CHICAGO — The new O-mode form of ultrasound, which improves visualization behind structures and eliminates the need for beam formation, also weighs and costs less than conventional ultrasound, according to researchers presenting here at the Radiological Society of North America 100th Annual Meeting.

"We were quite impressed that, for the little bit of work that we did, we got such images," said Richard Barr, MD, from the Northeast Ohio Medical University in Youngstown. "The technology is actually not extremely complex," he explained, and said he expects that the small hand-held O-mode device will be available next year.

Dr. Barr presented a proof-of-concept study that confirmed that O-mode imaging is possible in a clinical setting.

The beam focuser required for traditional B-mode ultrasound imaging is considered to be important, but can lead to many of the limitations and artifacts seen in conventional scans. In contrast, the O-mode technique does not require a beam focuser.

The novel technique mimics a "single transducer lateral motion" along a known trajectory. This allows the Doppler effect to be evoked artificially from the "moving" transducer.

The result is an echo in different radiofrequency shifts that comes from the different scatterers located at the same depth but at different lateral positions, Dr. Barr explained. The technique makes it possible to visualize a Doppler shift between the Z particles.

O-mode provides constant lateral resolution that is independent of depth of penetration. It therefore significantly decreases the shadowing from small pockets of gas, allowing for the use of new imaging windows.

It also allows for exact lateral localization by exchanging the traditional ultrasound focusing procedure along the line of sight with signal processing of frequency-modulated signals that come from each depth.

Proof of Concept

To test the effectiveness of the O-mode method, Dr. Barr and his team used the technique to scan various organs of 10 patients.

When the images, which received very little post-processing, were reviewed by a board-certified radiologist, all were deemed to visualize deep structures at least as well as conventional B-mode ultrasound.

In addition, O-mode imaging can be performed in real time at 30 to 40 frames per minute, a rate typical of that seen with other systems, Dr. Barr pointed out.

"That's interesting," said session moderator Jason Stafford, PhD, from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He told Medscape Medical News that he is eager to read more about the technique.

The next step will be to "implement a small device that will be for the market," said Mati Shirizly, PhD, chief executive officer of Orcasonix, the company that will be manufacturing the O-mode ultrasound. The small device will likely retail for approximately $5000.

"Eventually, we will want to put this technology into a high-end system," Dr. Shirizly told Medscape Medical News. He said he thinks the technique will be particularly useful for imaging the hearts of obese patients.

However, during his presentation, Dr. Barr acknowledged that the O-mode technique still requires improved contrast resolution and improved image processing. Because the O-mode does not yet include image processing, it is difficult to truly compare it to conventional ultrasounds. "At this point, it really is hard to do a comparison of apples to apples. It really is apples to oranges," he said.

This study received funding by Orcasonix, the company that will manufacture the O-mode ultrasound. Dr. Barr is a consultant at Siemens AG. Dr. Stafford has disclosed no relevant financial relationships. Dr. Shirizly is a shareholder at Orcasonix.

Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 100th Annual Meeting: Abstract SSA21-09. Presented November 30, 2014.

Orcasonix Unveils Innovative Ultrasound Technology Built on Cephasonics cQuest Family of Ultrasound Systems

Visit Cephasonics at RSNA 2013 in Hall B, Booth 8522

Monday, December 2, 2013 - 06:00

Chicago, December 2, 2013—Cephasonics, a technology-innovation leader with a game-changing embedded-ultrasound platform, and Orcasonix, an innovative ultrasound company specializing in imaging systems with depth-independent resolution, today disclosed details of the Cephasonics design-in. Orcasonix used the Cephasonics cQuest Cicada™ platform to develop its first prototype imaging system, the Orca™-1, and plans to commercialize the system in 2014 and go to volume production with the just announced cQuest Dragonfly™ system. Orcasonix will be showcasing its new technology in Cephasonics’ booth at RSNA 2013 held here in Chicago from December 1-6. Visitors can also see Cephasonics’ latest technology, including Dragonfly.

According to Mati Shirizly, CEO of Orcasonix, “Cephasonics’ unique business model and flexible cQuest Ultrasound™ hardware/software architecture provided us with a fast way to prove our technology, develop a prototype, and conduct initial clinical trials.” He said that his company’s innovative imaging techniques will dramatically improve the scanning of challenging patients, including general abdominal imaging of obese, overweight patients.

“The Orcasonix team achieved a major breakthrough in ultrasound imaging and we are pleased to partner with them both in demonstrating the unique capabilities of their depth-independent resolution imaging system and supporting their production ramp with our solutions,” said Richard Tobias, CEO of Cephasonics.

Orcasonix developed a new ultrasound imaging system with depth-independent resolution that uses a novel patented approach of generating CT-like images from sound echoes. The technology enables an extremely low cost hardware implementation with a virtually unlimited number of channels at a fraction of the cost of current systems. Signal and image processing is extremely efficient, thus significantly reducing the cost of the ultrasound system’s computer sub-system. The Orca-1 will be the first in a planned family of high-quality, cost-efficient imaging systems.

About Cephasonics

A technology-innovation leader with a game-changing embedded-ultrasound platform, Cephasonics provides a complete range of cQuest™-based technology, systems and components that increase the performance, lower the power and accelerate time-to- market of ultrasound devices. The company’s cQuest Ultrasound API™ software is the catalyst for customer innovations that are spurring a revolution in ultrasound from image-guided procedures to ultrasound as an appliance. Launched with a management buyout in March 2012 and headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., Cephasonics’ technology, including its AutoFocus™ beamforming technology, has won multiple industry awards for innovation. Additional information about Cephasonics can be found at www.cephasonics.com.

About Orcasonix

An innovative ultrasound imaging company that has developed a new ultrasound-imaging platform with depth-independent resolution, Orcasonix was established in 2011 and is based in Netanya, Israel. Its first product has started clinical trials and others are in early stages of development. Additional information about Orcasonix can be found at www.orcasonix.com

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cQuest, cQuest Ultrasound, cQuest Ultrasound API, cQuest Cicada, cQuest Dragonfly, and AutoFocus are trademarks of Cephasonics.

Orca-1 is a trademark of Orcasonix.