Ultrasonic imaging method and apparatus
AssigneeGE Yokogawa Medical Systems, Limited
InventorYasuhito Takeuchi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ultrasonic imaging apparatus devised to implement contrast imaging of enhanced S/N ratios. The apparatus comprises: an exciting unit for generating ultrasonic waves by stimulating a contrast medium introduced into a target object; a contrast image creating unit for creating a contrast image based on the ultrasonic waves generated through stimulation; an echo generating unit for generating echoes of the ultrasonic waves transmitted into the target object; an echo image creating unit for creating an echo image based on the generated echoes; and a display unit for superimposing the contrast image and the echo image for display.
Claims24
An ultrasonic imaging method comprising the steps of:
- introducing into a target object a contrasting medium comprising a sound generating agent within a microbubble;
- generating ultrasonic waves by stimulating said contrasting medium to cause said sound generating agent to generate a unique ultrasonic wave different from ultrasonic waves caused by said target object;
- creating a contrast image based on the ultrasonic waves generated when said sound generating agent is activated;
- producing an echo image based on echoes of ultrasonic waves applied to said target object;
- and
- superimposing said contrast image and said echo image for display.
An ultrasonic imaging apparatus comprising:
- means for introducing into a target object a contrasting medium comprising a sound generating agent contained within a microbubble;
- excitation means for generating ultrasonic waves by stimulating said contrasting medium to thereby cause said sound generating agent to be activated;
- contrast image creating means for creating a contrast image based on said ultrasonic waves generated by activation of said sound generating agent;
- echo generating means for generating echoes of ultrasonic waves applied to said target object;
- echo image creating means for creating an echo image based on said echoes generated by said echo generating means;
- and
- display means for superimposing said contrast image and said echo image.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.