Patent ID: 8447075
Filing Date: 2013-05-21
Classification: A61B,G01N

Abstract:
1. A circuit-implemented method of measuring muscle tissue characteristics in a portion of muscle tissue of a food animal, the method comprising: to the portion of muscle tissue, presenting an ultrasound probe for producing an ultrasound signal; generating a pressure signal as a function of sensed pressure applied between the probe and the food animal, by generating an electrical signal for a top pressure sensor and an electrical signal for a bottom pressure sensor; acquiring ultrasound image data responsive to the ultrasound signal and dependent on the pressure signal; comparing the generated pressure signal with an acceptable pressure range; filtering the image frames, corresponding to the ultrasound image data, for which the generated pressure signal is not within the acceptable pressure range; computing, between a pair of consecutive image frames, a top electrical change rate for the top pressure sensor as a function of a difference between the electrical signal for the top pressure sensor for consecutive image frames and a frame capturing rate; computing, between a pair of consecutive image frames, a bottom electrical change rate for the bottom pressure sensor as a function of a difference between the electrical signal for the bottom pressure sensor for the consecutive image frames and the frame capturing rate; filtering the image frames for which either of the computed electrical signal change rates exceeds a predefined maximum threshold; and using the filtered image frames to measure muscle tissue characteristics.