A system for providing integrated guidance for positioning a biopsy device and estimating tumor size in a body has two levels of guidance: a coarse guidance and a fine guidance. The system includes a non-invasive imaging system for obtaining an image of the biopsy device in the body, for providing the coarse guidance. Furthermore, the system includes an optical element mounted on the needle for obtaining optical information discriminating tissue in the body, for providing the fine guidance.

Disclosed is an apparatus for determining viscoelastic characteristics of at least a portion of an object. The apparatus comprises a fluidly sealable housing, comprising at least one aperture and at least one fluid inlet port and at least one resilient membrane that is operatively coupled to the housing so as to sealingly engage with the at least one aperture. The apparatus further comprises at least one actuator that is operatively coupled to the at least one inlet port and adapted to actuate the at least one resilient membrane via a working fluid that is contained within the housing, so that the at least one resilient membrane is moved towards and into engagement with at least a portion of an object at a predetermined pressure. Furthermore, the apparatus comprises at least one first sensor that is operably coupled to the membrane and that is adapted to determine at least a deformation of the at least one resilient membrane during actuation.

A method for providing artifact detection and visualization during ultrasound image collection is performed by a processor in an ultrasound system. The method includes receiving ultrasound image data from an ultrasound probe, detecting areas with artifacts in the ultrasound image data, classifying the areas with artifacts into one of a plurality of available artifact classes, generating an indication of the areas with artifact for an ultrasound-based image, wherein the indications include a designation of the artifact class, and presenting to an operator the ultrasound-based image and the indication of the areas with artifacts.

A method and system for registering a pre-operative 3D medical image volume of a target organ to intra-operative ultrasound images is disclosed. An intra-operative 3D B-mode ultrasound volume and an intra-operative 3D ultrasound elastography volume are acquired. Patient-specific boundary conditions for a biomechanical tissue model of a target organ are determined using the intra-operative 3D B-mode volume. Patient-specific material properties for the biomechanical tissue model of the target organ are determined using the 3D ultrasound elastography volume. The target organ in the pre-operative 3D medical image volume is deformed using the biomechanical tissue model with the patient-specific material properties with the deformation of the target organ in the pre-operative 3D medical image volume constrained by the patient-specific boundary conditions.

In various embodiments, a medical device comprises a urethral catheter including a distal portion two or more electrodes disposed on the distal portion; an impedance bridge coupled to the two or more electrodes; and a processor coupled to the impedance bridge. In various embodiments, a computer-implemented method for determining one or more tissue types at a location associated with a distal portion of a urethral catheter comprises recording, at one or more frequencies, one or more impedance measurements, wherein each impedance measurement is associated with two or more electrodes disposed on the distal portion of the urethral catheter; comparing the one or more impedance measurements to one or more characteristic impedances associated with one or more tissue types; and determining, based on the one or more impedance measurements and the one or more characteristic impedances, one or more tissue types at a location associated with the distal portion.

During the delivery of thermal therapy, the measured temperature at each pixel in a cross-sectional temperature slice of a multi-pixel thermal image is compared to a maximum temperature limit. When the measured temperature of a pixel is higher than the maximum temperature limit for a predetermined number of consecutive cross-sectional temperature slices, the pixel is masked if the absolute value of the average difference between the measured temperature at the pixel and the measured temperatures at the pixel's neighbors is greater than a maximum temperature variation. The measured temperature of the masked pixel is ignored in subsequent cross-sectional temperature slices until the delivery of thermal therapy is complete.

An urinary pumping device for generating a fluid flow through a urethra of a patient includes an activation arrangement configured to induce intermittent compression and release of the urethra, and a mounting structure to mount and unmount the activation arrangement to a body of the patient. The mounting structure is configured to position the activation arrangement on the body of the patient such that the urethra of the patient can be intermittently compressed and released by the activation arrangement.

The subject matter discussed herein relates to multi-modal image alignment to facilitate biopsy procedures and post-biopsy procedures. In one such example, prostate structures (or other suitable anatomic features or structures) are automatically segmented in pre-biopsy MR and pre-biopsy ultrasound images. Thereafter, pre-biopsy MR and pre-biopsy ultrasound contours are aligned. To account for non-linear deformation of the imaged anatomic structure, a patient-specific transformation model is trained via deep learning based at least in part on the pre-biopsy ultrasound images. The pre-biopsy ultrasound images that are overlaid with the pre-biopsy MR contours and based off the deformable transformation model are then aligned with the biopsy ultrasound images. Such real-time alignment using multi-modality imaging techniques provides guidance during the biopsy and post-biopsy system.

An ultrasound imaging system include a console with transmit circuitry configured to generate an excitation electrical pulse that excites transducer elements of a probe to produce an ultrasound pressure field and configured to receive an echo signal generated in response to the ultrasound pressure field interacting with tissue. The console further includes receive circuitry configured to convert the echo signal into an electrical signal, and an echo processor configured to generate a live ultrasound image based on the electrical signal into. The console further includes a tracking processor configured to extract, in real-time, a feature common to both the live ultrasound image and previously generated volumetric image data from at least the live ultrasound image, and register, in real-time, the live ultrasound image with previously generated volumetric image data based on the common feature extracted in real-time to create the fused image. A display displays the fused image.

A cryoprotective composition configured to be applied during cryotreatment of a patient includes at least one biodegradable and/or bioerodible fluid agent and at least one non-toxic cryoprotectant agent. A therapeutically effective amount of the cryoprotective composition deposited in a body space of the patient in proximity to the cryotreatment remains within at least a portion of the body space for a duration of the cryotreatment. At least a portion of a body tissue proximate to the body space is viable after the cryotreatment. A method of protecting a surgical site during prostate cryosurgery is also provided. The method includes injecting a therapeutically effective amount of the cryoprotective composition into the body space, wherein the body space is a periprostatic space of a patient.