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US 6,146,331 AGranted
Method for improved clutter suppression for ultrasonic color doppler imaging
AssigneeSiemens Medical Systems, Inc.
InventorTommy Wong
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A Doppler ultrasound clutter suppression system and method in which the clutter is first low-pass filtered (716) to suppress the flow component (4024) just before mean frequency estimation (718). The mean frequency is then estimated and mixed with the original clutter data which is positioned at DC. The low-pass filter bandwidth is predetermined based on the particular application and imaging parameters. The signal is then high-pass filtered (726) to remove the clutter component (4022).
Claims14
An ultrasound imaging system, comprising:
- means for receiving an ultrasound signal, said ultrasound signal including a clutter component and a flow component;
- means coupled to said receiving means for suppressing said flow component, said suppressing means including a low-pass filter for suppressing said flow component;
- and
- means for frequency shifting and mean frequency estimating a resulting low-pass filtered clutter component.
1 more element
A method for processing ultrasound signals, comprising:
- receiving an ultrasound signal including a flow component and a clutter component;
- filtering said ultrasound signal to remove said flow component during a frequency estimation;
- using an output of said frequency estimation to position said ultrasound signal such that said clutter component is substantially at a predetermined frequency;
- and
- filtering said ultrasound signal to remove said clutter component at said predetermined frequency.
2 more elements
An ultrasound imaging system, comprising:
- one or more transducers for transmitting ultrasound energy into a target region of a patient;
- a receiver configured to receive reflected ultrasound energy and providing a received ultrasound signal, said received ultrasound signal including a clutter component and a flow component;
- and
- a clutter suppression system, said clutter suppression system including:
- a first filter for suppressing said flow component from said ultrasound signal;
- a frequency estimator, responsive to said ultrasound signal having said flow component suppressed, for determining a frequency estimate of said clutter component;
- and
- a second filter for removing said clutter component from said ultrasound signal after said frequency estimate of said clutter component has been made.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.