Systems and methods for detecting neurological conditions
According to various embodiments, there is provided a device including a processor configured to control a robotic system to autonomously position a transducer at a plurality of locations adjacent a subject's skull and to autonomously locate a window on the subject's skull within which an artery can be located, from which artery a signal can be returned to the transducer, the signal having an energy level exceeding a predefined threshold.
1. A tool for acquiring and optimizing a signal from a subject by a robotic device, comprising:
a transducer controlled by the robotic device and configured to transmit acoustic energy and receive the acoustic energy as the signal;
a database including one or more seed points, each of the seed points corresponding to a different coordinate location on a surface of a body of the subject and previously identified as having a relatively high probability of detection of a relatively high energy level of the signal based on one or more prior scanned subjects; and
a processing circuit configured to cause:
the robotic device to register the transducer with respect to the subject;
the robotic device to move the transducer to a coordinate location of a first seed point of the seed points at the surface of the body of the subject; and
the transducer to transmit the acoustic energy at or around the coordinate location of the first seed point by following a first predefined search path along the surface of the body of the subject to search for an energy level of the signal above a first threshold.
2. The tool of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
determine whether the energy level of the signal at a first point of interest along the first predefined search path is greater than the first threshold;
in response to determining that the energy level of the signal at the first point of interest is greater than the first threshold, store the first point of interest; and
cause the robotic device to move the transducer to a coordinate location of the first point of interest and scan at or around the coordinate location of the first point of interest by following a second predefined search path along the surface of the body of the subject.
3. The tool of claim 2 , wherein the first predefined search path is different from the second predefined search path.
4. The tool of claim 3 , wherein the second predefined search path defines finer movements of the transducer than the first predefined search path does.
5. The tool of claim 2 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
determine whether the energy level of the signal at a second point of interest along the second predefined search path is greater than a second threshold;
in response to determining that the energy level of the signal at the second point of interest is greater than the second threshold, store the second point of interest; and
cause the robotic device to move the transducer to a coordinate location of the second point of interest and scan at or around the coordinate location of the second point of interest by following a third predefined search path along the surface of the body of the subject.
6. The tool of claim 5 , wherein the third predefined search path defines finer movements of the transducer than the second predefined search path does, and the second predefined search path defines finer movements of the transducer than the first predefined search path does.
7. The tool of claim 5 , wherein the second threshold is higher than the first threshold.
8. The tool of claim 2 , wherein determining whether the energy level of the signal at the first point of interest is greater than the first threshold is based on one or more structural features of a waveform representing the signal.
9. The tool of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause:
the robotic device to move the transducer to a coordinate location of a second seed point of the seed points at the surface of the body of the subject, the coordinate location of the second seed point different from the coordinate location of the first seed point; and
the transducer to scan at or around the coordinate location of the second seed point by following the first predefined search path along the surface of the body of the subject to search for an energy level of the signal above the first threshold.
10. The tool of claim 9 , wherein the processing circuit is configured to cause the robotic device to move the transducer to the coordinate location of the second seed point in response to determining that no energy level of the signal along the first predefined search path is greater than the first threshold.
11. The tool of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
determine whether the energy level of the signal at a first point of interest along the first predefined search path is greater than the first threshold;
determine whether the energy level of the signal at a third point of interest along the first predefined search path is greater than the first threshold;
in response to determining that the energy level of the signal at the first point of interest is greater than the first threshold, store the first point of interest; and
in response to determining that the energy level of the signal at the third point of interest is greater than the first threshold, store the third point of interest, wherein a coordinate location of the third point of interest is different from the coordinate location of the first point of interest.
12. The tool of claim 11 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to rank the first point of interest and the third point of interest based on their individual energy levels of the signal.
13. The tool of claim 12 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
select a coordinate location along the surface of the body of the subject based on a higher-ranking point of interest corresponding to either the stored first point of interest or the stored third point of interest;
cause the robotic device to move the transducer to a coordinate location of the higher-ranking point of interest; and
monitor the subject via the transducer at the coordinate location of the higher-ranking point of interest.
14. The tool of claim 13 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
determine whether a monitoring energy level at the higher-ranking point of interest degrades below a stored energy level corresponding to the higher-ranking point of interest by a predetermined percentage; and
in response to the higher-ranking point of interest degrading below the stored energy level by the predetermined percentage, adjust a position of the transducer at the higher-ranking point of interest with respect to the surface of the body of the subject.
15. The tool of claim 1 , wherein the one or more prior scanned subjects comprises a population of prior scanned subjects.
16. The tool of claim 15 , wherein the one or more seed points are sorted by at least one of race, gender, or age of the population of prior scanned subjects.
17. The tool of claim 1 , wherein the transducer is configured to transmit and receive ultrasound energy.
18. The tool of claim 1 , wherein each of the seed points corresponds to a different coordinate location on a surface of a head of the subject.
19. The tool of claim 1 , wherein the first predefined search path originates at the coordinate location of the first seed point.
20. The tool of claim 1 , wherein the robotic device is configured to move the transducer along an x-axis, a y-axis perpendicular to the x-axis, and a z-axis perpendicular to the x-axis and the y-axis, along the first predefined search path.
21. The tool of claim 1 , wherein the robotic device is configured to pan and tilt the transducer along the first predefined search path.
22. The tool of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
determine whether the energy level of the signal at a first point of interest along the first predefined search path is greater than the first threshold;
in response to determining that the energy level of the signal at the first point of interest is greater than the first threshold, store the first point of interest; and
cause the transducer to move to the coordinate location of the first point of interest and perform a hill climb search based on energy levels of the signal detected at and around the first point of interest.
23. The tool of claim 1 , wherein the first predefined search path begins and terminates at the coordinate location of the first seed point.
24. The tool of claim 1 , wherein the one or more prior scanned subjects includes the subject.
25. A method for acquiring and optimizing a signal from a subject by a robotic device, the method comprising:
registering, by the robotic device, a transducer configured to transmit acoustic energy and receive the acoustic energy as the signal, with respect to the subject;
moving, by the robotic device, the transducer to a coordinate location of a first seed point of one or more seed points stored in a database, each of the seed points corresponding to a different coordinate location on a surface of a body of the subject and previously identified as having a relatively high probability of detection of a relatively high energy level of the signal based on one or more prior scanned subjects; and
transmitting the acoustic energy, by the transducer, at or around the coordinate location of the first seed point by following a first predefined search path along the surface of the body of the subject to search for an energy level of the signal above a first threshold.
26. A non-transitory processor-readable medium storing processor-readable instructions such that, when executed, causes a processor to acquire and optimize a signal from a subject by a robotic device by:
registering, by the robotic device, a transducer configured to transmit acoustic energy and receive the acoustic energy as the signal, with respect to the subject;
moving, by the robotic device, the transducer to a coordinate location of a first seed point of one or more seed points stored in a database, each of the seed points corresponding to a different coordinate location on a surface of a body of the subject and previously identified as having a relatively high probability of detection of a relatively high energy level of the signal based on one or more prior scanned subjects; and
transmitting the acoustic energy, by the transducer, at or around the coordinate location of the first seed point by following a first predefined search path along the surface of the body of the subject to search for an energy level of the signal above a first threshold.