On-axis shear wave characterization with ultrasound
AssigneeSiemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.
InventorsStephen J. Hsu, Manoj G. Menon, David P. Duncan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Shear wave imaging is provided in medical diagnostic ultrasound. The generation of a shear wave with acoustic energy forms a pseudo shear wave (an apparent wave) traveling towards the transducer. Transmission and reception along a single line may be used to detect the pseudo shear wave traveling towards the transducer. The shear velocity or characteristic may be determined without reception along multiple laterally spaced scan lines. One transmission to generate the shear wave may be used. With multi-beam receive or without, calculating shear velocity from along a single line allows rapid determination.
Claims20
A method for shear wave imaging in medical diagnostic ultrasound, the method comprising:
- transmitting, from a transducer, acoustic energy to a focal region;
- generating a shear wave from the transmitting;
- detecting a pseudo shear wave at a plurality of locations along a line extending from the transducer, the pseudo shear wave formed with the shear wave;
- calculating, with a processor, a shear velocity from the detected pseudo shear wave in response to a single event of the transmitting and without repeating the transmitting;
- and
- displaying an image as a function of the shear velocity.
In a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored therein data representing instructions executable by a programmed processor for shear wave characterization in medical diagnostic ultrasound, the storage medium comprising instructions for:
- tracking a pseudo shear wave along a line substantially parallel with a scan line;
- determining an apparent velocity of the pseudo shear wave along the line;
- and
- scaling the apparent velocity by a constant and a transmit F number, a result of the scaling comprising a shear velocity, and wherein the instructions further comprise displaying an image as a function of the shear velocity.
A method for shear wave imaging in medical diagnostic ultrasound, the method comprising:
- locating an apparent wave traveling towards a transducer in a patient, the apparent wave being responsive to a shear wave traveling laterally relative to the transducer;
- calculating, with a processor, a shear velocity from the apparent wave;
- and
- displaying an image as a function of the shear velocity.
A system for shear wave velocimetry in medical diagnostic ultrasound, the system comprising:
- a beamformer configured to receive along a single scan line in response to a single transmit event and transmit acoustic energy in a transmit event;
- a processor configured to estimate a shear velocity from data representing response along the scan line and by determining a propagation velocity of an apparent wave traveling towards a transducer and weighting the propagation velocity by a transmission F number of the transmit event, a result of the weighting comprising the shear velocity;
- and
- a display device configured to output an image as a function of the shear velocity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.