US-20260123912-A1 - Ultrasonic Endocavitary Imaging System and Method

US20260123912A1US 20260123912 A1US20260123912 A1US 20260123912A1US-20260123912-A1

Abstract

An ultrasonic endocavitary imaging system for developing an image of a portion of a body cavity includes an elongate probe having a longitudinal axis, a distal end configured for insertion into the body cavity, a proximal end opposite to the distal end. The system also includes a shaft rotatably mounted in the probe, in a manner supporting rotation about the longitudinal axis, and having a proximal end protruding from the proximal end of the probe and a distal end opposite to the proximal end. The system further includes handle pivotally attached to the proximal end of the shaft and configured to rotate the shaft within the probe and an image capture assembly. The image capture assembly includes a piezo crystal array, the array coupled to the distal end of the shaft and having an axis aligned with the longitudinal axis, the array configured to cause capture of an ultrasound image of the interior of the body cavity lying in a plane through which the longitudinal axis passes, so that, when the shaft is rotated within the probe by means of the handle, the plane is correspondingly rotated about the longitudinal axis, causing generation of swept image data in the interior of the body cavity. The image capture assembly further includes a radio frequency transceiver disposed in the probe and coupled to the piezo crystal array, the transceiver configured for transmitting the image data from the piezo crystal array to a computing device of a user.

Inventors

Yvonne Ridge

Assignees

VisOvum Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251107

Claims (13)

1 . A portable ultrasonic endocavitary imaging system for developing an image of a portion of a body cavity, configured for remote self-use, the system comprising: an elongate probe having a longitudinal axis, a distal end configured for insertion into the body cavity, a proximal end opposite to the distal end; a shaft rotatably mounted in the probe, in a manner supporting rotation about the longitudinal axis, and having a proximal end protruding from the proximal end of the probe and a distal end opposite to the proximal end; a handle pivotally attached to the proximal end of the shaft and configured to cause manual hand-operated rotation of the shaft within the probe, the shaft rotating with manual hand-operated rotation of the handle; and an image capture assembly configured to rotate with the shaft about the longitudinal axis, thereby obtaining swept image date, and for transmitting the image data from the image capture assembly to a computing device of a user, the image capture assembly coupled to the distal end of the shaft and having an axis aligned with the longitudinal axis, the array configured to cause capture of an ultrasound image of the interior of the body cavity lying in a plane through which the longitudinal axis passes, so that, when the shaft is rotated within the probe by means of the handle, the plane is correspondingly rotated about the longitudinal axis, causing generation of the swept image data in the interior of the body cavity.
2 . An ultrasonic endocavitary imaging system according to claim 1 , further comprising a switch, disposed in the handle, configured to cause operation of the image capture assembly.
3 . An ultrasonic endocavitary imaging system according to claim 2 , further comprising an indicator, disposed in the handle, configured to signal a state of the image capture assembly.
4 . An ultrasonic endocavitary imaging system according to claim 3 , wherein the indicator is a light.
5 . An ultrasonic endocavitary imaging system according to claim 3 , wherein the indicator is a vibratory transducer.
6 . An ultrasonic endocavitary imaging system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a first digital storage medium, encoded with first instructions that are configured to appear as an application on the user's computing device, and, when executed by a processor in the computing device, cause the computing device to receive the image data from the image capture assembly and to transmit first data, derived from the image data, over a wide area network to a server system; and a second digital storage medium, encoded with second instructions that are configured to execute on the server system, so as to cause the server system to perform computer processes including (i) receiving the first data, (ii) using machine learning to develop enhanced image data from the first data, and (iii) making the enhanced image data available to the user.
7 . A system according to claim 6 , wherein making the enhanced image data available to the user includes transmitting the enhanced image data to the user's computing device.
8 . A system according to claim 6 , wherein making the enhanced image data available to the user includes causing the enhanced image data to be downloadable from a web site.
9 . A system according to claim 6 , further comprising a shaft encoder, coupled to the shaft and to the image capture assembly, wherein the image capture assembly is configured to correlate the image data with shaft position, so that downstream processing of the image data by the server system can reflect orientation information provided by the shaft encoder.
10 . A system according to claim 6 , wherein the second instructions are additionally configured to cause the server system to perform computer processes including using machine learning to identify the presence of a feature in the enhanced image data.
11 . A system according to claim 10 , wherein the feature is an egg follicle.
12 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the computing device is configured to receive the transmitted image data and provide real-time endocavitary images to the user during self-use.
13 . A system according to claim 1 , further comprising an electronic temperature sensor, mounted proximate to the distal end of the probe and coupled to the image capture assembly, to cause the temperature of the body cavity to be transmitted to the computing device of the user.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This patent application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/976,698 filed Oct. 28, 2021, now U.S. Pat. No. 12,465,325 issued Nov. 11, 2025, which claims priority from provisional U.S. Application No. 63/272,789 filed Oct. 28, 2021. The contents of each of the foregoing are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety for all purposes. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to ultrasonic imaging systems, and more particularly to endocavitary imaging systems. BACKGROUND ART U.S. Pat. No. 8,679,014 discloses an ultrasonic endocavitary imaging system wherein an ultrasonic endocavitary is coupled via Bluetooth to a computing device such as mobile telephone that, in turn, is coupled over the internet to a server, where image data are processed and made available over the internet to a user. The image data can then be evaluated by a health care provider. Similar disclosure is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 8,679,013. A freehand scanning ultrasonic endocavitary probe is disclosed in U.S. patent publication 2018/0344291 A1. SUMMARY OF THE EMBODIMENTS In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, an ultrasonic endocavitary imaging system for developing an image of a portion of a body cavity includes an elongate probe having a longitudinal axis, a distal end configured for insertion into the body cavity, a proximal end opposite to the distal end. The system also includes a shaft rotatably mounted in the probe, in a manner supporting rotation about the longitudinal axis, and having a proximal end protruding from the proximal end of the probe and a distal end opposite to the proximal end. The system further includes handle pivotally attached to the proximal end of the shaft and configured to rotate the shaft within the probe and an image capture assembly. The image capture assembly includes a piezo crystal array, the array coupled to the distal end of the shaft and having an axis aligned with the longitudinal axis, the array configured to cause capture of an ultrasound image of the interior of the body cavity lying in a plane through which the longitudinal axis passes, so that, when the shaft is rotated within the probe by means of the handle, the plane is correspondingly rotated about the longitudinal axis, causing generation of swept image data in the interior of the body cavity. The image capture assembly further includes a radio frequency transceiver disposed in the probe and coupled to the piezo crystal array, the transceiver configured for transmitting the image data from the piezo crystal array to a computing device of a user. Alternatively, or in addition, the imaging system further includes a switch, disposed in the handle, configured to cause operation of the image capture assembly. Also, alternatively or in addition, the imaging system further includes an indicator, disposed in the handle, configured to signal a state of the image capture assembly. The indicator may be a light. The indicator also may be a vibratory transducer. Further alternatively or in addition, the imaging system includes a first digital storage medium, encoded with first instructions that are configured to appear as an application on the user's computing device, and, when executed by a processor in the computing device, cause the computing device to receive the image data from the image capture assembly and to transmit first data, derived from the image data, over a wide area network to a server system. The imaging system also includes a second digital storage medium, encoded with second instructions that are configured to execute on the server system, so as to cause the server system to perform computer processes including (i) receiving the first data, (ii) using machine learning to develop enhanced image data from the first data, and (iii) making the enhanced image data available to the user. Alternatively, or in addition, making the enhanced image data available to the user includes transmitting the enhanced image data to the user's computing device. Also, alternatively or in addition, making the enhanced image data available to the user includes causing the enhanced image data to be downloadable from a web site. Further alternatively or in addition, the imaging system includes a shaft encoder, coupled to the shaft and to the image capture assembly, wherein the image capture assembly is configured to correlate the image data with shaft position, so that downstream processing of the image data by the server system can reflect orientation information provided by the shaft encoder. Alternatively, or in addition, the second instructions are additionally configured to cause the server system to perform computer processes including using machine learning to identify the presence of a feature in the enhanced image data. Also, alternatively or in addition, the feature is an egg follicle. Also, alternatively or in addition, the imaging system further includes an electron