US7128713B2
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Doppler ultrasound method and apparatus for monitoring blood flow and hemodynamics
Assignee: Spentech Inc
•
Filing: 2003-07-10
•
Granted: 2006-10-31
•
Expires: 2023-07-10
Abstract
Abstract A pulse Doppler ultrasound system and associated methods are described for monitoring blood flow and hemodynamics. The Doppler ultrasound system includes an ultrasound probe to emit ultrasound signals and detect reflected signals therefrom and further includes a processor coupled to the ultrasound probe and operable to process the detected reflected signals and calculate therefrom blood flow data for a plurality of locations at time intervals, the processor further operable to identify locations at which blood flow having a hemodynamic characteristic is present based on the blood flow data calculated for a plurality of the time intervals. A user interface coupled to the processor provides blood flow information based on the blood flow data, the blood flow information representative of detected blood flow and the presence of the hemodynamic characteristic.
Inventors
- 👤 Mark A. Moehring
- 👤 Joseph H. Farnsworth
- 👤 Ajay Philip Zachariah
- 👤 Henry James Baron, Jr.
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 09:18
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B8/00; A61B8/06; G; G01; G01S; G01S15/00; G01S15/88; G01S15/89; G01S15/8906; G01S15/8979; G01S15/8981; G01S7/00; G01S7/52; G01S7/52017; G01S7/52053; G01S7/52057; G01S7/52071; A61B8/08; A61B8/0808; A61B8/0816
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 32
Claim 1
Independent Claim
107 words
A Doppler ultrasound system, comprising: an ultrasound probe to emit ultrasound signals along an ultrasound beam axis and detect reflected signals; and a processor coupled to the ultrasound probe and operable to generate Doppler ultrasound data from the detected reflected signals and process the Doppler ultrasound data to calculate blood flow data, including blood flow velocity data and detected Doppler signal power data, for a plurality of locations along the ultrasound beam axis and for a plurality of time intervals, the processor further operable to identify from the blood flow data locations along the ultrasound beam axis at which blood flow having a hemodynamic characteristic is present.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
107 words
A Doppler ultrasound system, comprising: an ultrasound probe to emit ultrasound signals along an ultrasound beam axis and detect reflected signals; and a processor coupled to the ultrasound probe and operable to generate Doppler ultrasound data from the detected reflected signals and process the Doppler ultrasound data to calculate blood flow data, including blood flow velocity data and detected Doppler signal power data, for a plurality of locations along the ultrasound beam axis and for a plurality of time intervals, the processor further operable to identify from the blood flow data locations along the ultrasound beam axis at which blood flow having a hemodynamic characteristic is present.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
63 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 1 , further comprising a graphical display coupled to the processor to display the blood flow velocity data and the detected Doppler signal power data as blood flow information indicative of the locations along the ultrasound beam axis at which blood flow is detected and the locations at which blood flow having the hemodynamic characteristic is present.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
94 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 2 , further comprising a display driver coupled to the processor and the graphical display, the display driver controlling the graphical display to display the blood flow information for the plurality of locations as having a first or second color based on the blood flow velocity data and having a color characteristic that varies based on the detected Doppler signal power data, the display driver further controlling the graphical display to display the locations at which blood flow having the hemodynamic characteristic as regions of a third color.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 3 wherein the color characteristic that varies based on the detected Doppler signal power data comprises color brightness.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
53 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 1 wherein the processor is operable to identify locations along the ultrasound beam axis at which blood flow having the hemodynamic characteristic is present by determining from the blood flow velocity data blood flow having a mean blood flow velocity in excess of a velocity threshold value.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
58 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 1 wherein the processor is operable to identify locations along the ultrasound beam axis at which blood flow having the hemodynamic characteristic is present by calculating a value for a hemodynamic parameter from the blood flow velocity data for a set of time intervals and comparing the value to a threshold value.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
74 words
A Doppler ultrasound system, comprising: an ultrasound probe to emit ultrasound signals and detect reflected signals therefrom; and a processor coupled to the ultrasound probe and operable to process the detected reflected signals and calculate therefrom blood flow data for a plurality of locations at a plurality of time intervals, the processor further operable to identify locations at which blood flow having a hemodynamic characteristic is present based on the calculated blood flow data.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
74 words
A Doppler ultrasound system, comprising: an ultrasound probe to emit ultrasound signals and detect reflected signals therefrom; and a processor coupled to the ultrasound probe and operable to process the detected reflected signals and calculate therefrom blood flow data for a plurality of locations at a plurality of time intervals, the processor further operable to identify locations at which blood flow having a hemodynamic characteristic is present based on the calculated blood flow data.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
50 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 7 , further comprising a graphical display coupled to the processor to display the blood flow data as blood flow information indicative of the locations at which blood flow is detected and the locations at which blood flow having the hemodynamic characteristic is present.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
37 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 8 wherein the processor is operable to calculate from detected reflected signals blood flow velocity data and detected Doppler signal power data for the plurality of locations at the time intervals.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
94 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 9 , further comprising a display driver coupled to the processor and the graphical display, the display driver controlling the graphical display to display the blood flow data for the plurality of locations as having a first or second color based on the blood flow velocity data and having a color characteristic that varies based on the detected Doppler signal power data, the display driver further controlling the graphical display to display the locations at which blood flow having the hemodynamic characteristic as regions of a third color.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
14 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 10 wherein the color characteristic comprises color brightness.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
62 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 9 wherein the processor is operable to calculate the blood flow velocity data from the blood flow data for a set of time intervals, and to identify locations at which blood flow having the hemodynamic characteristic is present by calculating a value representative of a hemodynamic parameter from a plurality of the blood flow velocity data.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
