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US 5,590,659 AGranted
Ultrasonic visualization method and apparatus
AssigneeIntravascular Research Limited
InventorsRobin Hamilton, Patrick J. Ryan, Derek Kelly, Robert J. Dickinson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ultrasound system comprising a transducer array and means for energizing each element, or batches of elements, of the array in turn to generate an ultra sound pulse, means for processing an echo pulse received by each transducer, and control means for controlling the order in which a transducer or transducers are energized and the order in which a transducer or transducers receive an echo pulse, characterized in that the echoes resulting from the transmission of an ultrasonic pulse from any one transducer element are received by at least one other transducer element.
Claims25
An ultrasound system comprising:
- a transducer array having a plurality of transducer elements for transmitting ultrasound pulses and for receiving echo pulses in response thereto,
- means for energizing each transducer element, or batches of elements of the array, in turn, to generate an ultrasound pulse, and for receiving echo signals from at least two transducer elements, resulting from transmission of an ultrasonic pulse from another transducer element, so that data used to create an image of the echo signals comes from said two transducer elements,
- control means for controlling the order in which the transducers are energized and the order in which the transducers receive an echo pulse, so as to carry out the energization and reception sequentially,
- means for acquiring sequentially the data in analog form for a whole aperture and for acquiring sequentially the data for successive apertures, and for processing the data for beam-formation for each aperture in correspondence with an analog echo pulse received by each transducer, such that appropriate data sets once acquired are used for beam formation of more than one aperture, said means for acquiring and processing including:
- means for storing the acquired data, and
- means for post-processing the stored data for beam-formation.
3 more elements
An ultrasound system comprising:
- a transducer array having a plurality of transducer elements for transmitting ultrasound pulses and for receiving echo pulses in response thereto,
- means for energizing each transducer element, or batches of elements of the array, in turn, to generate an ultrasound pulse, and for receiving echo signals from at least two transducer elements, resulting from transmission of an ultrasonic pulse from another transducer element, so that data used to create an image of the echo signals comes from said two transducer elements,
- control means for controlling the order in which the transducers are energized and the order in which the transducers receive an echo pulse, so as to carry out the energization and reception sequentially,
- means for acquiring sequentially the data in analog form for a whole aperture and for processing the data for beam-formation in correspondence with an analog echo pulse received by each transducer, said means for acquiring and processing including:
- means for converting the analog echo signals to digital signals,
- means for storing the data of said digital signals,
- symmetric data combiner means for combining the digital signals,
- beam-forming means supplied with an output from the symmetric data combiner means and comprising master digital signal processor means and slave digital signal processor means, and
- display means for displaying an output from the beam-forming means.
6 more elements
A system as claimed in claim 17 wherein:
- the master digital signal processor means comprises a plurality of master digital signal processors, and
- said means for acquiring and processing includes means for enabling each said master digital signal processor to process a fraction of a range of the data from the symmetric data combining means so that parallel processing of the data can be carried out.
A catheter comprising:
- a distal end,
- a transducer array having a plurality of transducer elements for transmitting ultrasound pulses and for receiving echo pulses in response thereto, mounted on said distal end,
- means for energizing each transducer element, or batches of elements of the array, in turn, to generate an ultrasound pulse, and for receiving echo signals from at least two transducer elements, resulting from transmission of an ultrasonic pulse from another transducer element, so that data used to create an image of the echo signals comes from said at least two transducer elements,
- control means for controlling the order in which the transducers are energized and the order in which the transducers receive an echo pulse, so as to carry out the energization and reception sequentially,
- means for acquiring sequentially the data in analog form for a whole aperture and for processing the data for beam-formation in correspondence with an analog echo pulse received by each transducer, said means for acquiring and processing including:
- means for converting the analog echo signals to digital signals,
- means for storing the data of said digital signals, and
- beam-forming means supplied with an output from the means for converting and comprising master digital signal processor means and slave digital signal processor means, and
- display means for displaying an output from the beam-forming means.
