A coherence indicator of received signals is calculated for pixels with a small amount of calculation, and a high-quality ultrasound image is obtained. A plurality of types of images in which a sound speed for beamforming is changed into a plurality of types are generated. By arranging, in order of the sound speed for beamforming, signal intensities of the pixels at corresponding positions between the plurality of types of images, a change in signal intensities in a direction of the sound speed for beamforming is obtained. A coherence indicator representing coherence of the received signals used for beamforming of the pixels is calculated based on the obtained change in the signal intensities.

An electronic device includes a microphone, an array of coherent optical emitters, an array of balanced coherent optical vibration sensors, and a processor. Each balanced coherent optical vibration sensor in the array of balanced coherent optical vibration sensors is paired with a coherent optical emitter in the array of coherent optical emitters. The processor is configured to analyze a set of waveforms acquired by the array of balanced coherent optical vibration sensors; identify, using the analysis of the set of waveforms, a set of one or more voices in a field of view; and adjust an output of the microphone to accentuate a particular voice in the set of one or more voices.

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of embodiment includes a receiver circuit and processing circuitry. The receiver circuit performs a first process of multiplying a gain to a received signal in analog form while changing the gain with depth, and performs a second process of converting the received signal subjected to the first process into a received signal in digital form. The processing circuitry performs a third process on the received signal in digital form so that a level of noise included in the received signal in digital form is made constant, and performs a fourth process of reducing the noise included in the received signal on the received signal in digital form subjected to the third process.

A 3D ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system produces 3D display images at a 3D frame rate of display which is equal to the acquisition rate of a 3D image dataset. The volumetric region being imaged is sparsely sub-sampled by separated scanning beams. Spatial locations between the beams are filled in with interpolated values or interleaved with acquired data values from other 3D scanning intervals depending upon the existence of motion in the image field. A plurality of different beam scanning patterns are used, different ones of which have different spatial locations where beams are located and beams are omitted. In a preferred embodiment the determination of motion and the consequent decision to use interpolated or interleaved data for display is determined on a pixel-by-pixel basis.

A system may include an ultrasound probe and a controller unit configured to communicate with the ultrasound probe. The controller unit may be further configured to transmit ultrasound signals using the ultrasound probe toward an area of interest in a patient's body, wherein the ultrasound signals include a fundamental frequency signal and at least one harmonic frequency signal; receive echo signals from the area of interest based on the transmitted ultrasound signals; obtain a fundamental frequency echo signal and at least one harmonic frequency echo signal from the received echo signals; and generate a visual representation of the area of interest based on the obtained fundamental frequency echo signal and the obtained at least one harmonic frequency echo signal.

An acoustic technique can be used for performing non-destructive testing. For example, a method for acoustic evaluation of a target can include generating respective acoustic transmission events via selected transmitting ones of a plurality of electroacoustic transducers, and in response to the respective acoustic transmission events, receiving respective acoustic echo signals using other receiving ones of the plurality of electroacoustic transducers, and coherently summing representations of the respective received acoustic echo signals to generate a pixel or voxel value corresponding to a specified spatial location of the target. Such summation can include weighting contributions from the respective representations to suppress contributions from acoustic propagation paths outside a specified angular range with respect to a surface on or within the target, such as to provide an acoustic path-filtered total focusing method (PF-TFM).

The present invention relates to an ultrasound imaging system comprising: an image processor configured to receive at least one set of volume data resulting from a three-dimensional ultrasound scan of a body and to provide corresponding display data, an anatomy detector configured to detect a position and orientation of an anatomical object of interest within the at least one set of volume data, a slice generator for generating a plurality of two-dimensional slices from the at least one set of volume data, wherein said slice generator is configured to define respective slice locations based on the results of the anatomy detector for the anatomical object of interest so as to obtain a set of two-dimensional standard views of the anatomical object of interest, wherein the slice generator is further configured to define for each two-dimensional standard view which anatomical features of the anatomical object of interest are expected to be contained, and an evaluation unit for evaluating a quality factor for each of the generated plurality of two-dimensional slices by comparing each of the slices with the anatomical features expected for the respective two-dimensional standard view.

An underwater detection apparatus is provided which includes a transmission transducer, a reception transducer, and a motor. The transmission transducer transmits a transmission wave within a given fan-shaped transmission space, the fan-shaped transmission space having a first transmission width in a given first plane and a second transmission width in a second plane perpendicular to the first plane. The reception transducer receives, as a reception wave, a reflection wave of the transmission wave within a given fan-shaped reception space, the fan-shaped reception space having a first reception width in the first plane and a second reception width in the second plane, the second reception width being wider than the second transmission width, and in the second plane, the fan-shaped transmission space being within the fan-shaped reception space. The motor rotates the fan-shaped transmission space and the fan-shaped reception space.

Disclosed herein is a system that includes an ultrasound imaging probe having a first optical fiber integrated therein and a console optically coupled with the ultrasound imaging probe via a first elongate member. The console includes one or more processors and a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon logic, that when executed by the one or more processors, causes operations that can include providing an incident light signal to the first optical fiber via the first elongate member, receiving reflected light signals of different spectral widths of the incident light from the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber, processing the reflected light signals to determine a first three-dimensional (3D) shape extending along a length including at least portions of the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber, and causing rendering of an image of the first 3D shape on a display of the medical system.

An ultrasound system has a set of CMUT ultrasound transducer devices and a drive circuit for operating the ultrasound transducer devices, for delivering an AC drive signal and receiving a reflected signal. An intermediate circuit is between the drive circuit and the set of ultrasound devices in the form of an array of coupling circuits, each coupling circuit between the drive circuit and an associated at least one ultrasound transducer device. Each coupling circuit comprises a buffer element connected between a bias voltage and a device terminal and as series capacitor. The intermediate circuit serves as a connection link between the set of CMUT transducer elements and the driving/sensing electronics, and is formed as a passive integrated technology circuit. The buffer element prevents a low-impedance short between the CMUT cell bias node and the counter electrode in the case of a CMUT cell drum short circuit. In this way, failure of an individual cell will not cause a breakdown of the whole CMUT array nor a breakdown of the driving electronics.