A biomedical sensor is provided that includes a deformable body panel, a first ultrasonic transducer, a second ultrasonic transducer, and a displacement sensor. The first and second ultrasonic transducers are attached to, and the displacement sensor is in communication with, the deformable body panel. The biomedical sensor is disposable in at least one default configuration wherein the first and second ultrasonic transducers are disposed relative to one another in a known first spatial transducer configuration. The biomedical sensor is disposable in one or more deformed configurations wherein the first and second ultrasonic transducers are disposed relative to one another in a second spatial transducer configuration different than the first spatial transducer configuration. The at least one displacement sensor is configured to produce signal information indicative of a difference between the first and second spatial transducer configurations.

An ultrasonic diagnosis system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a plurality of ultrasonic output patches configured to be attachable to different body parts, a data receiving unit configured to receive data transmitted from the plurality of ultrasonic output patches, a processing unit configured to acquire an imaging result related to the body part by processing the data, and an output unit configured to output the imaging result related to the body part, in which the ultrasonic output patch includes a multichannel ultrasonic transducer array configured to output imaging ultrasonic waves toward the body part and receive the reflected ultrasonic waves, a signal processing module configured to process a signal transmitted to or received from the multichannel ultrasonic transducer array, and a communication module configured to transmit a signal processing result, which is acquired by the signal processing module, to the data receiving unit.

Aspects of the technology described herein relate to wirelessly offloading, from a wearable ultrasound device, ultrasound data sufficient for forming one or more ultrasound images therefrom. The wearable ultrasound device may include an ultrasound patch. Indications that may be monitored with such a device, and therapeutic uses that may be provided by such a device, are also described. Methods and apparatuses are also described for compounding multilines of ultrasound data on an ultrasound device configured to collect the ultrasound data. Additionally, certain aspects of the technology relate to non-uniform grouping of ultrasound transducers that share a transmit/receive circuit in an ultrasound device.

Aspects of the technology described herein related to an ultrasound processing unit (UPU) including gray-coding circuitry configured to convert standard binary-coded digital ultrasound signals to gray-coded digital ultrasound signals and gray-decoding circuitry coupled to the gray-coding circuitry and configured to convert the gray-coded digital ultrasound signals to standard binary-coded digital ultrasound signals. The UPU may include an analog portion, a digital portion, and a data bus configured to route the gray-coded digital ultrasound signals from the analog portion to the digital portion subsequent to converting the standard binary-coded digital ultrasound signals to the gray-coded digital ultrasound signals. The analog portion may include multiple analog front-ends (AFEs), the gray-coding circuitry, and an analog-to-digital converter. The digital portion may include the gray-decoding circuitry. A data bus from one AFE may pass over another AFE.

Aspects of the technology described herein related to monitoring fetal heartbeat and uterine contraction signals. An ultrasound system may be configured to sweep a volume to collect ultrasound data, detect a fetal heartbeat and/or uterine contraction signal in the ultrasound data, and automatically steer an ultrasound beam to monitor the fetal heartbeat and/or uterine contraction signal. The ultrasound system may be further configured to determine a location where the fetal heartbeat and/or uterine contraction signal is detectable or detectable at a highest quality. The ultrasound system may include a wearable ultrasound device, such as an ultrasound patch coupled to a subject. The wearable ultrasound device may have a two-dimensional array of ultrasonic transducers capable of steering ultrasound beams in three dimensions.

The invention provides for a method and an apparatus (300) for positioning an ultrasound patch on a surface of a subject. The apparatus includes a first fixing unit (210) and a second fixing unit (310) adapted to be fixed to a surface of the subject at a first location and second location, respectively, with a space of exposed surface of the subject between them. The apparatus further comprises a holding unit (260) for positioning on the exposed surface of the subject within the space between the fixing units, the holding unit being adapted to receive the ultrasound patch. The holding unit is adapted to be coupled with the first and second fixing units at the surface of the subject and, when the holding unit is coupled to the first fixing unit and the second fixing unit, the position of the holding unit is adjustable relative to the first fixing unit and the second fixing unit.

Ultrasound apparatus and methods of processing signals are described. The ultrasound apparatus may include multiple channels. In some embodiments, signal processing techniques are described, which in some embodiments are performed on a per-channel basis. The signal processing techniques may involve using down-conversion and filtering of signals on multiple channels. The down-conversion and filtering may be done prior to beamforming.

An example monitoring device for detecting and measuring a vital sign of a subject includes: a base; a battery mounted to the base; first and second transceivers attached to the base at opposing angles, and powered by the battery to transmit pulses and receive reflected pulses; an antenna powered by the battery, and configured to wirelessly transmit data acquired from the first and second transceivers; and a computing device powered by the battery, and operatively coupled to the first and second transceivers and the antenna, the computing device having a processing device and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processing device, cause the monitoring device to determine a respiration rate by detecting a cyclical change in distance based on the reflected pulses.

A fluid control device includes an interface to a remote fluid monitoring sensor that detects fluid flow in a patient. In some embodiments, a processor within the fluid delivery device is programmed to adjust the delivery or withdrawal of fluids based on the fluid flow signals provided by the sensor. In some embodiments, the fluid control device can display and/or record fluid flow signals thereby acting as a hemodynamic monitor.

Embodiments include a patch-type, ultrasound sensor system and method to monitor the function and motion of a patients anatomical structure, comprising processing at least one received ultrasound image using one or more analytical tools, including radon transformation, higher-order spectra techniques, and/or active contour models, to generate at least one processed ultrasound image; inputting the at least one processed ultrasound image into a deep learning Convolutional Neural Network to obtain an automatic classification result selected from two or more classes indicating the functional state of the anatomical structure. The patch-type, ultrasound sensor system can communicate via a wireless or wired connection. The monitoring can be at rest or during surgery or other procedure or whilst the subject is exposed to any physiological stressors as part of medical examinations, and can be adapted for use in monitoring the function of body structures including the heart, blood vessels, lungs or joints.