Probe Holder
Project Overview
Vascular reactivity studies will greatly increase the understanding of Atherosclerosis, an inflammation of the arteries. A possible complication of advanced Atherosclerosis is thrombosis, which in turn may lead to heart attacks or strokes. When examining how the brachial arteries react to occlusion, an ultrasonic probe must be held in the correct orientation for prolonged periods of time. Ultrasonic images are influenced by motion artifact caused by the sonographer’s movements. The development of a probe holder that would stabilize and consistently position the ultrasound probe would improve the quality of the sonogram. A prototype was constructed that enables the probe to be moved in six degrees of freedom while being attached to a table. The positioning of the probe can be adjusted by loosening one knob and moving the entire arm into the correct location before tightening the knob again. The table also contains a comfortable arm rest that stabilizes the patient’s arm. Future work includes testing the prototype to determine if it meets the sonographer’s requirements, looking into having articulated arm translate in three directions and attaching a clamp to the articulated arm in order to hold a variety of different sized probes.
Team Picture
Files
- Mid-Semester Presentation (October 26, 2009)
- PDS (December 10, 2009)
- Poster (December 10, 2009)
- Final Report (December 10, 2009)
Contact Information
Team Members
- Peter Kleinschmidt - Team Leader
- Neal Haas - Communicator
- Lein Ma - BSAC
- Leon Corbeille - BWIG
Advisor and Client
- Prof. John Webster - Advisor
- James Stein - Client