Patent ID: 9675322
Date: 2017-06-13
CPC Classifications: A61B

Claim:
1. A system for conducting auscultatory ultrasounds, the system comprising: an ultrasound probe including a housing having a detection end defining a contact surface, the ultrasound probe further including at least one transducer element and a backing disposed within the housing, the backing being configured to reduce back reflections associated with the ultrasound probe and being positioned within the housing such that the at least one transducer element is disposed between the backing and the contact surface, the at least one transducer element being configured to transmit transducer-generated ultrasound waves towards an object being imaged and receive reflected ultrasound waves corresponding to the transducer-generated ultrasound waves as reflected off of the object being imaged, the ultrasound probe being configured to generate ultrasound image signals based on the reflected ultrasound waves received by the at least one transducer element; an acoustic receiver positioned within the housing, the acoustic receiver including a sensing end configured to receive object-generated sound waves originating from the object being imaged, the acoustic receiver being positioned adjacent to the at least one transducer element within the housing such that the sensing end of the acoustic receiver is positioned at a location between the contact surface and the backing, the object-generated sound waves differing from the transducer-generated ultrasound waves and the reflected ultrasound waves, the object-generated sound waves being associated with sounds generated by the object as the object is being imaged using the at least one transducer element, the acoustic receiver being further configured to generate auscultation signals based on the received object-generated sound waves; and a computing device communicatively coupled to the ultrasound probe and the acoustic receiver, the computing device being configured to combine the ultrasound image signals and the auscultation signals to produce an auscultatory ultrasound image, wherein the auscultatory ultrasound image corresponds to a synchronization of the sounds generated by the object with a moving ultrasound image produced based on the ultrasound image signals.