Ultrasonic apparatus

A method for acquiring specimen information by receiving an ultrasonic wave from a specimen, said method comprising:

• generating a first intermediate signal by adaptive signal processing with the use of a plurality of received electrical signals obtained by a plurality of transducers which are configured to receive a plurality of ultrasonic waves and convert them into the plurality of received electrical signals;
• generating a second intermediate signal by fixed signal processing with the use of the plurality of received electrical signals and a predetermined weighting coefficient;
• and
• generating an output signal to be used for acquisition of the specimen information based on the first intermediate signal and the second intermediate signal,
• wherein, when intensity of the second intermediate signal is smaller than intensity of the first intermediate signal, the output signal outputted in said step of generating the output signal is one of (a) the second intermediate signal and (b) a signal which is generated by using the first intermediate signal and the second intermediate signal and whose intensity is smaller than the intensity of the first intermediate signal, and
• wherein, when the intensity of the second intermediate signal is not smaller than the intensity of the first intermediate signal, the output signal outputted in said step of generating the output signal is one of (c) the first intermediate signal and (d) a signal which is generated by using the first intermediate signal and the second intermediate signal and whose which intensity is smaller than the intensity of the second intermediate signal.

An ultrasonic apparatus which acquires biological information by receiving an ultrasonic wave from a specimen, said apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of transducers that transmit ultrasonic waves to the specimen and receive ultrasonic waves reflected in the specimen and convert the received ultrasonic waves into respective received electrical signals;
• an adaptive signal processing unit that generates a first intermediate signal by performing an adaptive signal processing with the use of a plurality of received electrical signals obtained from said plurality of transducers;
• a fixed signal processing unit that generates a second intermediate signal with the use of the plurality of received electrical signals and a predetermined weighting coefficient;
• and
• a unit that generates an output signal to be used for acquisition of the biological information by comparing the first intermediate signal and the second intermediate signal,
• wherein the adaptive signal processing unit generates the first intermediate signal independently from the second intermediate signal, and
• wherein said adaptive signal processing unit obtains a correlative matrix by using the plurality of received electrical signals, determines a weighting coefficient based on a sub-correlation matrix which is obtained by averaging sub-matrices in the correlative matrix, and, performs the adaptive signal processing by using the obtained weighting coefficient.

A method for acquiring biological information by receiving an ultrasonic wave from a specimen, said method comprising the steps of:

• transmitting ultrasonic waves to the specimen;
• receiving ultrasonic waves reflecting in the specimen and converting the received ultrasonic waves into received electrical signals by means of a plurality of transducers;
• generating a first intermediate signal by performing an adaptive signal processing with the use of a plurality of received electrical signals obtained from the plurality of transducers;
• generating a second intermediate signal with the use of the plurality of received electrical signals and a predetermined weighting coefficient;
• and
• generating an output signal to be used for acquisition of the biological information by comparing the first intermediate signal and the second intermediate signal,
• wherein, in generating the first intermediate signal, the first intermediate signal is generated independently from the second intermediate signal, and
• wherein said step of generating the first intermediate signal includes obtaining a correlative matrix by using the plurality of received electrical signals, determining a weighting coefficient based on a sub-correlation matrix which is obtained by averaging sub-matrices in the correlative matrix, and performing the adaptive signal processing by using the obtained weighting coefficient.