An ultrasonic measuring apparatus includes an ultrasonic transducer device having a substrate and an ultrasonic transducer element array that has a first channel group and a second channel group that are arranged on the substrate, a first integrated circuit apparatus that is mounted on the substrate, at one edge portion of the ultrasonic transducer element array in a first direction, such that a long-side direction coincides with a second direction that intersects the first direction, and performs at least one of signal transmission to the first channel group and signal reception from the first channel group, and a second integrated circuit apparatus that is mounted on the substrate, at the other edge portion of the ultrasonic transducer element array in the first direction, such that the long-side direction coincides with the second direction, and performs at least one of signal transmission to the second channel group and signal reception from the second channel group. In the ultrasonic transducer element array, the first group of channels and the second group of channels are arranged alternately every channel in the second direction.

An ultrasound imaging system may include a probe, a transmitting circuit which may excite the probe to transmit ultrasound beams towards a scanning target in at least three ultrasound propagation directions; a receiving circuit and a beamforming unit which may respectively receive the echoes of the ultrasound beams in the ultrasound propagation directions to obtain the echo signals in each of the ultrasound propagation directions; a data processing unit which may obtain velocity vectors of target points in the scanning target using the echo signals in each of the ultrasound propagation directions and obtain ultrasound images of at least a portion of the scanning target using the echo signals; and a display which may display the velocity vectors and the ultrasound images.

A dual-mode ultrasound system provides real-time imaging and therapy delivery using the same transducer elements of a transducer array. The system may use a multi-channel driver to drive the elements of the array. The system uses a real-time monitoring and feedback image control of the therapy based on imaging data acquired using the dual-mode ultrasound array (DMUA) of transducer elements. Further, for example, multi-modal coded excitation may be used in both imaging and therapy modes. Still further, for example, adaptive, real-time refocusing for improved imaging and therapy can be achieved using, for example, array directivity vectors obtained from DMUA pulse-echo data.

Ultrasound imaging systems including transducer probes having wireless tags, and associated systems and methods, are described herein. For example, the wireless tags can store supplemental data about the transducer probes, and the ultrasound system can include a base unit configured to wirelessly communicate with nearby ones of the wireless tags to receive the supplemental data. The base unit can be further configured to display the transducer probes that are nearby. In some embodiments, the operator can filter or sort the displayed nearby transducer probes based on the supplemental data to identify a particular one of the nearby transducer devices that has one or more desired attributes.

Apparatus and methods of use are provided for complex flow imaging and analysis that is non-invasive, accurate, and time-resolved. It is particularly useful in imaging of vascular flow with spatiotemporal fluctuations. This apparatus is an ultrasound-based framework called vector projectile imaging (VPI) that can dynamically render complex flow patterns over an imaging view at millisecond time resolution. The VPI apparatus and methods comprise: (i) high-frame-rate broad-view data acquisition (based on steered plane wave firings); (ii) flow vector estimation derived from multi-angle Doppler analysis (coupled with data regularization and least-squares fitting); and (iii) dynamic visualization of color-encoded vector projectiles (with flow speckles displayed as adjunct).

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes a probe configured to transmit ultrasonic waves to a living body and receive ultrasonic waves reflected by the living body; and a processor configured to, in a moving image mode, cause ultrasonic image data based on ultrasonic waves received by a first subset of the total number of oscillators that the probe has to be output, and, in a static image mode, cause ultrasonic image data based on ultrasonic waves received by a second subset of the total number of oscillators that the probe has to be output, wherein the number of oscillators used in the second subset is greater than the number of oscillators used in the first subset.

Apparatus for adaptively scheduling ultrasound device actions includes a probe interface, a beamer, a receiver, a processor, and a memory. The probe interface may interface with probe units to transmit signals generated by the beamer to the probe units and to receive data signals from the probe units. The processor may be coupled to the probe interface, the beamer, and the receiver. The memory may store instructions, which when executed by the processor, causes the processor to generate a task list that includes a timed beam firing sequence and to signal to the beamer to generate signals to the probe units associated with the plurality of task actions. The task list may include a plurality of task actions associated with probe units, and the processor may signal to the beamer in accordance with the timed beam firing sequence. Other embodiments are also described.

The present invention relates to a sample information acquisition apparatus including a determination unit that determines a state of contact between a probe and a sample and whether the sample is on an optical path on the basis of an ultrasonic echo signal of ultrasonic waves received by the probe for the ultrasonic waves transmitted from the probe, prior to generation of a photoacoustic image; and a control unit that causes a light irradiating unit to irradiate the sample with light on the basis of a result of the determination. The determination unit determines the state of contact on the basis of information about multiple ultrasonic echo signals received by multiple transducers that are set apart from each other, among the multiple ultrasonic echo signals received by the multiple transducers in response to the ultrasonic waves transmitted from the multiple transducers in the probe.

A beam composition method and device and an ultrasonic imaging device are provided. The method of beam composition comprises: obtaining the point-by-point delay data of the ultrasonic probe channel; compressing the point-by-point delay data according to the compression method to obtain the compressed data; and sending the compressed data to the hardware of the ultrasonic imaging system, so that the hardware can decompress the compressed data according to the compression method to obtain the point-by-point delay data and carry out beam composition according to the point-by-point delay data. The method can enhance the focusing precision of ultrasonic beam composition.

An apparatus may include an ultrasonic receiver array, an ultrasonic transmitter and a control system capable of controlling the ultrasonic transmitter to transmit first ultrasonic waves in a first direction and to simultaneously transmit second ultrasonic waves in a second direction that is opposite the first direction. The control system may be capable of distinguishing first reflected waves from second reflected waves, the first reflected waves corresponding to reflections of the first ultrasonic waves that are received by the ultrasonic receiver array and the second reflected waves corresponding to reflections of the second ultrasonic waves that are received by the ultrasonic receiver array. The control system may be capable of determining first image data corresponding to the first reflected waves and of determining second image data corresponding to the second reflected waves.