Augmented reality (AR) guidance systems providing procedure instruction data to a user using an equipment system to perform a procedure. Methods for use of the AR guidance systems.

An imaging system and method include a medical device (102) having a tracking element (106) mounted thereon. An array (109) of transducers is spaced apart from one another for exchanging energy in a subject between tracking element and the array of transducers. A trilateration module (104) is configured to interpret signals sensed between tracking element and the array of transducers to compute times of flight of signals associated with the transducers in the array such that a position of tracking element is determined in at least two dimensions to locate a position of the medical device in a visual image.

In an embodiment, an ultrasound scanning device is disclosed. One embodiment of the ultrasound scanning device comprises a housing configured for handheld use, an ultrasound assembly at least partially disposed within the housing and configured obtain ultrasound data, and a display coupled to the housing. The ultrasound scanning device further comprises a processor disposed within the housing, wherein the processor is in communication with the ultrasound assembly and the display. The processor is operable to receive a selection of a scanning procedure to be completed using the ultrasound assembly, receive ultrasound data from the ultrasound assembly, and filter the received ultrasound data, based on the scanning procedure, to segregate ultrasound data relevant to the scanning procedure from ultrasound data irrelevant to the scanning procedure, store the relevant ultrasound data, discard the irrelevant ultrasound data, and output a graphical representation associated with the relevant ultrasound data to the display.

An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus includes: a collation pattern memory that stores a plurality of collation patterns corresponding to a plurality of examination parts of a subject in advance; an information input unit that is used by a user to input examination type information; a determination order decision unit that decides a determination order of the plurality of examination parts to be continuously examined, on the basis of the examination type information input to the information input unit; and a part determination unit that reads the collation patterns corresponding to the examination parts to be continuously examined from the collation pattern memory according to the determination order decided by the determination order decision unit and sequentially collates the ultrasound image in the determination order using the read collation patterns to determine an imaging part of the subject.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are related to intravascular imaging devices having a low reverberation housing and associated systems and methods. In some particular embodiments, the devices of the present disclosure include a transducer housing having a trough on the backside of the ultrasound transducer to deflect ultrasound signals away from the ultrasound transducer. For example, in some implementations an intravascular imaging device is provided that includes a catheter body; a drive cable extending through a lumen of the catheter body; a housing coupled to a distal section of the drive cable; and an ultrasound transducer mounted within the housing, wherein the housing includes a trough on a backside of the ultrasound transducer, the trough shaped to deflect ultrasound signals away from the ultrasound transducer. Methods of making such devices and systems are also provided.

Aspects of the technology described herein relate to techniques for guiding an operator to use an ultrasound device. Thereby, operators with little or no experience operating ultrasound devices may capture medically relevant ultrasound images and/or interpret the contents of the obtained ultrasound images. For example, some of the techniques disclosed herein may be used to identify a particular anatomical view of a subject to image with an ultrasound device, guide an operator of the ultrasound device to capture an ultrasound image of the subject that contains the particular anatomical view, and/or analyze the captured ultrasound image to identify medical information about the subject.

A system for providing navigational guidance to a sonographer acquiring images may provide haptic feedback to the sonographer. The haptic feedback may be provided through an ultrasonic probe or a separate device. Haptic feedback may include vibrations or other sensations provided to the sonographer. The system may analyze acquired images and determine the location of acquisition and compare it to a desired image based, at least in part, on the acquired image. The system may then provide the haptic feedback to guide the sonographer to move the ultrasonic probe to the location to acquire the desired image.

An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, which transmits an ultrasonic wave toward a subject by an ultrasound probe, produces ultrasound image data based on obtained reception data by a diagnostic apparatus body, and displays an ultrasound image, includes a dilation processor which performs dilation processing on the ultrasound image data based on a dilation radius to produce dilated image data, an erosion processor which performs erosion processing on the ultrasound image data based on an erosion radius different in magnitude from the dilation radius to produce eroded image data, a difference processor which calculates difference between the dilated image data and the eroded image data to produce difference image data, and an edge enhancer which performs edge enhancement processing on the ultrasound image data based on the difference image data to produce edge enhanced image data.

The invention concerns a method for precise positioning of a marker (42) on a display. The method comprising the steps of (a) displaying a marker (42) overlaid on an image on a display, wherein the marker (42) indicates a first point (43); (b) obtaining the coordinates of a second point (44) on the display (5), in response to a user input event (64); (c) determining the coordinates of a third point (54) on the display (5), said third point (54) being located at a defined distance (52) from the first point (43) in a direction (48) defined by connecting the first and second points (43, 44); and (d) moving the marker (42) from the first point (43) to the third point (54), so that the marker (42) indicates the third point. The invention also relates to a computer program, a computer-readable medium (9) and an image evaluation device (1).

This application presents a system and related methods that analyze a volume of tissue using ultrasound waveform tomography imaging. By using frequency-domain waveform tomography techniques and a gradient descent algorithm, the system can reconstruct the sound speed distributions of a volume of tissue, such as breast tissue, of varying densities with different types of lesions. By allowing sound speed to have an imaginary component that characterizes sound attenuation, the system can classify the different types of lesions with a fine granularity.