A HAND HELD MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC ULTRASOUND B-MOSE SCANNER WITH DOPPLER

A HAND-HELD MEDICAL ULTRASOUND INSTRUMENT FOR CARDIOLOGY-WEIGHING 10 POUNDS, OCCUPYING 0.1 CUBIC FEET OF SPACE, AND COMPLETE WITH TWO-DIMENSIONAL IMAGING, EKG DISPLAY, DOPPLER, AND DIGITAL IMAGE STORAGE-IS A SIGNIFICANT INNOVATION IN DIAGNOSTIC DEVICES. CAPABLE OF IMAGING THE HEART, THE GREAT VESSELS, AND INTRA-ABDOMINAL ORGANS WITH PERFORMANCE COMPARABLE TO THAT OF A FULL-SIZED INSTRUMENT, THIS NOVEL DEVICE COULD BE USED BOTH ON BOARD SPACECRAFT OR IN THE LABORATORY TO AID IN THE HEALTH CARE OF ASTRONAUTS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO PRODUCE SUCH A DEVICE BY EXPLORING STRATEGIES FOR MINIATURIZING MAJOR FUNCTIONAL AREAS OF TWO-DIMENSIONAL, ULTRASOUND IMAGING SYSTEMS. SPECIFICALLY, THE PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATEA NOVEL BEAM-FORMING TECHNIQUE; DESIGN A DIGITAL-SCAN CONVERTOR USING APPLICATION-SPECIFIC, INTEGRATED-CIRCUIT TECHNOLOGY; DESIGN A LOW-COMPONENT-COUNT, SINGLE-CHANNEL EKG SYSTEM; DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DOPPLER SPECTRAL CALCULATIONS USING A DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR; AND INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF ONBOARD STORAGE USING DATA-COMPRESSION TECHNIQUES. THE FEASIBILITY REPORT AT THE END OF PHASE I WILL PERMIT THE DEVELOPMENT OF FULL-SCALEPROTOTYPES USABLE BY NASA DURING PHASE II. A HAND-HELD MEDICAL ULTRASOUND INSTRUMENT FOR CARDIOLOGY-WEIGHING 10 POUNDS, OCCUPYING 0.1 CUBIC FEET OF SPACE, AND COMPLETE WITH TWO-DIMENSIONAL IMAGING, EKG DISPLAY, DOPPLER, AND DIGITAL IMAGE STORAGE-IS A SIGNIFICANT INNOVATION IN DIAGNOSTIC DEVICES. CAPABLE OF IMAGING THE HEART, THE GREAT VESSELS, AND INTRA-ABDOMINAL ORGANS WITH PERFORMANCE COMPARABLE TO THAT OF A FULL-SIZED INSTRUMENT, THIS NOVEL DEVICE COULD BE USED BOTH ON BOARD SPACECRAFT OR IN THE LABORATORY TO AID IN THE HEALTH CARE OF ASTRONAUTS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO PRODUCE SUCH A DEVICE BY EXPLORING STRATEGIES FOR MINIATURIZING MAJOR FUNCTIONAL AREAS OF TWO-DIMENSIONAL, ULTRASOUND IMAGING SYSTEMS. SPECIFICALLY, THE PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATEA NOVEL BEAM-FORMING TECHNIQUE; DESIGN A DIGITAL-SCAN CONVERTOR USING APPLICATION-SPECIFIC, INTEGRATED-CIRCUIT TECHNOLOGY; DESIGN A LOW-COMPONENT-COUNT, SINGLE-CHANNEL EKG SYSTEM; DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DOPPLER SPECTRAL CALCULATIONS USING A DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR; AND INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF ONBOARD STORAGE USING DATA-COMPRESSION TECHNIQUES. THE FEASIBILITY REPORT AT THE END OF PHASE I WILL PERMIT THE DEVELOPMENT OF FULL-SCALEPROTOTYPES USABLE BY NASA DURING PHASE II.