Ultrasonic transducer system

An ultrasonic transducer system comprising:

• at least one ultrasonic transducer element having an acoustic face, said acoustic face having a first end, a second end, and a central point along an elevation axis, said central point being between said first end and said second end;
• and
• an acoustic lens acoustically coupled to said acoustic face, said acoustic lens comprising a first lens element and a second lens element, wherein said acoustic lens has an acoustic loss with respect to energy transmitted from each of said first end and said second end that is at least as great as an acoustic loss with respect to energy transmitted from said central point.

An ultrasonic transducer system, comprising:

• at least one ultrasonic transducer element, said at least one ultrasonic transducer element having an acoustic face, said acoustic face having an elevation axis;
• and
• an acoustic lens acoustically coupled to said acoustic face, said acoustic lens comprising a first lens element, a second lens element, and a third lens element, wherein said first lens element is acoustically coupled to said second lens element and said second lens element is acoustically coupled to said third lens element.

A method of modifying an acoustic wave comprising:

• apodizing an acoustic wave by passing said acoustic wave through a first lens element acoustically coupled to a source of said acoustic wave;
• and
• focusing said acoustic wave by passing said acoustic wave through an interface between said first lens element and a second lens element, wherein a ratio of acoustic loss per unit thickness of said first lens element to acoustic loss per unit thickness of said second lens element is at least about 2 to 1.

An ultrasonic transducer system comprising:

• at least one ultrasonic transducer element having a substantially planar acoustic face, said at least one ultrasonic transducer element having an elevation axis;
• and
• an acoustic lens having a back surface acoustically coupled to said acoustic face and a front surface, said front surface being concave along said elevation axis, said ultrasonic transducer system having an aperture plane adjacent to said front surface of said acoustic lens, wherein said ultrasonic transducer system is operable to generate an acoustic wave having an amplitude distribution such that the amplitude at the center of said aperture plane along said elevation axis is equal to or greater than the amplitude at an edge of said aperture plane along said elevation axis.

In an ultrasonic transducer system, the improvement comprising:

• an acoustic lens having an acoustic loss that changes as a function of elevation or azimuth, said acoustic loss adapted to provide apodization.

An ultrasonic transducer system comprising:

• at least one ultrasonic transducer element having an acoustic face, said at least one ultrasonic transducer element having an elevation axis;
• and
• an acoustic lens having a back surface acoustically coupled to said acoustic face and a front surface, said front surface being concave along said elevation axis, said ultrasonic transducer system having an aperture plane adjacent to said front surface of said acoustic lens, wherein the ultrasonic transducer system is operable to generate an acoustic wave having an amplitude distribution that does not vary by more than 10 percent across said aperture plane along said elevation axis.

A method of improving contrast resolution of an ultrasound imaging system in a region between about 70% and about 130% of the focal length of an elevation axis of the ultrasound imaging system, said method comprising:

• apodizing an acoustic wave by passing said acoustic wave through a first lens element acoustically coupled to a source of said acoustic wave;
• and
• focusing said acoustic wave by passing said acoustic wave through an interface between said first lens element and a second lens element.

An ultrasonic transducer system comprising:

• at least one ultrasonic transducer element having an acoustic face, said at least one ultrasonic transducer element having an elevation axis;
• and
• an acoustic lens coupled to said acoustic face, said acoustic lens having a back surface acoustically coupled to said acoustic face and a front surface, said ultrasonic transducer system having an aperture plane adjacent to said front surface, wherein said acoustic lens has an edge-to-center apodization ratio at said aperture plane along said elevation axis of at least 3dB.