Methodology and apparatus for non-invasive biophysical diagnosis

Claim 2

In a method for the non-invasive examination of body parts, the steps of, selectively ensonifying at least a portion of a body part with broad band acoustic energy pulses in predetermined timed sequence to produce echo pulses, detecting said echo pulses, processing said echo pulses to indicate the relative specific acoustic impedance of the thusly ensonified body part portion as a continuous function of the time/distance relationship of said echo pulses relative to said body part portion to thereby enable the determination of the relative extent and location of irregularities in said body part portion, and referencing said relative specific acoustic impedance indications to the bio-physical cycle of the thusly ensonified body part portion to thereby enable the correlation of said relative specific impedance indications and said biophysical cycle.

Claim 3

In a method as in claim 1 wherein, the impedance of said body part portion to said energy pulses is indicated in real time.

Claim 4

In a method as in claim 1 further comprising, the steps of, displaying said impedance indications to provide an impedance profile of the thusly ensonified body part portion.

Claim 5

In a method as in claim 3 further comprising, the steps of, spatially scanning said body part to accumulate said impedance profiles, and spatially displaying the impedance profiles resulting from each of said scans to provide a visualization of said body part.

Claim 6

In a method as in claim 1 further comprising, the steps of, comparing said impedance indications at different times in the biophysical cycle of the thusly ensonified body part.

Claim 7

In a method as in claim 1 wherein, the processing of said echo pulses comprises, the steps of, converting the same into electrical signals indicative of said impedance, and displaying the latter in the form of an impedance profile.

Claim 8

In a method as in claim 6 further comprising, the steps of, spatially scanning said body part to accumulate said electrical signals, and spatially displaying the electrical signals resulting from each of said scans to provide a visualization of said body part.

Claim 9

In a method for non-invasive cardiovascular diagnosis to determine the contractility of the heart, the steps of, selectively ensonfiying a localized section of the myocardium with broad band acoustic energy pulses in predetermined timed sequence to produce echo pulses, detecting said echo pulses, processing said echo pulses to convert the same to electrical signals which are indicative of the relative specific acoustic impedance of the thusly ensonified myocardial section as a continuous function of the time/distance relationship of said echo pulses relative to said myocardial section, time referencing said signals to the EKG of the heart, and displaying said signals in real time on a CRT or like display device to provide an impedance profile of said localized myocardial section to thereby enable the determination of irregularities in the nature of infarction or ischemia in said section and the patterns of blood flow thereto.

Claim 10

In a method for non-invasive cardiovascular diagnosis to determine the contractility of the heart, the steps of, selectively ensonfiying a localized section of the myocardium with broad band acoustic energy pulses in predetermined timed sequence to produce echo pulses, detecting said echo pulses, processing said echo pulses to convert the same to electrical signals which are indicative of the relative specific acoustic impedance of the thusly ensonified myocardial section as a continuous function of the time/distance relationship of said echo pulses relative to said myocardial section, time referencing said signals to the EKG of the heart, and displaying said signals in real time on a CRT or like display device to provide an impedance profile of said localized myocardial section to thereby enable the determination of irregularities in the nature of infarction or ischemia in said section and the patterns of blood flow thereto.

Claim 11

In a method as in claim 8 wherein, the displaying of said signals comprises the display thereof in real time on a display device.

Claim 12

In a method as in claim 8 wherein, said impedance profiles are displayed at the commencement of the diastolic filling phase of the cardiac cycle to enable the detection and quantification of blood flow to said localized myocardial section.

Claim 13

In a method as in claim 8 wherein, said impedance profiles are displayed at the commencement of the systolic isometric contraction phase of the cardiac cycle to enable the detection and quantification of, and the differentiation between, active contraction and passive stretch of said localized myocardial section to determine the contractility of the heart.

