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:
Oct. 29, 2002
Filed:
Jul. 19, 2001
John D. Fraser, Woodinville, WA (US);
Clifford R. Cooley, Seattle, WA (US);
Brent Stephen Robinson, Kirkland, WA (US);
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., Eindhoven, NL;
Abstract
An ultrasonic imaging method and apparatus are described for imaging the coronary arteries of the heart. The vascular system is infused with an ultrasonic contrast agent. A volumetric region of the heart wall including a coronary artery is three dimensionally scanned. A projection image of the volumetric region is produced from the scanning, providing a two dimensional contrast image of the coronary artery with the appearance of an angiogram. Preferably the coronary artery signals are segmented from contrast signals emanating from the myocardium and the heart blood pool so that the coronary arteries are clearly highlighted and distinct in the ultrasonic angiogram.