Cornell Research Foundation Inc.

Riverside Research Institute

Other

Columbia University

Ronald H Silverman

Dan Z Reinstein

Donald J Coleman

D Jackson Coleman

Frederic Louis Lizzi

John David Watson

Andrew K Levien

Dustin Kruse

Jeffrey A Ketterling

Katherine W Ferrara

Jonathan Mamou

David Najafi

Jerry Sebag

George Simoni

Mykola M Yaremko

The present disclosure is directed to a precision ultrasound scanner for imaging, for example, the prostate in a way that produces a superior image of the prostate while removing the iatrogenic risk and patient discomfort associated with other methods of providing an ultrasound image of the prostate. The present disclosure describes an apparatus and method for forming a high precision image of the prostate from outside the patient's body wherein the resolution in sufficient to image, for example, cancerous lesions on the surface of the prostate. To achieve such images, coded excitation, tissue harmonic imaging, advanced transducers operating in the 10 MHz to 40 MHz range is used to achieve a useable signal-to-noise reflection while being able to position the imaging transducer as close as possible to the prostate without risk or discomfort to the patient.

Ultrasonic scanning apparatus

A quantitative method to analyze phase-resolved, raw backscatter echo data or the envelope of phase-resolved, raw backscatter echo data to characterize vitreous inhomogeneities as they relate to normal aging and vitreo-retinal disease. The technique can be applied to 2D or 3D data acquired from the vitreous. The approach provides an objective end value to characterize the vitreous and provide a tool for early diagnosis, monitoring and planning treatment of vitreo-retinal diseases.

Methods for diagnosing vitreo-retinal disease

A method for assessing blood flow in a tissue involving directing a beam through the tissue along overlapping lines of sight and then generating the blood flow data from where the ultrasonic beams overlap to evaluate blood flow in the tissue. More specifically, spatially overlapping beams are generated at a fixed temporal intervals. Spatial overlap allows the spatial distance between overlapping lines-of-sight to be ignored, while moving reflectors within any overlapping line-of-sight will cause detectable changes in range of the moving reflector from one line-of-sight to the next. The rate of motion is determined from the measured change in range and the known time interval between vectors. Processing of data includes alignment of data between lines-of-sight to suppress artifactual motion and a wall filter for isolation of flow-data from stationary structures. An apparatus for assessing blood flow includes a transmission system and a storage system. The transmission system generates a beam which is sequentially transmitted towards the tissue along a plurality of overlapping lines of sight and receives echo data from the transmission along each of the lines of sight. The storage system stores the echo data.

Method for assessing blood flow and apparatus thereof

An improved method and apparatus for conducting biometric high frequency ultrasound scanning of the human eye permits the subject to assume a seated position and to place the eye to be scanned in contact with the fluid medium contained in an eye cup. In a prefered embodiment, the eye cup is disposable after each use.

Method and apparatus for ultrasound corneal scanning

Apparatus is provided for high frequency ultrasound examination of the anterior segment of a patient's eyes. A liquid bath is established about a first eye of the patient to be examined. A fixed ultrasound transducer is placed in contact with the liquid bath and directs the beam of ultrasound energy to the first eye and receives echoes of the ultrasound energy. A fixation source is juxtaposed to the second eye of the patient and displays a fixation target. A controller operates the fixation source to move the fixation target relative to the second eye, while the patient moves the second eye so as to remain focused on the fixation target. The movement of the second eye causes the first eye to move concurrently and enables relative movement between the beam of ultrasound energy and anterior segments of the first eye, while maintaining near orthogonality between the ultrasound beam and the surface of the eye. By tracking the position of the second eye, the position of the first eye, and hence of each pulse/echo sequence, is ascertained, enabling image construction and biometric determinations of the anterior segment anatomy to be performed.

Ultrasonic scanning of the eye using a stationary transducer

An apparatus for assuring vertical alignment of visual axes of a patient's eyes includes an eye cup that enables establishment of a liquid bath in which a surface of a cornea of a supine patient's first eye is completely submerged. A first light source is positioned above the liquid bath and directs a beam of alignment light to the submerged eye. A second light source is positioned above the patient's second eye and directs a beam of adjustment light to its corneal surface. Apparatus is provided that enables relative movement between the first and second light sources so as to enable the light sources to be moved into a position where the patient indicates a fusion of the light sources into a single spot, at which point it is known that the visual axis are vertical and aligned. The liquid bath assures that the beam of alignment light from the first light source is only in focus at the patient's eye when the first light source is directly coincident with the vertical axis of the first eye. Any deviation from that vertical axis results in blurring of the image due to refractive effects within the liquid bath.

System and method for producing and maintaining parallel and vertical

An ultrasonic biometer images an eye structure and enables measurement of a cornea's thickness at various points about the cornea's surface curvature. The biometer employs a liquid bath in contact with the corneal surface and includes a curved track positioned above the liquid bath, the curved track having a path that closely approximates the surface curvature of the corneal surface. An ultrasonic transducer (having a central axis) is movably mounted by a connector structure along the track and is positioned in communication with the liquid bath. The connector structure operates to maintain the central axis of the ultrasonic transducer perpendicular to a tangent drawn to the curved track, at a plurality of locations along the track. When the connector structure is moved along the curved track, it enables an ultrasonic beam, generated by the transducer, to interrogate areas of the corneal surface, with the angle of incidence of the beam being substantially orthogonal to the surface.

Ultrasound system for corneal biometry

An ultrasound system that enables determination of layer thicknesses and contours of a multi-layer organic body includes a transmitter/receiver for obtaining a radio frequency signal from echoes over a plurality of points on the organic surface. Each radio frequency signal is then deconvolved to remove apparatus generated noise and filtered to create an analytic signal that exhibits a magnitude related to an instantaneous rate of arrival of total echo energy received by the transmitter/receiver. Analytic signals from adjacent parallel scans are then cross-correlated and magnitude detected to determine energy peaks to enable accurate determination of echo producing surfaces of each layer of the multi-layer organic body across the plurality of interrogation points. In the application of the invention to Corneal Epithelium Mapping, a pupil monitoring system is included that disables the measurement system if the pupil's gaze wanders so as to cause a diversion of the optical axis.

System for ultrasonically determining corneal layer thicknesses and shape

Methods for enhancement of data obtained from scanning objects such as body tissue with ultrasonic wideband pulses to detect characteristics of the tissue and to identify the tissue. The methods include performing spectral analysis on selected time portions of signals obtained from ultrasonic scanning to derive spectral data which is representative of the received signal characteristics for spatial samples of a particular region of interest in the body. The characteristic values are selected to correlate with significant characteristics of the material. A display of the selected body region is generated, with the display characteristic for each of the spatial samples being selected in accordance with the derived spectral characteristic values. Examples of the spectral characteristic values include spectral amplitude, spectral slope, and spectral amplitude uncertainty. The spectral characteristic data can be used to derive periodicity data, such as cepstral data or spatial-correlation data, for each of the spatial samples. The spectral characteristic data obtained can be compared to data for tissue having known tissue characteristics to identify the tissue type. Related means for suppressing the display of noise, characterizing tissues using discriminent functions based on spectral data, and estimating scatter sizes are also shown.

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Brooklyn, NY, United States of America

Ronald H Silverman