Claim 14

In a method for the non-invasive examination of body parts, the steps of, spatially scanning a body part by sequentially and selectively ensonifying along displaced generally parallel planes different localized sections of at least a portion of said body part with broad band acoustic energy pulses in predetermined timed sequence to produce echo pulses, detecting said echo pulses, processing said echo pulses to convert the same to electrical signals indicative of the relative specific acoustic impedance of the thusly ensonified body part portion as a continuous function of the time/distance relationship of said echo pulses relative to said body part portion, accumulating said electrical signals, and spatially displaying the electrical signals resulting from each of said scans on a CRT or like display device to provide a visualization of said body part portion and thereby enable the determination of the configuration, and of the relative extent and position, of irregularities in said body part portion.

Claim 15

In a method for the non-invasive examination of body parts, the steps of, spatially scanning a body part by sequentially and selectively ensonifying along displaced generally parallel planes different localized sections of at least a portion of said body part with broad band acoustic energy pulses in predetermined timed sequence to produce echo pulses, detecting said echo pulses, processing said echo pulses to convert the same to electrical signals indicative of the relative specific acoustic impedance of the thusly ensonified body part portion as a continuous function of the time/distance relationship of said echo pulses relative to said body part portion, accumulating said electrical signals, and spatially displaying the electrical signals resulting from each of said scans on a CRT or like display device to provide a visualization of said body part portion and thereby enable the determination of the configuration, and of the relative extent and position, of irregularities in said body part portion.

Claim 16

In a method as in claim 12 wherein, said electrical signals are displayed in real time on a display device.

Claim 17

In apparatus for the non-invasive examination of body parts, means for selectively ensonifying at least a portion of a body part with broad band acoustic energy pulses in predetermined timed sequence to produce echo pulses, means for detecting said echo pulses, means for processing said echo pulses to indicate the relative specific acoustic impedance of the thusly ensonified body part portion as a continuous function of the time/distance relationship of said echo pulses relative to said body part portion to thereby enable the determination of the relative extent and position of irregularities in said body part portion, and means for referencing said impedance indications to the biophysical cycle of the thusly ensonified body part portion to thereby enable the correlation of said relative specific impedance indications and said biophysical cycle.

Claim 18

In apparatus for the non-invasive examination of body parts, means for selectively ensonifying at least a portion of a body part with broad band acoustic energy pulses in predetermined timed sequence to produce echo pulses, means for detecting said echo pulses, means for processing said echo pulses to indicate the relative specific acoustic impedance of the thusly ensonified body part portion as a continuous function of the time/distance relationship of said echo pulses relative to said body part portion to thereby enable the determination of the relative extent and position of irregularities in said body part portion, and means for referencing said impedance indications to the biophysical cycle of the thusly ensonified body part portion to thereby enable the correlation of said relative specific impedance indications and said biophysical cycle.

Claim 19

Apparatus as in claim 14 wherein, said means to provide said impedance indications are operative to provide the same in real time.

Claim 20

Apparatus as in claim 14 further comprising, means to display said impedance indications to provide an impedance profile of the thusly ensonified body part portion.

Claim 21

Apparatus as in claim 16 wherein, said display means comprise means to compare said impedance profiles at different points in the biophysical cycle of said body part.

Claim 22

Apparatus as in claim 16 further comprising, means to spatially scan said body part to accumulate said impedance profiles, and means for spatially displaying the impedance profile resulting from each of said means to provide a visualization of said body part.

Claim 23

Apparatus as in claim 14 wherein, said echo pulse processing means comprise means to convert the same into electrical signals indicative of said impedance, and said apparatus further comprise display means for displaying said electrical signals in the form of an impedance profile of said body part portion.

Claim 24

Apparatus as in claim 18 further comprising, means for spatially scanning said body part to accumulate said electrical signals, and means for spatially displaying the electrical signals resulting from each of said scans to provide a visualization of said body part.

Claim 25

Apparatus as in claim 20 wherein, said display means include a CRT.