Ultrasonic transducer assembly and method for three-dimensional imaging

A method of forming three-dimensional images of structures employing ultrasonic energy, comprising the steps of:

• providing at least one elongated array of individually excitable transducer elements, each element of said array being operable to emit a sequence of generally wedge-shaped beams of ultrasonic energy focused in a plane including the direction of elongation of the array and diverging in the plane perpendicular thereto in response to an excitation signal, and said elements being capable of detecting return of ultrasonic energy after reflection from said structure;
• disposing said at least one array at spaced locations with respect to an object the internal structure of which is to be imaged, such that the beams of energy emitted by corresponding elements of said array are transmitted from said spaced locations into a common portion of the object;
• operating subsets of the elements of the array to transmit beams of ultrasonic energy from said spaced locations into the object, and to detect reflection of ultrasonic energy from energy-reflecting structure within the corresponding portion of the object at said spaced locations;
• locating common reflecting structure from which reflected energy is detected by corresponding elements at said spaced locations;
• determining the distance from each element to the common reflecting structure within the corresponding portion of the object;
• comparing the distances between said identified common structure and said corresponding elements in each of said arrays, to determine the relative location of said identified common structure with respect to an image plane;
• and
• generating and displaying a visible image including three-dimensional information responsive to the relative location of said identified common features.

A method of generating a three-dimensional visible image of internal structure of an object, comprising the steps of:

• providing a transducer assembly comprising at least one elongated array of a number of individually excitable transducer elements, said array being operable to emit a series of beams of ultrasonic energy focused at a predetermined distance from the transducer assembly in a first plane, and diverging in the orthogonal plane,
• operating said array such that energy is transmitted into a common portion of the object from elements of said array at spaced locations, and detecting reflection of said energy from internal structure thereof at said spaced locations,
• comparing the reflection of energy by common features of said internal structure of said object as detected by elements at said spaced locations to determine the location of said features with respect to a first image plane, and
• generating and displaying an image of the internal structure of said object depicting the relative elevation of said features with respect to said first or a different image plane.

Apparatus for generating and displaying a three-dimensional image of structure internal to an object, comprising:

• an ultrasonic transducer assembly for disposition in juxtaposition to said object, said transducer assembly comprising at least one elongated transducer array comprising a plurality of individual transducer elements and being operable to emit a series of beams of ultrasonic energy focused at a selectable distance from the transducer assembly in a first plane and diverging in the orthogonal plane, said elements being capable of detecting ultrasonic energy,
• controller means connected to the elements of said array for supplying drive signals to excite the elements of the array in succession to emit overlapping beams of ultrasonic energy into a common region of said object, and said controller means comprising means for processing signals received from elements of at least one said array disposed at spaced locations responsive to detection of energy reflected from structure in said region in order to:
• locate common features of the structure within a given portion of the object from which reflected energy is detected by corresponding elements in said array at said spaced locations;
• determine the distance from said corresponding elements to the located common features of the structure;
• compare the distances between identified common features of the structure and said corresponding elements to determine the relative elevation of said identified common features with respect to a first image plane;
• and
• generate a visible image including information corresponding to said relative elevation of said identified common features of the structure with respect to said first or a different image plane;
• and
• means for display of said visible image.