Ultrasonic therapy and assessment apparatus and method
US5458130A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 8, 1993 |
| Grant date | Oct 17, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 8, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S128/925
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Non-invasive therapeutic treatment and/or quantitative evaluation of musculoskeletal tissue are performed in vivo by subjecting musculoskeletal tissue to an ultrasonic acoustic signal pulse of finite duration, and involving a composite sine-wave signal consisting of plural discrete frequencies that are spaced in the ultrasonic region to approximately 2 MHZ; the excitation signal is repeated substantially in the range 1 to 1000 Hz. In a quantitative evaluation, the composite-sine wave signal is supplied to one of two transducers on opposite sides of the musculoskeletal tissue, and the signal received by the other transducer is processed (a) to sequentially average the most recently received given number of successive signals to obtain an averaged per-pulse signal and (b) to produce a Fourier transform of the averaged per-pulse musculoskeletal tissue-transmitted signal. In a separate operation not involving the musculoskeletal tissue, the same transducers are subjected to the same excitation, reception and processing, wherein the transducers are exposed to a medium of known acoustic properties and path length, all to the end of producing a reference Fourier transform which is process…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.