Ultrasonic processes and circuits for performing them
AssigneeSchering Corporation
InventorsVolkmar Uhlendorf, Thomas Fritzsch, Joachim Siegert
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A process for selective graphic representation and/or evaluation of the Doppler spectrum of objects limitedly resistant to sonic intensity, for example biological organs and tissues, by an ultrasonic process wherein a material is introduced in the examination area to be acoustically irradiated, nonlinear oscillations are produced in the examination area by irradiated ultrasonic waves and the signal is evaluated by an ultrasonic converter. Also, a circuit for carrying out the above process is disclosed.
Claims17
An ultrasonic process for imaging and, optionally, for evaluation of a Doppler spectrum, of an object having limited resistance to sonic energy, in an inspection zone, which comprises:
- introducing into the inspection zone, the object to be imaged and an ultrasonic contrast medium that contains microbubbles as scattering bodies or that produces microbubbles upon exposure to ultrasonic waves, such that the contrast agent provides nonlinear vibrations of the microbubbles when irradiated in the inspection zone by irradiated ultrasonic waves,
- applying an HF burst of excitation frequency, f.sub.o, to electrically excite a wide-band, acoustically highly damped, electrically matched ultrasonic transducer having a transducer element or having several transducer elements, controllable individually or in groups, and thereby exposing the inspection zone to ultrasonic waves, f.sub.o, of 1 MHz to 22 MHz, and
- receiving by the ultrasonic transducer, the ultrasonic signal reflected from the inspection zone and scattered back from that zone, and processing the received ultrasonic signal for further evaluation,
- evaluating from the reflected and backscattered ultrasonic signal at least one of the harmonics, the subharmonics and the ultraharmonics of the excitation frequency, f.sub.o, and, optionally, the excitation frequency f.sub.o.
An ultrasonic process for imaging and, optionally, for evaluation of a Doppler spectrum, of an object having limited resistance to sound energy, in an inspection zone, which comprises:
- introducing into the inspection zone the object to be imaged and an ultrasonic contrast agent that contains microbubbles as scattering bodies or that produces microbubbles upon exposure to ultrasonic waves, such that the contrast agent provides nonlinear vibrations of the microbubbles when irradiated in the inspection zone by ultrasonic waves,
- applying two HF bursts of excitation frequencies, f.sub.o and f.sub.p, to electrically excite a wide-band, acoustically highly damped, electrically matched ultrasonic transducer having a transducer element or having several transducer elements, controllable individually or in groups, wherein the excitation frequencies, f.sub.o and f.sub.p, are different and are each less than half the upper frequency limit of the working range of the ultrasonic transducer, and
- receiving by the ultrasonic transducer the ultrasonic signal reflected from the inspection zone and scattered back from that zone, and processing the received ultrasonic signal for further evaluation,
- evaluating from the reflected and backscattered ultrasonic signal the sum or the difference of the two excitation frequencies.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.