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.

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.

Methods and systems for modulation and mapping of brain tissue in a subject using an ultrasound assembly are provided. An exemplary method for modulation uses an ultrasound assembly including a housing and an ultrasound transducer joined to the housing. The method includes securing the housing to the head of the subject with the ultrasound transducer aligned with a region of the brain tissue to target the region of the brain tissue for modulating, and providing focused ultrasound at an acoustic pressure to the targeted region using the ultrasound transducer to induce cavitation proximate the targeted region. The method further includes detecting a cavitation signal magnitude from the induced cavitation corresponding to the acoustic pressure and modulating the targeted region.

An image fusion system provides a predicted alignment between images of different modalities and synchronization of the alignment, once acquired. A spatial tracker detects and tracks a position and orientation of an imaging device within an environment. A predicted pose of an anatomical feature can be determined, based on previously acquired image data, with respect to a desired position and orientation of the imaging device. When the imaging device is moved into the desired position and orientation, a relationship is established between the pose of the anatomical feature in the image data and the pose of the anatomical feature imaged by the imaging device. Based on tracking information provided by the spatial tracker, the relationship is maintained even when the imaging device moves to various positions during a procedure.

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.

Methods and devices for producing cavitation in tissue are provided. Methods and devices are also provided for surgical navigation, including defining a target treatment zone and navigating a focus of a therapy transducer to the target treatment zone. Embodiments are provided for co-registering a plurality of surgical imaging and navigation systems. Systems for performing Histotripsy therapy are also discussed.

An ultrasound imaging system computes real time physiological parameters from measurements of anatomical features in ultrasound image data using a neural network to identify the location of the anatomical features. In one embodiment, cardiac parameters are computed from endocardial wall tracings in M-mode ultrasound image data that are identified by the neural network.

Devices, systems, and methods of imaging a blood vessel are provided. For example, the method can include obtaining fluoroscopic image data of a region of interest in a blood vessel using an x-ray source; obtaining intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) data at a plurality of positions across the region of interest using an IVUS component disposed on an intravascular device; processing the fluoroscopic image data and IVUS data, including: determining, using the fluoroscopic image data, a position of the intravascular device with respect to the x-ray source at each of the plurality of positions across the region of interest; co-registering the fluoroscopic image data and the IVUS image data; and generating, a model of the region of interest including position information of a border of a lumen of the blood vessel at each of the plurality of locations; and outputting a visual representation of the model of the region of interest.

A system is provided for augmenting a three-dimensional (3D) model of a heart to indicate the tissue state. The system accesses a 3D model of a heart, accesses two-dimensional (2D) images of tissue state slices of the heart, and accesses source location information of an arrhythmia. The system augments the 3D model with an indication of a source location based on the source location information. For each of a plurality of the tissue state slices of the heart, the system augments a 3D model slice of the 3D model that corresponds to that tissue state slice with an indication of the tissue state of the heart represented by the tissue state information of that tissue state slice. The system then displays a representation of the 3D model that indicates the source location of the arrhythmia and the tissue state of the heart.

This method, for determining the local intensity (I.sub.0) of an acoustic field propagating in a target region of a soft solid, at a position located within said target region, includes at least the following steps: determining (102) a value of an ultrasound attenuation coefficient (α) of the soft body in the target region; determining (104) a value of the shear modulus (μ) of the soft body in the target region; determining (106) a value of the speed of sound (c) in the target region of the soft body; and building (110), with the values determined in steps a), b) and c), a viscoelastic model (M) of a steady-state displacement induced by an acoustic field having a time invariant shape or a viscoelastic model of a difference between two steady-state displacements induced by an acoustic field having a time invariant shape. Moreover, this method also includes the following steps: applying (112) to the target region the acoustic field emitted by an ultrasound source, for a duration such that the acoustic field induces a steady-state localized deformation (Formula (I)) of the soft body in the target region; measuring (114) at least one steady state displacement induced by the acoustic field at a given position in the target region; and computing (116) the amplitude of the intensity of the acoustic field at said given position by inverting the viscoelastic model (M) at said given position, for the displacement(s) measured at step f).