Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

Physio-control, Inc.

Physio-control Manufacturing Corporation

Medtronic Physio-control Corp.

Scott Owen Schweizer

Joseph Leo Sullivan

Fred William Chapman

Dana Jon Olson

Manfred Bartz

Steven Russell Freeman

Timothy Savord

Jason Nguyen

Truong Huy Nguyen

Andrew Lee Robinson

James S Neumiller

Dennis Dean Clark

Timothy Fred Nordgren

David W Van Ess

Douglas M Gustavson

David W Tecklenburg

Tyler R Hart

Jyhlin Chang

Ward A Silver

Curtis R Jordan

Aaron Huynh

Gus H White

Glen D Caby

Ultrasound imaging systems are provided. An ultrasound system according to some embodiments includes a console configured to selectively communicate with a first ultrasound imaging device and a second ultrasound imaging device. The console includes a housing, a computing device disposed within the housing, and a connector receptacle assembly coupled to the housing. The connector receptacle assembly includes a first connector bank including a first plurality of electrical connections; and a second connector bank including a second plurality of electrical connections. The connector receptacle assembly is selectively matable to a first connector of the first ultrasound imaging device via only the first connector bank and to a second connector of the second ultrasound imaging device via the first and second connector banks.

Connectors for ultrasound imaging system

Front-end circuitry for an ultrasound system comprises a beamformer FPGA integrated circuit, transmit ICs with both pulse transmitters and linear waveform transmitters and T/R switches, transmit control and receiver ICs, and analog-to-digital converter (ADC) ICs. Only the transmit ICs require high voltages, and the transmit/receive switches are integrated in the transmit ICs, isolating the receiver ICs from high voltages. The transmitters can be trimmed to adjust the pulse rise and fall rates, enabling the transmission of pulses with low harmonic frequency content and thus better harmonic images.

Ultrasound system front-end circuit for a 128-element array probe

Front-end circuitry for an ultrasound system is described which comprises a beamformer FPGA integrated circuit, transmit ICs with both pulse transmitters and linear waveform transmitters, transmit control and receiver ICs, and analog-to-digital converter (ADC) ICs. Waveform data for both the linear and pulser transmitters is stored in the transmit control and receiver ICs, saving pins on the FPGA, which is the conventional source of this data. The ADCs couple digital echo data to the FPGA for beamforming over serial bus lines, saving additional FPGA pins over a conventional parallel data arrangement. The inclusion of both pulser and linear waveform transmit capabilities in the transmit ICs enables the use of both types of transmitters in the formation of a multi-mode image, such as use of the pulsers for Doppler beams and linear transmitters for B mode beams in the formation of a colorflow image.

Ultrasound system front-end circuit with pulsers and linear amplifiers for an array transducer

When a defibrillator selects a dosage of energy or current to be delivered to a patient, the defibrillator selects an excitation current frequency and applies the excitation current at the selected frequency to the patient. The frequency of the excitation current is selected as a function of the dosage to be delivered. The patient's response to the excitation current at the selected frequency will accurately reflect the impedance that the defibrillator will 'see' when delivering the selected dosage of energy or current.

Variable frequency impedance measurement

In general, the invention facilitates improved inter-module communication within a medical device system, such as an automated external defibrillator (AED), by using a serial data interface based on the USB specification to transfer data between modules. As a result, data transmission rates may be improved significantly, thereby providing ample communication bandwidth for a variety of medical device applications. Further, the serial interconnect nature of the USB interface reduces the number of physical interconnects that are needed to support the interface, thereby reducing the design constraints on the medical device system.

Internal medical device communication bus

The invention presents techniques for identifying signals detected by electrodes on the body of a patient as part of a reading of the patient's electrocardiogram. A signal processor digitally filters the signal from the body, resulting in an electrocardiogram signal and a signal that identifies the presence and timing of signals from a pacemaker in the body. Other signals, such as a signal that reflects the quality of the electrical connection of the electrode to the body, may also be obtained by digital filtering.

Electrocardiogram filter

A method and apparatus for providing automatic power switching in a portable external defibrillator is disclosed. The power supply switching circuit includes a plurality of power supply ports for receiving power sources such as batteries and external power sources. The power supply switching circuit works with both batteries that include monitoring devices (smart batteries) and batteries that do not include monitoring devices (dumb batteries). The power supply switching circuit also includes microprocessor controllable switches for selectively coupling the power supply ports to the output of the power supply switching circuit, and a microprocessor for controlling the switches and for monitoring the power supply ports. Resident in the microprocessor is a control program for controlling the switching and monitoring operations. The control program uses data received from the power sources to select the best available power source to be used as the output for the power supply switching circuit. The control program has routines for monitoring both smart and dumb batteries, and the power supply switching circuit can thus use a combination of smart and dumb batteries. In one test, a load is placed on a battery and then the output voltage of the battery is measured. A user of the defibrillator is kept completely informed as to the status of the power sources through information that is provided from a display or auditory signals. For smart batteries, a fuel gauge is provided on the display. Warnings are provided when a battery needs changing, or when other user action is required.

Automatic power switching in a defibrillator

A control circuit ideally suited for a capacitor charging circuit (100) that uses an apparent measure of current flow through a circuit line to regulate current drawn from a battery through the circuit line is disclosed. A summing circuit (136) produces a difference voltage (138) of the battery voltage (152) subtracted from a threshold reference voltage (151). The difference voltage (138) is subsequently amplified by an amplifier (140), rectified by a diode (142), and added to a voltage measure (130) from a current-sense resistor (117) by a summing circuit (128). The resulting voltage measure (126) is an apparent measure of current flow and is provided to a charge controller (122) which regulates current flow through a transformer (107) by controlling the operation of a switch (108). As the voltage on the battery (102) decreases below the reference voltage set by voltage source (150), the increasing difference voltage (138) adds bias to the actual measure of current flow (130), thus providing the charge controller (122) with an apparent measure of current flow through the transformer (107) that is higher than the actual level of current flow. The charge controller is thereby deceived and reduces the current drawn from the battery through the transformer.

Automatic rate control for defibrillator capacitor charging

Growing community of inventors

Snohomish, WA, United States of America

Scott Owen Schweizer