Dynamic range compression of ultrasound images
AssigneeVave Health, Inc.
InventorsJung Woo Choe, Stefan Craciun, Amin Nikoozadeh
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Abstract
Ultrasound image data on a handheld imaging probe can be compressed on the handheld imaging probe prior to transmission from the probe in order to decrease the amount of data transmitted from the probe. The compressed data may comprise compressed pixels to maintain spatial image resolution. The compression circuitry may comprise an amount of memory related to a dynamic range of the compressed data that is independent of the dynamic range of the input data, which can decrease memory, power consumption, and latencies. The compression circuitry can be configured to pipeline data such as image data in accordance with clock cycles, such that throughput of outputting data words is increased.
Claims22
-68. (canceled)
A method for generating a compressed pixel of an ultrasound image with a handheld ultrasound probe comprising a processor coupled to an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter, comprising:
- generating, using the processor, a first word corresponding to an uncompressed pixel of the ultrasound image, wherein the first word comprises a first dynamic range comprising a first number of bits, and
- generating, using the processor, the compressed pixel by compressing the first word in accordance with a lookup table to produce a second word corresponding to the compressed pixel, wherein the second word comprises a second dynamic range comprising a second number of bits, the second number of bits less than the first number of bits.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.