Patent Document ID: 10041910
Application ID: 13885274
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A system for determining a pathology of a tissue sample, comprising: a frame including a platform configured to hold the tissue sample and height-adjustable transducer holder positioned above the platform; a pair of oppositely-facing ultrasonic transducers including a first ultrasonic transducer and a second ultrasonic transducer, wherein the first ultrasonic transducer is coupled to the frame below the platform and extends through an opening in the platform such that, when the tissue sample is held by the platform, the first ultrasonic transducer is in physical contact with the tissue sample from below, wherein the second ultrasonic transducer is coupled to the frame by the height-adjustable transducer and positionable such that the second ultrasonic transducer is in physical contact with the tissue sample from above; and a microprocessor coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, and operatively coupled to the transducers, the microprocessor configured to execute the stored instructions to acquire, from the pair of oppositely-facing ultrasonic transducers, a pulse-echo ultrasonic measurement and a through-transmission ultrasonic measurement of the tissue sample, wherein the tissue sample includes a margin of tissue affected by a carcinoma pathology; analyze, according to the instructions stored in the non-transitory computer readable medium, at least one of the pulse-echo ultrasonic measurement and the through-transmission ultrasonic measurement using time domain analysis; analyze, according to the instructions stored in the non-transitory computer readable medium, at least one of the through-transmission ultrasonic measurement and the pulse-echo ultrasonic measurement using frequency domain analysis by generating a frequency spectrum by performing a Fourier transform on at least one of the pulse-echo ultrasonic measurement and the through-transmission ultrasonic measurement, generating a power spectrum by taking the absolute value of the frequency spectrum, determining peak density in the power spectrum within a predetermined frequency range, and determining whether the peak density of the power spectrum within the predetermined frequency range exceeds a threshold; determine whether cancer is present in the margin of the tissue sample based on whether the peak density of the power spectrum within the predetermined frequency range exceeds the threshold; and display an indication of whether cancer is determined to be present in the margin.