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:
Mar. 16, 2004
Filed:
May. 26, 2000
George R. Wodicka, West Lafayette, IN (US);
Eduardo J. Juan, San Juan, PR (US);
Jeffrey P. Mansfield, Cambridge, MA (US);
Purdue Research Foundation, West Lafayette, IN (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method are disclosed for acoustically guiding a distal end of a tube within a body. An incident sound pulse is generated and propagated down the tube into the body. A plurality of microphones are located in the tube and are positioned to detect pulses traveling through the tube. A discriminator distinguishes between incident sound pulses and those that are reflected from within the body. The detected sound pulses are processed to provide an indication of the location of the distal end of the tube within the body, to assist with the guidance of the insertion into the body, to estimate dimensions of the body adjacent the distal end of the tube, and to determine if the tube is obstructed.