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US 2007/0167816 A1Published application
System and method for optical data transmission in ultrasound imaging
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsGlen Koste, Samhita Dasgupta, Matthew Nielsen, Min-Yi Shih, Robert Filkins, Todd Tolliver, Bruno Haider
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Abstract
A system and method for optical transmission of ultrasound data signals from a probe to an image processing system is provided. By using a silicon-based optical modulator to encode ultrasound data signals onto an optical signal, an optical transmission link between the ultrasound probe and the image processing system can achieve a high signal to noise ratio with a lower power input.
Claims20
An ultrasound system comprising:
- an ultrasound probe having a number of transducers;
- an image processor configured to receive scan signals of the transducers and process an image based on the scan signals;
- and
- an optical transmission link connected between the ultrasound probe and the image processing system and configured to communicate the scan signals thereacross, the optical transmission link having at least one optical modulator.
1 more element
A method for ultrasound imaging comprising:
- acquiring ultrasound data from an object of interest;
- electrically communicating the ultrasound data to an optical modulator;
- forward biasing the optical modulator;
- modulating an optical signal in accordance with the ultrasound data;
- and
- transmitting the modulated optical signal to an imaging subsystem for image reconstruction.
3 more elements
An ultrasound probe comprising:
- a transducer array having a plurality of transducers;
- a receiver to acquire ultrasound scan data from the transducers;
- a light source input connected to receive a light signal;
- and
- an optical modulator connected to the receiver and configured to modulate the light signal to encode the ultrasound scan data thereon.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.