Ultrasound in Med. & Biol. Vol. 14, No. 5, pp. 451-453, 1988 0301-5629/88 $3.00 + .00 Pr in ted in the U.S.A. (c) 1988 Pergamon Press plc. All r ights reserved.

NEW PATENTS

This Section contains abstracts and, where appropriate, illustrations of recently issued United States patents and published patent applications filed from over 30 countries under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. This information was obtained from recent additions to the Pergamon PATSEARCH ~j online database in accordance with interest profiles developed by the Editors. Further information about Pergamon PATSEARCH ~ can be obtained from Pergamon Orbit InfoLine Inc., 8000 Westpark Drive, McLean, Virginia 22102 U.S.A.

Copies of complete patents announced in this Section are available from Pergamon Orbit InfoLine Inc. for $8 per copy. Payment with order is required. Orders outside North America add $2 for air postage. Order by patent number for Pergamon Orbit InfoLine only.

4687762

W A T E R S O L U B L E D R U G C O M P L E X A N D M E T H O D F O R

P R O D U C T I O N O F S A M E

Tsunekazu Fukushima, Hiroshi Emoto, Yoshio Kagitani, Kazumasa Yokoyama, Masayuki Nishida, Tadakazu Suyama, Hyogo, Japan as- signed to Green Cross Corporation

The invention provides a method of producing a water-soluble complex comprising a water- insoluble drug and a phospholipid, comprising the steps of (1) dissolving a water-insoluble drug and a phospholipid in an organic solvent, (2) removing the solvent to leave behind a drug- containing phospholipid film, (3) suspending the resulting film in an aqueous solution, (4) ul- trasonicating the film, (5) centrifuging the resul- ting suspension, and (6) recovering the lowermost layer of the resulting sediment to yield the water-soluble complex. The above com- plex can be administered parenterally as well as by the oral and other routes, and is so rich in the drug component that a remarkably increased drug activity can be realized.

4688428

M E T H O D O F A N D D E V I C E F O R S C A N N I N G O B J E C T S BY M E A N S

O F U L T R A S O U N D E C H O G R A P H Y

Jean-Marie Nicolas, Paris, France assigned to U S Philips Corporation

A method of scanning objects by means of ul- trasound echography, ir]cluding the repeated transmission of ultrasound signals by means of at least one ultrasound transducer and the recep- tion of the ultrasound echoes which correspond

451

to the principal obstacles encountered by the transmitted signals in their propagation direc- tion, characterized in that the method includes the following operations: (a) storing an echographic line in a memory; (b) determining the power spectrum for a given observation depth, including the correction for the effects of diffraction and attenuation; (c) storing in a memory and/or displaying the scatter function of the object examined as a function of fre- quency; (d) repeating the operations (b), (c) for every desired depth on a given echographic line, and the operation~ (a), (b), (c) for other echographic lines.

4690150

P R O D U C I N G P S E U D O C O L O R I M A G E S F O R D I A G N O S T I C

U L T R A S O U N D I M A G I N G

William T Mayo assigned to North American Philips Corporation

A method for displaying the values of two para- meter at a plurality of points in an image. The in- tensity of each pixel in the display is modulated in accordance with the value of the first para- meter at corresponding points in the image. The hue of each pixel is modulated to a first color whenever the value of the second parameter at the corresponding point in the image is greater than a reference value and to a second color whenever the value of the second parameter is less than the reference value. The saturation at each pixel is modulated as a function of the abs- olute value of the deviation of the second para- meter from the reference value at the corresponding point in the image. In a preferred embodiment, the first parameter corresponds to the amplitude of echoes in a diagnostic ul- trasound image and the second parameter cor-

452 New Patents

responds to the instantaneous frequency deviation of the echoes.

4691517

LATERALLY OSCILLATING NITINOL ENGINE

Ridgway Banks

A simple nitinol wire powered engine which em- ploys a pair of interconnected drive members which oscillate in a horizontal plane about two different axes of rotation.

4692139

CATHETER FOR EFFECTING REMOVAL OF OBSTRUCTIONS

FROM A BIOLOGICAL DUCT

bier+38 +0 transducer. That is, the transducer transmits pulses of ultrasonic energy into the ob- ject and receives echoes from acoustic dis- continuities in the object while the transducer is oscillated mechanically, through a pre- determined angle, about an axis which passes through the transducer. The improvement of this invention is (i) the oscillation of the transducers is synchronism with each other but out of phase with each other, so that when one transducer is at the edge of its angular scan, the other transducer is at the center of its angular scan, and (ii) ac- tivating the transducers using a stream of elec- trical pulses which are supplied to the transducers so that when a transducer is at the center of its angular scan, it receives most of the activating pulses and when it is at the edge of its angular scan, it receives a small proportion of the activating pulses. + RE

4693247

Frank B Stiles, Carp, Ontario, Canada TRIGGERING CIRCUIT

A catheter for insertion into a biological duct such as an artery, comprised of a flexible aspira- tion tube disposed within a delivery sleeve and connected at one end to a source of vacuum for providing suction within the duct in the vicinity of a biological obstruction, such as a blood clot. An injection tube extends through the aspiration tube for injecting medication into the duct, and an ultrasonic energy source also extends through the aspiration tube for transmitting ultrasound in the vicinity of the obstruction. The trans- mitted ultrasound and injected medication cooperate to emulsify and fragment the obstruc- tion, and the fragmented obstruction is removed through the aspiration tube in response to suc- tion being applied thereto. The catheter is com- pact and easily manipulable, providing substantial surgical accuracy.

4693120

Alfred G Brisson, Christopher Nowacki as- signed to Trutek Research Inc

Apparatus is provided for the extracorporeal disintegration of kidney stones and the like. An ellipsoidal reflector has a spark gap positioned at one focus point of the ellipsoid, and the reflector is positioned so that the kidney stone being dis- integrated is at the second focus point. The reflector is filled with water so that when a spark is generated through the spark gap, a shock wave is generated through which is focused through the water and through body tissues on the kidney stone. Both an electrocardiogram apparatus and an ultrasound pick-up apparatus are coupled to a spark triggering circuit controlling the pulse generator so that a spark or pulse can be gene- rated only during ventricular contraction, thereby avoiding any possibility of inducing fibrillation of the heart.

REAL TIME ULTRASONIC SCANNING METHOD AND

APPARATUS

David E Robinson, Bilgola Plateau, Australia assigned to The Commonwealth of Australia

A compound ultrasonic scan of an object is ef- fected with a pair of transducers mounted adja- cent to the object but spaced apart from each other. Each transducer is operated as a £37 wob-

8705199

ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE

Yasuhito TAKEUCHI, Takao HIGASHIIZUMI, Motoyoshi ANDO, Yoshiro TAMEZUMI, Yokogawa Medical Systems, Ltd., 1-3, Sakaecho 6-chome, Tachikawa-shi, Tokyo 190, Japan assigned to YOKOGAWA MEDICAL SYSTEMS LTD;