Ultrasound systems and methods of identifying fluids in body regions using the same

Abstract

Embodiments disclosed herein are directed to systems and methods for determining if a fluid is present in a body region. The systems and methods include using ultrasound systems having operational parameters that provide ultrasound echo maps having high resolution B-line artefacts.

1 . A system for determining a presence of fluid in lung, the system comprising:
 an ultrasound transducer including a plurality of ultrasonic elements, the ultrasound transducer configured to emit ultrasound radiation and receive returned ultrasound radiation;   a computing device operably coupled to the ultrasound transducer, the computing device including memory and a processor operably coupled thereto, wherein the memory includes one or more operational programs stored thereon, and wherein the processor is configured to access and execute the one or more operational programs;   wherein the one or more operational programs include machine readable and executable instructions for automatically controlling a plurality of parameters of the ultrasound transducer for causing the ultrasound transducer to emit the ultrasound radiation at a frequency below about 15 MHz and to receive the returned ultrasound radiation and to assemble electrical signals output from the plurality of ultrasonic elements to provide an ultrasound echo map having one or more B-lines that include a signal-to-noise ratio of at least 2;   wherein the one or more operational program include machine readable and executable instructions for determining if one or more characteristics of the ultrasound echo map indicate that a fluid is present in the lung.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the signal-to-noise ratio includes a ratio of a sum of intensities of the ultrasound echo map in a discrete B-line region laterally centered on a B-line of the one or more B-lines versus a sum of intensities of the ultrasound echo map outside of and on both sides of the B-line; and   the one or more operational programs include machine readable and executable instructions for automatically determining the signal-to-noise ratio.   
     
     
         3 - 9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the machine readable and executable instructions of the one or more operational programs are for automatically determining the combination of a maximized signal-to-noise ratio and a maximized sharpness ratio,
 wherein the sharpness ratio includes a sum of intensities of the ultrasound echo map in the discrete B-line region versus a sum of intensities of the ultrasound echo map in an entire lateral dimension of the B-line.   
     
     
         11 - 12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the machine readable and executable instructions of the one or more operational programs are for automatically controlling a plurality of parameters of the ultrasound transducer for causing the ultrasound transducer to emit ultrasound radiation at a frequency below about 10 MHz and to provide an ultrasound echo map having one or more B-lines that include a signal-to-noise ratio of at least 5. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the machine readable and executable instructions of the one or more operational programs are for automatically controlling a plurality of parameters of the ultrasound transducer for causing the ultrasound transducer to emit ultrasound radiation at a frequency below about 7.5 MHz and to provide an ultrasound echo map having one or more B-lines that include a signal-to-noise ratio of at least 10. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the machine readable and executable instructions of the one or more operational programs are for automatically controlling a plurality of parameters of the ultrasound transducer for causing the ultrasound transducer to emit ultrasound radiation at a frequency of about 3 MHz to about 10 MHz. 
     
     
         16 - 18 . (canceled) 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the machine readable and executable instructions of the one or more operational programs are for providing a power output value for the plurality of ultrasonic elements in the ultrasound transducer for causing the plurality of ultrasonic elements to operate at less than about half of a maximum power output of the plurality of ultrasonic elements. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the machine readable and executable instructions of the one or more operational programs are for providing a power output value for the plurality of ultrasonic elements in the ultrasound transducer for causing the plurality of ultrasonic elements to operate at less than about one quarter of a maximum power output of the plurality of ultrasonic elements. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the machine readable and executable instructions of the one or more operational programs are for providing a power output value for the plurality of ultrasonic elements in the ultrasound transducer for causing the plurality of ultrasonic elements to operate at less than about one tenth of a maximum power output of the plurality of ultrasonic elements. 
     
     
         22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the computing device includes at least one B-line mode and at least one non-B-line mode;   the at least one non-B-line mode includes operational programs providing a first frequency value for the plurality of ultrasonic elements in the ultrasound transducer; and   the at least one B-line mode includes operational programs providing a second frequency value for the plurality of ultrasonic elements for causing the frequency of the at least one B-line mode to be about 85% or less of the first frequency value of the at least one non-B-line mode.   
     
     
         24 - 25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the machine readable and executable instructions of the one or more operational programs are for restricting a number of the plurality of ultrasonic elements from emitting ultrasound radiation such that less than about two thirds of the plurality of the ultrasonic elements emit ultrasound radiation. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the machine readable and executable instructions of the one or more operational programs are for restricting a number of the plurality of ultrasonic elements from emitting ultrasound radiation such that less than about one tenth of the plurality of the ultrasonic elements emit ultrasound radiation. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the machine readable and executable instructions of the one or more operational programs are for restricting a number of the plurality of ultrasonic elements from emitting ultrasound radiation such that about 4 to about 13 of the plurality of the ultrasonic elements emit ultrasound radiation. 
     
