Ultrasound diagnosis apparatus, image processing apparatus, and image processing method

An ultrasound diagnosis apparatus comprising:

• transmission and reception circuitry configured to generate reception signals corresponding to a plurality of channels, from reflected waves arranged to be received at a mutually same time by a plurality of transducer elements that transmitted an ultrasound wave, by controlling multiple transducer elements included in an ultrasound probe;
• extracting circuitry configured to extract, prior to a beam forming process, first signals corresponding to the plurality of channels from the reception signals corresponding to the channels while suppressing signals originating from a tissue and to further extract a second signal by performing the beam forming process after suppressing, of the extracted first signals corresponding to the plurality of channels, one or more signals each having an amplitude equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold value;
• calculating circuitry configured to calculate blood flow information from the second signal;
• and
• controlling circuitry configured to generate a blood flow image from the blood flow information and to cause a display to display the generated blood flow image.

An image processing apparatus comprising:

• obtaining circuitry configured to obtain reception signals corresponding to a plurality of channels and being generated from reflected waves arranged to be received at a mutually same time by a plurality of transducer elements that transmitted an ultrasound wave, by controlling multiple transducer elements included in an ultrasound probe;
• extracting circuitry configured to extract, prior to a beam forming process, first signals corresponding to the plurality of channels from the reception signals corresponding to the channels while suppressing signals originating from a tissue and to further extract a second signal by performing the beam forming process after suppressing, of the extracted first signals corresponding to the plurality of channels, a component in a predetermined direction;
• calculating circuitry configured to calculate blood flow information from the second signal;
• and
• controlling circuitry configured to generate a blood flow image from the blood flow information and to cause a display to display the generated blood flow image.

An image processing apparatus comprising:

• obtaining circuitry configured to obtain reception signals corresponding to a plurality of channels and being generated from reflected waves arranged to be received at a mutually same time by a plurality of transducer elements that transmitted an ultrasound wave, by controlling multiple transducer elements included in an ultrasound probe;
• extracting circuitry configured to extract, prior to a beam forming process, first signals corresponding to the plurality of channels from the reception signals corresponding to the channels while suppressing signals originating from a tissue and to further extract a second signal by performing the beam forming process after suppressing, of the extracted first signals corresponding to the plurality of channels, one or more signals each having an amplitude equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold value;
• calculating circuitry configured to calculate blood flow information from the second signal;
• and
• controlling circuitry configured to generate a blood flow image from the blood flow information and to cause a display to display the generated blood flow image.

An image processing method comprising:

• obtaining reception signals corresponding to a plurality of channels and being generated from reflected waves arranged to be received at a mutually same time by a plurality of transducer elements that transmitted an ultrasound wave, by controlling multiple transducer elements included in an ultrasound probe;
• extracting, prior to a beam forming process, first signals corresponding to the plurality of channels from the reception signals corresponding to the channels while suppressing signals originating from a tissue and further extracting a second signal by performing the beam forming process after suppressing, of the extracted first signals corresponding to the plurality of channels, a component in a predetermined direction;
• calculating blood flow information from the second signal;
• and
• generating a blood flow image from the blood flow information and causing a display to display the generated blood flow image.

An image processing method comprising:

• obtaining reception signals corresponding to a plurality of channels and being generated from reflected waves arranged to be received at a mutually same time by a plurality of transducer elements that transmitted an ultrasound wave, by controlling multiple transducer elements included in an ultrasound probe;
• extracting, prior to a beam forming process, first signals corresponding to the plurality of channels from the reception signals corresponding to the channels while suppressing signals originating from a tissue and further extracting a second signal by performing the beam forming process after suppressing, of the extracted first signals corresponding to the plurality of channels, one or more signals each having an amplitude equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold value;
• calculating blood flow information from the second signal;
• and
• generating a blood flow image from the blood flow information and causing a display to display the generated blood flow image.