Ultrasound imaging system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12514533-B2
Application number	US-202318113003-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 22, 2023
Priority date	Mar 1, 2022
Publication date	Jan 6, 2026
Grant date	Jan 6, 2026

Abstract

An ultrasound imaging system configured to assess a blood flow rate through a target vessel. The ultrasound imaging system includes an ultrasound probe having an ultrasound array configured to capture ultrasound image of the target vessel and a doppler array configured to detect the fluid flow through a region of interest of the target vessel. Logic operations of a console of the system and methods include determining a region of interest of the ultrasound image, calculating a percentage of the blood vessel occupied by the vascular access device, utilizing a data training set to predict a blood flow rate after placement of the vascular access device based on a blood flow rate prior to placement of the vascular device, and utilizing a data training set to predict a blood flow rate downstream of the vascular access device based on a blood flow rate upstream of the vascular device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An ultrasound imaging system, comprising:
an ultrasound probe, comprising:
an ultrasound array configured to acquire an ultrasound image of a target area of a patient, and
a doppler array configured to determine a blood flow rate through a region of interest within the ultrasound image, wherein:
the region of interest includes a target blood vessel,
the target blood vessel includes an insertion site configured for insertion of a vascular access device therethrough, and
the blood flow rate through the region of interest includes a blood flow rate through the target blood vessel; and

a console coupled with the ultrasound array and the doppler array, the console including one or more processors and a memory having logic stored thereon that, when executed by the one or more processors, performs operations, including:
acquiring the ultrasound image of the target area;
storing data composed of multiple ultrasound images acquired during operation of the ultrasound imaging system, wherein each ultrasound image is paired with a corresponding region of interest selected by a clinician to define a training set of region of interest data;
performing operations on the training set of region of interest data to define a suggested region of interest within the acquired ultrasound image;
identifying the region of interest within the ultrasound image based on the training set of region of interest data;
determining the blood flow rate via the doppler array through the target blood vessel at a location along the target blood vessel upstream of the insertion site; and
determining the blood flow rate via the doppler array through the target blood vessel at the location along the target blood vessel downstream of the insertion site.

2 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein identifying the region of interest includes selecting the region of interest by the clinician.

3 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the operations further include overlaying on the ultrasound image an indication of the suggested region of interest.

4 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein identifying the region of interest includes automatically identifying the region of interest based on the training set of region of interest data.

5 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the operations further include determining a cross-sectional area of the target blood vessel from the ultrasound image.

6 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the ultrasound image includes the vascular access device inserted through the insertion site and disposed within the target blood vessel.

7 . The system according to claim 6 , wherein the operations further include determining a cross-sectional area of the vascular access device from the ultrasound image.

8 . The system according to claim 7 , wherein the operations further include determining a percentage of a cross-sectional area of the target blood vessel occupied by the cross-sectional area of the vascular access device.

9 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the operations further include determining the blood flow rate through the target blood vessel with the vascular access device absent from the target blood vessel to define a first blood flow rate.

10 . The system according to claim 9 , wherein the operations further include determining the blood flow rate through the target blood vessel with the vascular access device present within the target blood vessel to define a second blood flow rate.

11 . The system according to claim 10 , wherein the operations further include:
calculating a ratio of the second blood flow rate divided by the first blood flow rate, and depicting the ratio in terms of percentage of the first blood flow rate on a display.

12 . The system according to claim 10 , wherein the operations further include:
storing data composed of multiple corresponding combinations of the cross-sectional area of the target blood vessel, the cross-sectional area of the vascular access device, the first blood flow rate, and the second blood flow rate as acquired during operation of the ultrasound imaging system to define a training set of historical blood flow data; and performing operations on the training set of historical blood flow data to predict the second blood flow rate with the vascular access device present within the target blood vessel based on a determined first blood flow rate with the vascular access device absent from the target blood vessel.

13 . The system according to claim 12 , wherein the operations further include depicting the second blood flow rate on a display.

14 . The system according to claim 6 , wherein the operations further include determining the blood flow rate through the target blood vessel with the vascular access device present within the target blood vessel at the location along the target blood vessel upstream of the vascular access device to define an upstream blood flow rate.

15 . The system according to claim 6 , wherein the operations further include determining the blood flow rate through the target blood vessel with the vascular access device present within the target blood vessel at the location along the target blood vessel downstream of the vascular access device to define a downstream blood flow rate.

16 . The system according to claim 15 , wherein the operations further include:
storing data composed of multiple corresponding combinations of the cross-sectional area of the target blood vessel, the cross-sectional area of the vascular access device, an upstream blood flow rate, and the downstream blood flow rate as acquired during operation of the ultrasound imaging system to define a training set of historical upstream/downstream blood flow data; and performing operations on the training set of historical upstream/downstream blood flow data to predict downstream blood flow rate based on a determined upstream blood flow rate.

17 . The system according to claim 16 , wherein the operations further include depicting the predicted downstream blood flow rate on a display.

18 . A method of assessing a blood flow rate through a blood vessel, comprising:
acquiring an ultrasound image of a target area of a patient via an ultrasound array of an ultrasound probe; identifying a region of interest within the ultrasound image, the region of interest including the blood vessel; determining the blood flow rate through the blood vessel via a doppler array of the ultrasound probe prior to placement of a vascular access device within the blood vessel to define a first blood flow rate; determining the blood flow rate through the blood vessel via the doppler array after placement of the vascular access device within the blood vessel to define a second blood flow rate; and calculating a difference between the first blood flow rate and the second blood flow rate.

19 . The method according to claim 18 , further comprising:
acquiring the ultrasound image with the vascular access device disposed within the blood vessel; determining a cross-sectional area of a target blood vessel from the ultrasound image; determining a cross-sectional area of the vascular access device from the ultrasound image; determining a percentage of the cross-sectional area of the target blood vessel occupied by the cross-sectional area of the vascular access device; and correlating the difference between the first blood flow rate and the second blood flow rate with the percentage of the cross-sectional area of the target bloo

Assignees

• Bard Access Systems Inc

Inventors

• Sowards Steffan
• Mclaughlin William Robert
• Misener Anthony K

Classifications

• G06T2210/41

  Medical · CPC title

• G06T2207/30104

  Vascular flow; Blood flow; Perfusion · CPC title

• G06T2207/20081

  Training; Learning · CPC title

• G06T11/00

  Two-dimensional [2D] image generation · CPC title

• A61B8/488

  involving Doppler signals · CPC title