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US-12616377-B2 - Transponder tracking and ultrasound image enhancement

US12616377B2US 12616377 B2US12616377 B2US 12616377B2US-12616377-B2

Abstract

A transponder is used for tracking a position of a distal end of a medical device in an ultrasound image and/or enhancing an ultrasound image.

Inventors

  • Jiangang Zhu
  • Mucong Li
  • Linhua Xu
  • Michael Hazarian

Assignees

  • DEEPSIGHT TECHNOLOGY, INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20231023

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A method comprising: providing a tracking and imaging system comprising (i) an optical sensor coupled to a medical device, (ii) an ultrasound transducer array, and (iii) a processor; detecting, by the optical sensor through a photo-elastic effect or physical deformation, a plurality of acoustic signals from any direction, the optical sensor comprising a point sensor for receiving the plurality of acoustic signals from any direction, the plurality of acoustic signals corresponding to one or more of direct acoustic pulses emitted from the ultrasound transducer array, scattered acoustic signals, and acoustic tissue harmonics, the plurality of acoustic signals causing a spectral shift or polarization change in light guided in the optical sensor; ascertaining, by the processor, a location of the optical sensor based on one or more of the plurality of acoustic signals using coherent image forming, the coherent image forming comprising: determining a pixel value for a corresponding pixel in an imaging plane based on the plurality of acoustic signals assuming the optical sensor is located at the corresponding pixel to obtain a coherent signal image; and extracting the location of the optical sensor from the coherent signal image; and generating, by the processor, an ultrasound image based on acoustic echo signals detected by the ultrasound transducer array and the plurality of acoustic signals detected by the optical sensor.
  2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a shape or orientation of the medical device based on the plurality of acoustic signals during an ultrasound procedure.
  3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is an optical resonator comprising a Fabry-Perot resonator, a whispering gallery mode resonator, micro-ring, micro-toroid, spiral resonator, or a photonic crystal resonator.
  4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is an optical interferometer comprising a Mach-Zehnder (MZ) interferometer, a Fabry-Pérot interferometer, a phase-shift coherent interferometer, or a self-mixing interferometer.
  5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor comprises a fiber end facet, the fiber end facet comprising acoustically responsive metasurface patterns, acoustically responsive low-dimensional materials, or plasmonic structures patterned to amplify light-matter interactions.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising overlaying the location of the optical sensor on the ultrasound image.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor and the medical device are located within a body of a subject.
  8. 8 . A system comprising: an optical sensor coupled to a medical device and configured to detect, through a photo-elastic effect or physical deformation, a plurality of acoustic signals from any direction, the optical sensor comprising a point optical sensor for receiving the plurality of acoustic signals from any direction, the plurality of acoustic signals corresponding to one or more of direct acoustic pulses emitted from an ultrasound transducer array, scattered acoustic signals, and acoustic tissue harmonics, the detected plurality of acoustic signals causing a spectral shift or a polarization change in light guided in the optical sensor; and a processor configured to: ascertain a location of the optical sensor based on at least some of the plurality of acoustic signals using coherent image forming, the coherent image forming comprising: determining a pixel value for a corresponding pixel in an imaging plane based on the plurality of acoustic signals assuming the optical sensor is located at the corresponding pixel to obtain a coherent signal image; and extracting the location of the optical sensor from the coherent signal image; and generate an ultrasound image based on acoustic echo signals detected by the ultrasound transducer array and the plurality of acoustic signals detected by the optical sensor.
  9. 9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the optical sensor comprises a fiber optical sensor.
  10. 10 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the optical sensor is configured to optically sense a deformation of a material of the optical sensor caused by at least one of the plurality of acoustic signals incident on the optical sensor.
  11. 11 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the optical sensor is configured to detect the polarization change in the light guided in the optical sensor as at least one of the plurality of acoustic signals are incident on the optical sensor.
  12. 12 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to: present the location of the optical sensor and the ultrasound image in real time.
  13. 13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the optical sensor is coupled with the medical device at a distal portion of the medical device.
  14. 14 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the optical sensor is arranged on the medical device for a diagnostic or therapeutic procedure.
  15. 15 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the optical sensor is arranged to detect a change in polarization of light in response to the plurality of acoustic signals.
  16. 16 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the optical sensor is arranged to amplify light matter interactions.
