An apparatus comprising an array of polymer-based capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers positioned on a substrate. The substrate may be at least substantially transparent to ionizing radiation, be flexible, and/or have walls positioned thereon to protect the transducers.

A device is provided for automatically assessing functional hemodynamic properties of a patient is provided, the device comprising: a housing; an ultrasound unit coupled to the housing and adapted for adducing ultrasonic waves into the patient at a vessel; a detector adapted to sense signals obtained as a result of adducing ultrasonic waves into the patient at the vessel and to record the; and a processor adapted for receiving the recorded signals as data and transforming the data for output at an interface. Other devices, systems, methods, and/or computer-readable media may be provided in relation to assessing functional hemodynamics of a patient.

Systems and methods for treating skin and subcutaneous tissue with energy such as ultrasound energy are disclosed. In various embodiments, ultrasound energy is applied at a region of interest to affect tissue by cutting, ablating, micro-ablating, coagulating, or otherwise affecting the subcutaneous tissue to conduct numerous procedures that are traditionally done invasively in a non-invasive manner. Lifting sagging tissue on a face, neck, and/or body are described. Treatment with heat is provided in several embodiments.

A method of communicating with an ingestible capsule includes detecting the location of the ingestible capsule, focusing a multi-sensor acoustic array on the ingestible capsule, and communicating an acoustic information exchange with the ingestible capsule via the multi-sensor acoustic array. The ingestible capsule includes a sensor that receives a stimulus inside the gastrointestinal tract of an animal, a bidirectional acoustic information communications module that transmits an acoustic information signal containing information from the sensor, and an acoustically transmissive encapsulation that substantially encloses the sensor and communications module, wherein the acoustically transmissive encapsulation is of ingestible size. The multi-sensor array includes a plurality of acoustic transducers that receive an acoustic signal from a movable device, and a plurality of delays, wherein each delay is coupled to a corresponding acoustic transducer. Each delay may be adjusted according to a phase of a signal received by the corresponding acoustic transducer.

A transducer fixation apparatus is configured to position and secure to a skin surface of a patient a transducer to allow repeated or continuous monitoring of blood flow in a subsurface vessel. The transducer fixation apparatus includes a housing having a plurality of flexible attachment wings that attach and conform in shape to the skin surface using an adhesive material present on each of the wing undersides. In some embodiments the wings may be biased upward away from the skin surface to facilitate positioning of the fixation apparatus prior to skin attachment. Alternative embodiments include a detachable retainer clip to hold the wings away from the mounting surface during placement as well as an optional positioning wand to aid with placement. Other embodiments may include a separate flexible attachment wing configured to hold a gel pad for acoustic coupling to the skin surface, the separate flexible attachment wing intended to be joined to the housing of the transducer fixation apparatus prior to skin surface attachment.

The invention provides an ultrasound system including an ultrasound transducer array and a processor. The ultrasound transducer array comprises a plurality of transducer elements adapted to conform with a subjects body. Further, at least two ultrasound transducer elements of the plurality of transducer elements are adapted to acquire a plurality of ultrasound signals from a region of interest at different orientations relative to said region of interest. The processor is adapted to receive ultrasound signals acquired by the ultrasound transducer array. The processor is further adapted to partition the plurality of ultrasound signals according to a signal depth and, for each ultrasound signal partition, calculate a Doppler power. For each ultrasound signal, the processor identifies a depth of a fetal heartbeat based on the Doppler power of each ultrasound signal partition and identifies a fetal heart region based on the identified fetal heartbeat and a location of the at least two ultrasound transducers.

A fully automated ultrasound apparatus includes a sensor or probe which can be initially manually attached to a side of the neck of a patient, an ultrasound interface to control the sensor and periodically acquire raw ultrasound data, a signal and image processing system to autonomously convert the raw ultrasound data into a measurement that is useful to physicians, and a display to relay the current measurements and measurement history to provide data trends. The sensor can include one or more ultrasound transducers built into a housing. A disposable component can serve to secure the sensor to the neck of the patient and to provide a coupling medium between the sensor and the skin of the patient.

A system and a method of non-invasive continuous echocardiographic monitoring is provided with an ultrasound transducer and a bedside monitor. The beside monitor includes a monitor central processing unit (CPU). First, the ultrasound transducer is attached onto a specific skin portion of a patient. The specific skin portion is positioned adjacent to a patient's heart. Next, continuous echocardiographic data is sensed with the ultrasound transducer. After relaying the continuous echocardiographic data from the ultrasound transducer to the monitor CPU, the monitor CPU generates a real-time ultrasound image of the heart from the continuous echocardiographic data. Finally, the real-time ultrasound image is outputted with the bedside monitor. If the bedside monitor has a main screen, then the real-time ultrasound image is displayed through a picture-in-picture format with the main screen. Otherwise, if the beside monitor has an ancillary screen, then the real-time ultrasound image is exclusively displayed with the ancillary screen.

Aspects of the technology described herein relate to control circuitry configured to turn on and off the ADC driver. In some embodiments, the control circuitry is configured to turn on and off the ADC driver in synchronization with sampling activity of an ADC, in particular based on when an ADC is sampling. The control circuitry may be configured to turn on the ADC driver during the hold phase of the ADC a time period before the track phase and to turn off the ADC driver during the hold phase a time period after the track phase. In some embodiments, the control circuitry is configured to control a duty cycle of the ADC driver turning on and off. In some embodiments, the control circuitry is configured to control a ratio between an off current and an on current in the ADC driver.

The present disclosure includes a method of diagnosing a condition of bodily tissue using a computer, the method comprising comparing, using a computer, a 3D tissue model derived from an ultrasound scan of the bodily tissue with at least one 3D tissue model having common tissue with the bodily tissue, and diagnosing a condition of the bodily tissue responsive to comparing the 3D tissue models.