Method and device for determining a flow rate and/or a concentration of particles of a fluid
Inventors
Provost, Jean • GACHELIN, Jérémie • PIALOT, Baptiste • Couture, Olivier • Vincent, Emmanuel
Assignees
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNRS • Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale INSERM • Ecole Superieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles de Ville de Paris ESPCI • Aenitis Technologies SAS
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Publication Number
US-12066312-B2
Publication Date
2024-08-20
Expiration Date
Abstract
A method for determining a flow rate and/or a concentration of particles of a fluid flowing in a chamber, which includes the steps of: producing an ultrasound beam of a given frequency with a first transducer such that all fluid components traveling through an intersection region between the ultrasound beam and the chamber are insonated by the first transducer; receiving Doppler-shifted ultrasound signals generated by the fluid components in the insonated region of the chamber with a second transducer; acquiring the ultrasound signals received by the second transducer during an acquisition time; obtaining a Doppler Power Spectrum of the acquired ultrasound signals; and determining the flow rate and/or the concentration of particles of the fluid by adjustment between, on the one hand, the obtained Doppler Power Spectrum and, on the other hand, a model of the Doppler Power Spectrum.
Core Innovation
The disclosed invention relates to determining a flow rate of a fluid flowing in a chamber and a concentration of particles of the fluid by using ultrasound Doppler measurements and a model-based spectrum adjustment. An ultrasound beam is produced with a first transducer at a frequency that lies in a scattering frequency range of the particles so that fluid components traveling through an intersection region between the ultrasound beam and the chamber are insonated to create an insonated region in the chamber. A second transducer arranged at a Doppler angle receives Doppler-shifted ultrasound signals generated by the fluid components in the insonated region.
The acquired ultrasound signals are used to obtain a Doppler Power Spectrum, and the flow rate and particle concentration are determined by adjustment between the obtained Doppler Power Spectrum and a model expressing the Doppler Power Spectrum as a function of the flow rate and the concentration in the insonated region, together with geometric parameters. The model parameters include a cross-sectional area of the chamber taken perpendicular to a flow direction of the fluid and a width of the intersection between the ultrasound beam and the chamber taken parallel to the flow direction. In this way, the invention performs simultaneous determination of both flow rate and particle concentration through fitting/adjustment of the Doppler Power Spectrum.
The disclosed embodiments also extend the approach to extracting particle information by using Doppler Power Spectrum features derived over a frequency range, including an integral of the Doppler Power Spectrum over a frequency range that includes a maximum frequency. Further embodiments are directed to particle-group discrimination by using ultrasound frequencies assigned to different scattering frequency ranges of different particle groups. A measurement device implementing the method is disclosed, and it is also described as integrated into an acoustophoretic blood fractionation/separation device with concentrate and filtrate outlets.
Claims Coverage
The partial document includes two independent claims (a method claim and a device claim). The inventive features focus on insonation at a particle scattering frequency, Doppler-angle reception, obtaining a Doppler Power Spectrum, and determining flow rate and particle concentration by adjustment between the spectrum and a model parameterized by flow, concentration, and chamber/beam geometry.
Scattering-frequency insonation with Doppler-angle reception
Producing with a first transducer an ultrasound beam of a frequency in a scattering frequency range of said particles to insonate fluid components traveling through an intersection region, receiving with a second transducer Doppler-shifted ultrasound signals generated by the fluid components in the insonated region, and acquiring the ultrasound signals during an acquisition time.
Model-based Doppler Power Spectrum adjustment using flow and concentration and geometry
Obtaining a Doppler Power Spectrum of the acquired ultrasound signals and determining the flow rate and the concentration of said particles by adjustment between the obtained Doppler Power Spectrum and a model expressing the Doppler Power Spectrum as a function of the flow rate, the concentration, a cross-sectional area perpendicular to the flow direction, and a width of the intersection between the ultrasound beam and the chamber parallel to the flow direction.
Measurement device with spectrum calculation and model-based adjustment
Providing a first transducer producing an ultrasound beam in the scattering frequency range to insonate an insonated region, a second transducer arranged at a Doppler angle receiving Doppler-shifted ultrasound signals from the insonated region, an acquisition module acquiring the signals during an acquisition time, and a calculation module calculating a Doppler Power Spectrum and determining flow rate and concentration by adjustment between the calculated Doppler Power Spectrum and a model parameterized by flow rate, concentration, chamber cross-sectional area perpendicular to flow, and intersection width parallel to flow.
Across the independent claims, the core coverage centers on Doppler Power Spectrum formation from insonated fluid components and determining both flow rate and particle concentration by adjustment between the Doppler Power Spectrum and a model that includes flow, particle concentration, and specified chamber/beam geometric parameters.
Stated Advantages
Good accuracy for flow-rate measurement reported in the partial content.
Hematocrit/concentration calibration reported with good accuracy up to approximately 10% hematocrit.
Documented Applications
Acoustophoretic blood fractionation/separation in which a measurement device is integrated into a separation device having concentrate-outlet and filtrate-outlet.
Particle-group discrimination in blood by using different ultrasound frequencies in non-overlapping scattering ranges to differentiate red blood cells and platelets.
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