Ultrasound transmission method and system for simulating a transmit apodization
    2.
    发明授权
    Ultrasound transmission method and system for simulating a transmit apodization 有权
    超声传输方法和系统,用于模拟发射变迹

    公开(公告)号:US06599245B1

    公开(公告)日:2003-07-29

    申请号:US09604568

    申请日:2000-06-27

    IPC分类号: A61B800

    CPC分类号: G10K11/346 G01S7/52046

    摘要: A system for controlling the point spread function of an ultrasound signal transmitted into a patient. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, only a selected number of the transducer elements transmit a transmit pulse. The elements which do not transmit the pulse are selected in accordance with an apodization probability density function. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, each transducer element transmits a variable portion of a transmit pulse in order to control the acoustic power of the signal transmitted from each element.

    摘要翻译: 一种用于控制发送到患者体内的超声信号的点扩散功能的系统。 根据本发明的一个实施例,只有选定数量的换能器元件发送发射脉冲。 根据变迹概率密度函数选择不发送脉冲的元件。 根据本发明的另一方面,每个换能器元件发送发射脉冲的可变部分,以便控制从每个元件发送的信号的声功率。

    Method for scalable manufacturing of medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging systems
    3.
    发明授权
    Method for scalable manufacturing of medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging systems 有权
    医疗诊断超声成像系统的可扩展制造方法

    公开(公告)号:US07941908B2

    公开(公告)日:2011-05-17

    申请号:US12234470

    申请日:2008-09-19

    IPC分类号: H04R31/00

    摘要: A plurality of application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips with different functions is provided. Each of the ASICs performs one or more functions along an ultrasound data path. The chips include communications protocols or processes for allowing scaling. For example, ASICs for backend processing include data exchange ports for communicating between other ASICs of the same type. As another example, receive beamformer ASICs cascade for beamformation. By providing ASICs implementing many or most of the ultrasound data path functions, with scalability, the same ASICs may be used for different system designs. A family of systems from high end to low-end using the same types of ASICs, but in different configurations, is provided.

    摘要翻译: 提供了具有不同功能的多个专用集成电路(ASIC)芯片。 每个ASIC沿着超声数据路径执行一个或多个功能。 这些芯片包括用于允许缩放的通信协议或过程。 例如,用于后端处理的ASIC包括用于在相同类型的其它ASIC之间进行通信的数据交换端口。 作为另一示例,接收波束形成器ASIC级联用于波束形成。 通过提供实现多个或大多数超声数据路径功能的ASIC,具有可扩展性,相同的ASIC可用于不同的系统设计。 提供了使用相同类型的ASIC,但在不同配置中的从高端到低端的系统系列。

    Medical imaging transmit spectral control using aperture functions
    4.
    发明授权
    Medical imaging transmit spectral control using aperture functions 有权
    医学成像使用孔径功能发射光谱控制

    公开(公告)号:US07105981B2

    公开(公告)日:2006-09-12

    申请号:US10732761

    申请日:2003-12-10

    申请人: John C. Lazenby

    发明人: John C. Lazenby

    IPC分类号: H01L41/09 A61B8/00

    摘要: Methods and systems are provided for controlling the transmit spectrum in medical imaging. A combination of different delays and/or sign changes are used control the spectrum. The different delays and/or sign changes are applied across the transmit aperture. For example, a repeating pattern of three different delays in addition to focusing delays is provided, such as no additional delay, a quarter cycle advance and a quarter cycle delay. As another example, a repeating pattern is applied where one waveform has an additional delay and a sign change. The use of three or more different amounts of delay in addition to focusing delays and/or the use of delay and sign change may be used in simple unipolar or bipolar transmitters or in more complex transmitters. For example, delay is implemented with a phase shift. The combinations of delays, phase shifts and sign changes is selected to cause acoustic summation along the transmit beam with desired spectral content. By summing the waveforms in the acoustic domain, a more desired spectral content than available for any given transmit waveform is provided. For example, harmonic, second harmonic, odd harmonics, even harmonics or any other frequency bands may be suppressed.

