Ultrasonic diagnostic imaging of nonlinearly intermodulated and harmonic frequency components
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
InventorMichalakis Averkiou
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Abstract
An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system and method are described for performing nonlinear echo signal imaging with harmonic and intermodulation product (sum or difference frequency) components. Both the harmonic and the intermodulation products are produced by nonlinear effects of tissue or contrast agents and both are advantageously separated from the fundamental transmit components of the echo signals by pulse inversion processing. The use of both nonlinear components can improve the signal to noise ratio of the ultrasonic images, and the two types of components can be blended or used in different regions of an image to offset the effects of depth dependent attenuation.
Claims27
An ultrasonic imaging method utilizing nonlinear signal components comprising:
- transmitting ultrasonic waves into a region to be imaged, the waves containing at least two different frequency components;
- receiving echo signals in response to the waves containing harmonic and intermodulated signal components produced by nonlinear effects of materials in the region to be imaged;
- and
- producing a two or three dimensional ultrasonic image utilizing the harmonic and intermodulated signal components.
An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system comprising:
- a transducer array exhibiting a passband encompassing the frequencies of two different transmit frequency components, a harmonic receive frequency, and the frequency of an intermodulation product of the two different transmit frequency components;
- a transmitter, coupled to the transducer array which actuates the transducer array to transmit a beam containing two different transmit frequency components;
- a receiver coupled to the transducer array which produces coherent echo signals at a harmonic of a transmit frequency component and of an intermodulation product of the two different transmit frequency components;
- an image processor, coupled to the receiver, which produces ultrasonic image signals from a harmonic of a transmit frequency component and of an intermodulation product of the two different transmit frequency components;
- and
- a display.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.