6 more elements
An ultrasound system comprising:
- a transducer array having a plurality of transducer elements for transmitting ultrasound pulses and for receiving echo pulses in response thereto,
- means for energizing each transducer element, or batches of elements of the array, in turn, to generate an ultrasound pulse, and for receiving echo signals from at least two transducer elements, resulting from transmission of an ultrasonic pulse from another transducer element, so that data used to create an image of the echo signals comes from said at least two transducer elements,
- control means for controlling the order in which the transducers are energized and the order in which the transducers receive an echo pulse, so as to carry out the energization and reception sequentially,
- means for acquiring sequentially the data in analog form for a whole aperture and for processing the data for beam-formation in correspondence with an analog echo pulse received by each transducer, said means for acquiring and processing including:
- means for converting the analog echo signals to digital signals,
- means for storing the data of said digital signals, and
- beam-forming means supplied with an output from the means for converting and comprising master digital signal processor means and slave digital signal processor means, and
- display means for displaying an output from the beam-forming means.
5 more elements
A catheter comprising:
- a distal end,
- a transducer array having a plurality of transducer elements for transmitting ultrasound pulses and for receiving echo pulses in response thereto, mounted on said distal end,
- means for energizing each transducer element, or batches of elements of the array, in turn, to generate an ultrasound pulse, and for receiving echo signals from at least two transducer elements, resulting from transmission of an ultrasonic pulse from another transducer element, so that data used to create an image of the echo signals comes from said at least two transducer elements,
- control means for controlling the order in which the transducers are energized and the order in which the transducers receive an echo pulse, so as to carry out the energization and reception sequentially,
- means for acquiring sequentially the data in analog form for a whole aperture and for processing the data for beam-formation in correspondence with an analog echo pulse received by each transducer, said means for acquiring and processing including:
- means for converting the analog echo signals to digital signals,
- means for storing the data of said digital signals, and
- beam-forming means supplied with an output from the means for converting and comprising master digital signal processor means and slave digital signal processor means, and
- display means for displaying an output from the beam-forming means.
6 more elements
A method of using ultrasound with a catheter, comprising the steps of:
- transmitting ultrasound pulses by means of a transducer array having a plurality of transducer elements and mounted on a distal end of the catheter,
- energizing each said transducer element, or batches of said elements of the array, in turn, to cause generation of an ultrasound pulse,
- receiving echo signals from at least two transducer elements, resulting from transmission of an ultrasonic pulse from another transducer element, so that data used to create an image of the echo signals comes from said at least two transducer elements,
- controlling the order in which the transducers are energized and the order in which the transducers receive an echo pulse, so as to carry out the energization and reception sequentially,
- acquiring sequentially the data in analog form for a whole aperture,
- processing the acquired data for beam-formation in correspondence with an analog echo pulse received by each transducer, said step of processing including the steps of:
- converting the analog echo signals to digital signals,
- storing the data of said digital signals, and
- processing said converted signals by beam-forming means comprising master digital signal processor means and slave digital signal processor means, and
- displaying an output from the beam-forming means.
7 more elements
A catheter comprising:
- a distal end,
- a transducer array having a plurality of transducer elements for transmitting ultrasound pulses and for receiving echo pulses in response thereto, mounted on said distal end,
- means for energizing each transducer element, or batches of elements of the array, in turn, to generate an ultrasound pulse, and for receiving echo signals from at least two transducer elements, resulting from transmission of an ultrasonic pulse from another transducer element, so that data used to create an image of the echo signals comes from said two transducer elements,
- control means for controlling the order in which the transducers are energized and the order in which the transducers receive an echo pulse, so as to carry out the energization and reception sequentially,
- means for acquiring sequentially the data in analog form for a whole aperture and for acquiring sequentially the data for successive apertures, and for processing the data for beam-formation for each aperture in correspondence with an analog echo pulse received by each transducer, such that appropriate data sets once acquired are used for beam formation of more than one aperture, said means for acquiring and processing including:
- means for storing the acquired data, and
- means for post-processing the stored data for beam-formation.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.