Imaging devices with an array of transducers and methods of manufacture and use

A medical imaging assembly, comprising:

• an elongated catheter having a proximal end, a distal end, a longitudinal axis, and a connector disposed at the proximal end;
• an array of transducers arranged on the distal end of the catheter, each transducer configured and arranged for transforming applied electrical signals to acoustic signals, transmitting the acoustic signals, receiving corresponding echo signals, and transforming the received echo signals to electrical signals;
• a plurality of conductors electrically coupled to the array of transducers and in electrical communication with the connector of the catheter;
• and
• a control unit coupleable to the catheter and configured and arranged to send and receive electrical signals between the control unit and the array of transducers through the connector of the catheter, the control unit comprises a processor configured and arranged to execute instructions, the instructions comprising:
• 1) selecting a first subset of M transmitting transducers from the array of transducers and selecting a second subset of N receiving transducers from the array of transducers, wherein M and N are each integers equal to or less than a total number of transducers in the array of transducers and N>M;
• and
• 2) for each of at least N transmit/receive cycles,
• a) directing the first subset of M transmitting transducers to transmit an acoustic signal;
• and
• b) directing the second subset of N receiving transducers to receive corresponding echo signals arising in response to the transmitted acoustic signal,
• wherein the instructions further comprise combining the echo signals from the transducers of the second subset to give a combined signal, wherein the combined signal C(h,t) for the h-th transmit/receive cycle over time, t, has a form
• C
• ⁡
• (
• h
• ,
• t
• )
• =
• ∑
• e
• =
• 1
• N
• ⁢
• H
• he
• ⁢
• R
• ⁡
• (
• e
• ,
• t
• )
• ,
• wherein R(e,t) is the echo signal from the e-th transducer of the second subset for the h-th transmit/receive cycle, and Hhe is a non-zero coefficient, wherein the coefficients Hhe are selected so that a composite signal of the received echo signals from N of the transmit/receive cycles for any one of the transducers of the second subset can be recovered by combining N of the combined signals by selective addition and subtraction of the N combined signals.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having processor-executable instructions for processing signals from an array of transducers, the processor-executable instructions when installed onto a device enable the device to perform actions, comprising:

• 1) selecting a first subset of M transmitting transducers from the array of transducers and selecting a second subset of N receiving transducers from the array of transducers, wherein M and N are each integers equal to or less than a total number of transducers in the array of transducers and N>M;
• and
• 2) for each of at least N transmit/receive cycles,
• a) directing the first subset of M transmitting transducers to transmit an acoustic signal;
• b) directing the second subset of N receiving transducers to receive corresponding echo signals arising in response to the transmitted acoustic signal;
• and
• c) combining the echo signals from the transducers of the second subset to give a combined signal, wherein the combined signal C(h,t) for the h-th transmit/receive cycle over time, t, has a form
• C
• ⁡
• (
• h
• ,
• t
• )
• =
• ∑
• e
• =
• 1
• N
• ⁢
• H
• he
• ⁢
• R
• ⁡
• (
• e
• ,
• t
• )
• ,
• wherein R(e,t) is the echo signal from the e-th transducer of the second subset for the h-th transmit/receive cycle, and Hhe is a non-zero coefficient, wherein the coefficients Hhe are selected so that a composite signals of the received echo signals from N of the transmit/receive cycles for any one of the transducers of the second subset can be recovered by combining N of the combined signals by selective addition and subtraction of the N combined signals.