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:
Feb. 25, 2003
Filed:
May. 15, 2001
Danhua Zhao, Milpitas, CA (US);
Tommy Earl Cupples, Columbia, SC (US);
Zengpin Yu, Palo Alto, CA (US);
U-Systems, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A method, system, computer program product, and user interface for real-time ultrasonic visualization enhancement of a biopsy needle are disclosed in which a wide range of needle positions with respect to the ultrasound probe axis and with respect to the imaged plane are accommodated. Ordinary frames are compounded with special purpose frames, the special purpose frames having transmit and receive parameters adapted to highlight reception of echoes from the biopsy needle. Preferably, an elevation beam width associated with the special purpose ultrasound frames is wider than an elevation beam width associated with the ordinary ultrasound frames. Preferably, the beams of the special purpose ultrasound frames are steered such that they are incident upon the biopsy needle at an increased angle as compared to the angle of incidence for ordinary ultrasound frames. A method for automatically and adaptively determining the depth and orientation of a biopsy needle is also described, whereby beam steering parameters, focus parameters, etc. may be automatically and adaptively computed. The user may optionally provide selected beam steering parameters to the ultrasound imaging system using a simple, intuitive user interface.