Method and system for monitoring thoracic tissue fluid
Inventors
Rappaport, Dan • MIZRAHI, Nadav • BERGIDA, Shlomi • SAROKA, Amir • Ronen, Amir • KOCHBA, Ilan
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-11944419-B2
Publication Date
2024-04-02
Expiration Date
Abstract
A method for monitoring thoracic tissue. The method comprises intercepting reflections of electromagnetic (EM) radiation reflected from thoracic tissue of a patient in radiation sessions during a period of at least 24 hours, detecting a change of a dielectric coefficient of the thoracic tissue by analyzing respective the reflections, and outputting a notification indicating the change. The reflections are changed as an outcome of thoracic movements which occur during the period.
Core Innovation
The invention monitors thoracic tissue by emitting and/or intercepting radio frequency (RF) signals using a wearable monitoring apparatus having a probe with at least two antenna elements. A plurality of radiation sessions are used while the effective radiation power is reinforced in a specific internal area comprising the thoracic tissue. The RF signals are processed to detect changes associated with pulmonary fluid, including pulmonary edema and extravascular lung water.
During the monitoring, relative phases of respective signals feeding the at least two antenna elements are varied such that an effective radiation power of the antenna elements is reinforced in a specific internal area comprising the thoracic tissue. At least one feature is extracted from intercepted RF signals, where the feature is selected from phase and amplitude of the RF signals. A dielectric related property of the thoracic tissue is identified from analysis of the extracted feature.
The system outputs a notification indicative of the dielectric related property, and in some implementations determines a pulmonary fluid content level in at least one thoracic tissue based on the dielectric related property and outputs a notification indicative of that pulmonary fluid level. The monitoring can employ tissue segmentation and tissue-boundary analysis, reference chest-wall tissue modeling, gating synchronized to breathing and heart beat cycles, and compensation for posture and placement.
Claims Coverage
Two independent claims are provided, a method and a wearable apparatus. Across these claims, the core coverage includes wearable RF probing of thoracic tissue with at least two antenna elements, phase-varying reinforcement in a specific internal area, RF feature extraction, identification of a dielectric related property, and notification output across a plurality of radiation sessions.
Wearable RF monitoring of thoracic tissue in radiation sessions
A method for monitoring tissues using at least one probe comprising at least two antenna elements, transmitting and/or intercepting RF signals at a range of 0.3 gigahertz (GHZ) to 20 GHZ to and/or from at least one thoracic tissue of a patient in each of a plurality of radiation sessions.
Phase variation to reinforce effective radiation power in a specific internal area
Varying relative phases of respective signals feeding the at least two antenna elements such that an effective radiation power of the at least two antenna elements is reinforced in a specific internal area of a user's body comprising the at least one thoracic tissue.
RF feature extraction and dielectric related property identification
Extracting at least one feature from the intercepted RF signals, the at least one feature selected from a group consisting a phase and an amplitude of the RF signals; and identifying a dielectric related property of the at least one thoracic tissue from an analysis of the at least one feature.
Notification indicative of dielectric related property
Outputting a notification indicative of the dielectric related property.
Wearable apparatus with phase-reinforcing RF probing and dielectric-property notification
A wearable monitoring apparatus configured to monitor tissues, comprising at least one probe having at least two antenna elements configured to transmit and/or intercept RF signals at a range of 0.3 GHZ to 20 GHZ to and/or from at least one thoracic tissue of a patient, at least one hardware processor configured to vary relative phases of respective signals feeding the at least two antenna elements to reinforce effective radiation power in a specific internal area comprising the at least one thoracic tissue, perform an RF signal analysis to extract at least one feature selected from a group consisting a phase and an amplitude of the RF signals, identify a dielectric related property of the at least one thoracic tissue, and an output unit adapted to output a notification indicative of the dielectric related property, wherein the probe and processor are configured for respectively performing transmission/interception and the RF signal analysis in a plurality of radiation sessions.
The independent claims are grounded in the same inventive sequence: wearable RF transmission/interception over 0.3–20 GHz with at least two antenna elements, phase variation to reinforce effective radiation power in a target internal area of thoracic tissue, RF analysis extracting phase and/or amplitude features, dielectric related property identification from those features, and notification output across a plurality of radiation sessions.
Stated Advantages
Provides a notification indicative of the dielectric related property of at least one thoracic tissue.
In some implementations, enables notification indicative of a pulmonary fluid content level based on the dielectric related property.
Documented Applications
Monitoring tissues including thoracic tissue for pulmonary fluid-related conditions, including pulmonary edema and extravascular lung water (EVLW), by identifying dielectric related properties from intercepted RF signals and outputting a notification.
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