  17. 17 . A method comprising: providing a tracking and imaging system comprising (i) an optical sensor coupled to a medical device, (ii) an ultrasound transducer array, and (iii) a processor; detecting, by the optical sensor through a photo-elastic effect or physical deformation, a plurality of acoustic signals across a 3D directional range of up to 360 degrees, the optical sensor configured to receive the plurality of acoustic signals across the 3D directional range of up to 360 degrees, the optical sensor comprising a point-like optical sensor, each of the plurality of acoustic signals corresponding to one of a plurality of acoustic pulses emitted from the ultrasound transducer array, the plurality of acoustic signals causing a spectral shift or polarization change in light guided in the optical sensor; ascertaining, by the processor, a location of the optical sensor based on one or more of the plurality of acoustic signals by coherent image forming, the coherent image forming comprises: determining a pixel value for a corresponding pixel in an imaging plane based on the plurality of acoustic signals assuming the optical sensor is located at the corresponding pixel to obtain a coherent signal image; and extracting the location of the optical sensor from the coherent signal image; and generating, by the processor, an ultrasound image based on acoustic echo signals detected by the ultrasound transducer array.
  18. 18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the optical sensor further comprises a line sensor.
  19. 19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein ascertaining the location of the optical sensor comprises triangulating the location of the optical sensor.
  20. 20 . The method of claim 17 , wherein ascertaining the location of the optical sensor based on the one or more of the plurality of acoustic signals comprises ascertaining the location of the optical sensor in real time during an ultrasound procedure.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/522,944, filed Jun. 23, 2023, entitled, “TRANSPONDER TRACKING AND ULTRASOUND IMAGE ENHANCEMENT,” U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/522,793, filed Jun. 23, 2023, entitled “OPTICAL FIBER WITH AN ACOUSTICALLY SENSITIVE FIBER BRAGG GRATING AND ULTRASOUND SENSOR INCLUDING THE SAME,” and U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/510,079, filed Jun. 23, 2023, entitled “FIBER OPTICAL SENSOR SYSTEM FOR ULTRASOUND SENSING AND IMAGING,” which are incorporated by reference for all purposes. The following U.S. patent applications are being filed concurrently with this application and are incorporated by reference for all purposes: U.S. application Ser. No. 18/492,593, filed on Oct. 23, 2023, entitled “FIBER OPTICAL SENSOR SYSTEM FOR ULTRASOUND SENSING AND IMAGING”;U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/592,482, filed on Oct. 23, 2023, entitled “TRANSDUCER ARRAY WITH FIBER SENSORS-FIBER-OPTICAL SENSOR SYSTEM FOR ULTRASOUND SENSING AND IMAGING”; andU.S. Provisional Application No. 63/545,327, filed on Oct. 23, 2023, entitled, “MINIATURE MIXED ARRAY IMAGING PROBE”. BACKGROUND The present application generally relates to ultrasound imaging and more particularly relates to transponder tracking and ultrasound image enhancement. Acoustic imaging may be used for both medical and non-medical applications. One well-known example of acoustic imaging is ultrasound imaging, which is non-invasive and allows viewing of soft tissues and surrounding anatomy. Ultrasound imaging may also be used to view the location of various medical devices in situ, such as needles, scopes, or catheters. However, the transducers used in conventional ultrasound probes may be limited in output and thus produce non-optimal ultrasound images, resulting in an inability to accurately track the location of devices. Accordingly, there is a need for improved methods and systems for tracking and image enhancement. SUMMARY Various examples are described for transponder tracking and ultrasound image enhancement. These illustrative examples are mentioned not to limit or define the scope of this disclosure, but rather to provide examples to aid understanding thereof. Illustrative examples are discussed in the Detailed Description, which provides further description. Advantages offered by various examples may be further understood by examining this specification. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more certain examples and, together with the description of the example, serve to explain the principles and implementations of the certain examples. FIGS. 1, 2A, and 2B show example systems for transponder tracking and ultrasound image enhancement; FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating a method of triangulation in one example; and FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C provide examples of fiber sensors detecting acoustic signals as a point sensor or a line sensor. FIGS. 5 and 6 show example methods for transponder tracking and ultrasound image enhancement. FIG. 7 depicts a flow chart of an embodiment of a method for enhancing an ultrasound image using a point sensor or a line sensor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Examples are described herein in the context of transponder tracking and ultrasound image enhancement. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following description is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of examples as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or like items. In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the examples described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions can be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. The following commonly owned patent applications disclose various methods and systems for ultrasound beamforming and image processing: U.S. application Ser. No. 18/032,953, filed Apr. 20, 2023, titled Image Compounding for Mixed Ultrasound Sensor Array; U.S. application Ser. No. 18/205,081, filed Mar. 7, 2023, titled Synthetic Aperture Imaging Systems and Methods Using Mixed Arrays; U.S. application Ser. No. 18/901,073, filed Dec. 29, 2022, titled Acousto-Optic Harmonic Imaging with Optical Sensors; PCT Application PCT/US2022/077762, filed Oct. 7, 2022, titled Ultrasound Beacon Visualization with Optical Sensors; PCT Application PCT/US2022/041250, filed Aug. 23, 2022, titled Multi-Dimensional Signal Dete