“Evaluation Of An Ultrasound-Based Investigation” in Patent Application Approval Process (USPTO 20220084239): Patent Application

2022 APR 05 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent application by the inventors BODNER, Gerd (Vienna, AT); CERNY, Karl (Vienna, AT); GREIFONER, Manfred (Vienna, AT); PIVEC, Christopher (Vienna, AT), filed on September 17, 2020, was made available online on March 17, 2022, according to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx correspondents.

This patent application has not been assigned to a company or institution.

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Here, the ultrasound-based examination in particular as the ultrasound-based generation of an image (or video) of an ultrasound examination point (or several points) of a part of a patient’s body or respectively the result of the examination, is to present a documentation of the ultrasound examination point (or several points) on the patient’s body by ultrasound-based images. The evaluation in the sense of the present invention may be the exact reproduction of the transducer position for the interpretation of the ultrasound images.

“Ultrasound-based examinations are known in the prior art. Their advantage compared to electromagnetic or X-ray-based methods consists in particular in a non-present magnetic field exposure and/or radiation exposure of the patient compared to X-ray-based methods such as CT and X-rays, and equipment which is distinctly more economical and space-saving. It is estimated that 50% of current musculoskeletal magnetic resonance tomography, MRT, examinations can basically also be covered by high resolution ultrasound. This is also due to the fact that the detail density (spatial resolution) of high resolution ultrasound is far higher than that of MRT and CT. In particular, the recording of small nerves, tendons, ligaments and other soft tissues can be achieved better or at least equivalent to high quality MRT.

“Owing to the visual representation of the ultrasound image of the ultrasound examinations which is less able to be interpreted intuitively compared to MRT/CT, many ultrasound examination results are esteemed less, or not at all, by the specialists. As a result, many specialists have difficulties in the interpretation of the ultrasound images. This goes so far that the specialists generally can not even recognize in which position the imaged part of the body has been situated with respect to the ultrasound transducer (also “Transducer”) during the photography or respectively which part of the body is concerned at all. In order to improve the usability of the ultrasound images, usually therefore a time-consuming documentation of the individual views is carried out, in order to be able to retrospectively allocate the created ultrasound image to the examined point on the body. When this documentation also does not assist the specialist further, the ultrasound-based examination is sometimes requested again by the specialist or is carried out by him/herself.

“This leads to an increased expenditure in terms of time and hardware, delayed diagnoses with the corresponding consequences, and increased costs for the health system.

“WO 98/08112 shows a method for the electromagnetically supported creation of 3D models of the human body, in which an allocation of ultrasound images with respect to one another takes place, by the transducer emitting electromagnetic waves for determining position, so that individual ultrasound cross-sectional images can be used for creating the 3D model.

“Proceeding from the above-mentioned prior art, it is an object of the present invention to make the interpretability of results of ultrasound-based examinations more precise and easier, and thereby to lead to a generally greater acceptance. This leads to a significant cost reduction for the patient and the health system and to a prevention of delayed diagnosis with all its medical and economic consequences. For the user carrying out ultrasound, the inventive presentation leads inter alia to a minimizing of documentation errors and to a distinct saving of time.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent application, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “Here, the ultrasound-based examination in particular as the ultrasound-based generation of an image (or video) of an ultrasound examination point (or several points) of a part of a patient’s body or respectively the result of the examination, is to present a documentation of the ultrasound examination point (or several points) on the patient’s body by ultrasound-based images. The evaluation in the sense of the present invention may be the exact reproduction of the transducer position for the interpretation of the ultrasound images.

“Ultrasound-based examinations are known in the prior art. Their advantage compared to electromagnetic or X-ray-based methods consists in particular in a non-present magnetic field exposure and/or radiation exposure of the patient compared to X-ray-based methods such as CT and X-rays, and equipment which is distinctly more economical and space-saving. It is estimated that 50% of current musculoskeletal magnetic resonance tomography, MRT, examinations can basically also be covered by high resolution ultrasound. This is also due to the fact that the detail density (spatial resolution) of high resolution ultrasound is far higher than that of MRT and CT. In particular, the recording of small nerves, tendons, ligaments and other soft tissues can be achieved better or at least equivalent to high quality MRT.

