A system for controlling ablation treatment and visualization is disclosed where the system comprises a tissue ablation instrument having one or more deployable stylets and a first electromagnetic sensor and an ultrasound imaging instrument which may be configured to generate an ultrasound imaging plane and further having a second electromagnetic sensor. An electromagnetic field generator may also be included which is configured for placement in proximity to a patient body and which is further configured to generate an output indicative of a position the first and second electromagnetic sensors relative to one another. Also included is a console in communication with the ablation instrument, ultrasound imaging instrument, and electromagnetic field generator, wherein the console is configured to generate a representative image of the tissue ablation instrument oriented relative to the ultrasound imaging plane and an ablation border or cage based upon a deployment position of the one or more stylets.

Disclosed are devices, systems, and methods for determining the dipole densities on heart walls. In particular, a triangularization of the heart wall is performed in which the dipole density of each of multiple regions correlate to the potential measured at various located within the associated chamber of the heart. To create a database of dipole densities, mapping information recorded by multiple electrodes located on one or more catheters and anatomical information is used. In addition, skin electrodes may be implemented. Additionally, one or more ultrasound elements are provided, such as on a clamp assembly or integral to a mapping electrode, to produce real time images of device components and surrounding structures.

A living tissue sampling method includes inserting an endoscope inserted into a guide sheath into a body cavity of a subject, checking three-dimensional image information of a body cavity path against distal end position data of the endoscope, bringing distal ends of the endoscope and the guide sheath close to a focused region, removing the endoscope from the guide sheath while keeping the guide sheath stationed inside the body cavity, inserting a biopsy instrument into the guide sheath, and sampling living tissue of the focused region by the biopsy instrument.

A cuff is described for a target anatomic feature within a body, along with a system for utilizing the cuff. The cuff includes a band defining a circumferential opening extending along a length of the band; and a pair of engagement surfaces defined by or affixed to the cuff, the engagement surfaces structured for application of a spreading force to be distributed continuously along a portion of the circumferential opening, thereby increasing the circumferential opening and expanding the cuff for a closed configuration to an open configuration sized for placement of the cuff. The cuff is structured to remain in the closed configuration in the absence of the spreading force and automatically return to the closed configuration after removal of the spreading force.

Methods of processing images, such as ultrasound images, to determine integrity of an implant are described. The method may include receiving an ultrasound image of an implant in a body of a subject; determining one or more characteristics of a surface of the implant based on an intensity of pixels of the ultrasound image; generating a predicted status of the implant based on the one or more characteristics by comparison of the one or more characteristics with a database of image data; and displaying the predicted status of the implant. The implant may be a breast implant, for example, wherein the method is useful for analyzing the presence or probability of extracapsular ruptures, contractures, and combinations thereof.

One or more devices, systems, methods and storage mediums for performing medical procedure (e.g., needle guidance, ablation, biopsy, etc.) planning and/or performance, and/or for performing guidance of multiple probes or multiple needles, are provided. Examples of applications for such devices, systems, methods and storage mediums include imaging, evaluating and diagnosing biological objects, such as, but not limited to, lesions and tumors, and such devices, systems, methods and storage mediums may be used for radiotherapy applications (e.g., to determine whether to place seed(s) for radiotherapy). Even in instances where communication between a medical tool or needle guidance device and a system is wireless or wired, preferably guidance information is still gathered and transmitted, especially in instances where wireless or wired communication signals are intermittent or interrupted.

An information processing device that includes: an image acquisition unit that acquires a catheter image obtained by an image acquisition catheter inserted into a first cavity; and a first classification data output unit configured to input the acquired catheter image to a first classification trained model that, upon receiving input of the catheter image, outputs first classification data in which a non-biological tissue region including a first inner cavity region that is inside the first cavity and a second inner cavity region that is inside a second cavity where the image acquisition catheter is not inserted and a biological tissue region are classified as different regions, and outputs the first classification data, in which the first classification trained model is generated using first training data that indicates at least the non-biological tissue region including the first inner cavity region and the second inner cavity region and the biological tissue region.

An ultrasound imaging system includes a cine buffer in which image frames produced during an examination are stored. A processor is programmed to select one or more image frames from the cine buffer for presentation to an operator for approval and inclusion in a patient record or other report. The operator can accept the proposed image frames or can select one or more other image frames from the cine buffer. The processor may select image frames at spaced intervals in the cine buffer for presentation. Alternatively, the processor compares image frames in the cine buffer with one or more target image frames. Image frames that are similar to the target image frames are presented to the operator to confirm. Alternatively, image frames can be selected by the processor that contain a specific feature or that are similar to image frames that were previously selected by the operator when performing a particular type of examination.

A medical information processing system in an embodiment includes processing circuitry. The processing circuitry acquires an ultrasound image including an observation target and having additional information, positional information indicating a position of an ultrasound probe in a subject at time of collection of the ultrasound image, and a reference image obtained by taking an image of a region including the observation target at a time point other than the time of collection. The processing circuitry generates, based on the positional information, correspondence information in which the ultrasound image and the reference image are associated with each other. The processing circuitry causes an output unit to output the generated correspondence information.

A method for tracking an interventional medical device in a patient includes interleaving, by an imaging probe external to the patient, a pulse sequence of imaging beams and tracking beams to obtain an interleaved pulse sequence. The method also includes transmitting, from the imaging probe to the interventional medical device in the patient, the interleaved pulse sequence. The method further includes determining, based on a response to the tracking beams received from a sensor on the interventional medical device, a location of the sensor in the patient.