According to various embodiments, there is provided a probe structure. The probe structure includes a probe configured to emit acoustic energy. The probe structure further includes a load cell underneath and aligned with the probe. The probe structure further includes a probe hub including a cavity for receiving the probe and the load cell.

An intraluminal imaging device includes a flexible elongate member configured to be positioned within a body lumen of a patient. The flexible elongate member includes a plurality of coaxial cables. Each of the plurality of coaxial cables includes a conductive shield layer. The intraluminal imaging device also includes an ultrasound imaging assembly positioned at a distal portion of the flexible elongate member and in communication with the plurality of coaxial cables. The ultrasound imaging assembly includes a transducer array configured to obtain ultrasound data and a conductive pad. The conductive shield layer of each of the plurality of coaxial cables is mechanically and electrically coupled to the conductive pad. Associated devices, systems, and methods are also provided.

Various embodiments are described herein for a system and associated method for performing collagen assessment of an object using Photoacoustic Image (PA) data obtained for the object, wherein the method is performed by a processing unit and the method comprises: obtaining beamformed PA image data for the object using at least three wavelengths related to chromophores including collagen, oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin, the three wavelengths being less than 1000 nm; performing spectral decomposition on the beamformed PA image data using the three wavelengths to obtain data that is used for generating at least one collagen map; and determining a collagen score for the at least one collagen map.

For intraluminal ultrasound probes, two long-thin arrays (e.g., 1D arrays) are provided in the intraluminal ultrasound probe for bi-plane imaging. The arrays are rotatable relative to each other so that during insertion the arrays align to be long and thin, allowing the shaft of the probe to be narrow. For bi-plane imaging after insertion, one array is rotated relative to the other array, defining two non-parallel imaging planes.

Systems, devices, and methods for sparse synthetic aperture ultrasound (SSAU) imaging and/or range-Doppler applications are described. An example method for SAU imaging includes receiving, via a user interface, an input including an array topology comprising a particular N-dimensional arrangement of a plurality of transducer elements of the SAU system, an objective space, a function characterizing an imaging capability of the SAU system, and one or more constraints, generating, based on the input, an acoustic field over the objective space for each of the plurality of transducer elements of the array topology, selecting one or more transducer elements from the plurality of transducer elements of the array topology based on evaluation of the function, and providing for display, on the user interface, the selected one or more transducer elements that satisfy each of the one or more constraints.

A method and system of pulse-echo ultrasound imaging by separating transducer elements of an ultrasound transducer array separate subsets, wherein the transducer elements in one subset performs a transmit operation only, and the transducer elements in the other subset perform an echo receive operation only; and grouping the transducer elements into groups of transducer elements based on subset, where each of the groups of transducer elements has the same probability of membership in either a transmit subset or a receive subset; and randomly concatenating the groups of transducer elements into a sparse array.

Systems and methods for cardiac pacing are provided, where a pacing lead is placed at or near the bundle of His. A method for pacing a heart of a patient comprises: introducing a sheath to vasculature of the patient; steering the sheath within a coronary sinus in the heart to lodge a distal end of the sheath to a target location proximal to the bundle of His above a septum separating a left ventricle and a right ventricle of the heart; advancing a pacing lead through a lumen of the sheath to the target location; coupling the pacing lead to cardiac tissue at the target location; removing the sheath; and electrically pacing the bundle of His using the pacing lead.

Provided are a method and ultrasound diagnosis apparatus for measuring and displaying an elasticity of an object. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus includes: a processor configured to obtain elasticity data of a measurement target region of an object, calculate elasticity values of a plurality of regions included in the measurement target region based on the elasticity data by using different calculating methods, and combine the calculated elasticity values of the plurality of regions to calculate a final elasticity value; and a display configured to display the final elasticity value.

An ultrasound system including: a scanner module including a housing including a first fastener element, an ultrasound transducer, a rotational actuator, and an electronics module; and a positioner module including a second fastener element; operable between a first mode, wherein the first and second fastener elements cooperatively couple the scanner module to the positioner module, and a second mode, wherein the scanner module and positioner modules are separate. An ultrasound system including: a housing including a handle region and a membrane; an ultrasound transducer; a reservoir; a rotational actuator; and an electronics module.

An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1 includes an image acquisition unit 8 that transmits an ultrasound beam from an ultrasound probe 18 to a subject to acquire an ultrasound image, an optic nerve recognition unit 9 that performs image analysis on the ultrasound image acquired by the image acquisition unit 8 to recognize an optic nerve of the subject, an optic nerve evaluation unit 10 that evaluates a shape of the optic nerve of the subject recognized by the optic nerve recognition unit 9 on the basis of an anatomical structure, and an operation guide unit 12 that guides a user to operate the ultrasound probe 18 so as to acquire an ultrasound image for measurement of the optic nerve of the subject on the basis of an evaluation result obtained by the optic nerve evaluation unit 10.