# US 7,740,586 B2 · Ultrasonic signal processor for a hand held ultrasonic diagnostic instrument > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 7,740,586 B2 - Document ID: US7740586B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 11/762,019 - Filed: 2007-06-12 - Published: 2007-10-04 - Granted: 2010-06-22 - Earliest claimed: 1996-06-28 - Assignees: SonoSite, Inc. - Inventors: Juin-Jet Hwang; Geoffrey H. Jones; Terrance R. Doherty; Lauren S. Pflugrath - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7740586B2 ## CPC - A61B 8/54: {Control of the diagnostic device} - A61B 8/00: Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves - A61B 8/14: Echotomography - A61B 8/145: {characterised by scanning multiple planes} - A61B 8/4427: {Device being portable or laptop-like} - A61B 8/4455: {Features of the external shape of the probe, e.g. ergonomic aspects} - A61B 8/4472: {Wireless probes} - A61B 8/46: {Ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic devices with special arrangements for interfacing with the operator or the patient} - A61B 8/461: {Displaying means of special interest} - A61B 8/462: {characterised by constructional features of the display} - A61B 8/467: {characterised by special input means} - A61B 8/488: {involving Doppler signals} - A61B 8/5269: {involving detection or reduction of artifacts} - A61B 8/56: {Details of data transmission or power supply} - G01S 7/52026: {Extracting wanted echo signals (Doppler systems G01S15/50; Doppler short range imaging systems G01S15/8979)} - G01S 7/52028: {using digital techniques} - G01S 7/5206: {Two-dimensional coordinated display of distance and direction; B-scan display} - G01S 7/52079: {Constructional features (constructional features of transducers B06B; mounting transducers G10K11/00; constructional features of ultrasonic medical diagnostic devices A61B8/44)} - G01S 7/5208: {with integration of processing functions inside probe or scanhead} - G01S 7/52085: {Details related to the ultrasound signal acquisition, e.g. scan sequences (control of medical diagnostic ultrasound devices A61B8/54)} - G01S 7/529: Gain of receiver varied automatically during pulse-recurrence period {(for seismic signals G01V1/245)} - G01S 15/8915: {using a transducer array} - G01S 15/892: {the array being curvilinear} - G01S 15/8979: {Combined Doppler and pulse-echo imaging systems} - G01S 15/899: {Combination of imaging systems with ancillary equipment} - G10K 11/004: {Mounting transducers, e.g. provided with mechanical moving or orienting device (mountings specially adapted to a particular sound-producing device, see the preceding groups G10K1/00 - G10K9/00, e.g. G10K1/26, G10K1/28, G10K9/22; arrangements of sonic watch equipment on submarines B63G8/39; buoys B63B22/00)} - G10K 11/345: {using energy switching from one active element to another} - A61B 8/06: Measuring blood flow - A61B 8/13: Tomography (A61B8/10, A61B8/12 take precedence) - A61B 8/4494: {characterised by the arrangement of the transducer elements} - A61B 2560/0456: Apparatus provided with a docking unit - G01S 7/52033: {Gain control of receivers (for seismic signals G01V1/245)} - G01S 7/52034: {Data rate converters} - G01S 7/52068: {Stereoscopic displays; Three-dimensional displays; Pseudo 3D displays (G01S15/8993 takes precedence)} - G01S 7/52071: {Multicolour displays; using colour coding; Optimising colour or information content in displays, e.g. parametric imaging} - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES - G10K: SOUND-PRODUCING DEVICES; METHODS OR DEVICES FOR PROTECTING AGAINST, OR FOR DAMPING, NOISE OR OTHER ACOUSTIC WAVES IN GENERAL; ACOUSTICS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR ## Abstract A hand held ultrasonic instrument is provided in a portable unit which performs both B mode and Doppler imaging. The instrument includes a transducer array mounted in a hand-held enclosure, with an integrated circuit transceiver connected to the elements of the array for the reception of echo signals. A digital signal processing circuit performs both B mode and Doppler signal processing such as filtering, detection and Doppler estimation, as well as advanced functions such as assembly of multiple zone focused scanlines, synthetic aperture formation, depth dependent filtering, speckle reduction, flash suppression, and frame averaging. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for reducing signal bandwidth with respect to a signal of an ultrasound device, said method comprising: receiving ultrasound scan signals in a normalization circuit, wherein said receiving ultrasound scan signals is at an input rate; coupling ultrasound scan signals to a first finite impulse response filter and producing a first accumulated signal; and coupling said ultrasound scan signals to a second finite response filter and producing a second accumulated signal, wherein said first and second finite impulse response filters provide said first and second accumulated signals at a rate less than the input rate. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein each of said first finite impulse response filter and said second finite impulse response filter comprises a multiplier and an accumulator. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said normalization circuit normalizes said ultrasound scan signals for beam and aperture variation. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, said method further comprising: multiplying said ultrasound scan signals by a coefficient to produce normalized ultrasound scan signals. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said ultrasound scan signals are coupled by a multiplexer to said second finite impulse response filter. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein coefficients used by said first and second finite response filters to produce said first and second accumulated signals are supplied by a coefficient memory. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said first finite impulse response filter produces in phase (I) signal samples. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said second finite impulse response filter produces quadrature (Q) signal samples. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein a coefficient associated with said first finite impulse response filter and used to produce said first accumulated signal is chosen to multiply said ultrasound scan signals by a weighted cosine function. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said signal bandwidth is reduced to equal the transducer bandwidth of said ultrasound device. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said signal bandwidth is reduced to match the display bandwidth of a display monitor of said ultrasound device. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the effective lengths of each of said first and second finite impulse response filters are adjusted. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said first and second finite impulse response filters are used to reduce radio frequency noise. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the output rate is decimated by a variable factor. ### Claim 15 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein a coefficient associated with said second finite impulse response filter and used to produce said second accumulated signal is chosen to multiply said ultrasound scan signals by a weighted sine function. ### Claim 16 A digital signal processor for use in an ultrasound device comprising: a normalization circuit configured for receiving and adjusting ultrasound scan signals for beam variation; a memory configured for storing partially summed ultrasound scan signals from a portion of a full aperture acquired following at least two separate pulse transmissions; and an adder configured for combining said partially summed ultrasound scan signals to form full aperture signals. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The digital signal processor of claim 16, further comprising: at least two finite impulse response filters configured for receiving and multiplying ultrasound scan signals, wherein said at least two finite impulse response filters are coupled to said memory by a multiplexer. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The digital signal processor of claim 16, further comprising: a detection and compression circuit, wherein after said lull aperture signals are formed, said full aperture signals are conducted from said adder to said detection and compression circuit. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The digital signal processor of claim 18 wherein said detection and compression circuit is configured to compress and scale said full aperture signals to map them to a desired range of display gray levels. ### Claim 20 A digital signal processor for use in an ultrasound device comprising: means for normalizing ultrasound scan signals for at least one of beam variation and aperture variation; means for multiplying said normalized ultrasound scan signals; means for forming a synthetic aperture, wherein said means for forming a synthetic aperture uses multiplied normalized scanline signals from said means for multiplying acquired following at least two separate pulse transmissions and combined to form full aperture scan signal; means for compressing and mapping said full aperture scanlines to a desired range of display gray levels.