave system and method for operation of such a shockwave system

An optical hydrophone for measurement of the acoustic pressure distribution in a fluid medium has a light source that illuminates an area of a boundary region between an optically transparent body and the fluid medium. A light receiver measures the intensity of the light reflected from the illuminated area as a measurement of acoustic pressure, due to changes in the index of refraction of the fluid medium that are caused by the acoustic pressure. The illuminated area is smaller than the boundary surface formed between the optically transparent body and the fluid medium, thereby giving the hydrophone a longer service light and a high spatial resolution capacity.

Optical hydrophone for a shock-wave field with long service life

In a method for measurement of the three-dimensional density distribution in a bone, a two-dimensional or three-dimensional image reproducing the quantitative density distribution in the bone is generated using a measurement arrangement that can rotate around an angle of at most 300&#xb0;.

Method for measurement of the three-dimensional density distribution in bones

A shock wave source has a coil carrier, a coil, having a metallic membrane separated from the coil in insulating fashion for generating shock waves. The coil carrier is formed of a material that damps the formation and/or the propagation of audible acoustic waves in the generation of shock waves.

Shock wave source with a wave damping coil carrier

A shock wave source has a coil carrier, having a longitudinal axis, a coil and a metallic membrane separated from the coil in insulating fashion for generating shock waves. The coil carrier has a generated surface, a first cover surface facing toward the coil and a second cover surface facing away from the coil. For reducing the low-frequency sound generation when generating shock waves, a cross-sectional area of the coil carrier intersected at a right angle by the longitudinal axis has a non-circular contour. A reduction of the audible sound generation when generating shock waves can also be achieved when the second cover surface of the coil carrier is non-flat.

Shock wave source with a coil carrier having a non-circular contour

A device provides ultrasonic therapy to a female breast. To this end, the breast is introduced into a container which, for a good acoustic coupling, is filled with at least one liquid. An ultrasonic transducer emits sound into the breast in a region which, in the positive and negative direction of rotation, related to the plane of the body of the female patient, covers angles of less than or equal to 50&deg;. In a preferred embodiment, a compression pad and a fixing membrane are provided for fixing a position of the breast.

Device for the ultrasonic therapy of a female breast with parallel sound direction

An ultrasound transmitting configuration includes at least one ultrasound generating device for exposing a medium which has an acoustic medium impedance and a medium speed of sound to ultrasonic waves. The ultrasound generating device has at least two ultrasound transducers which can be excited through actuating electrodes for emitting ultrasound and which have an acoustic transducer impedance. The ultrasound transducers are separated from one another and disposed alongside one another. An ultrasound lens which has an acoustic lens impedance and a lens speed of sound is disposed between the ultrasound generating device and the medium. The ultrasound generating device is acoustically coupled on a coupling side to the ultrasound lens. The ultrasound transducers extend toward the medium over a transducer depth, they extend toward one another over a transducer width, and they extend at right angles to both the transducer depth and the transducer width over a transducer length. The transducer width is maximally as great as the transducer depth, and the transducer length is considerably greater than the transducer depth. The ultrasound transducers are associated with a common actuating element for actuating the ultrasound transducers jointly and in the same way.

Ultrasound transmitting configuration

An apparatus for fixing a female breast for use in a variety of medical-technical applications such as, for example, ultrasound therapy, ultrasound diagnosis or biopsy. The fixing apparatus includes a container, into which the breast is introduced, a fixing diaphragm, and at least one compression cushion. The compression cushion presses the breast against the fixing diaphragm thereby achieving a fixed position of the breast.

Apparatus for fixing the female breast in medical-technical applications

A therapy apparatus with a source of therapeutic acoustic waves, an ultrasound locating system with a diagnostic ultrasound transducer that emits a diagnostic ultrasound beam whose central ray is displaceable such in a scanning surface so that it scans a body slice of a subject to be treated achieves an improved image quality of the ultrasound images by the scanning surface being continually displaced slightly relative to the source during the generation of ultrasound images.

Therapy apparatus with a source of acoustic waves

Ultrasound imaging system having a reduced number of lines between the

A therapy apparatus for locating and treating a zone situated in the body of a subject life form with ultrasound includes an ultrasound transducer which can be optionally operated in a therapy mode or a locating mode, and which generates therapeutic ultrasound waves having a first frequency focused onto a zone of action in the therapy mode and generates diagnostic ultrasound having a second frequency in the locating mode. The ultrasound transducer also receives portions of the diagnostic ultrasound reflected in the body of the subject in the locating mode and converts them into electrical signals that are supplied to an evaluation electronics which provides image information about the zone to be treated.

Growing community of inventors

Oberasbach, Germany

Bernd Granz