A method and system for imaging a sample uses a 2D array of bias-sensitive, ultrasound transducers arranged in first and second strips, and a source of radiation to stimulate the sample to be imaged. The second electrode strips are sequentially biased according to sequential biasing patterns of voltages that correspond to rows or columns of an invertible matrix. For each biasing pattern, signals are measured from the first electrode strips to detect return signals from the sample that result from the sample being stimulated. A dataset is calculated based on the measured signals, the dataset comprising an effective signal for each of a plurality of transducer elements in the array. An image of the sample is generated based on the dataset.

Diagnostic imaging of deep targets in the body requires sufficient signal amplitude to overcome effects such as attenuation with depth and thermal noise produced in signal reception. Coded excitation provides several strategies to increase the total transmitted energy without exceeding peak amplitude safety limits. Temporal coding has proven particularly effective, but these frequency or amplitude modulation techniques require additional transmit capabilities and often require complex processing to reduce decoding artifacts. An alternative code is presented based on time delays that relies on repeated transmit pulses that can be decoded using spatiotemporal synthetic aperture processing. A 16-pulse code is demonstrated that achieves an 11.1 dB improvement in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) while maintaining axial resolution and sufficient range lobe performance. Further, a beamforming strategy for multiline transmission ultrasound data is presented that recognizes the data as time delay encoded and performs an appropriate decoding to reduce common reconstruction artifacts. This approach simultaneously enables synthetic aperture focusing of multiline transmission data. improving focusing through depth.

Systems and methods for performing shear wave elastography using push and/or detection ultrasound beams that are generated by subsets of the available number of transducer elements in an ultrasound transducer. These techniques provide several advantages over currently available approaches to shear wave elastography, including the ability to use a standard, low frame rate ultrasound imaging system and the ability to measure shear wave speed throughout the entire field-of-view rather than only those regions where the push beams are not generated.

Embodiments of the disclosure provide an ultrasound beamforming method and device. The method includes: obtaining channel data of a target tissue; and processing the channel data using at least two different ultrasound beamforming methods to obtain image data of the target tissue corresponding to the different ultrasound beamforming methods, where the at least two different ultrasound beamforming methods are different in at least one of principle, step, and parameter.

Coherent combination of ultrasound data for collinear receive beams adapts to the ultrasound data. Beam-to-beam coherence metrics, such as correlation coefficient and/or phase change or functions of these parameters, are used to adapt weighting of the ultrasound data for the receive beams prior to combination or to adapt the results of the combination.

Embodiments of the disclosure provide an ultrasound beamforming method and device. The method includes: obtaining channel data of a target tissue; and processing the channel data using at least two different ultrasound beamforming methods to obtain image data of the target tissue corresponding to the different ultrasound beamforming methods, where the at least two different ultrasound beamforming methods are different in at least one of principle, step, and parameter.

Diagnostic imaging of deep targets in the body requires sufficient signal amplitude to overcome effects such as attenuation with depth and thermal noise produced in signal reception. Coded excitation provides several strategies to increase the total transmitted energy without exceeding peak amplitude safety limits. Temporal coding has proven particularly effective, but these frequency or amplitude modulation techniques require additional transmit capabilities and often require complex processing to reduce decoding artifacts. An alternative code is presented based on time delays that relies on repeated transmit pulses that can be decoded using spatiotemporal synthetic aperture processing. A 16-pulse code is demonstrated that achieves an 11.1 dB improvement in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) while maintaining axial resolution and sufficient range lobe performance. Further, a beamforming strategy for multiline transmission ultrasound data is presented that recognizes the data as time delay encoded and performs an appropriate decoding to reduce common reconstruction artifacts. This approach simultaneously enables synthetic aperture focusing of multiline transmission data, improving focusing through depth.

According to one embodiment, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprises a receiving unit which provides at least some of echo signals with reception delays that vary with ultrasonic transducers and adds each of the echo signals provided with the reception delays to acquire a reception beam includes a predetermined receiving direction and a reception focus and a control unit, the control unit controlling the transmission unit so that a transmission beam including a transmission direction and a transmission focus that are fixed is transmitted, the control unit also controlling the receiving unit by changing patterns of the reception delays and adding the respective patterns to at least some of the echo signals based on the transmission beam including the transmission direction and the transmission focus that are fixed in order to acquire reception beams different in receiving direction and reception focus.

Ultrasound diagnostic device including: a transmitter that performs events by transmitting ultrasound focusing inside a subject by using a first transducer group that gradually shifts in an array direction between events; and a receiver that, for each event, generates receive signal sequences for transducers based on ultrasound reflection that the transducers receive in response to the event, that selects a second transducer group whose receive signals based on ultrasound reflection from a puncture needle have high intensity, that, for each event, sets a target area for generating a sub-frame data item inside a virtual area of the subject that receives ultrasound transmitted in the event, and generates the sub-frame data item by performing, for each measurement point in the target area, delay-and-sum processing on receive signal sequences for the second transducer group, and that generates a frame data item by combining sub-frame data items for events.

A method of acquiring ultrasound radio-frequency data includes providing an ultrasound transducer; providing an ultrasound data acquisition system; transmitting ultrasound beams using a transmission function of the ultrasound transducer and ultrasound data acquisition system; receiving the ultrasound beams using a reception function of the ultrasound transducer and the ultrasound data acquisition system; recording raw radio-frequency data with the ultrasound data acquisition system; sending the raw radio-frequency data to a processing unit; and deblending the raw radio-frequency data into individual ultrasound beam records. The ultrasound beams are transmitted in such a way that a subsequent ultrasound beam is transmitted before a previous ultrasound beam is received by the ultrasound transducer, and the ultrasound beams are overlapping in time in accordance with a first pseudo random sequence and overlapping in space in accordance with a second pseudo random sequence. A system for acquiring and processing BLEND ultrasound radio-frequency data is also disclosed.