ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,377,234, issued on Aug. 5, was assigned to Covidien LP (Mansfield, Mass.).
"Acoustic guided suction systems, devices, and methods" was invented by Jeffrey Mansfield (Carmel, Ind.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A method for guiding suction of an obstruction may comprise emitting sound waves from a sound generator into a tube, detecting returning acoustic reflections with at least one sound receiver, analyzing, using a processor, timings and amplitudes of the returning acoustic reflections to determine a location and size of an obstruction within the tube and a location of a tip of a suction catheter, and guiding the suction catheter to the...