Patent ID: 6773402
Filing Date: 2004-08-10
Classification: A61B,G01S

Abstract:
Apparatus for mapping a surface of a cavity within a body of a subject, comprising:an elongate probe, having a longitudinal axis and comprising a distal portion adapted for insertion into the cavity; a primary acoustic transducer on the distal portion of the probe, adapted to emit acoustic waves while the probe is in the cavity; a plurality of secondary acoustic transducers, distributed along the longitudinal axis over the distal portion of the probe, which are adapted to receive the acoustic waves after reflection of the waves from the surface of the cavity and to generate, responsive to the received waves, electrical signals indicative of times of flight of the waves; and control circuitry, adapted to receive and to process the electrical signals generated by the secondary acoustic transducers so as to reconstruct a three-dimensional shape of the surface of the cavity based on the times of flight, wherein the circuitry is operative to distinguish the signals generated responsive to the waves that have undergone one reflection from the surface of the cavity from the signals generated responsive to the waves that have undergone multiple reflections, and to reject the signals due to the waves that have undergone the multiple reflections.