A method and apparatus are provided for determining and tracking location of a metallic object in a living body, and then directing a second modality such as ultrasound waves to the determined location The metal detector may be a radar detector adapted to operate on a living body The adaption may include disposing a transfer material having electromagnetic properties similar to the body between the radar detector and the living body, ECG gating the radar detector, and/or employing an optimal estimator with a model of expected stent movement in a living body Applications include determination of extent of in-stent restenosis, performing therapeutic thrombolysis, or determining operational features of a metallic implant

Location tracking of a metallic object in a living body

A system for ablating tissue includes a catheter having an elongate body, with at least one ablation element (e g, RF electrode) and at least one acoustic transducer located within the body's tip region The transducer receives acoustic signals from proximate the tip region The system also includes a monitoring unit coupled to the transducer to interpret the received acoustic signals as data regarding at least one therapeutic parameter (e g, pre-pop detection, lesion making progress, tissue interface detection, tissue contact force, tissue contact establishment, bubble spatial distribution, bubble depth, bubble size, bubble size distnbution, tissue interface distance, tissue interface position, tissue attenuation, tissue thickness, lesion spectral fingerpπnt) The monitoring unit is operable to provide feedback to a practitioner, such as graphical, audible, and/or haptic output of sensed data, and may also be operable to control operation of the at least one ablation element in response thereto.

Apparatus and methods for acoustic monitoring of ablation procedures

An electronic stethoscope includes a housing configured for hand-held manipulation, a transducer supported by the housing and configured to sense auscultation signals at a first location, and a headset coupled to the housing and configured to deliver audio corresponding to the auscultation signals through earpieces on the headset. The electronic stethoscope further includes a processor disposed in the housing and configured to convert the auscultation signals to first digital signals representative of the auscultation signals and to wirelessly transmit the first digital signals from the electronic stethoscope via a secure digital network to a second location such that the audio corresponding to the auscultation signals is provided to headsets of one or more additional electronic stethoscopes at the second location in substantial real time with the sensing of the auscultation sounds at the first location.

Electronic stethoscope system for telemedicine applications

The disclosure describes an electronic stethoscope system that automatically detects coronary artery disease in patients. The system uses an electronic stethoscope to record acoustic data from the fourth left intercostal space of a patient. A processing technique is then applied in order to filter the data and produce Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) data of magnitude versus frequency. If a bell curve is identified in the data between a predefined frequency range (e.g., 50 and 80 Hz) with a peak magnitude of greater than a predefined threshold (e.g., 2.5 units), the system automatically provides an output indicating that the patient is likely to have 50 to 99 percent stenosis of the coronary artery. If no bell curve is present, the patient may have artery stenosis of less than 50 percent. An interface module may be used to transfer diagnosis information to the stethoscope and data to a general purpose computer. This inexpensive and quick system may improve the chances for early detection and patient survival of coronary artery disease.

Detection of coronary artery disease using an electronic stethoscope

Embodiments of the invention provide such an improved system and method. In particular, embodiments relate to systems, methods and apparatuses which use acoustic data in the detection of coronary artery disease. Embodiments can enable fast, non-invasive identification of clinically relevant coronary artery disease, which can ultimately save lives. The non-invasive nature is one example of a multitude of convenient aspects of embodiments that can be used to meet a large, as yet unmet need in a cost-effective and accurate manner. Results can be provided in real-time and with clarity, providing quick and easily understandable indications that can shorten the path to intervention for patients, making embodiments suitable for a wide range of environments, purposes, users and patients.

Systems and methods for detecting cardiovascular disease

A method and system of cardiac contractility analysis is provided. Cardiac contractility may include indices such as ejection fraction (EF) and rate of change in pressure (dP/dt) in a heart. Heart sounds may be measured and calibrated by attenuation. Likewise, a first acoustic peak in the first heart sound (S1), and a second acoustic peak of the second heart sound (S2) may be identified. The first heart sound (S1) may be calibrated by the second heart sound (S2). Amplitudes of calibrated heart sounds may be correlated to cardiac contractility. Electrical activity and acoustics of the heart are measured. The pre-ejection period of the cardiac cycle may be calculated. The left ventricular ejection time of the cardiac cycle may likewise be calculated. Then a ratio of pre-ejection period over left ventricular ejection time may be calculated and correlated to cardiac contractility. Pressure on the acoustic sensor may be used to calibrate acoustic data.

Systems and methods for cardiac contractility analysis

A tunable auscultation system includes a heart sound acquirer for sensing heart sounds from at least one chest location of the patient. An initial conditioner then conditions the heart sounds through pre-amplification and anti-aliasing. The heart sounds are transduced into electrical signals by a signal processor. The electric heart signals are then tuned by an analysis tool. The analysis tool includes an interaction tuner, a processing tuner and an output tuner. The interaction tuner includes a preset tuning selector and a dynamic range tuning selector. The processing tuner includes a band pass filter and an algorithmic extraction engine which applies extraction algorithms to the electric heart signals, segments them and extracts signals of interest. Signals of interest may be correlated to specific pathologies. The output tuner includes a signal strength indicator, a diagnosis indicator, an overlapping cardiac cycle display and a display configuration engine. A display module provides output.

Systems and methods for tuning, analysis and display of heart sounds

A method and system for determining systolic time intervals, by analysis of radio frequency (RF) scatter patterns in conjunction with Electrocardiogram (ECG) data, is provided. An RF emitter is placed on the cardiac patient. The emitter includes two or more transmitting antennas which emit RF radiation into the cardiac patient, resulting in an RF scatter pattern. An RF sensor receives the scattered RF signals. The RF emitted from the antennas will differ spatially with regard to the RF sensor, causing the RF scatter patterns to differ from one another. A signal processor analyzes these differences to identify inhomogeneous structures, and to identify aortic valve motion, including aortic valve opening and closure. An electrocardiogram identifies the onset of the cardiac cycle. Systolic intervals are determined using the onset of the cardiac cycle and the aortic valve motion. Cardiac contractility also is determined by correlation to systolic intervals. An acoustic sensor is used to verify the aortic valve closure.

Systems and methods for determining systolic time intervals

An auscultation system includes a transducer for generating an acoustic signal at a transducing location of the subject, and a sensor for receiving an attenuated acoustic signal at a sensing location of the subject The attenuated signal received at the sensing location is digitized, and may be analyzed in the frequency and/or time domain The comparison of the digitized attenuated signal against the initial transduced signal allows for the computation of the degree of acoustic attenuation between the transducing and sensing locations Acoustic attenuation may be utilized to generate an intensity ratio The ejection fraction of the heart subject may then be computed by correlation to the intensity ratio Pulse echo methods are also disclosed The echo transducer is oriented on the subject and generates a series of signal pulses.

Kamil Unver

Papers

Systems and methods for cardiac contractility analysis

Systems and methods for tuning, analysis and display of heart sounds

Systems and methods for determining systolic time intervals

Systems and methods for calibration of heart sounds