TechniScan, a developer of 3-D breast imaging system, has reported the grant of US Patent 7,684,846, which provides additional intellectual property protection for proprietary methods in creating diagnostic images from complex wave fields.
TechniScan said that the patent titled ‘Apparatus and Method for Imaging Objects with Wave Fields’ outlines how the company’s algorithms are translated into a high resolution, 3-D ultrasound image of the human breast. The patent also includes recursive methods for increasing the speed that the images are processed, which may deliver faster clinical outcomes for women awaiting breast-imaging results.
The science developed at TechniScan has led to new ways of utilising whole breast ultrasound technology that may more accurately distinguish pathological from normal breast tissue. The images are captured using a comfortable, radiation-free method as a woman lies prone on an examination table and ultrasound is directed, using warm water as a coupling medium, through her breast tissue.
Dave Robinson, chief executive officer of TechniScan, said: “This patent is another example of the deep portfolio of unique IP (intellectual property) that has resulted from our 20 years of research in the fields of mathematics and physics. The patent is a result of extensive work by our entire team to extract the benefits of complex transmission wave field imaging methods.”