Patent classifications
G01S15/8913
Methods and Instrumentation for Estimation of Wave Propagation and Scattering Parameters
Estimation and imaging of linear and nonlinear propagation and scattering parameters in a material object where the material parameters for wave propagation and scattering has a nonlinear dependence on the wave field amplitude. The methods transmit at least two pulse complexes composed of co-propagating high frequency (HF) and low frequency (LF) pulses along at least one LF and HF transmit beam axis, where said HF pulse propagates close to the crest or trough of the LF pulse along at least one HF transmit beam, and where one of the amplitude and polarity of the LF pulse varies between at least two transmitted pulse complexes. At least one HF receive beam crosses the HF transmit beam at an angle, to provide at least two HF cross-beam receive signals from at least two transmitted pulse complexes with different LF pulses.
ULTRASONIC IMAGING DEVICE WITH PROGRAMMABLE ANATOMY AND FLOW IMAGING
An imaging device includes a transducer that includes an array of piezoelectric elements formed on a substrate. Each piezoelectric element includes at least one membrane suspended from the substrate, at least one bottom electrode disposed on the membrane, at least one piezoelectric layer disposed on the bottom electrode, and at least one top electrode disposed on the at least one piezoelectric layer. Adjacent piezoelectric elements are configured to be isolated acoustically from each other. The device is utilized to measure flow or flow along with imaging anatomy.
Method and Apparatus for Ultrasound Imaging with Improved Beamforming
Disclosed herein is a method of ultrasound imaging of an object using an ultrasound transducer which comprises an array of transducer elements capable of converting sound signals into electrical signals and vice versa, comprising the following steps: A) transmitting an ultrasound beam from said ultrasound transducer into the object, by activating a first subset of said transducer elements, B) detecting reflected signals in a time resolved manner by means of a second subset of said transducer elements, wherein timing information of a detected signal is associated with information regarding the depth where the detected signal was reflected within the object subjected to imaging, and wherein the reflected signals associated with said second subset of transducer elements resemble a set of two-dimensional ultrasound data, of which one dimension resembles the various transducer elements of said second subset and the other dimension resembles depth information, C) converting said two-dimensional ultrasound data into a scan object using a receive beamforming procedure which accounts for differences in distance of individual transducer elements from a given site of sound reflection within the object, repeating steps A) to C) for different choices regarding at least one of said first and second subsets and the timing of the activation of transducer elements within said first subset, thereby obtaining a plurality of scan objects, and a step of constructing a visual image from said plurality of scan objects, wherein said receive beamforming procedure employs a machine learning based receive beamforming model for mapping said two-dimensional ultrasound data to said scan object.
CONCAVE ULTRASOUND TRANSDUCERS AND 3D ARRAYS
A Multiple Aperture Ultrasound Imaging (MAUI) probe or transducer is uniquely capable of simultaneous imaging of a region of interest from separate apertures of ultrasound arrays. Some embodiments provide systems and methods for designing, building and using ultrasound probes having continuous arrays of ultrasound transducers which may have a substantially continuous concave curved shape in two or three dimensions (i.e., concave relative to an object to be imaged). Other embodiments herein provide systems and methods for designing, building and using ultrasound imaging probes having other unique configurations, such as adjustable probes and probes with variable configurations.
Quantitative Ultrasound Imaging Based on Seismic Full Waveform Inversion
This disclosure provides a system and method for producing ultrasound images based on Full Waveform Inversion (FWI). The system captures acoustic/(an)elastic waves transmitted through and reflected and/or diffracted from a medium. The system performs an FWI process in a time domain in conjunction with an accurate wave propagation solver. The system produces 3D maps of physical parameters that control wave propagation, such as shear and compressional wavespeeds, mass density, attenuation, Poisson's ratio, bulk and shear moduli, impedance, and even the fourth-order elastic tensor containing up to 21 independent parameters, which are of significant diagnostic value, e.g., for medical imaging and non-destructive testing.
Method and apparatus for low-power ultraportable ultrasound imaging
Methods, systems, and apparatuses are disclosed for ultrasound imaging comprising Time Delay Spectrometry. A frequency swept signal can be transmitted through a medium, such as human tissue. The signal can be a low-voltage signal (e.g., 0 volts to 5 volts peak-to-peak) transmitted for long duration (e.g., 20 milliseconds) at various frequencies. As the signal propagates through the medium it can be reflected and delayed. A delay associated with the signal the can cause a change in the associated frequencies. The signal can be filtered to retain only frequencies in an audio frequency range. The signal can be beamformed and processed to produce an image.
SINGLE PIEZOELECTRIC TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER TO DETECT BLOOD VELOCITIES
A system for detecting blood velocity within a blood vessel includes a piezoelectric transducer supported on a ceramic substrate. The ceramic substrate supports the piezoelectric transducer at a fixed angle of incidence that is greater than 0 and less than 90. The ceramic substrate is formed of steatite ceramic and is configured to couple an ultrasonic signal emitted by the transducer to skin underlying the substrate.
CROSS-RAY ULTRASOUND TOMOGRAPHY (CRUST) METHODS AND SYSTEMS
Among the various aspects of the present disclosure is the provision of systems and methods of cross-ray ultrasound tomography.
Ultrasound method and apparatus
Embodiments described provide an ultrasound method, and an ultrasound apparatus and computer program product operable to perform that method. In some embodiments, the method allows for provision of a multi-transducer ultrasound imaging system by providing a robust method to accurately localize the transducers in the system in order to beamform a final image. The method and apparatus described allow for improvements in imaging quality in terms of resolution, depth penetration, contrast and signal to noise ratio (SNR).
Multi-frequency harmonic acoustography for target identification and border detection
A vibro-acoustography imaging system that generates a map of the mechanical response of a target to an acoustic radiation force, usually in low kHz range by a confocal geometry. The system generates two focused sinusoidal beams to produce a stress field at the beat frequency, which is a function of vibration and acoustic emissions field in terms of mechanical properties. A highly sensitive hydrophone is then used for detection of the acoustic emissions field, the amplitude of which may be correlated to the mechanical properties of the target tissue.