    摘要翻译: 提供了用于控制医学成像中的发射光谱的方法和系统。 使用不同延迟和/或符号变化的组合来控制频谱。 不同的延迟和/或符号改变被应用在发射孔径上。 例如,提供除了聚焦延迟之外的三种不同延迟的重复图案,例如没有额外的延迟,四分之一周期的前进和四分之一周期的延迟。 作为另一示例,应用重复图案,其中一个波形具有额外的延迟和符号变化。 除了聚焦延迟和/或延迟和符号改变的使用之外,使用三个或更多不同量的延迟可用于简单的单极或双极发射机或更复杂的发射机。 例如,延迟通过相移来实现。 选择延迟,相移和符号变化的组合以沿着具有期望的频谱含量的发射波束引起声学求和。 通过对声域中的波形求和,提供了比可用于任何给定发送波形的更期望的频谱内容。 例如,可以抑制谐波,二次谐波,奇次谐波,偶次谐波或任何其它频带。

    Direct velocity estimator for ultrasound blood flow imaging
    5.
    发明授权
    Direct velocity estimator for ultrasound blood flow imaging 失效
    用于超声血流成像的直接速度估计器

    公开(公告)号:US5058594A

    公开(公告)日:1991-10-22

    申请号:US574669

    申请日:1990-08-29

    申请人: John C. Lazenby

    发明人: John C. Lazenby

    摘要: A method and apparatus for estimating blood flow velocities with an ultrasound imaging system. The method includes radiating a plurality of ultrasound beams having a fixed phase relationship with a reference frequency; receiving a plurality of successive echoes from the successive beams from the same volume of blood; and estimating the blood flow velocity from the phase shift changes, relative to the reference frequency, between a plurality of successive echo pairs by multiplying each phase shift change by coefficients stored in a RAM and accumulating the results. Desirably, the phase shift changes between the multiple pairs of successive echoes are weight averaged during the multiplication and accumulation process to arrive at the velocity estimate. A method of improving the blood flow velocity estimate at a given volume by obtaining velocity estimates at a plurality of contiguous volumes and multiplying each velocity estimate by coefficients stored in a RAM and accumulating the products to arrive at a substitute velocity estimate at the given volume.

    摘要翻译: 一种用超声成像系统估计血流速度的方法和装置。 该方法包括:辐射与参考频率具有固定相位关系的多个超声波束; 从相同体积血液的连续波束接收多个连续的回波; 并且通过将每个相移变化乘以存储在RAM中的系数并累加结果来估计来自相移的血流速度相对于参考频率在多个连续回波对之间变化。 期望地,在乘法和累积过程期间,在多对连续回波之间的相移变化被加权平均以得到速度估计。 一种通过在多个连续体积处获得速度估计值来改善在给定体积的血流速度估计的方法,并且将每个速度估计乘以存储在RAM中的系数并累加产物以得到给定体积的替代速度估计值。

    Multi stage beamforming
    6.
    发明授权

    公开(公告)号:US07914455B2

    公开(公告)日:2011-03-29

    申请号:US12240806

    申请日:2008-09-29

    申请人: John C. Lazenby

    发明人: John C. Lazenby

    IPC分类号: A61B8/00

    摘要: Beamforming for N elements in performed in log(N) steps of complexity O(N). The signals measured at each element are treated as a receive beam formed by that element with a beam width equal to the element pattern or the width of the transmit illumination. In each of multiple stages, the number of elements is halved by effectively doubling the pitch. The number of beams formed by each element is doubled by narrowing the beam width by a factor of 2 in sin(θ). Since steering and focusing are separated, a single set of delays are applied to each element signal individually prior to the multi-stage beam forming for each finite depth. The data is in a sector format, but by using two beamforming steps, data in a Vector® format is provided.

    Transmit and receive isolation for ultrasound scanning and methods of use

    公开(公告)号:US06806623B2

    公开(公告)日:2004-10-19

    申请号:US10185404

    申请日:2002-06-27

    IPC分类号: H01L4108

    摘要: Methods and systems for isolating transmit and receive circuitry at an ultrasound transducer element are provided. Separate electrodes or electrodes on opposite sides of a transducer element are connected to the separate transmit and receive paths or channels. Instead of high voltage transmit and receive switching, the transducer element isolates the transmit channel from the receive channel. The transmit channel includes circuitry for limiting the voltage at one electrode during receive processing, such as a switch operable to connect the electrode to ground. The receive channel includes circuitry for limiting the voltage at an electrode during transmit processing, such as a diode clamp preventing voltage swings greater than diode voltage at the electrode. Limiting the voltage provides virtual grounding or a direct current for either of the transmit or receive operation. Using a transmit channel discussed above or other transmit channels, a unipolar pulse may be generated starting at one voltage and ending at a different voltage. For example, a unipolar pulse is generated starting at a zero voltage value and ending on a positive voltage value. A subsequent unipolar pulse is transmitted by starting at the positive voltage value and ending on the zero voltage value. These mirrored unipolar transmit waveforms may be used for phase inversion imaging, such as adding responsive received signals for isolating harmonic information.

