Patent · US Expired

Instrument for viscoelastic measurement

US4144877A · kind A · utility

45Cited by
11References
14Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 12, 1976
Grant dateMar 20, 1979
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 12, 1996

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG10K11/35
  • WIPO fieldMedical technology
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

An instrument for viscoelastic measurement, particularly for breast palpation, uses a sensing transducer head which contains at least two spaced, relatively small area transducers. The transducers can be fixed relative to a glove to be worn by an examiner or can be otherwise supported. The transducers have output leads connected to monitoring circuits which monitor differences in output of the transducers when both are pressed against breast tissue in order to sense thickened areas which may be too small to be sensed by manual palpation. The transducer may be attached to a position monitor so that the transducer head output can be continuously related to the location in space of the transducer head, and the output can be displayed in a suitable display.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.