G10K11/341

DETECTION, LOCALIZATION, AND/OR SUPPRESSION OF NEURAL ACTIVITY USING ACOUSTIC WAVES AND/OR ULTRASOUND

Systems and methods are disclosed related to using acoustic waves to detect neural activity in a brain and/or localize the neural activity in the brain. Sensors positioned outside of a skull encasing the brain can detect acoustic waves associated with the neural activity in the brain. From output signals of the sensors, a particular type of neural activity (e.g., a seizure) can be detected. A location of the neural activity can be determined based on outputs of the sensors. In some embodiments, the ultrasound energy can be applied to the location of the neural activity in response to detecting the neural activity.

ULTRASONIC IMAGING DEVICE WITH PROGRAMMABLE ANATOMY AND FLOW IMAGING

An imaging device includes a transducer that includes an array of piezoelectric elements formed on a substrate. Each piezoelectric element includes at least one membrane suspended from the substrate, at least one bottom electrode disposed on the membrane, at least one piezoelectric layer disposed on the bottom electrode, and at least one top electrode disposed on the at least one piezoelectric layer. Adjacent piezoelectric elements are configured to be isolated acoustically from each other. The device is utilized to measure flow or flow along with imaging anatomy.

Mid-air ultrasonic haptic interface for immersive computing environments

The present disclosure concerns an ultrasound system for providing tactile mid-air haptic feedback. As described herein, various embodiments of the invention can create a precise mid-air tactile sensation in mid-air on a body part of a user through use of an array of ultrasonic emitters. The array produces steerable focal points of ultrasonic energy that provide sufficient radiation pressure to be felt by the skin of the user. Such an implementation allows for multiple points of contact with immersive computing environments in a variety of form factors. This implementation, too, allows for coverage of larger distances and provides for a wider range of interactions thereby allowing a user to extend an appendage into a broader workspace while providing for multiple points of or comprehensive sensation or interaction without sacrificing user comfort with respect to any such interaction.

Systems and methods for beamforming using variable sampling

The present disclosure provides systems and methods for ultrasound imaging using a modified variable sampling beamforming technique. Unlike conventional methods of variable sampling beamforming, in which in-phase and quadrature samples are obtained for each pixel location, in various example embodiments of the present disclosure, the pixel locations are quadrature-spaced such that for each 5 sample point, an adjacent sample point along an A-line is employed as the quadrature sample. The samples at each array element may be triggered according to the time of flight between a first pixel location and the location of the array element, such that successive samples, corresponding to successive pixel locations along the selected A-line, are obtained such that adjacent samples are spaced by a 10 time interval corresponding to a quarter of an odd number of wavelenghths of the beamformed transmit pulse, and such that only one sample is acquired per pixel.

Systems and methods of combined phased-array and Fresnel zone plate beamforming employing delay-corrected Fresnel sub-apertures
10996332 · 2021-05-04 · ·

Systems and methods are disclosed for performing imaging with a crossed-electrode ultrasound transducer array, where ultrasound transducer array is configured for focusing in one direction via conventional time-delay phased array beamforming, and for focusing in a second direction via a Fresnel aperture formed via the application of bias voltages. The ultrasound transducer array connections are switched between transmit and receive operations, such that the Fresnel aperture is generated in the first direction upon transmit, and in the second direction upon receive. One or both of the transmit Fresnel aperture and the receive Fresnel aperture are configured as a set of delay-corrected Fresnel sub-apertures, where the delay associated with each Fresnel sub-aperture is selected to compensate for variations in path lengths between the Fresnel sub-apertures and the focal point. The use of multiple Fresnel sub-apertures and time delay corrections overcomes problems associated with steering-induced bandwidth degradation.

SONIC WAVE GENERATOR

A sound wave generator is configured to generate ultrasonic waves having a predetermined frequency that chases away vermin. The sound wave generator includes a power supply, a switch, an oscillation circuit, and a speaker. The power supply includes a battery that is a DC power supply and outputs DC power for generating sound waves. The switch is operated by a user of the sound wave generator to switch between supply and non-supply of power from the power supply to the oscillation circuit. When the switch is turned on, the oscillation circuit operates with DC power output from the power supply and oscillates an electrical signal having a predetermined frequency. An organic transistor is used in the oscillation circuit. The speaker converts the electrical signal oscillated by the oscillation circuit into sound waves and outputs the sound waves.

ULTRASONIC IMAGING PROBE INCLUDING COMPOSITE APERTURE RECEIVING ARRAY
20210041545 · 2021-02-11 ·

A system and method from improving the image quality achievable with an ultrasound transducer by using a composite aperture for receiving ultrasound echoes. By using two receive cycles per vector, twice as many transducers may be used for receiving ultrasound imaging data than there are physical channels available in the ultrasound probe. An ultrasound probe utilizing a composite aperture can achieve high image quality from a system have reduced power, size, cost and complexity.

Hearing system configured to localize a target sound source

A hearing system is adapted to be worn by a user and configured to capture sound in an environment of the user and comprises a) a sensor array comprising M transducers for providing M electric input signals representing said sound and having a known geometrical configuration relative to each other; b) a detector unit for detecting movements over time of the hearing system, and providing location data of said sensor array at different points in time t, t=1, . . . , N; c) a first processor for receiving said electric input signals andin case said sound comprises sound from a localized sound source Sfor extracting sensor array configuration specific data .sub.ij of said sensor array indicative of differences between a time of arrival of sound from said localized sound source S at said respective input transducers, at said different points in time t, t=1, . . . , N; and d) a second processor configured to estimate data indicative of a location of said localized sound source S relative to the user based on corresponding values of said location data and said sensor array configuration data at said different points in time t, t=1, . . . , N.

Driving techniques for phased-array systems
10943578 · 2021-03-09 · ·

Various techniques for driving phased array systems are described, specifically intended for acoustic phased arrays with applications to mid-air haptics, parametric audio, acoustic levitation and acoustic imaging, including a system: 1) that is capable of mitigating the effect of the changes in the air to provide a consistent haptic experience; 2) that produces trap points in air; 3) that defines phased-array optimization in terms of vectors for the production of more consistent haptic effects; 4) that defines one or more control points or regions in space via a controlled acoustic field; 5) that uses a reduced representation method for the construction of acoustic basis functions; 6) that performs efficient evaluation of complex-valued functions for a large quantity of throughput; 7) that generates a Krylov sub-space of a matrix; and 8) that maximizes an objective described by different control points and/or regions to those used to create the acoustic basis functions.

Methods Circuits Devices Assemblies Systems and Functionally Related Machine Executable Instructions for Selective Acoustic Sensing Capture Sampling and Monitoring
20210035422 · 2021-02-04 ·

Disclosed is a system for selective acoustic sensing, capture, sampling and monitoring. One or more acoustic phase array assemblies, each including a set of microphones and digital processing circuits, wherein at least one of the phase array assemblies may include circuits to facilitate the generation of two or more acoustic beams, in the same or in different directions, concurrently. The outputs of each of the two or more acoustic beams are direction specific audio signals, wherein the direction of each direction specific audio signal corresponds to the direction of the respective beamforming process which generated that direction specific audio signal.