The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 29, 2025
Filed:
May. 29, 2020
Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
A. Jonathan McLeod, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Mahdi Azizian, San Jose, CA (US);
Daniel Proksch, San Jose, CA (US);
Azad Shademan, Campbell, CA (US);
Pourya Shirazian, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A contact detection system is configured to classify each pixel in a plurality of pixels included in an ultrasound image captured by an ultrasound probe located within a patient as either showing tissue or showing non-tissue; determine an average pixel classification representative of a number of pixels classified as showing tissue compared to a number of pixels classified as showing non-tissue; determine, if the average pixel classification is above a first contact state threshold, that the ultrasound probe is in a first contact state that indicates that the ultrasound probe is in operative physical contact with the tissue; and determine, if the average pixel classification is below a second contact state threshold lower than the first contact state threshold, that the ultrasound probe is in a second contact state that indicates that the ultrasound probe is not in operative physical contact with the tissue.