Siemens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc.

Boston Scientific Scimed, Inc.

John Douglas Marshall

Bhaskar S Ramamurthy

Donald Masters

Peter Thornton, Jr

Lewis J Thomas

Gaylin Mildred Yee

Jan-Ulco Kluiwstra

Dermot P McCartan

Ismayil M Guracar

Kutay F Ustuner

Patrick J Phillips

Sevig Ayter

James E Chomas

Jerry D Hopple

Jian-Hua Mo

Dushyant Shah

Isaac J Zacharias

Joe Carioggia

Derrik Zimmerman

Marc Stepkowski

Ravi Kurse

Issac J Zacharias

A catheter assembly for an ultrasound system can include an integrated pullback arrangement. For example, the catheter assembly can include a telescoping pullback section having a first telescope, a second telescope, a distal grip coupling one of the first or second telescope to the distal sheath of the distal section, and a proximal grip coupled to another of the first or second telescope so that the first telescope can be retracted into the second telescope and a sensor to determine a position of the first telescope. Another example includes the sensor and a pullback slider arrangement having a housing defining a slit, a coupler disposed within the housing, and a slider handle extending through the slit and coupled to the coupler. In another example, the coupler and housing can be gripped and slid relative to each other.

Intravascular ultrasound systems, catheters, and methods with a manual pullback arrangement

A medical imaging system includes an imaging device for inserting into a lumen of a catheter. The imaging device includes an ultrasound transducer and bias circuitry electrically coupled to the transducer for biasing the transducer. At least one communication line is coupled to both the ultrasound transducer and the bias circuitry and extends to a proximal end of the catheter. The at least one communication line transmits a transducer drive signal to the transducer and a charge signal to the bias circuitry. At least one inductive coupler is in communication with the at least one communication line. The transducer drive signal and the charge signal are both AC signals. The transducer drive signal has a transducer-drive-signal frequency and the charge signal has a charge-signal frequency that is different than the transducer-drive-signal frequency.

Ultrasound imaging systems with bias circuitry and methods of making and using

A multi-layer transducer operates with only one system channel per element. Passive switching connects the layers differently for transmit than for receive operation, such as connecting two layers in parallel for transmit and in series for receive. Any passive switching may be used, such as current and voltage limiting circuits. Tuning may be passively switched. Different tuning circuits are passively switched as a function of voltage level between transmit and receive operations.

Layer switching for an ultrasound transducer array

A catheter assembly for an intravascular ultrasound system includes a catheter, an imaging core, and a shield-coupling capacitor. The catheter defines a lumen extending along a longitudinal length of the catheter. The imaging core is configured and arranged for inserting into the lumen. The imaging core includes a rotatable driveshaft, one or more transducers, one or more conductors, and a conductive shield. The one or more transducers are mounted to the rotatable driveshaft. The one or more conductors are coupled to the one or more transducers and extend along the driveshaft. The conductive shield is disposed around the one or more conductors. The shield-coupling capacitor is electrically coupled to the conductive shield and includes one or more rotating capacitors. The one or more rotating capacitors include one or more rotating plates and one or more stationary plates. The shield-coupling capacitor is configured and arranged for coupling to a system ground.

Shielding for intravascular ultrasound imaging systems and methods of making and using

A catheter assembly for an intravascular ultrasound system includes a catheter and an imaging core. The catheter includes a lumen extending along the longitudinal length of the catheter from the proximal end to the distal end and the imaging core is configured and arranged for inserting into the lumen. The imaging core includes a rotatable driveshaft, at least one transducer mounted to the distal end of the rotatable driveshaft, and a twisted wire cable coupled to the at least one transducer. In addition, a number of different transducer arrangements and methods of making transducers are presented.

Transducers, devices and systems containing the transducers, and methods of manufacture

Contrast agents are manipulated with acoustic radiation force while ultrasound imaging. Continuous waves for acoustic radiation force are transmitted. Substantially simultaneously, pulsed waves for imaging are transmitted. Low mechanical index continuous and pulsed waves may be used to increase binding efficiency of drug containing contrast agents with the tissue for treatment. Various techniques may be used to minimize the effect of the continuous waves on imaging with the pulsed waves. The acoustic radiation force may be transmitted with an amplitude profile and/or unfocused or defocused.

Contrast agent manipulation with medical ultrasound imaging

Ultrasound transducer temperatures are measured in response to a temperature dependent property of the ultrasound transducer. The temperature is measured without addition of new electronics or hardware retrofits of the transducer. By implementing software and/or hardware on the ultrasound system rather than the transducer, the temperature is measured in order to provide a level of fault protection. The upgraded or new ultrasound system uses either old or new transducers while still providing temperature measurement. For example, the temperature of the lens or window is measured as a function of changes in attenuation or acoustic velocity. The receive beamformer already implemented on many ultrasound systems is used to measure a temperature dependent property of the lens or window. As another example, the dielectric constant or capacitance of one or more transducer elements is measured using additional hardware in the ultrasound system. The signal line and associated cable for one or more piezoelectric elements is switchably connected between hardware for measuring a capacitance and the receive beamformer for imaging. Rather than temperature, the operational state of the transducer may be diagnosed using acoustic energy response of the lens.

Ultrasound transducer fault measurement method and system

The clipping diodes used to limit voltage during medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging operation are used during calibration operation for measuring amplitude and phase differences. The amplitude and phase measurements using clipping diodes as the calibration node may operate at any frequency, including frequencies less than 20 megahertz as well as frequencies above 20 megahertz. By using the diodes already present, a smaller or more compact calibration system may be provided. More simplistic integration may also result.

Ultrasound transmit and receive path calibration methods and systems

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Campbell, CA, United States of America

John Douglas Marshall