A method comprises: generating a shear wave in a target tissue; selecting an ultrasound transducer group in an ultrasound probe, and determining a focus position and a transmitting aperture corresponding to the ultrasound transducer group, such that a sound field boundary range formed by the ultrasound transducer group completely covers a region of interest in the target tissue; controlling the array elements to transmit ultrasound waves according to the corresponding relative time delays, so as to cause a transmitting focusing effect; receiving ultrasound echoes returned from the region of interest, obtaining echo information of different positions in the region of interest, and obtaining, according to the echo information, shear wave information corresponding to the region of interest.

A controller for determining shape of an interventional device includes a memory that stores instructions, and a processor that executes the instructions. When executed by the processor, the instructions cause the controller to execute a process that includes controlling an imaging probe to emit at least one tracking beam to an interventional medical device over a period of time comprising multiple different points of time. The process also includes determining a shape of the interventional medical device, based on a response to the tracking beams received over the period of time from a first sensor that moves along the interventional medical device during the period of time relative to a fixed location on the interventional medical device for the period of time.

An apparatus and related methods for ultrasonically scanning a tissue sample are described, the apparatus comprising an ultrasound transducer and a membranous sheet, the membranous sheet compressing the tissue sample, the ultrasound transducer contacting the membranous sheet and ultrasonically scanning the tissue sample therethrough, wherein the membranous sheet has a generally arcuate shape and the ultrasound transducer is movable in a generally arcuate trajectory therealong during the ultrasonic scan. Also described is an apparatus for facilitating a medical procedure, comprising a membranous sheet compressing a tissue sample, an ultrasound transducer contacting the membranous sheet to ultrasonically scan the tissue sample therethrough, and a biopsy guide operably coupled to the ultrasound transducer for maintaining a biopsy instrument in a scan plane of the ultrasound transducer to facilitate a percutaneous biopsy of a lesion located in the scan plane.

An ultrasound imaging system (1) comprises an ultrasound transducer array (100) comprising a plurality of ultrasound transducer tiles (101a-d), each of said tiles having an independently adjustable orientation such as to conform an ultrasound transmitting surface to a region of a body (50) including a foreign object such as a pacemaker, a stent, or an interventional tool (200). Using a known spatial arrangement of a plurality of features (201-204) of the foreign object (200), the respective ultrasound images generated by the ultrasound transducer tiles are registered in order to generate a composite image, in which the position and orientation of the foreign object in the individual images is superimposed. The position and orientation of an interventional tool may be determined for each image using object recognition algorithms or using acoustic feedback information provided by at least three ultrasound sensors (201-204) arranged in a known spatial arrangement on the interventional tool.

The present disclosure relates to a system and method for actively detecting an ingress of a medical probe. In accordance with certain embodiments, a method includes monitoring, with a sensor within a medical probe, an internal environment of the medical probe, detecting, with the sensor, at least one of a temperature, pressure, humidity, or concentration of a gas within the medical probe, determining, with a processor that is in communication with the sensor, whether a seal that hermetically seals the medical probe has failed as a function of at least one of the temperature, pressure, humidity, or concentration of the gas, and outputting, with the processor, a notification that indicates whether the seal has failed.

Provided herein are systems, devices, and methods for ultrasound imaging particular to matrix arrays of ultrasound transducer assemblies which each comprise a matrix array of transducer elements and an ASIC coupled to the matrix array of transducer elements. The matrix array of ultrasound transducer assemblies can be assembled into a variety of form factors. Virtual elements located in gaps between transducer assemblies may be defined. Synthesized receive signals may be generated for these virtual elements.

In an ultrasound system 1, a mobile information terminal 3 is wirelessly connected to an ultrasound probe 2 and an external monitor 4. The ultrasound probe 2 includes: a transducer array 11; a transmitting and receiving unit 14 that generates a sound ray signal by directing the transducer array 11 to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves; and an image information data generation unit 19 that generates image information data from the sound ray signal. The mobile information terminal 3 includes: a display unit 34; an operation unit 39 including a touch sensor; an operation image generation unit 37 that generates an operation image for an input operation; an external monitor data generation unit 36 that generates external monitor data from the image information data; and a terminal-side wireless communication unit 32 that transmits the external monitor data to the external monitor 4. The external monitor 4 displays an external monitor ultrasound image based on the external monitor data.

A Multiple Aperture Ultrasound Imaging (MAUI) probe or transducer is uniquely capable of simultaneous imaging of a region of interest from separate apertures of ultrasound arrays. Some embodiments provide systems and methods for designing, building and using ultrasound probes having continuous arrays of ultrasound transducers which may have a substantially continuous concave curved shape in two or three dimensions (i.e., concave relative to an object to be imaged). Other embodiments herein provide systems and methods for designing, building and using ultrasound imaging probes having other unique configurations, such as adjustable probes and probes with variable configurations.

In one example in accordance with the present disclosure, an imaging device is described. The imaging device includes an array of transducers. Each transducer includes an array of piezoelectric elements. Each piezoelectric element transmits pressure waves towards an object to be imaged and receives reflections of the pressure waves off the object to be imaged. The imaging device also includes a transmit channel per one or more piezoelectric elements to generate the pressure waves and a receive channel per one or more piezoelectric elements to process the reflections of the pressure waves. The number of channels are selectively altered to control parameters such as power consumption and temperature.

Systems and methods to configure ultrasound systems based on a scanner grip are described. In some embodiments, an ultrasound system includes an ultrasound scanner having a touch sensitive surface and a processor that is configured to determine a grip orientation on the touch sensitive surface; and activate, based on the grip orientation, a region of the touch sensitive surface to accept a user input.