Method and apparatus for visualization of motion in ultrasound flow imaging using packet data acquisition
AssigneeGE Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC
InventorsHans Garmann Torp, Steinar Bjaerum
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Abstract
A method and an apparatus for imaging blood motion by displaying an enhanced image of the fluctuating speckle pattern. The first step in the blood motion image processing is high-pass filtering of the signal vector from each range gate. Following high-pass filtering, a speckle signal is formed. The speckle signal is then subjected to a nonlinear scale conversion. The resulting speckle signal is displayed as the desired blood motion image concurrently with a corresponding tissue image.
Claims35
An imaging system comprising:
- a data acquisition subsystem for acquiring sets of N data samples which are a function of ultrasound energy returned following the transmission of sets of N pulses, respective sets of N data samples being acquired for each focal position in a region of interest;
- a high-pass filter coupled to said data acquisition subsystem for high-pass filtering each of said sets of N data samples to form respective sets of M filtered samples, wherein 1<M<N;
- a first processor for calculating respective sets of K signal samples from said sets of M filtered samples, wherein 1<K<M;
- and
- a display system for displaying the K image values of a respective set in succession at a respective pixel of a multiplicity of pixels to form a succession of K images, each of said sets of K image values being derived as a function of a respective one of said sets of K signal samples.
A method for imaging, comprising the steps of:
- acquiring sets of N data samples which are a function of ultrasound energy returned following the transmission of sets of N pulses, respective sets of N data samples being acquired for each focal position in a region of interest;
- high-pass filtering each of said sets of N data samples to form respective sets of M filtered samples, wherein 1<M ≦N;
- calculating respective sets of K signal samples from said sets of M filtered samples, wherein 1<K≦M;
- and
- displaying the K image values of a respective set in succession at a respective pixel of a multiplicity of pixels to form a succession of K images, each of said sets of K image values being derived as a function of a respective one of said sets of K signal samples.
A system for imaging blood motion comprising:
- a transducer array comprising a multiplicity of transducer elements for transmitting wave energy in response to electrical activation and transducing returned wave energy into analog electrical signals;
- an analog-to-digital converter for converting said analog electrical signals into digital data samples;
- a display monitor for displaying an image;
- and
- a computer programmed to perform the following steps:
- controlling said transducer array to acquire sets of N data samples which are a function of ultrasound energy returned following the transmission of sets of N pulses, respective sets of N data samples being acquired for each focal position in a region of interest;
- high-pass filtering each of said sets of N data samples to form respective sets of M filtered samples, wherein 1<M≦N;
- calculating respective sets of K signal samples from said sets of M filtered samples, wherein 1<K<M;
- and
- controlling said display monitor to display the K image values of a respective set in succession at a respective pixel of a multiplicity of pixels to form a succession of K images, each of said sets of K image values being derived as a function of a respective one of said sets of K signal samples.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.