Patent ID: 9579120
Date: 2017-02-28
CPC Classifications: A61B

Claim:
1. A hand-held apparatus, comprising: a hand-held housing having a planar surface; a probe guide configured to provide a specified path for guiding travel by a probe, the guide extending along a central axis from an entry port to an exit port, the entry port configured for insertion of the probe into the probe guide by a user, the exit port configured to provide an insertion location for the probe in a subject, the exit port disposed proximal to the planar surface; a piezoelectric element disposed proximal to the probe guide and configured to measure an angle of the central axis of the probe guide; one or more ultrasonic transducers located on or within the hand-held housing and configured to generate ultrasonic energy directed into tissue of the subject at an angle parallel to the central axis of the probe guide, and configured to receive ultrasonic energy reflected by a target, including underlying bone and an access site adjacent to the underlying bone; a motion tracking circuit included in the housing and configured to provide information indicative of a motion of the hand-held apparatus when the hand-held apparatus is mechanically scanned by the user; a processor circuit configured to: determine information about a relative location of the underlying bone and the access site with respect to a portion of the hand-held apparatus using the received ultrasonic energy and the information indicative of the motion of the hand-held apparatus; and calculate the angle of the probe guide from an output of the piezoelectric element; and a display mounted on or within the housing and configured to receive and display the determined information from the processor circuit; wherein the information about the relative location of the underlying bone with respect to the portion hand-held apparatus includes information about a relative surface position of the underlying bone with respect to the portion of the hand-held apparatus and information about a relative orientation of the underlying bone with respect to the portion of the hand-held apparatus; and wherein the probe guide includes a mechanical actuator configured to automatically adjust the angle of the probe guide according to the calculated angle and the determined information.