    Ultrasonic imaging system and method for generating and displaying
velocity field information
    8.
    发明授权
    Ultrasonic imaging system and method for generating and displaying velocity field information 失效
    超声成像系统及其生成和显示速度场信息的方法

    公开(公告)号:US5855557A

    公开(公告)日:1999-01-05

    申请号:US775234

    申请日:1996-12-30

    申请人: John C. Lazenby

    发明人: John C. Lazenby

    IPC分类号: A61B8/08 A61B8/00

    CPC分类号: A61B8/08 A61B8/463 A61B8/488

    摘要: A system interrogates a region with ultrasound and then generates a vector field of values representing the velocity sensed at a plurality of image element positions. Spatial changes in the velocity vector field are then determined and displayed to the user, preferably in real time. The spatial changes include divergence and/or the rotation (also known as "curl") of the velocity vector field. In order to enable display of the vector spatial change information, either magnitude values, projected values, or color-coded vector information may be computed and displayed. In order to reduce the effect of noise on differentiation operations, the system preferably smooths the velocity vector field before, after or at the same time as it determines divergence or rotation.

    摘要翻译: 系统用超声波询问区域,然后产生表示在多个图像元素位置处感测到的速度的值的矢量场。 然后,速度矢量场的空间变化被确定并显示给用户,优选地实时地显示。 空间变化包括速度矢量场的发散和/或旋转(也称为“卷曲”)。 为了能够显示矢量空间变化信息,可以计算和显示幅度值,投影值或颜色编码矢量信息。 为了减少噪声对微分作用的影响,系统优选地在确定发散或旋转之前,之后或同时确定速度矢量场平滑。

    Multi stage beamforming
    9.
    发明授权
    Multi stage beamforming 有权
    多级波束成形

    公开(公告)号:US07744536B2

    公开(公告)日:2010-06-29

    申请号:US11904660

    申请日:2007-09-27

    申请人: John C. Lazenby

    发明人: John C. Lazenby

    IPC分类号: A61B8/00

    摘要: Beamforming for N elements in performed in log(N) steps of complexity O(N). The signals measured at each element are treated as a receive beam formed by that element with a beam width equal to the element pattern or the width of the transmit illumination. In each of multiple stages, the number of elements is halved by effectively doubling the pitch. The number of beams formed by each element is doubled by narrowing the beam width by a factor of 2 in sin(θ). Since steering and focusing are separated, a single set of delays are applied to each element signal individually prior to the multi-stage beam forming for each finite depth. The data is in a sector format, but by using two beamforming steps, data in a Vector® format is provided.

    摘要翻译: 在N(N)个复杂度O(N)步骤中执行的N个元素的波束成形。 在每个元件处测量的信号被视为由该元件形成的接收波束,其宽度等于元件图案或透射照明的宽度。 在多个阶段的每个阶段,通过有效地使间距加倍,元件的数量减半。 每个元件形成的光束的数量通过使sin(Δt)中的光束宽度变小2倍来加倍。 由于转向和聚焦分离,因此在每个有限深度的多级波束形成之前,单个延迟单个应用于每个元件信号。 数据是扇区格式,但通过使用两个波束成形步骤,提供了Vector®格式的数据。

    Multi stage beamforming
    10.
    发明授权
    Multi stage beamforming 有权
    多级波束成形

    公开(公告)号:US07549963B2

    公开(公告)日:2009-06-23

    申请号:US11089996

    申请日:2005-03-25

    申请人: John C. Lazenby

    发明人: John C. Lazenby

    IPC分类号: A61B8/00

    摘要: Beamforming for N elements in performed in log(N) steps of complexity O(N). The signals measured at each element are treated as a receive beam formed by that element with a beam width equal to the element pattern or the width of the transmit illumination. In each of multiple stages, the number of elements is halved by effectively doubling the pitch. The number of beams formed by each element is doubled by narrowing the beam width by a factor of 2 in sin(θ). Since steering and focusing are separated, a single set of delays are applied to each element signal individually prior to the multi-stage beam forming for each finite depth. The data is in a sector format, but by using two beamforming steps, data in a Vector® format is provided.

    摘要翻译: 在N(N)个复杂度O(N)步骤中执行的N个元素的波束成形。 在每个元件处测量的信号被视为由该元件形成的接收波束,其宽度等于元件图案或透射照明的宽度。 在多个阶段的每个阶段,通过有效地使间距加倍,元件的数量减半。 通过在sin(θ)中使波束宽度变窄2倍,由每个元件形成的光束数量加倍。 由于转向和聚焦分离,因此在每个有限深度的多级波束形成之前,单个延迟单个应用于每个元件信号。 数据是扇区格式,但是通过使用两个波束成形步骤,提供了Vector(R)格式的数据。