# US 2017/0281137 A1 · Signal processing for ultrasound imaging systems

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- Number: US 2017/0281137 A1
- Document ID: US20170281137A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 15/089,737
- Filed: 2016-04-04
- Published: 2017-10-05
- Earliest claimed: 2016-04-04
- Assignees: The Boeing Company
- Applicants: The Boeing Company
- Inventors: Jill Paisley Bingham
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20170281137A1

## CPC

- G01N 29/4463: {Signal correction, e.g. distance amplitude correction [DAC], distance gain size [DGS], noise filtering}
- G01S 7/52026: {Extracting wanted echo signals (Doppler systems G01S15/50; Doppler short range imaging systems G01S15/8979)}
- A61B 8/4483: {characterised by features of the ultrasound transducer}
- A61B 8/461: {Displaying means of special interest}
- A61B 8/5269: {involving detection or reduction of artifacts}
- A61B 8/54: {Control of the diagnostic device}
- G01H 3/10: Amplitude; Power
- G01H 7/00: Measuring reverberation time {; room acoustic measurements}
- G01N 29/048: {Marking the faulty objects}
- G01N 29/069: {Defect imaging, localisation and sizing using, e.g. time of flight diffraction [TOFD], synthetic aperture focusing technique [SAFT], Amplituden-Laufzeit-Ortskurven [ALOK] technique}
- G01N 29/4445: {Classification of defects}
- G01N 29/449: {Statistical methods not provided for in G01N29/4409, e.g. averaging, smoothing and interpolation}
- G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q)
- G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- G01H: MEASUREMENT OF MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS OR ULTRASONIC, SONIC OR INFRASONIC WAVES

## Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for selectively utilizing ultrasound data to quantify a part being scanned. One embodiment is a system that includes an ultrasonic wave generator configured to induce ultrasonic waves at locations along a part being scanned, and a controller. The controller is configured to operate the ultrasonic wave generator to collect data points that each indicate amplitude data and time-of-flight data of an ultrasonic wave at the part, to calculate a standard deviation of the time-of-flight data of the data points (σtof), to utilize the amplitude data to quantify the part if σtof is less than a threshold value, and to flag the data points in memory as including noise if σtof is greater than the threshold value.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system comprising:
an ultrasonic wave generator configured to induce ultrasonic waves at locations along a part being scanned; and
a controller configured to operate the ultrasonic wave generator to collect data points that each indicate amplitude data and time-of-flight data of an ultrasonic wave at the part, to calculate a standard deviation of the time-of-flight data of the data points (σtof), to utilize the amplitude data to quantify the part if σtof is less than a threshold value, and to flag the data points in memory as including noise if σtof is greater than the threshold value.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein:
the time-of-flight data indicates a time for an ultrasonic wave induced at a surface of the part to reflect off of a back wall of the part and return for detection;
the amplitude data indicates a magnitude of the ultrasonic wave; and
the controller is configured to determine that the amplitude data corresponds to random noise if σtof is greater than the threshold value.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein:
the controller is configured to quantify a porosity of the part based on the amplitude data, and to update a memory to indicate the porosity of the part.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The system of claim 3 wherein:
the controller is configured to indicate that the part is out of tolerance in response to the porosity being outside of an acceptable range.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein:
the threshold value comprises a standard deviation of random noise (σr) divided by a predefined constant.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The system of claim 5 wherein:
σr is calculated based on a sample size equal to the number of data points used to calculate σtof.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein:
the part comprises a multi-layer composite part.

### Claim 8

A method comprising:
operating an ultrasonic wave generator to induce ultrasonic waves at each of multiple locations along a part being scanned;
collecting data points that each indicate amplitude data and time-of-flight data of an ultrasonic wave at the part;
calculating a standard deviation of the time-of-flight data for the data points (σtof);
utilizing the amplitude data to quantify the part if σtof is less than a threshold value, and
flagging the data points in memory as including noise if σtof is greater than the threshold value.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8 further comprising:
determining that the amplitude data corresponds to random noise if σtof is greater than the threshold value.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8 further comprising:
quantifying a porosity of the part based on the amplitude data, and updating a memory to indicate the porosity of the part.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10 further comprising:
indicating that the part is out of tolerance in response to the porosity being outside of an acceptable range.

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8 further comprising:
the threshold value comprises a standard deviation of random noise (σr) divided by a predefined constant.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12 wherein:
σr is calculated based on a sample size equal to the number of data points used to calculate σtof.

### Claim 14 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8 wherein:
the part comprises a multi-layer composite part.

### Claim 15

A system comprising:
a memory;
an interface; and
a controller configured to operate the interface to retrieve a scan representing a part that has been inspected via ultrasonic imaging, to populate the memory with time-of-flight data and amplitude data for each of multiple data points within the scan, to calculate a standard deviation of the time-of-flight data for the data points (σtof), to calculate a threshold value based on a standard deviation of random time-of-flight data, and to selectively perform signal processing on the data points by:
if σtof is less than the threshold value: generating a report quantifying the part based on the amplitude data for the data points, and storing the report in the memory, and
if σtof is greater than the threshold value: updating the memory to flag the scan as including noise.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The system of claim 15 wherein:
the time-of-flight data indicates time for a ultrasonic wave at a surface of the part to reflect off of a back wall of the part and return for detection;
the amplitude data indicates a magnitude of the ultrasonic wave after reflecting off of the back wall and returning; and
the controller is configured to determine that the amplitude data corresponds to random noise if σtof is greater than the threshold value.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The system of claim 15 wherein:
the controller is configured to quantify a porosity of the part based on the amplitude data, and to include the porosity of the part in the report.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The system of claim 17 wherein:
the controller is configured to indicate that the part is out of tolerance in response to the porosity being outside of an acceptable range.

### Claim 19 (depends on 15)

The system of claim 15 wherein:
the threshold value comprises a standard deviation of random noise (σr) divided by a predefined constant.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The system of claim 19 wherein:
σr is calculated based on a sample size equal to the number of data points used to calculate σtof.