Examples relate to a method for processing beamformed data of a medium. The beamformed data includes a first set of beamformed data associated with a first spatial region and a second set of beamformed data associated with a second spatial region, and the method includes estimating the clutter caused by the second spatial region at the first set.

Disclosed is a high resolution intravascular ultrasound imaging system including a catheter with a rotatable imaging assembly and an image processor. The image processor in turn features a pulser configured to energize the ultrasound transducer of the rotatable imaging assembly with a multi-frequency ultrasound waveform signal. The image processor further contains a receiver configured to decompose received ultrasound energy as reflected by the target vessel into a plurality of individual subband signals, individually process these signals and reconstitute these signals into a high resolution image of the blood vessel. The IVUS system of the invention may be useful in characterizing cap thickness of vulnerable plaques or other detailed studies of blood vessels.

A method for imaging an object by ultrasound elastography through continuous vibration of the ultrasound transducer is taught. An actuator directly in contact with the ultrasound transducer continuously vibrates the transducer in an axial direction, inducing shear waves in the tissue and allowing for real-time shear wave imaging. Axial motion of the transducer contaminates the shear wave images of the tissue, and must be suppressed. Therefore, several methods for correcting for shear wave artifact caused by the motion of the transducer are additionally taught.

Improved ultrasound imaging devices and methods of operating the devices that minimize grating lobe artifacts in an ultrasound image are provided. For example, an ultrasound imaging system analyzes the ultrasound data at different frequency bands and generates a grating-lobe-minimized image based on minimum signals identified for each pixel among the plurality of frequency ranges. In one embodiment, an ultrasound imaging system includes an ultrasound transducer array configured to obtain ultrasound data, and a processor in communication with the ultrasound transducer array. The processor is configured to receive the ultrasound data, generate an ultrasound image based on a first frequency range of the ultrasound data, generate a grating-lobe-minimized ultrasound image based on a plurality of second frequency ranges of the ultrasound data, combine the ultrasound image and the grating-lobe-minimized ultrasound image to generate a combined ultrasound image, and output the combined ultrasound image to a display.

According to one embodiment, an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus includes a storage and a control unit. The storage stores transmission/reception conditions for a first ultrasound probe among a plurality of ultrasound probes. Upon receipt of a second switching instruction to switch a second ultrasound probe to the first ultrasound probe after a first switching instruction to switch the first ultrasound probe to the second ultrasound probe, the control unit applies the transmission/reception conditions stored in the storage to the first ultrasound probe when the time between the first switching instruction and the second switching instruction is less than a predetermined time.

According to one embodiment, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes an image acquisition unit configured to acquire an ultrasonic image, a first calculation unit which calculates directions of edges in a local region in the ultrasonic image, sizes of the edges in the local region, and directional uniformity of the edges in the local region, a second calculation unit which calculates a composite coefficient by using the sizes of the edges and the directional uniformity of the edges, a third calculation unit which calculates a filtering coefficient for a region corresponding to the local region based on the composite coefficient, and a filtering unit which performs filtering processing for sharpening or smoothing the ultrasonic image with respect to the ultrasonic image by using the filtering coefficient.

For noise reduction in elasticity imaging, frequency compounding is used. Displacements caused by the acoustic radiation force impulse are measured using signals at different frequencies, either due to transmission of tracking pulses and reception at different frequencies or due to processing received signals at different sub-bands. The displacements are (a) combined to compound and the compounded displacements are used to determine elasticity or (b) are used to determine elasticity and the elasticities from information at the different frequencies are compounded.

Techniques are disclosed for systems and methods to provide sonar systems for mobile structures. A sonar system includes a sonar transducer assembly including a sonar transducer, a sonar receiver configured to receive acoustic returns from the sonar transducer and convert the acoustic returns into arrays of time differentiated sonar data samples, and a logic device adapted to communicate with the sonar receiver. The logic device is configured to receive the arrays of the time differentiated sonar data samples from the sonar receiver and process the received arrays to enhance the time differentiated sonar data samples substantially without enhancing sonar artifacts in the time differentiated sonar data samples Processed sonar data and/or resulting imagery may be displayed to a user and/or used to adjust a steering actuator, a propulsion system thrust, and/or other operational systems of the sonar transducer assembly and/or a mobile structure.

Provided is a technique capable of simultaneously satisfying two requests of removing a speckle and clarifying a tissue structure. A noise in an ultrasonic image is removed, and a morphology processing is performed on a noise-removed image. The morphology processing includes a first calculation of performing dilation and erosion and a second calculation of performing opening and closing, and determines a value of a structural element used in the second calculation of the morphology by using a result of the first calculation performed on the noise-removed image.

Acoustic imaging based on angular coherence is provided. The target is insonified with collimated acoustic beams at several different incidence angles. The resulting images are processed to determine angular coherence averaged over angle, and then integration of the angular coherence for relatively small angular differences is used to provide the output angular coherence image. In cases where flow imaging is done, the images are first filtered to suppress signals from stationary features of the target, multiple acquisitions are acquired, and the final flow image is computed by summing the squares of the angular coherence images (on a pixel by pixel basis).