Surgery – Truss – Pad
Patent
1992-01-27
1993-11-02
Jaworski, Francis
Surgery
Truss
Pad
12866101, A61B 812
Patent
active
052576299
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for the examination and treatment of the internal organs of the human body and is in some respects a variation on the method and apparatus disclosed in our U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,993.
In that earlier U.S. patent there is disclosed a method and apparatus for providing a three-dimensional non-real time image of an internal organ, such an artery, of the human body. This is achieved by means of ultrasonic signals transmitted from within the organ, the reflected signals being digitised and manipulated to give a wide variety of different three-dimensional views of the organ.
In contrast with the method and apparatus disclosed in our aforesaid earlier patent the prior art generally utilises analogue ultrasonic signals throughout which are then used to produce a real-time two-dimensional continuous image of the interior of the organ. Although this prior art has the advantage of immediacy it has the disadvantage of providing a relatively poor resolution image.
The invention of the present application is concerned with providing some of the advantages of the aforementioned analogue prior art systems combined with some of the advantages of the system disclosed in our abovementioned earlier patent application.
According to the present invention, a system for providing an image of the interior of a human organ comprises a combination of the following features: converting them into digital signals before carrying out any processing of the echo signals: enable a two-dimensional real-time representation of the organ to be created; and two-dimensional representation.
According to a second aspect of the present invention the system for providing a two-dimensional real-time image is combined with the system of our U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,993 for providing a three-dimensional non-real-time image. This is preferably achieved by the use of a workstation which has means for displaying on the same screen both the two-dimensional real-time image and the three-dimensional non-real-time image.
According to a further aspect of the present invention the means for generating the two-dimensional real-time image includes at least two digital processing units adapted to operate in parallel.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention the ultrasonic transducer comprises a plurality of transducer elements connected in the system in such a way that the echo signal resulting from energisation of a first transducer element is received by a second transducer element. This differs from previous proposals in which the echo of the signal emitted by a given transducer element is also received by that same transducer element. With this proposed arrangement it is possible to significantly improve the azimuthal resolution of the ultrasonic signal.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention the echo signals resulting from energisation of the transducer elements are subject to signal processing in order to enhance the quality of the two dimensional image.
How the invention may be carried out may now be described by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system according to one aspect of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing in more detail parts of the system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 illustrates the timing of the signals emanating from the unit 89 in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 and 5 illustrate two ways in which the signals from the unit 89 can be recorded for display purposes;
FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic representation of a work station display screen embodying another aspect of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic representation of part of a screen display relevant to a further aspect of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a parallel processing system according to a further aspect of the present invention;
FIG. 9 is a block diagram similar to FIG. 8 of an alternative parallel processing system according to the present invention;
FIGS. 10A, 10B and 10C are diagrammatic representations of
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Kitney Richard I.
Rothman Martin T.
Straughan Keith
Intravascular Research Limited
Jaworski Francis
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