Transthoracic Pulmonary Doppler Ultrasound for Evaluating the Heart or Lung Via Doppler Shift Power Spectrum

Abstract

Operation of a patient's heart or lungs may be analyzed by transmitting ultrasound energy into the patient's lung, and detecting Doppler shifts of reflected ultrasound induced by moving borders between blood vessels in the lung and air filled alveoli that surround the blood vessels. Movement of the border is caused by pressure waves in the blood vessels that result in changes in diameter of those blood vessels. The detected Doppler shifts are processed with an algorithm designed to increase signal from the moving border with respect to other reflected ultrasound signals and the results are then displayed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of evaluating the functionality of a patient's heart or lung, the method comprising the steps of:
 transmitting ultrasound energy into the patient's lung;   detecting Doppler shifts of reflected ultrasound induced by moving borders between blood vessels in the lung and air filled alveoli that surround the blood vessels, wherein movement of the borders between blood vessels in the lung and air filled alveoli that surround the blood vessels is caused by pressure waves in the blood vessels that result in changes in diameter of those blood vessels;   processing the detected Doppler shifts with an algorithm designed to increase signal from the moving borders between blood vessels in the lung and air filled alveoli that surround the blood vessels with respect to other reflected ultrasound signals and outputting processed power and velocity data; and   displaying the outputted power and velocity data.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of diagnosing a condition of the patient's heart based on a result of the displaying step. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of diagnosing a condition of the patient's lung based on a result of the displaying step. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of displaying an ECG that is aligned in time with the data displayed in the displaying step, using a common time scale. 
     
     
         5 . A method of evaluating the functionality of a patient's heart or lung, the method comprising the steps of:
 transmitting ultrasound energy into the patient's lung for a period of time that corresponds to at least one cardiac cycle;   detecting Doppler shifts of reflected ultrasound induced by moving borders between blood vessels in the lung and air filled alveoli that surround the blood vessels, wherein movement of the borders between blood vessels in the lung and air filled alveoli that surround the blood vessels is caused by pressure waves in the blood vessels that result in changes in diameter of those blood vessels;   processing the detected Doppler shifts with at least one noise reduction algorithm designed to increase signal from the moving borders between blood vessels in the lung and air filled alveoli that surround the blood vessels with respect to other reflected ultrasound signals and outputting processed power and velocity data;   displaying, on a display, the processed power and velocity data for the period of time; and   correlating an abnormality in at least one of (a) a feature on the display that corresponds to systolic ventricular contraction, (b) a feature on the display that corresponds to ventricular relaxation, (c) a feature on the display that corresponds to a diastolic rapid filling phase, (d) a feature on the display that corresponds to diastasis, and (e) a feature on the display that corresponds to atrial contraction with an abnormal condition of the patient's heart or lung.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the abnormality is that at least one of the features is absent. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the abnormality is the presence of a feature that corresponds to extra-systole. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the abnormality is that at least one of the features occurs at an incorrect time. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising the step of displaying an ECG that is aligned in time with the data displayed in the displaying step, using a common time scale. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising the step of averaging the ultrasound power and velocity data for a plurality of cardiac cycles, wherein the averaging step is performed prior to the displaying step. 
     
     
         11 . A method of evaluating the functionality of a patient's heart or lung, the method comprising the steps of:
 transmitting ultrasound energy into the patient's lung for a period of time that corresponds to at least one cardiac cycle;   detecting Doppler shifts of reflected ultrasound induced by moving borders between blood vessels in the lung and air filled alveoli that surround the blood vessels, wherein movement of the borders between blood vessels in the lung and air filled alveoli that surround the blood vessels is caused by pressure waves in the blood vessels that result in changes in diameter of those blood vessels;   processing the detected Doppler shifts with at least one noise reduction algorithm designed to increase signal from the moving borders between blood vessels in the lung and air filled alveoli that surround the blood vessels with respect to other reflected ultrasound signals and outputting processed power and velocity data;   checking for abnormalities in (a) a feature of the processed power and velocity data that corresponds to systolic ventricular contraction, (b) a feature of the processed power and velocity data that corresponds to ventricular relaxation, (c) a feature of the processed power and velocity data that corresponds to a diastolic rapid filling phase, (d) a feature of the processed power and velocity data that corresponds to diastasis, and (e) a feature of the processed power and velocity data that corresponds to atrial contraction; and   correlating an absence of abnormalities in the checking step with a normal condition of the patient's heart or lung.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the step of displaying an ECG that is aligned in time with the data displayed in the displaying step, using a common time scale. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the step of averaging the ultrasound power and velocity data for a plurality of cardiac cycles, wherein the averaging step is performed prior to the displaying step. 
     
     
         14 . A method of evaluating the functionality of a patient's heart or lungs, the method comprising the steps of:
 obtaining, using an ultrasound probe that is positioned at a first position on the patient's body and aimed at a first portion of the patient's lungs, a first set of Doppler ultrasound power and velocity data for a period of time that corresponds to at least one cardiac cycle;   obtaining, using an ultrasound probe that is positioned at a second position on the patient's body and aimed at a second portion of the patient's lungs, a second set of Doppler ultrasound power and velocity data for a period of time that corresponds to the at least one cardiac cycle, wherein the second position is different from the first position;   generating a first output by processing the first set of data using at least one noise reduction algorithm; and   generating a second output by processing the second set of data using at least one noise reduction algorithm.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising the step of comparing the first output and the second output. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising the step of correlating a result of the comparing step with a presence of an abnormality in the patient's heart or lungs. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising the step of correlating a result of the comparing step with an absence of an abnormality in the patient's heart or lungs. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising the steps of:
 obtaining, using an ultrasound probe that is positioned at a third position on the patient's body and aimed at a third portion of the patient's lungs, a third set of Doppler ultrasound power and velocity data for a period of time that corresponds to the at least one cardiac cycle, wherein the first position is higher on the patient's body than the second position and the second position is higher on the patient's body than the third position;   generating a third output by processing the first set of data using at least one noise reduction algorithm; and   correlating a situation in which (a) peak velocity components of the third set of data are significantly larger than peak velocity components in the second set of data and (b) peak velocity components of the second set of data are significantly larger than peak velocity components in the first set of data with the presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.