“Owing to the visual representation of the ultrasound image of the ultrasound examinations which is less able to be interpreted intuitively compared to MRT/CT, many ultrasound examination results are esteemed less, or not at all, by the specialists. As a result, many specialists have difficulties in the interpretation of the ultrasound images. This goes so far that the specialists generally can not even recognize in which position the imaged part of the body has been situated with respect to the ultrasound transducer (also “Transducer”) during the photography or respectively which part of the body is concerned at all. In order to improve the usability of the ultrasound images, usually therefore a time-consuming documentation of the individual views is carried out, in order to be able to retrospectively allocate the created ultrasound image to the examined point on the body. When this documentation also does not assist the specialist further, the ultrasound-based examination is sometimes requested again by the specialist or is carried out by him/herself.

“This leads to an increased expenditure in terms of time and hardware, delayed diagnoses with the corresponding consequences, and increased costs for the health system.

“WO 98/08112 shows a method for the electromagnetically supported creation of 3D models of the human body, in which an allocation of ultrasound images with respect to one another takes place, by the transducer emitting electromagnetic waves for determining position, so that individual ultrasound cross-sectional images can be used for creating the 3D model.

“Proceeding from the above-mentioned prior art, it is an object of the present invention to make the interpretability of results of ultrasound-based examinations more precise and easier, and thereby to lead to a generally greater acceptance. This leads to a significant cost reduction for the patient and the health system and to a prevention of delayed diagnosis with all its medical and economic consequences. For the user carrying out ultrasound, the inventive presentation leads inter alia to a minimizing of documentation errors and to a distinct saving of time.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method for supporting an evaluation of an ultrasound-based examination comprising: carrying out the ultrasound-based examination by means of a transducer at a point in time, determining information representing a location and/or position of the transducer at the point in time and automatic allocating of an image, recorded at the point in time by means of the transducer to the information representing the location and/or position of the transducer at the point in time.

“2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining of the information representing the location and/or position of the transducer takes place by means of an optical camera, in particular as an image, preferably as a moving image.

“3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the camera is arranged so as to be fastened displaceably, in particular so as to be automatically positionable, or stationary.

“4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising establishing that the determining of a location and/or position of the transducer is not possible at a second point in time and in responding thereto emitting of a signal.

“5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the signal refers to data of a second sensor for determining the location and/or position of the transducer, and/or automatically initiates a use of a further and/or alternative sensor for determining the location and/or position of the transducer and/or automatically initiates a position/alignment change of the second sensor for determining the location and/or position of the transducer and/or automatically discards data of an unsuccessful attempt at determination.

“6. The method according to claim 1, wherein for determining the information representing the location and/or position of a transducer image material is analysed and is automatically compared with a data technology reference, in particular comprising an image data bank, in order to draw a conclusion regarding the location and/or position of the transducer and/or of a patient.

“7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the image recorded by means of the transducer is a component part of a moving image sequence.

“8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the location and/or position of the transducer is determined relative to a test piece and/or to a part of a body of a patient.

“9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the allocating comprises a synchronisation of respective data of a recorded image and of the information representing the location and/or position of the transducer.

“10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising transferring of the image recorded at the point in time by means of the transducer, and of the location and/or position of the transducer by means of an internet and/or by means of an intranet.

“11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising detection by sensor of a marker on the transducer and presentation of a display representing the location of the transducer by means of a detected marker.

“12. A method for supporting an evaluation of an ultrasound-based examination of a patient comprising the steps: carrying out the ultrasound-based examination by means of a transducer at a point in time, determining information representing a location and/or position of a transducer at the point in time, wherein for determining the information representing the location and/or position of the transducer image material is analysed and is automatically compared with a data reference in order to identify the location and/or position of the patient, and automatic allocating of an image, recorded at the point in time by means of the transducer to the information representing the location and/or position of the transducer at the point in time.

“13. A device for supporting an evaluation of an ultrasound-based examination comprising: a data input, an evaluation unit and a data output, wherein the evaluation unit is arranged by means of the data input, in carrying out of the ultrasound-based examination by means of a transducer at a point in time to determine information representing a location and/or position of the transducer at the point in time and is arranged by means of the data output to automatically allocate with respect to one another an image recorded at the point in time by means of the transducer and the information representing the location and/or position of the transducer.”

URL and more information on this patent application, see: BODNER, Gerd; CERNY, Karl; GREIFONER, Manfred; PIVEC, Christopher. Evaluation Of An Ultrasound-Based Investigation. Filed September 17, 2020 and posted March 17, 2022. Patent URL: https://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220220084239%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20220084239&RS=DN/20220084239

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