Method and apparatus for multiple transmit contrast imaging

A diagnostic imaging apparatus for measuring a non-linear response from a target,

• said apparatus comprising:
• a transmitter;
• a transducer having a plurality N of excitable transducer elements excitable by the transmitter;
• a beamformer configured to focus a beam from the transducer at a position to transmit acoustic energy and to receive echo return signals from the transducer elements;
• a summing/differencing module configured to determine a non-linear response;
• and
• a display configured to display a representation of the determined non-linear response;
• said apparatus configured to:
• transmit a signal towards a region of interest from the transducer at a first amplitude and measure a first response thereto;
• transmit, from the transducer towards the region of interest, at least one additional signal of the same phase as the first amplitude signal and at one or more lesser amplitudes, and measure at least one additional response thereto, wherein the at least one additional signal is transmitted using a random arrangement of subaperture transducer elements;
• determine a difference of a function of said measured at least one additional response from the first response to thereby determine a non-linear response of the object of interest;
• and
• display a representation of the non-linear response on the display.

An ultrasound imaging apparatus comprising:

• a transmitter;
• a transducer having a plurality N of excitable transducer elements excitable by the transmitter;
• a beamformer configured to control focus for transmit and receive signals from the transducer elements;
• a summing/differencing module responsive to the beamformer and configured to determine a non-linear response utilizing signals received from the transducer elements;
• and
• a display configured to display an image utilizing the determined non-linear response;
• and said apparatus is configured to:
• transmit a signal towards a region of interest from the transducer at a first amplitude and measure a first response thereto;
• transmit, from the transducer towards the region of interest, at least one additional signal of the same phase as the first amplitude signal and at a different amplitude, and measuring at least one additional response thereto, wherein the at least one additional signal is transmitted using a random arrangement of subaperture transducer elements;
• determine a difference of a function of said measured at least one additional response from the first response to determine a non-linear response of the object of interest;
• and
• display a representation of the non-linear response on the display.