Tablet Ultrasound System
Patent No. US12115023 (titled "Tablet Ultrasound System") was filed by Teratech Corp on Mar 2, 2020.
What is this patent about?
’023 is related to the field of portable medical ultrasound imaging. Traditional ultrasound equipment is often bulky and difficult to transport, limiting its use in field locations or situations requiring mobility. Existing touch screen interfaces in ultrasound devices often provide limited functionality and can be challenging to keep clean, especially in environments where sterility is crucial.
The underlying idea behind ’023 is to create a compact and user-friendly portable ultrasound system by integrating key components into a multi-chip module and utilizing a multi-touch display for intuitive control. This involves vertically stacking transmit/receive, amplifier, and beamformer chips to minimize the footprint of the ultrasound engine. The system also leverages a tablet form factor and a multi-touch display to provide a clean and easily transportable solution.
The claims of ’023 focus on a cart-mounted medical ultrasound imaging device that includes a multiport transducer connector , a tablet housing with a touch screen display, a computer system, and a battery carried on the cart. The claims cover methods for selecting transducers, operating them to generate ultrasound images, and displaying these images on the touch screen. A key aspect is the use of touch-actuated icons for accessing patient data, selecting imaging parameter presets for different anatomical structures, and adjusting these parameters.
In practice, the invention allows a user to connect multiple transducers to the system simultaneously and switch between them using touch controls on the screen. The system automatically sets imaging parameters based on the selected anatomical structure, simplifying the imaging process. Users can then fine-tune these parameters using further touch gestures, enabling them to optimize the image for specific diagnostic needs. The split-screen functionality allows for simultaneous display of images from different transducers, enhancing diagnostic capabilities.
This design differentiates itself from prior approaches by combining a highly integrated hardware architecture with an intuitive touch-based user interface. The vertical stacking of chips within the multi-chip module significantly reduces the size of the ultrasound engine, enabling the tablet form factor. The use of a multi-touch display eliminates the need for traditional keyboards and knobs, making the device easier to clean and more user-friendly. The automatic imaging parameter presets further simplify operation, allowing medical personnel with varying skill levels to obtain diagnostic-quality images.
How does this patent fit in bigger picture?
Technical landscape at the time
In the early 2010s when ’023 was filed, medical ultrasound imaging equipment typically included an ultrasound probe, a keyboard or knob, a computer, and a display at a time when user input was commonly achieved through physical buttons and knobs. Hardware and software constraints made implementing complex multi-touch gesture recognition non-trivial, especially in portable devices with limited processing power and battery life.
Novelty and Inventive Step
The examiner approved the application because the prior art, taken individually or in combination, does not teach the specific limitations of the independent claim. Specifically, the prior art fails to teach selecting a transducer of at least one transducer probe connected to a multiport transducer connector with a touch-actuated input on the touch screen display to perform an ultrasound imaging procedure. Furthermore, the prior art does not teach operating the selected transducer that communicates with the ultrasound beamformer processing circuit such that beamformed image data is processed and displayed on an ultrasound image display window area of the touch screen display powered by a battery carried on the cart. The touch screen display has a plurality of touch-actuated icons outside the image display window area that operate imaging parameters, wherein at least one of the touch-actuated icons operates access to a patient data display window, and at least one of the touch-actuated icons can actuate a plurality of imaging parameter presets, wherein each of the plurality of imaging parameter presets automatically sets imaging parameters for imaging of a touch-selectable anatomic structure. The imaging parameter presets are selected from a touch-actuated preset selection window that lists a plurality of anatomic structures. The computer receives a first touch gesture input from the touch screen display that selects at least one of the imaging parameter presets corresponding to a selected anatomic structure, and in response to a further touch gesture input from the touch screen display, alters at least one of the automatically set imaging parameters to adjust an imaging operation of the selected anatomic structure.
Claims
There are 28 claims in total. Independent claims are claims 1, 12, and 17. The independent claims generally focus on methods of operating a cart-mounted medical ultrasound imaging device using a touch screen display for selecting transducers, imaging parameters, and displaying ultrasound images. The dependent claims generally elaborate on specific features, inputs, and display configurations related to the methods described in the independent claims.
Key Claim Terms New
Definitions of key terms used in the patent claims.
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Date
Description
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US12115023
- Application Number
- US16806118
- Filing Date
- Mar 2, 2020
- Status
- Granted
- Expiry Date
- Dec 25, 2033
- External Links
- Slate, USPTO, Google Patents