Wearable ultrasound system and method

Inventors

Saberi, Shadi • Ziaei, Maryam • Tacklind, Chris • Schlosser, Jeff

Assignees

Isono Health Inc

Abstract

An ultrasound system including: a scanner module including a housing including a first fastener element, an ultrasound transducer, a rotational actuator, and an electronics module; and a positioner module including a second fastener element; operable between a first mode, wherein the first and second fastener elements cooperatively couple the scanner module to the positioner module, and a second mode, wherein the scanner module and positioner modules are separate. An ultrasound system including: a housing including a handle region and a membrane; an ultrasound transducer; a reservoir; a rotational actuator; and an electronics module.

Core Innovation

The invention relates to a wearable ultrasound system that includes a scanner module and a positioner module that are cooperatively coupled together. The scanner module includes a scanner housing having a longitudinal axis and a first fastener element, an ultrasound transducer within the scanner housing, and electronics within the scanner housing. The ultrasound transducer sweeps a curved path around the longitudinal axis during rotation, using a first actuator that couples the ultrasound transducer to the scanner housing about the longitudinal axis.

The ultrasound transducer has a central beam axis and an angle between the central beam axis and the longitudinal axis that is less than 45°. During operation, the transducer sweeps a curved path, producing a curved scan around the longitudinal axis as the scanner rotates. The scanner module is detachably coupled to the positioner module through cooperating first and second fastener elements.

The positioner module includes a second fastener element, a shape configured to enclose an ultrasound coupling material by partially contacting a portion of skin of a user, and an aperture to expose a volume of tissue to the ultrasound transducer. The positioner module and scanner module cooperate so that the ultrasound coupling material is enclosed for coupling at the skin interface while the aperture exposes tissue for scanning. In refinements, the positioner module can include a reservoir and membrane boundary, and can incorporate an ultrasound anti-reflection coating and/or absorptive or dispersive coatings.

Claims Coverage

The provided document includes one independent claim that defines the wearable ultrasound system architecture and detachable coupling, and dependent claims that refine coupling and positioning structures and scan geometry and repeatability features. The main inventive features focus on the cooperative scanner/positioner coupling, the transducer beam-axis geometry, and curved-path scanning via rotation.

Across the independent claim and its dependents shown, the claim coverage centers on a wearable ultrasound system that is detachably coupled through cooperating fasteners between a rotating curved-path scanner module and a positioner module that encloses ultrasound coupling material and exposes a tissue volume. The dependents further specify coupling/positioning structures such as a reservoir with a membrane boundary, an ultrasound anti-reflection coating, alignment features such as a frustoconical region for breast alignment, and a linear-array ultrasound transducer geometry.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications