A medical imaging system configured to analyze an acquired image to determine the imaging plane and orientation of the image. The medical imaging system may be further configured to determine a location of an aperture to acquire a key anatomical view and transmit instructions to a controller to move the aperture to the location. A sonographer may not need to move the ultrasound probe for the medical imaging system to move the aperture to the location. An ultrasound probe may include a transducer array that may have one or more degrees of freedom of movement within the probe. The transducer array may be translated by one or more motors that receive instructions from the controller to position the aperture.

An Oblique Backscatter Ultrasound imaging system includes a transceiver that has an US source and a plurality of US detectors configured in receive signals off axis from the US source. While the system is arranged in a reflective configuration, the device produces transmissive contrast signals to yield improved images. The transceiver can be mounted to a movable stage or robotic arm to enable it to scan the surface of a target. Alternatively, scanning can be performed by 1D or 2D phased-array transmission or detection.

Certain embodiments are directed to materials and devices to be used in conjuction with interventional medical procedures. In certain aspects the interventional procedure is ultrasound guided venous cathterization.

Systems, apparatuses, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media for mapping a section of a vasculature of a subject are described herein, including moving a probe to a first position at a body of the subject adjacent the section of the vasculature; transmitting, by the probe, a first ultrasound beam into a first portion of the section of the vasculature through the body of the subject; receiving first ultrasound data including at least one imaging parameter of the first portion based on the first ultrasound beam; moving the probe to a second position at the body of the subject adjacent the section of the vasculature and different from the first position; transmitting, by the probe, a second ultrasound beam into a second portion of the section of the vasculature through the body of the subject; receiving second ultrasound data including the at least one imaging parameter of the second portion based on the second ultrasound beam; and constructing a map of the section of the vasculature based on the first ultrasound data and the second ultrasound data.

A LUS robotic surgical system is trainable by a surgeon to automatically move a LUS probe in a desired fashion upon command so that the surgeon does not have to do so manually during a minimally invasive surgical procedure. A sequence of 2D ultrasound image slices captured by the LUS probe according to stored instructions are processable into a 3D ultrasound computer model of an anatomic structure, which may be displayed as a 3D or 2D overlay to a camera view or in a PIP as selected by the surgeon or programmed to assist the surgeon in inspecting an anatomic structure for abnormalities. Virtual fixtures are definable so as to assist the surgeon in accurately guiding a tool to a target on the displayed ultrasound image.

A cannula insertion system includes: a contact sensor positioning system arranged to determine a suitable location for insertion of the cannula, where the contact sensor positioning system includes: a contact sensor having a contact surface to be placed at least partially on the human or animal body to enable measurement with the contact sensor, a positioning device configured to support and position the contact sensor, and a control device arranged to control the positioning device to position the contact sensor in a desired position. The contact sensor positioning system includes one or more sensors to determine a position and/or contact force related parameter representative for a position and/or contact force of the contact sensor, and a processing device to process the position and/or contact force related parameter and to provide a position control signal to the control device, where the contact sensor is an imaging sensor.

A device for assisting with the handling of an instrument or tool, the device comprising a jointed mechanical structure on a support, wherein an instrument or tool may be attached, motor drives configured to actuate the jointed mechanical structure, according to a number of degrees of freedom of less than that which the structure provides to the instrument or tool, and an automatic control, wherein the automatic control drives the motor drives in order to facilitate the meeting of a constraint on position and/or velocity parameters of the instrument or tool, which constraint the motor drives by themselves, independently of handling by an operator, cannot entirely meet.

An ultrasound probe for percutaneous insertion into an incision and related methods are disclosed herein, e.g., for imaging neural structures at a surgical site of a patient. An exemplary ultrasound probe can be a portable ultrasound probe configured to be passed percutaneously into an incision and can have an imaging region extending distally from a distal tip of the probe. In one embodiment the ultrasound probe can be a navigated portable ultrasound probe. The ultrasound probe can be connected to a computing station and configured to transmit images to the computing station for processing. In another embodiment, an ultrasound probe can be part of a network of sensors, including at least one external sensor, where the network of sensors is configured to transmit images to the computing station for processing. The computing station can process and display images to visualize and/or highlight neurological structures in an imaged region.

An image generation apparatus includes an arithmetic processing unit that generates an ultrasonic image based on a received signal obtained by receiving a reflected wave from a subject of an ultrasonic wave incident on the subject. The arithmetic processing unit calculates an attenuation feature value at each position in an incidence direction of the ultrasonic wave based on the received signal, performs signal processing on the attenuation feature value at each position in the incidence direction, and generates an attenuation feature image using the attenuation feature value subjected to the signal processing.

A method and device for evaluating muscle tension, the method comprising: obtaining the elastic modulus values of the measured skeletal muscle under different joint angles and each of the joint angles (S11); determining the changing trend of the elastic modulus value of the measured skeletal muscle according to the elastic modulus values of the measured skeletal muscle under different joint angles and each of the joint angles (S12); and evaluating the muscle tension level of the measured skeletal muscle according to the changing trend of the elastic modulus value of the measured skeletal muscle (S13). The method can be used to evaluate the muscle tension level.