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US 5,820,564 AGranted
Method and apparatus for surface ultrasound imaging
AssigneesAlbatross Technologies, Inc., Medison Co., Ltd.
InventorsMichael H. Slayton, Young-Hwan Cho, Peter G. Barthe
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Abstract
An ultrasonic imaging apparatus is suitably configured such that certain ultrasound beams from a probe are diffused perpendicular to the scanning direction to thereby enable an ultrasonic image to be produced which approximates a surface image while certain other ultrasound beams are focused to thereby enable a two-dimensional ultrasonic image to be produced. A conventional ultrasonic imaging apparatus and process can be used.
Claims9
An ultrasonic probe comprising:
- a first set of piezoelectric elements for electro-acoustic conversion to produce a first ultrasonic beam;
- a second set of piezoelectric elements for electro-acoustic conversion to produce a second ultrasonic beam;
- wherein said first ultrasonic beam and said second ultrasonic beam are directed upon a region under examination;
- and
- a lens configured for acoustic communication with said first and said second ultrasonic beams, wherein said lens is configured to focus said first beam at a predetermined focal depth in an elevation direction and wherein said lens is configured to diffuse said second beam in said elevation direction, said elevation direction being in a plane substantially perpendicular to a scanning direction.
2 more elements
An ultrasonic imaging or diagnostic apparatus comprising:
- an ultrasonic probe comprising a one and one-half-dimensional or two-dimensional array of piezoelectric elements;
- a compound lens configured for acoustic communication with said piezoelectric elements;
- excitation means for exciting said piezoelectric elements to transmit ultrasonic waves;
- receiving means for receiving reflected waves from reflectors within a subject under examination through said piezoelectric elements;
- processing means for processing said reflected waves to produce a two-dimensional image and to produce a three-dimensional image;
- and
- displaying means for displaying said images.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.