     
         29 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . (canceled) 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device includes at least one B-line mode and the at least one B-line mode includes machine readable and executable instructions for the plurality of ultrasonic elements for causing the ultrasound transducer to have a focal point about 0 mm to about 10 mm above an interrogation site. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device includes at least one B-line mode and the at least one B-line mode includes machine readable and executable instructions for the plurality of ultrasonic elements for causing the ultrasound transducer to emit ultrasound radiation having a dynamic range value that is less than about one third of a maximum dynamic range value of the ultrasound transducer. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the computing device includes at least one B-line mode and the at least one B-line mode includes machine readable and executable instructions for the plurality of ultrasonic elements for causing the ultrasound transducer to emit ultrasound radiation having a focused beam form in comparison to a single plane wave, multi-angle plane wave, weakly focused overlapping beam, or spatial compounding. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the machine readable and executable instructions of the one or more operational programs are for automatically controlling a plurality of parameters of the ultrasound transducer for causing one or more of:
 the ultrasound transducer to emit ultrasound radiation at a frequency of about 3 MHz to about 10 MHz to provide an ultrasound echo map having one or more B-lines that include a combination of a maximized signal-to-noise ratio and a maximized sharpness ratio;   a power output value of a plurality of ultrasonic elements to operate at less than about one quarter of a maximum power output of the plurality of ultrasonic elements;   a number of the plurality of ultrasonic elements in the ultrasound transducer from emitting ultrasound radiation such that about 4 to about 13 of the plurality of the ultrasonic elements of the plurality of ultrasound elements emit ultrasound radiation; and   the ultrasound transducer to emit ultrasound radiation having a dynamic range value that is less than about one third of a maximum dynamic range value of the ultrasound transducer.   
     
     
         35 . A method for determining a presence of fluid in a lung, the method comprising:
 emitting ultrasound radiation at a frequency below about 15 MHz into the lung from an ultrasound transducer having a plurality of ultrasonic elements;   controlling one or more properties of the ultrasound radiation with a computing device operably coupled to the ultrasound transducer, the computing device having a memory and processor operably coupled to the memory, wherein the memory includes one or more operational programs having machine readable and executable instructions for controlling the ultrasound transducer;   receiving returned ultrasound radiation returned from the lung with the ultrasound transducer; and   generating, with the computing device, an ultrasound echo map with the returned ultrasound radiation that includes one or more B-lines having a signal-to-noise ratio of at least 2;   determining if one or more characteristics of the ultrasound echo map indicate that a fluid is present in the lung.   
     
     
         36 - 37 . (canceled) 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein determining if one or more characteristics of the ultrasound echo map indicate that a fluid is present in the lung includes determining if the ultrasound echo map includes one or more B-lines indicative of fluid in the lung. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein emitting ultrasound radiation at a frequency below about 15 MHz into the lung from an ultrasound transduce includes emitting ultrasound radiation to a focal point about 0 mm to about 10 mm above an interrogation site in the lung. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein:
 emitting ultrasound radiation at a frequency below about 15 MHz into the lung from an ultrasound transducer having a plurality of ultrasonic elements includes emitting ultrasound radiation at a frequency below about 10 MHz; and   generating, with the computing device, an ultrasound echo map with the returned ultrasound radiation that includes one or more B-lines having a signal-to-noise ratio of at least 2 includes generating, with the computing device, an ultrasound echo map with the returned ultrasound radiation that includes one or more B-lines having a signal-to-noise ratio of at least 8.   
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein emitting ultrasound radiation at a frequency below about 15 MHz into lung from an ultrasound transducer having a plurality of ultrasonic elements includes emitting ultrasound radiation at a frequency between about 3 MHz to about 10 MHz. 
     
     
         42 . (canceled) 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein emitting ultrasound radiation at a frequency below about 15 MHz into the lung from an ultrasound transducer having a plurality of ultrasonic elements includes emitting ultrasound radiation from less than about two thirds of the ultrasonic elements. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein emitting ultrasound radiation at a frequency below about 15 MHz into the lung from an ultrasound transducer having a plurality of ultrasonic elements includes emitting ultrasound radiation from less than about one tenth of the ultrasonic elements. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein emitting ultrasound radiation at a frequency below about 15 MHz into the lung from an ultrasound transducer having a plurality of ultrasonic elements includes emitting ultrasound radiation from about 4 to about 13 of the ultrasonic elements. 
     
     
         46 - 47 . (canceled) 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein controlling one or more properties of the ultrasound radiation with a computing device operably coupled to the ultrasound transducer, includes inputting, at the user input, a power output value for the plurality of ultrasonic elements in the ultrasound transducer for causing the plurality of ultrasonic elements to operate at less than about half of a maximum power output. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein controlling one or more properties of the ultrasound radiation with a computing device operably coupled to the ultrasound transducer, includes inputting, at the user input, a power output value for the plurality of ultrasonic elements in the ultrasound transducer for causing the plurality of ultrasonic elements to operate at less than about one quarter of a maximum power output. 
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein controlling one or more properties of the ultrasound radiation with a computing device operably coupled to the ultrasound transducer, includes inputting, at the user input, a power output value for the plurality of ultrasonic elements in the ultrasound transducer for causing the plurality of ultrasonic elements to operate at less than about one tenth of a maximum power output. 
     
     
         51 - 56 . (canceled) 
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein controlling one or more properties of the ultrasound radiation with a computing device operably coupled to the ultrasound transducer includes controlling the one or more properties of the ultrasound radiation via the machine readable and executable instructions of the one or more operational programs for causing the ultrasound transducer to emit ultrasound radiation at a frequency below about 15 MHz and to provide an ultrasound echo map having one or more B-lines that include a combination of a maximized signal-to-noise ratio and a maximized sharpness ratio. 
     
     
         58 . The method of  claim 57 , wherein:
 the signal-to-noise ratio includes a sum of intensities of the ultrasound echo map in a discrete B-line region laterally centered on a B-line of the one or more B-lines versus a sum of intensities of the ultrasound echo map outside of and on both sides of the B-line; and   the sharpness ratio includes a sum of intensities of the ultrasound echo map in the discrete B-line region versus a sum of intensities of the ultrasound echo map in an entire lateral dimension of the B-line.   
     
     
         59 - 91 . (canceled) 
     
     
         92 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein determining if one or more characteristics of the ultrasound echo map indicate that a fluid is present in the lung includes determining if the ultrasound echo map includes one or more B-lines indicative of fluid in the lung.