Surgery – Diagnostic testing – Detecting nuclear – electromagnetic – or ultrasonic radiation
Patent
1998-02-09
2000-06-06
Lateef, Marvin M.
Surgery
Diagnostic testing
Detecting nuclear, electromagnetic, or ultrasonic radiation
600447, 73643, A61B 800
Patent
active
060730455
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to an apparatus for an investigation of tissue based on the emission and reception of ultrasound.
It is known to use ultrasound to carry out investigations of the human body and other animal bodies. In these cases, an ultrasonic transducer is linked acoustically to the skin of a patient, optionally with the introduction of an appropriate coupling and lubricating medium. Ultrasonic pulses transmitted into the patient are then reflected from reflecting surfaces at interfaces between the various layers of tissue within the patient. The reflected pulses are received by the transducer and signals representative of the pulses are generated and combined by appropriate computing means to enable a visual representation of the zone of treatment of the patient to be recreated.
One example of the use of such techniques is ultrasonic scanning of a foetus in a pregnant mothers womb.
Human and other animal tissues are arranged in layers from superficial to deep usually comprising the outermost layer of epidermis, followed by papillary and reticular layers of dermis, beneath which lies a layer of fat, and then other tissues such as tendon, ligament, muscle and bone. At each of the interfaces between these various layers, a proportion of the ultrasonic input will be reflected and can be received to generate a visually identifiable picture of the condition at any one particular interface. This enables and aids diagnosis of any disorder of the skin or underlying tissue.
However, presently available techniques cannot always give a clear enough view of any likely problem, and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which will give an improved representation of the condition of a patient at a desired location within or beneath the skin.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for ultrasonic tissue investigation comprising ultrasonic transducer means adapted to emit pulsed emissions into tissue, means so to move said transducer means as to scan an area of tissue to be investigated, means to receive signals reflected from interfaces between tissue layers, means to convert said received signals into a visual image of the tissue, and means to display said visual image, wherein said emissions of ultrasonic radiation are so pulsed that each pulse has a very rapid fall back period.
Preferably there are provided means to analyse the data from which these images are produced.
Preferably, the received signals are split into positive and negative part signals, each of which is separately amplified by log compressor means, with the amplified signals being recombined to give an input to said means to convert said recombined signals into a visual image.
The means to move said ultrasonic transducer may be a stepper motor adapted to move said ultrasonic transducer within an area having a travel of up to approximately 15 mm, using a transducer of diameter up to approximately 6 mm.
Each scan of the area may involve a plurality of pulses, having a pulse repetition frequency in the region of 1 ms, each pulse being of duration less than 50 ns.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of tissue investigation comprising scanning an area of tissue using an apparatus as described above.
An embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of a probe head for use in the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a diagram of the circuit for the probe pulser and preamplifier of the present invention,
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram for the log amplifier system of the present invention;
FIG. 4 shows the system in a schematic form;
FIG. 5 shows schematically the electronic systems of the probe; and
FIG. 6 shows schematically the electronic systems of the main RF amplifier.
Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows an apparatus for application to an area of skin, of a patient or hide. The app
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(French) Berson, et al., "Imagerie acoustique a haute resolution Applications en dermatologie," L'Onde Electrique, Mar./Apr. 1999, vol. 72, No. 2, pp. 31-35.
Turnbull, et al., "Ultrasound Backscatter Microscope for Skin Imaging," 1993 Ultrasonics Symposium, published Oct. 31, 1993, pp. 985-988.
Dyson Mary
Dyson deceased, late of Walter Raymond
Lewis Hugh
Lynch John Andrew
Young Stephen Robert
Imam Ali M.
Lateef Marvin M.
Longport Incorporated
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