MEASUREMENT OF TISSUE THICKNESS USING ULTRASOUND AND FORCE MEASUREMENTS

摘要

Wall thickness of a cavity is determined by inserting a catheter into contact with a wall of a cavity in a body of a subject. The distal segment of the catheter is provided with a contact force sensor and an ultrasound transducer. The transducer is actuated to acquire ultrasound reflection data from the wall of the cavity, and while the transducer is actuated, the catheter is reciprocated against the wall of the cavity and the contact force measured between the catheter and the wall of the cavity. The reflection data is correlated with the contact force. A set of the correlated reflection data having the highest correlation with the contact force is identified. The tissue thickness between the inner surface and the identified set of the reflection data is calculated according to the time-of-flight therebetween.

主权项

1. A method, comprising the steps of:
inserting a catheter having a distal segment into contact with a wall of a cavity in a body of a subject, the cavity having an inner surface and an outer surface; the distal segment of the catheter being provided with a contact force sensor and an ultrasound transducer; actuating the transducer to acquire ultrasound reflection data from the wall of the cavity; while the transducer is actuated, reciprocating the catheter against the wall of the cavity and measuring a contact force between the catheter and the wall of the cavity; correlating the reflection data with the contact force; identifying a set of the correlated reflection data having a highest correlation with the contact force; and determining a tissue thickness between the inner surface and the identified set of the reflection data according to times-of-flight therebetween.