A system and method from improving the image quality achievable with an ultrasound transducer by using a composite aperture for receiving ultrasound echoes. By using two receive cycles per vector, twice as many transducers may be used for receiving ultrasound imaging data than there are physical channels available in the ultrasound probe. An ultrasound probe utilizing a composite aperture can achieve high image quality from a system have reduced power, size, cost and complexity.

A system for visualization and quantification of ultrasound imaging data according to embodiments of the present disclosure may include a display unit, and a processor communicatively coupled to the display unit and to an ultrasound imaging apparatus for generating an image from ultrasound data representative of a bodily structure and fluid flowing within the bodily structure. The processor may be configured to estimate axial and lateral velocity components of the fluid flowing within the bodily structure, determine a plurality of flow directions within the image based on the axial and lateral velocity components, differentially encode the flow directions based on flow direction angle to generate a flow direction map, and cause the display unit to concurrently display the image including the bodily structure overlaid with the flow direction map.

An ultrasonic diagnostic device includes a probe configured to transmit an ultrasonic wave to a subject and to receive the ultrasonic wave reflected by the subject; an image processor configured to convert ultrasonic image data based on the ultrasonic wave received by the probe, into digital data; a main body configured to output the digital data output from the image processor; and a connector configured to electrically connect and disconnect the image processor with respect to the main body.

The present disclosure provides methods and apparatus for evaluating tissue structure in damaged or healing tissue. The present disclosure also provides methods of identifying a patient at the onset of risk of pressure ulcer or at risk of the onset of pressure ulcer, and treating the patient with anatomy-specific clinical intervention selected based on a number of sonographic characteristics. The present disclosure also provides methods of stratifying groups of patients based on risk of wound development and methods of reducing incidence of tissue damage in a care facility. The present disclosure also provides methods to analyze trends of sonographic characteristics to detect tissue damage before it is visible, and methods to compare bisymmetric sonographic characteristics to identify damaged tissue.

A method of evaluating tissue stiffness of a target area includes positioning an ultrasound elasticity imaging apparatus adjacent a surface of an area of tissue where the target area is located and applying a dynamic range of force to the tissue. A plurality of ultrasound beams can be directed at the tissue and a plurality of ultrasound echoes can be acquired from the strained tissue in the target area to calculate an amount of developed strain within the target area.

An ultrasound probe for a puncture needle and an ultrasound diagnostic device using the same are disclosed. The ultrasound probe for the puncture needle transmits ultrasonic waves to a subject from a transducer array which is arranged so as to be tilted at a predetermined array angle of inclination with respect to a subject contact surface, in a direction in which an angle of an ultrasonic wave transmission/reception surface with respect to a puncturing direction of the puncture needle punctured from a puncture position toward the front of the subject contact surface decreases, receives ultrasonic echoes, forms sound ray signals which are tilted to a side of the puncture needle, and generates a B mode image of a deep region of the subject from the sound ray signals.

An ultrasound imaging apparatus includes an ultrasound transceiver configured to transmit an ultrasound signal to an object and receive an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object, based on a beamforming parameter of the ultrasound imaging apparatus; and an image processor configured to generate scanning lines forming a frame based on the received ultrasound echo signal, generate sub-frames by sorting the scanning lines into respective groups having the scanning lines with similar properties, based on the beamforming parameter, perform image-processing of the generated sub-frames, and recombine the scanning lines from the image-processed sub-frames to generate an ultrasound medical image corresponding to the frame.

Systems and methods for time-varying two-dimensional (2D) color maps for visualizing images or sequences of images are disclosed. The 2D color map may include brightness values of a hue corresponding to different intensities that changes over time. In some 2D color maps, the hue used for the intensity scale may change over time while the brightness of a pixel may not. In some 2D color maps, both the hue and the brightness may change relative to intensity over time.

Methods and systems are provided for evaluating a subject for a liver disease using ultrasound images. In one example, a method includes, in response to a request to evaluate the liver disease, determining, with a measurement model, that a selected medical image frame of the subject includes a target anatomical view and has an image quality above a threshold image quality, and in response, measuring, with the measurement model, a marker for the liver disease in the selected medical image, and outputting, for display on a display device, the measurement of the marker.

An ultrasound fetal imaging system uses an acceleration sensor (16) for generating an acceleration signal relating to movement of the ultrasound transducer (10). A user is guided in how or where to move the ultrasound transducer based on the results of image processing of the ultrasound images. The user can thus be guided to move the transducer in a certain direction so as to achieve a complete scan of a fetus in a shortest possible time. This limits exposure of the expectant mother to the ultrasound energy. The fetal image obtained may be used to determine a fetal weight, for example using regression analysis based on some of the parameters derived from the obtained image.