Systems and methods for treating skin and subcutaneous tissue with energy such as ultrasound energy are disclosed. In various embodiments, ultrasound energy is applied at a region of interest to affect tissue by cutting, ablating, micro-ablating, coagulating, or otherwise affecting the subcutaneous tissue to conduct numerous procedures that are traditionally done invasively in a non-invasive manner. Lifting sagging tissue on a face, neck, and/or body are described. Treatment with heat is provided in several embodiments.

A catheter-based imaging system comprises a catheter having a telescoping proximal end, a distal end having a distal sheath and a distal lumen, a working lumen, and an ultrasonic imaging core. The ultrasonic imaging core is arranged for rotation and linear translation. The system further includes a patient interface module including a catheter interface, a rotational motion control system that imparts controlled rotation to the ultrasonic imaging core, a linear translation control system that imparts controlled linear translation to the ultrasonic imaging core, and an ultrasonic energy generator and receiver coupled to the ultrasonic imaging core. The system further comprises an image generator coupled to the ultrasonic energy receiver that generates an image.

A probe for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which is used for performing a test upon a subject is provided. The probe includes a case which forms an exterior of the probe, a piezoelectric object which is provided on an inside of the case and which generates an ultrasonic wave, a sound absorbing layer which is provided at a rear surface of the piezoelectric object and which prevents the ultrasonic wave from being delivered to a rear portion of the piezoelectric object, an acoustic matching layer which delivers the generated ultrasonic wave to a subject by matching a sound impedance of the piezoelectric object with a sound impedance of the subject, and a sound lens which concentrates the generated ultrasonic wave and radiates the concentrated ultrasonic wave toward the subject.

A probe includes an articulating member with at least two vertebrae elements sequentially arranged along a long axis of the elongate ultrasound imaging probe. The articulating member includes pivots located between the at least two vertebrae elements. The pivots are disposed off-center relative to the at least two vertebrae elements. The pivots are spatially oriented to provide a pivot point for a different articulation direction of a vertebra element. The probe further includes a plurality of guides, including at least one guide for each of the respective different pivot directions. The probe further includes an actuator with a set of controls, each control configured to actuate a different pair of the plurality of guides for controlling opposing articulation directions, wherein the actuator reduces stress induced on at least one of a pushed guide or a non-activated guide, wherein the stress is induced in response to the actuator pulling a guide.

An ultrasound measuring device includes: a support bearing two ultrasound probes movable relative to each other by slide link, each of the two probes being movable relative to the support by ball-joint link, wherein the probes are capable of simultaneously acquiring two ultrasound images. The device includes a first set of measuring elements to measure a relative positioning of the probes, including one travel sensor and at least two orientation sensors. The device includes a second set of measuring elements to measure a positioning of the device relative to a reference plane, including at least one orientation sensor. The device localizes at least one point of interest on each of the two ultrasound images, and processes data coming from the first and second measuring elements, delivering a relative spatial position of the points of interest located in the images.

A shear wave elastography method for imaging an observation field in an anisotropic medium, including an initial ultrasonic acquisition step during which initial physical parameters are acquired in at least one region of interest; a spatial characterization step during which a set of spatial characteristics of the anisotropic medium is determined on the basis of the initial physical parameter; an excitation substep during which an shear wave is generated inside the anisotropic medium on the basis of the set of spatial characteristics; and an observation substep during which the propagation of the shear wave is observed simultaneously at a multitude of points in the observation field.

Micromachined ultrasonic transducers integrated with complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) substrates are described, as well as methods of fabricating such devices. Fabrication may involve two separate wafer bonding steps. Wafer bonding may be used to fabricate sealed cavities in a substrate. Wafer bonding may also be used to bond the substrate to another substrate, such as a CMOS wafer. At least the second wafer bonding may be performed at a low temperature.

A target biopsy system employing an ultrasound probe (20), a target biopsy needle (30) and a ultrasound guide controller (44). In operation, the ultrasound probe (20) projects an ultrasound plane intersecting an anatomical region (e.g. a liver). The target biopsy needle (30) include two or more ultrasound receivers (31) for sensing the ultrasound plane as the target biopsy needle (30) is inserted into the anatomical region. In response to the ultrasound receiver(s) (31) sensing the ultrasound plane, the ultrasound guide controller (44) predicts a biopsy trajectory of the target biopsy needle (30) within the anatomical region relative to the ultrasound plane. The prediction indicates the biopsy trajectory is either within the ultrasound plane (i.e., an in-plane biopsy trajectory) or outside of the ultrasound plane (i.e., an out-of-plane biopsy trajectory).

Apparatuses, systems, and methods of monitoring lesion formation using one-dimensional echograms are disclosed. In certain aspects, lesion formation progress is monitored using the intensity of reflectors in successive echograms during ablation. In another aspect, lesion formation progress is monitored based upon actual or apparent movement of acoustic reflectors before and after ablation. In still another aspect, the presence or absence of resonant microbubbles known to populate forming lesions are used to provide feedback on lesion formation. A lesion analysis processor can be programmed to determine lesion formation progress using any of the foregoing approaches, either alone or in various combinations.

An ultrasound system is described which produces blended fundamental and harmonic frequency images. Successively transmitted, differently modulated pulses are transmitted by an ultrasound probe and both fundamental and harmonic frequencies are received in response. The echo signals received from the two pulses are processed by pulse inversion, producing cleanly separated bands of fundamental and harmonic signals in which undesired components have been cancelled. Since the two bands have been separated by signal cancellation rather than filtering, the two bands are allowed to overlap, providing broadband signals in each band. The bands are filtered by bandpass filtering to define the fundamental and harmonic signals to be imaged. The signals are detected, and the detected signals are combined after weighting to produce a blended fundamental/harmonic image.