Patent ID: 8727986
Filing Date: 2014-05-20
Classification: A61B,G01S

Abstract:
1. A method of assessing cervical remodeling in pregnancy comprising using an ultrasound machine operating according to a stored program executable on an electronic computer according to the program stored in a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium to: (a) apply an ultrasonic beam to a volume element of tissue of a cervical canal to provide overlapping measurements of tissue of the volume element at multiple different angles with respect to a line perpendicular to an axis of the cervix; (b) receive echo signals with the ultrasound machine at each of the different angles to obtain for each of the different angles, quantitative backscatter measurements from the tissue of the volume element wherein the backscatter quantitative measurements are measurements of acoustic power, (c) process the backscatter measurements to compare at least a first backscatter measurement of the volume element made at a first angle of the multiple different angles, to at least a second backscatter measurement of the same tissue of the volume element made at a second angle of the multiple different angles, the second backscatter measurement made contemporaneously with the first backscatter measurement, to determine a value indicating an amount of change in backscatter acoustic power between the measurements of the same tissue at the different angles for the volume element; and (d) output a diagnostic indication to an operator indicating cervical remodeling based on the amount of change in backscatter acoustic power between the measurements of the same tissue at the different angles for the volume element.