The quality of ping-based ultrasound imaging is dependent on the accuracy of information describing the precise acoustic position of transmitting and receiving transducer elements. Improving the quality of transducer element position data can substantially improve the quality of ping-based ultrasound images, particularly those obtained using a multiple aperture ultrasound imaging probe, i.e., a probe with a total aperture greater than any anticipated maximum coherent aperture width. Various systems and methods for calibrating element position data for a probe are described.

A method includes receiving first electrical signals from a first single-element transducer (112.sub.1) and second electrical signals from a second single-element transducer (112.sub.2). The transducers are disposed on a shaft (110), which has a longitudinal axis (200), of an ultrasound imaging probe (102) with transducing sides disposed transverse to and facing away from the longitudinal axis. The transducers are angularly offset from each other on the shaft by a non-zero angle. The transducers are operated at first and second different cutoff frequencies. The shaft concurrently translates and rotates while the transducers receive the first and second ultrasound signals. The method further includes delay and sum beamforming, with first and second beamformers (120.sub.1, 120.sub.2), the first and second electrical signals, respectively via different processing chains (712.sub.1, 712.sub.2), employing an adaptive synthetic aperture technique, producing first and second images. The method further includes combining the first and second images, creating a final image, and displaying the final image.

The quality of ping-based ultrasound imaging is dependent on the accuracy of information describing the precise acoustic position of transmitting and receiving transducer elements. Improving the quality of transducer element position data can substantially improve the quality of ping-based ultrasound images, particularly those obtained using a multiple aperture ultrasound imaging probe, i.e., a probe with a total aperture greater than any anticipated maximum coherent aperture width. Various systems and methods for calibrating element position data for a probe are described.

This disclosure describes systems and methods for crosstalk-free source encoding for ultrasound tomography. This disclosed systems and methods feature real data acquisition acceleration and/or numerical simulation acceleration (or image processing acceleration).

A system and method for enhancing ultrasound images acquired at a low acoustic power to simulate an acquisition at a high acoustic power is provided. The method may include acquiring, by an ultrasound system, a first ultrasound image at a first acoustic power. The method may include processing, by at least one processor, the first ultrasound image to generate a second ultrasound image simulating a second acoustic power that is greater than the first acoustic power. The method may include presenting the second ultrasound image simulating the second acoustic power at a display system.

Shear waves are generated and measured in viscoelastic phantoms by a single push beam. Using numerical simulations or an analytical function to describe the diffraction of the shear wave, the resulting shear wave motion induced by the applied push beam is calculated with different shear elasticity values and then convolved with a separate expression that describes the effects of viscosity value for the medium. The optimization algorithm chooses the tissue parameters which provide the smallest difference between the measured shear waveform and the simulated shear waveform. A shear viscosity image is generated by applying such optimization procedure at all of the observation points.

This disclosure describes systems and methods for crosstalk-free source encoding for ultrasound tomography. This disclosed systems and methods feature real data acquisition acceleration and/or numerical simulation acceleration (or image processing acceleration).

A system and method for enhancing ultrasound images acquired at a low acoustic power to simulate an acquisition at a high acoustic power is provided. The method may include acquiring, by an ultrasound system, a first ultrasound image at a first acoustic power. The method may include processing, by at least one processor, the first ultrasound image to generate a second ultrasound image simulating a second acoustic power that is greater than the first acoustic power. The method may include presenting the second ultrasound image simulating the second acoustic power at a display system.

A method and system for generating arbitrary ultrasonic waveforms using a tri-state transmitter. Three variants of the device are described to provide functionality in three usage scenarios.

A method includes receiving first electrical signals from a first single-element transducer (112.sub.1) and second electrical signals from a second single-element transducer (112.sub.2). The transducers are disposed on a shaft (110), which has a longitudinal axis (200), of an ultrasound imaging probe (102) with transducing sides disposed transverse to and facing away from the longitudinal axis. The transducers are angularly offset from each other on the shaft by a non-zero angle. The transducers are operated at first and second different cutoff frequencies. The shaft concurrently translates and rotates while the transducers receive the first and second ultrasound signals. The method further includes delay and sum beamforming, with first and second beamformers (120.sub.1, 120.sub.2), the first and second electrical signals, respectively via different processing chains (712.sub.1, 712.sub.2), employing an adaptive synthetic aperture technique, producing first and second images. The method further includes combining the first and second images, creating a final image, and displaying the final image.