A catheter-based imaging apparatus comprises a catheter having a proximal end and a distal end. An optical emitter is configured to emit optical excitation signals from a distal portion of the catheter. One or more ultrasound transducers are configured for: (a) transmission of acoustic excitation signals from the distal portion of the catheter; and (b) detection of ultrasound response signals from an object of interest at or near to the distal portion of the catheter at frequencies which include a lower receive frequency at least as low as 10 MHz and a higher receive frequency at least as high as 35 MHz. The one or more ultrasound transducers are thereby configured to detect response signals comprising photoacoustic response signals from the object of interest at the lower receive frequency and high resolution imaging signals from the object of interest at the higher receive frequency.

An ultrasonic fingerprint sensing method includes: generating a first ultrasonic wave using a first frequency; receiving a first signal generated by reflection of the first ultrasonic wave from each of a ridge and a valley of a fingerprint; generating a first image based on the first signal; comparing the first image with a registered reference image to generate a matching score; and in response to the matching score being less than a threshold value, generating a second image using a second frequency.

The invention generally relates to intravascular imaging system and particularly to processing in multimodal systems. The invention provides an imaging system that splits incoming image data into two signals and performs the same processing step on each of the split signals. The system can then send the two signals down two processing pathways. Methods include receiving an analog image signal, transmitting the received signal to a processing system, splitting the signal to produce a first image signal and a second image signal, and performing a processing operation on the first image signal and the second image signal. The first and second signal include substantially the same information as one another.

A dual frequency ultrasound transducer includes a high frequency (HF) transducer and a low frequency (LF) transducer that is positioned behind the high frequency transducer. An intermediate layer is positioned between the low frequency transducer and the high frequency transducer to absorb high frequency ultrasound signals. An alignment feature on the low frequency transducer is positioned with respect to a fiducial that is marked at a known position with respect to high frequency transducer elements of the HF transducer to align low frequency transducer elements of the LF transducer with the HF transducer elements.

An ultrasound microbeamformer for one or more transducer arrays includes a plurality of channels, each of which has two transmitters and a receiver which is selectively coupled to two or more transducer elements by T/R switches and dynamically switchable receive switches (RXSW). The transmitters enable different transducers to be actuated differently, such as transmitting a high frequency pulse or waveform with one transmitter and a low frequency pulse or waveform with the other transmitter. The transmitters may both be used during the same transmit-receive cycle to simultaneously transmit and receive both high and low frequency signals for the formation of a common image.

A two-dimensional wideband ultrasound transducer array for three or four-dimensional (volume+time) non-invasively imaging/mapping of electrical current in, for example, the brain through the skull, or the heart. The probe also has unique capabilities for three-dimensional transcranial or transthoracic pulse echo ultrasound (tissue structure, motion, bone thickness) and doppler blood flow imaging. The handheld device interfaces with an ultrasound delivery system for applications to human brain or heart imaging, ultrasound neuromodulation, and therapy. The handheld ultrasound array enables three-dimensional steering of an ultrasound beam through the human skull or chest for ultrasound, doppler, and acoustoelectric imaging and related modalities to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of brain or heart disorders.

Systems and methods for detecting electromechanical wave propagation within a body structure of a patient in a series of image frames representing movement the body structure are provided. Image data is acquired comprising a series of image frames corresponding to the movement of a body structure. A correlation calculation is performed on the image frames to generate a displacement map representing the relative displacement between the first and second image frames. A video is generated comprising a series of displacement maps. The parameters of movement of the body structure are detected by analysis of the displacement maps. The image acquisition can detect the movement of the body structure without inducing such movement.

In one embodiment, a method includes transmitting, from a first transducer of an electronic device, a first audio signal to a surface near the electronic device. The first audio signal is generated based on a frequency sweep across a range of frequencies. The method also includes receiving, at a second transducer of the electronic device, a second audio signal that is at least partly reflected off the surface. The method then determines an attribute of the surface based on the received second audio signal.

The invention generally relates systems and methods to for producing an image from a rotational intravascular ultrasound device. A method can include alternately transmitting complementary Golay codes to a plurality of transducers in a intravascular ultrasound device; receiving echoes of the complementary codes from the transducers; performing pulse compression of the echoes that comprises weighting the received echoes and summing an odd number of weighted echoes, wherein a center echo is given a weighted value of 1.0 and weighted sums of its neighbors constitute complementary echoes of a Golay pair; and producing an image from the compressed echoes. A system can include a processor; and a plurality of beam modules coupled to the processor, each module comprising: a receiver for receiving a trigger signal from the processor; a complex programmable logic device programmed with a Golay code; a high voltage switching transmitter; and an ultrasound transducer.

Methods and systems for acquiring a plurality of data vectors at a first frequency and a plurality of data vectors at a second frequency, where the first frequency is greater than the second frequency. The plurality of first frequency data vectors can be formed into a first set of data vectors and the plurality of second frequency data vectors can be formed into a second set of data vectors. A first filter can be applied to the first set of data vectors to form a first modified data set and a second filter can be applied to the second set of data vectors to form a second modified data set. Based on the first and second modified data sets, a frequency response of an item in the imaging view can be determined. Using the determined frequency response of the item, an image is created on a display.