44 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 7 wherein the processor is operable to identify locations at which blood flow having the hemodynamic characteristic by calculating from the blood flow data a value representing a hemodynamic parameter and comparing the value to a threshold value.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
107 words
A Doppler ultrasound system, comprising: an ultrasound probe to emit ultrasound signals and detect reflected signals therefrom; an ultrasound processor coupled to the ultrasound probe and operable to process the detected reflected signals and generate therefrom blood flow data for a plurality of locations as a function of time, the processor further operable to identify locations at which blood flow satisfying a hemodynamic criterion is present based on the blood flow data; and a user interface coupled to the processor to provide blood flow information based on the blood flow data, the blood flow information representative of detected blood flow and the presence of the hemodynamic characteristic.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
107 words
A Doppler ultrasound system, comprising: an ultrasound probe to emit ultrasound signals and detect reflected signals therefrom; an ultrasound processor coupled to the ultrasound probe and operable to process the detected reflected signals and generate therefrom blood flow data for a plurality of locations as a function of time, the processor further operable to identify locations at which blood flow satisfying a hemodynamic criterion is present based on the blood flow data; and a user interface coupled to the processor to provide blood flow information based on the blood flow data, the blood flow information representative of detected blood flow and the presence of the hemodynamic characteristic.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
60 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 14 wherein the user interface comprises a graphical display coupled to the processor to display the blood flow velocity data and the detected Doppler signal power data as blood flow information indicative of the locations at which blood flow is detected and the locations at which blood flow satisfying the hemodynamic criterion is present.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
38 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 15 wherein the ultrasound processor is operable to calculate from the detected reflected signals blood flow velocity data representative of blood flow velocity for the plurality of locations at the time intervals.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
88 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 16 , further comprising a display driver coupled to the ultrasound processor and the graphical display, the display driver controlling the graphical display to display the blood flow information for the plurality of locations as having a first or second color based on the blood flow velocity data and a color intensity based on the blood flow velocity relative to a mean blood flow velocity, and the locations at which blood flow satisfying the hemodynamic criterion as regions of a third color.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
14 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 17 wherein the color characteristic comprises color brightness.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
35 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 16 wherein the ultrasound processor is operable to calculate from the detected reflected signals detected Doppler signal power data for the plurality of locations as a function of time.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
95 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 16 , further comprising a display driver coupled to the ultrasound processor and the graphical display, the display driver controlling the graphical display to display the blood flow information for the plurality of locations as having a first or second color based on the blood flow velocity data and having a color characteristic that varies based on the detected Doppler signal power data, the display driver further controlling the graphical display to display the locations at which blood flow satisfying the hemodynamic criterion as regions of a third color.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
48 words
The Doppler ultrasound system of claim 14 wherein the processor is operable to identify locations at which blood flow satisfying a hemodynamic criterion is present by calculating a value from the blood flow data for a plurality of time intervals and comparing the value to a threshold value.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
93 words
In a Doppler ultrasound system having a ultrasound transducer emitting ultrasound signals, a method for processing detected reflected signals comprising: processing the detected reflected signals and calculating therefrom blood flow data for a plurality of locations along an ultrasound beam axis and for a plurality of time intervals; identifying locations along the ultrasound beam axis at which blood flow having a hemodynamic characteristic is present from the calculated blood flow data; and generating from the blood flow data blood flow information representative of detected blood flow and the presence of the hemodynamic characteristic.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
93 words
In a Doppler ultrasound system having a ultrasound transducer emitting ultrasound signals, a method for processing detected reflected signals comprising: processing the detected reflected signals and calculating therefrom blood flow data for a plurality of locations along an ultrasound beam axis and for a plurality of time intervals; identifying locations along the ultrasound beam axis at which blood flow having a hemodynamic characteristic is present from the calculated blood flow data; and generating from the blood flow data blood flow information representative of detected blood flow and the presence of the hemodynamic characteristic.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 22 wherein generating the blood flow information comprises generating display data indicative of the locations at which blood flow is detected and the locations at which blood flow having the hemodynamic characteristic is present.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 23 wherein calculating from the detected reflected signals blood flow data comprises calculating blood flow velocity data representative of blood flow velocity for the plurality of locations at the time intervals.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
64 words
The method of claim 24 , further comprising displaying the blood flow data as having a first or second color based on the blood flow velocity data and having a color characteristic that varies based on the blood flow velocity relative to a mean blood flow velocity, and the locations at which blood flow satisfying the hemodynamic criterion as regions of a third color.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 25 wherein the color characteristic comprises color brightness.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 24 wherein calculating from the detected reflected signals blood flow data further comprises calculating detected Doppler signal power data for the plurality of locations at the plurality of time intervals.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
61 words
The method of claim 27 , further comprising displaying the blood flow data as having a first or second color based on the blood flow velocity data and a color intensity based on the detected Doppler signal power data, and the locations along the ultrasound beam axis at which blood flow satisfying the hemodynamic criterion as regions of a third color.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2009-10-30 | 2010-05-01 | 2010-10-31 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2013-10-30 | 2014-05-01 | 2014-10-31 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2017-10-30 | 2018-05-01 | 2018-10-31 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |