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Patent Name:  AUTOMATIC SIGNAL-OPTIMIZING TRANSDUCER ASSEMBLY FOR BLOOD FLOW MEASUREMENT

Inventor: Alan Chi-Chung Tai

Patent filing date: 4/18/2005                         Patent #: 7857763 B2 (Dec. 28, 2010)

ABSTRACT

The invention uses a transducer and ultrasound system to form and direct ultrasound beams through the blood stream that will detect the Doppler shift in frequency between the beams and the return echo off the blood. The transducer can be secured onto the surface of the patient’s skin with a transducer housing holder. A 1-D transducer, subject to an optimized angle with respect to the blood vessel, will generate and direct ultrasound beams electronically through a blood vessel below the skin and analyze the received echo, searching for the maximum signal amplitude of the Doppler frequency shift from the blood.  Furthermore, the device continuously controls the direction of the ultrasound beams to achieve maximum return signal amplitude.  Then, the condition and trend of the blood flow is recorded and displayed continuously over the desired diagnostic interval the device is in use.

Brief description of the patent and its application

What the invention does:

A medical ultrasonic monitoring system that utilizes auto-aligning ultrasound beams to optimize echoed signals for tracking blood flow conditions and blood vessel geometry measurements.

5 Key applications:

1) Monitoring blood flow condition continuously

2) Monitoring Stroke patients

3) Measuring Cardiovascular Health by FMD(flow-mediated dilation) technique

4)  TCD (Transcranial Doppler) mainly for monitoring MCA (middle cerebral artery)

5) Monitoring Dialysis patients

Key Components:

A compact ultrasound transducer is secured onto the surface of the patient’s skin with a transducer base holder.