Array sonography for detection of esophageal events

Abstract

The present invention relates to devices for detecting esophageal state changes. More specifically, the present invention relates to a lightweight, portable, user-operable device capable of detecting gastroesophageal reflux events. The sonography array can also be used to track the frequency of gastroesophageal reflux events, and can either store or deliver the data either to a practitioner's server or to a user's electronic device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for monitoring and characterizing an esophageal state comprising:
 an ambulatory data collection box having output indicators, the output indicators comprising sensor status indicators and utility indicators;   leads in electric communication with the data box; and   a sensor pad in electric communication with the leads, the sensor pad comprising at least two sensors.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , at least one of the utility indicators comprising a speaker. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , the sensors comprising ultrasonic transducers. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , the ultrasonic transducers being adapted to function in a range between 100 kHz to 10 MHz. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , the sensors having a sampling frequency, the ambulatory data collection box being adapted to alter the sampling frequency of the sensors simultaneously. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , the sensors having a sampling frequency, the ambulatory data collection box being adapted to alter the sampling frequency of one sensor independently of other sensors. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the data collection box further comprises a battery, a power and ground sensor, a voltage regulator, and a digital processor. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a software interface, the software interface comprising granularity selection. 
     
     
         9 . A method of detecting and characterizing an esophageal state, the method comprising:
 providing the system for detecting an esophageal state according to  claim 1 ;   attaching the at least two sensors proximal to an esophagus of a patient;   emitting at least one sound wave at each of the at least two sensors;   detecting at least one echo resulting from the at least one sound wave at each of the at least two sensors; and   recording a time of flight between the at least one sound wave and at least one echo at each of the at least two sensors.   
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the step of attaching the at least two sensors proximal to an esophagus of the patient comprises attaching a first of the at least two sensors in a first transverse plane and a second of the at least two sensors in a second transverse plane. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of emitting at least one sound wave at each of the at least two sensors comprises emitting a plurality of sound waves at each of the at least two sensors;
 wherein the step of detecting at least one echo resulting from the at least one sound wave at each of the at least two sensors comprises detecting a plurality of echoes at each of the at least two sensors; and   wherein the step of recording a time of flight between the at least one sound wave and at least one echo at each of the at least two sensors comprises recording the time of flight between each of the plurality of sounds waves and the plurality of echoes at each of the at least two sensors.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the step of:
 generating an acoustic time frame for each of the at least two sensors representative of the plurality of echoes and time of flight.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising the step of identifying at least one point of interest in the acoustic time frame. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising the step of analyzing a plurality of points of interest on a plurality of acoustic time frames. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising the step of analyzing multiple acoustic frames to determine acoustic frames representative of a collapsed esophagus and an expanded esophagus. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 9 , further comprising the step of providing an ancillary sensor to record an esophageal event not representative of gastroesophageal reflux, and assigning a time to the esophageal event which is not gastroesophageal reflux. 
     
     
         17 . A system for characterizing esophageal events, the system comprising:
 a wearable acquisition device comprising a microprocessor; and   an array of at least two ultrasonic transducers in electrical connection to the wearable acquisition device.   
     
     
         18 . The system according to  claim 17 , wherein the at least two ultrasonic transducers comprise a first transducer and a second transducer, and wherein the first transducer is configured to be placed proximal to a first transverse plane of an esophagus, and the second transducer is configured to be placed proximal to a second transverse plane of the esophagus. 
     
     
         19 . The system according to  claim 17 , wherein the wearable acquisition device further comprises one or more auxiliary sensors. 
     
     
         20 . The system according to  claim 19 , wherein the one or more auxiliary sensors comprise at least one of a microphone, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a positional sensor.