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US 10,863,968 B2Granted
Ultrasonic imaging system with angularly compounded acoustic radiation force excitation
AssigneeWisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
InventorsIvan Miguel Rosado-Mendez, Timothy Jon Hall
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ultrasound machine for generating push-pulses to excite shear wave stimulation employs separated angled beams that converge at the target region to generate the push-pulses. In one embodiment, the beams are modulated by a set of apodization functions to reduce side lobes caused by the narrowing of the apertures of the beam as well as transducer heating by reducing the average energy deposited in each transducer element.
Claims14
An ultrasonic imaging system comprising:
- an ultrasound transducer array providing for independently controllable array elements providing ultrasonic excitation to adjacent tissue;
- and an acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) transducer controller communicating with the transducer to:
- (a) provide a signal to the transducer array to generate an axial push excitation from a first subset of the array elements applying an axial acoustic radiation force along an axis extending away from the transducer in a direction of ultrasound propagation during a push time depositing the axial acoustic radiation force in a target region in tissue receiving ultrasonic energy from the transducer array, the axial acoustic radiation force adapted to push the tissue into shear wave motion;
- and
- (b) receive signals from the transducer array to monitor a lateral propagation of the shear wave motion perpendicular to the axis following the push time;
- and
- (c) selecting a second subset of the array elements separating the first subset of array elements to be inactive during the entire generation of the axial push excitation wherein at least two ultrasound beams are provided by the axial push excitation and having propagation axes that are angled to intersect at the target region at a depth of the target region within the tissue;
- wherein the at least two ultrasound beams first converge at the target region;
- wherein the ultrasound beams provide a region without transmitted ultrasonic energy between a center of the ultrasound transducer and the target region;
- wherein the ultrasound of each ultrasound beam is unfocused;
- wherein the signal excites the array elements producing at least two beams with different amplitudes of ultrasonic signal as a function of the array element number according to at least one non-constant apodization function.
8 more elements
A method of ultrasound imaging employing an ultrasonic imaging system having:
- an ultrasound transducer array providing for independently controllable array elements providing ultrasonic excitation to adjacent tissue;
- an acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) transducer controller communicating with the transducer to:
- (a) provide a signal to the transducer array to generate an axial push excitation from a first subset of array elements applying an axial acoustic radiation force along an axis extending away from the transducer in a direction of ultrasound propagation during a push time depositing the axial acoustic radiation force in a target region in tissue receiving ultrasonic energy from the transducer array, the axial acoustic radiation force adapted to push the tissue into shear wave motion;
- and
- (b) receive signals from the transducer array to monitor a lateral propagation of a the shear wave motion perpendicular to the axis following the push time;
- and
- (c) select a second subset of the array elements separating the first subset of array elements to be inactive during the entire generation of the axial push excitation;
- wherein at least two ultrasound beams are provided by the axial push excitation intersecting at the target region at a depth of the target region within the tissue;
- wherein the at least two ultrasound beams first converge at the target region;
- wherein the ultrasound beams provide a region without transmitted ultrasonic energy between a center of the ultrasound transducer and the target region;
- wherein the ultrasound of each ultrasound beam is unfocused;
- wherein the signal excites the array elements producing at least two beams with different amplitudes of ultrasonic signal as a function of the array element number according to at least one non-constant apodization function
- the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing the signal to the transducer array to generate the at least two ultrasound beams from the first subset of array elements in the active state emitting ultrasound laterally separated by a region of the second subset of the array elements selected to be inactive during generation of the axial push excitation;
- (b) exciting target tissue with axial acoustic radiation force to push the tissue into shear wave motion, the at least two ultrasound beams intersecting at the target region at the depth of the target region within the tissue;
- and
- (c) measuring the lateral propagation of the shear wave motion perpendicular to the axis of the ultrasound propagation following the push time.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.