The present disclosure directs to a system and method for ultrasound imaging. The method may include obtaining a total count of detecting members of a detector of an ultrasound scanner and a directivity angle of each detecting member of the detector. The method may also include obtaining one or more focuses each of which corresponds to a transmission of ultrasound waves of the ultrasound scanner, wherein the one or more focuses are located within the detector. The method may further include determining a synthetic aperture for each of one or more transmissions corresponding to the one or more focuses based on the total count of the detecting members of the detector, the directivity angle of each detecting member of the detector, and the one or more focuses, the synthetic aperture including at least one detecting member of the detector.

An ultrasound system includes a transducer array having three or more rows of transducer elements extending in the azimuth dimension and located adjacent to each other in the elevation dimension. The rows have different mechanical foci in the elevation dimension, with an inner row elevationally focused in the near field and outer rows elevationally focused in the far field. When the user is imaging a subject in the near field, the system beamformer transmits with the inner row with a near field elevation focus. When imaging in the far field a plurality of rows elevationally focused in the far field are used for transmission. When the user is imaging in the mid-range, the beamformer uses both the inner row and the plurality of outer rows to provide an extended mid-range elevation focus.

A system for coherence imaging may receive ultrasound signals each having a respective delay associated with a respective ultrasonic transducer element in an ultrasonic transducer array. The system may obtain an approximation of the auto-correlation of ultrasound signals without any auto-correlation calculation, and determine the output image based on the approximation. In approximating the auto-correlation, the system may group the ultrasound signals into multiple portions, each corresponding to a respective sub-aperture of a plurality of sub-apertures of the ultrasonic transducer array. The system may determine a coherent sum of signals for each sub-aperture, perform a square operation or magnitude square operation over the coherent sum to obtain resulting data, normalize the resulting data, and sum the resulting data for all of the sub-apertures to generate the output image. A sub-aperture in the plurality of sub-apertures may overlap with another sub-aperture.

A Multiple Aperture Ultrasound Imaging system and methods of use are provided with any number of features. In some embodiments, a multi-aperture ultrasound imaging system is configured to transmit and receive ultrasound energy to and from separate physical ultrasound apertures. In some embodiments, a transmit aperture of a multi-aperture ultrasound imaging system is configured to transmit an omni-directional unfocused ultrasound waveform approximating a first point source through a target region. In some embodiments, the ultrasound energy is received with a single receiving aperture. In other embodiments, the ultrasound energy is received with multiple receiving apertures. Algorithms are described that can combine echoes received by one or more receiving apertures to form high resolution ultrasound images. Additional algorithms can solve for variations in tissue speed of sound, thus allowing the ultrasound system to be used virtually anywhere in or on the body.

An intraluminal imaging device includes a flexible elongate member configured to be inserted into a lumen within a body of a patient, the flexible elongate member comprising a longitudinal axis; an imaging assembly coupled to the flexible elongate member, the imaging assembly comprising: a plurality of ultrasound transducer elements disposed around the longitudinal axis of the flexible elongate member; a plurality of controllers configured to control the plurality of ultrasound transducer elements to obtain imaging data associated with the lumen; and a plurality of electrical wires extending between the plurality of the ultrasound transducer elements and the plurality of controllers and configured to facilitate communication between the plurality of the ultrasound transducer elements and the plurality of controllers.

A method that includes transmitting coded waveforms simultaneously on multiple elements for several frames, constructing a first multi-input, single output (MISO) system from the codes to model transmit-receive paths, solving system and RF data observation by linear model theory, giving an IR set for the medium, and applying the estimates to a secondary MISO system, constructed by analogy to the first, but with pulses convenient for beamforming in the form of a focused set of single-cycle pulses for ideal focused reconstruction.

Sold-state intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging devices, systems, and methods are provided. Some embodiments of the present disclosure are particularly directed to flexible and efficient systems for focusing IVUS echo data received from transducers including polymer piezoelectric micro-machined ultrasound transducers (PMUTs). In one embodiment, an ultrasound processing system includes first and second aperture engines coupled to an engine controller, which provides aperture assignments to the first and second aperture engines. The aperture engines receive the assignment and a portion of A-line data, perform one or more focusing process on the received A-line data, and produce focused data in accordance with the aperture assignment. In some embodiments, once an aperture engine has produced focused data, the engine controller clears the aperture engine and assigns another aperture.

An ultrasound signal processing device including: a transmitter performing transmission events while varying ultrasound beam travel direction; a reception processor generating an acoustic line signal for each transmission event that is performed by generating reception signal sequences and performing delay-and-summing; a combiner generating an intermediate combined acoustic line signal by combining acoustic line signals corresponding to the first to latest transmission events performed for a current frame; an evaluator judging whether a subsequent transmission event is to be performed for the current frame by calculating an evaluation value from an energy value of the intermediate combined acoustic line signal and judging whether the evaluation value satisfies a predetermined condition; and an outputter outputting the intermediate combined acoustic line signal as a combined acoustic line signal once the evaluator judges that a subsequent transmission event is not to be performed for the current frame.

Techniques, systems, and devices are disclosed for synthetic aperture ultrasound imaging using spread-spectrum, wide instantaneous band, coherent, coded waveforms. In one aspect, a method includes synthesizing a composite waveform formed of a plurality of individual orthogonal coded waveforms that are mutually orthogonal to each other, correspond to different frequency bands and including a unique frequency with a corresponding phase; transmitting an acoustic wave based on the composite waveform toward a target from one or more transmitting positions; and receiving at one or more receiving positions acoustic energy returned from at least part of the target corresponding to the transmitted acoustic waveforms, in which the transmitting and receiving positions each include one or both of spatial positions of an array of transducer elements relative to the target and beam phase center positions of the array, and the transmitted acoustic waveforms and the returned acoustic waveforms produce an enlarged effective aperture.

A multiple aperture ultrasound imaging system may be configured to store raw, un-beamformed echo data. Stored echo data may be retrieved and re-beamformed using modified parameters in order to enhance the image or to reveal information that was not visible or not discernible in an original image. Raw echo data may also be transmitted over a network and beamformed by a remote device that is not physically proximate to the probe performing imaging. Such systems may allow physicians or other practitioners to manipulate echo data as though they were imaging the patient directly, even without the patient being present. Many unique diagnostic opportunities are made possible by such systems and methods.