Ultrasound imaging preferable to ultrasound contrast echography

A diagnostic ultrasound system comprising:

• an ultrasound probe comprising,
• a plurality of transducers each formed with a piezoelectric member for performing a conversion between an electric signal and an ultrasound signal bidirectionally, and
• at least three electrodes including a ground electrode attached to each of the transducers so as to have a passband characteristic of at least two kinds of frequency components whose center frequencies retain a multiple relation with each other and represent a multi-humped frequency characteristic;
• and
• means for transmitting the ultrasound signal to a subject and receiving the ultrasound signal echoed from the subject through the ultrasound probe on the basis of a transmission/reception operation related to the at least two kinds of the frequency components.

A diagnostic ultrasound system, comprising:

• a probe for converting an electrical driving signal into a corresponding transmission ultrasound wave and converting an echoed ultrasound wave into a corresponding electrical echo signal;
• means for transmitting the transmission ultrasonic wave to a subject to be diagnosed by providing the probe the electrical driving signal substantially consisting of a fundamental component corresponding to a given driving frequency, a non-fundamental component of the driving signal being intentionally lowered in power relative to the fundamental component;
• means for receiving the electrical echo signal from the probe and processing the electrical echo signal into a display image data;
• and
• means for displaying the display image data.

A diagnostic ultrasound system, comprising:

• a probe for converting an electrical driving signal into a corresponding transmission ultrasound wave and converting an echoed ultrasound wave into a corresponding electrical echo signal;
• means for transmitting the transmission ultrasonic wave to a subject to be diagnosed by providing the probe the electrical driving signal substantially consisting of a fundamental component corresponding to a given driving frequency, a non-fundamental component of the driving signal being intentionally lowered in power relative to the fundamental component;
• means for receiving the electrical echo signal from the probe and processing the electrical echo signal into a display image data reflecting both the fundamental and non-fundamental components;
• and
• means for displaying the display image data.

A diagnostic ultrasound system by which an ultrasound contrast echography is carried out to acquire an ultrasound contrast image in a state that an ultrasound contrast medium has been given to a subject to be diagnosed in a manner of intravenous injection, the system comprising:

• a probe for converting an electrical driving signal into a corresponding transmission ultrasound wave and converting an echoed ultrasound wave into a corresponding electrical echo signal;
• means for transmitting the transmission ultrasonic wave to the subject by providing the probe the electrical driving signal substantially consisting of a fundamental component corresponding to a given driving frequency, a non-fundamental component of the driving signal being intentionally lowered in power relative to the fundamental component;
• means for receiving the electrical echo signal from the probe and processing the electrical echo signal into a display image data reflecting at least the non-fundamental components;
• and
• means for displaying the display image data.

A method of acquiring a diagnostic ultrasound image comprising the steps of:

• preparing a probe for converting an electrical driving signal into a corresponding transmission ultrasound wave and converting an echoed ultrasound wave into a corresponding electrical echo signal;
• transmitting the transmission ultrasonic wave to a subject to be diagnosed by providing the probe the electrical driving signal substantially consisting of a fundamental component corresponding to a given driving frequency, a non-fundamental component of the driving signal being intentionally lowered in power relative to the fundamental component;
• and
• receiving the electrical echo signal from the probe and processing the electrical echo signal into a display image data;
• and displaying the display image data.