Multiple frequency scanning using an ultrasound probe

A system comprising:

• an ultrasound probe;
• and
• a controller unit configured to:
• communicate with the ultrasound probe;
• transmit ultrasound signals via the ultrasound probe toward an area of interest in a patient's body, wherein the ultrasound signals include a fundamental frequency signal and at least one harmonic frequency signal;
• receive echo signals from the area of interest based on the transmitted ultrasound signals;
• obtain a fundamental frequency echo signal and at least one harmonic frequency echo signal from the received echo signals, wherein, when obtaining the fundamental frequency echo signal and the at least one harmonic frequency echo signal from the received echo signals, the controller unit is further configured to:
• retrieve a plurality of echo signals corresponding to the fundamental frequency echo signal and the at last one harmonic frequency echo signal using a plurality of bandpass filters;
• generate at least one ultrasound image, wherein the at least one ultrasound image includes pixel values generated based on a particular one of the plurality of echo signals, or on a parameter computed based on the particular one of the plurality of echo signals;
• provide the generated at least one ultrasound image as an input into a classifier to characterize the area of interest, wherein the classifier is trained to receive inputs that include at least one ultrasound image that includes pixel values generated based on a harmonic frequency component extracted from ultrasound echo signals or generated based on one or more parameters computed based on the harmonic frequency component, and generate, based on the received inputs, an output that characterizes a target in the area of interest;
• and
• generate a visual representation of the area of interest based on the obtained fundamental frequency echo signal and the obtained at least one harmonic frequency echo signal, or based on the characterized area of interest.

A device comprising:

• logic configured to:
• transmit ultrasound signals via an ultrasound probe toward an area of interest in a patient's body, wherein the ultrasound signals include a fundamental frequency signal and at least one harmonic frequency signal, wherein the fundamental frequency signal and the at least one harmonic frequency signal are transmitted sequentially;
• receive echo signals from the area of interest based on the transmitted ultrasound signals;
• obtain a fundamental frequency echo signal and at least one harmonic frequency echo signal from the received echo signals, wherein, when obtaining the fundamental frequency echo signal and the at least one harmonic frequency echo signal from the received echo signals, the logic is further configured to:
• retrieve a plurality of echo signals corresponding to the fundamental frequency echo signal and the at last one harmonic frequency echo signal;
• generate at least one ultrasound image, wherein the at least one ultrasound image includes pixel values generated based on a particular one of the plurality of echo signals, or on a parameter computed based on the particular one of the plurality of echo signals;
• provide the generated at least one ultrasound image as an input into a classifier to characterize the area of interest, wherein the classifier is trained to receive inputs that include at least one ultrasound image that includes pixel values generated based on a harmonic frequency component extracted from ultrasound echo signals or generated based on one or more parameters computed based on the harmonic frequency component, and generate, based on the received inputs, an output that characterizes a target in the area of interest;
• and
• generate a visual representation of the area of interest based on the obtained fundamental frequency echo signal and the obtained at least one harmonic frequency echo signal, or based on the characterized area of interest.

A method performed by a computing device, the method comprising:

• transmitting, by the computing device, ultrasound signals using an ultrasound probe toward an area of interest in a patient's body, wherein the ultrasound signals include a fundamental frequency signal and at least one harmonic frequency signal;
• receiving, by the computing device, echo signals from the area of interest based on the transmitted ultrasound signals;
• obtaining, by the computing device, a fundamental frequency echo signal and a harmonic frequency echo signal from the received echo signals;
• generating, by the computer device, a first ultrasound image that includes pixel values generated based on the obtained fundamental frequency echo signal;
• generating, by the computer device, a second ultrasound image that includes pixel values generated based on a ratio of the obtained fundamental frequency echo signal and the obtained harmonic frequency echo signal computed for particular pixel positions;
• providing, by the computing device, the generated first ultrasound image and the generated second ultrasound image as an input into a classifier to perform a segmentation of the area of interest;
• and
• generating, by the computing device, a visual representation of the area of interest based on the segmentation of the characterized area of interest.