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US RE40,456 E1Granted
Acoustic wave imaging apparatus and method
OwnerKenneth N. Batesinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An acoustic imaging apparatus and method that achieves desired delays with coded signals. Linear, curved linear and sector scanning is provided in 1-D arrays and planar, curved planar and sector scanning is provided in 2-D arrays. Composite and non-linear implementations are presented. Dynamic and discrete dynamic focusing is disclosed for the relevant arrays. The 2-D array makes possible 3-D imaging.
Claims40
An acoustic imaging apparatus, comprising:
- control logic;
- a plurality of transducer elements arranged in an array, each coupled to said control logic and capable of transmitting an acoustic signal representative of an electrical transmit control signal propagated from said control logic and generating an electrical receive signal representative of an incident acoustic signal;
- means within said control logic for generating an electrical transmit control signal for each transducer element such that the electrical transmit control signal for each transducer element contains a coded signal;
- means within said control logic for generating an electrical receive control signal for each transducer element such that the electrical receive control signal for each transducer element contains a frequency and phase shift than when combined with the transducer element's electrical receive signal modifies the frequency and phase of that electrical receive signal in such a manner as to permit the coherent combination of the modified electrical receive signals from all of said plurality of transducer elements;
- means for combining the electrical receive control signal of each transducer element with an electrical receive signal generated by that transducer;
- means coupled to each of said transducer elements for combining the modified electrical receive signals from said transducer elements so as to form a coherently combined array output signal;
- means coupled to said transducer output combining means for decoding a combined reflected coded signal in the coherently combined array output signal to produce a decoding means output signal;
- and means coupled to said decoding means for generating image data from said decoding means output signal.
5 more elements
An acoustic imaging apparatus, comprising:
- a plurality of electro-acoustic transducer elements arranged in an array, each capable of transmitting an acoustic signal and generating an electrical signal representative of an incident acoustic wave;
- control means having a plurality of control channels coupled to each of said plurality of transducer elements, said control channels being fewer in number than said transducer elements;
- wherein said control means generates control signals for each transducer element that when combined with the electrical receive signal of that transducer element modifies the electrical receive signal in such a manner as to permit the simultaneous processing of the modified electrical receive signals from said plurality of transducer elements;
- means for combining the modified electrical receive signals of each of said transducer elements to form an array output signal;
- and
- means coupled to said combining means for generating image data from said array output signal.
3 more elements
An acoustic imaging system, comprising:
- an array of electro-acoustic transducer elements having M rows and N columns, where M and N are positive integers and at least one of M and N is greater than one;
- M row control lines, each coupled to the transducer elements in one of said M rows;
- N column control lines, each coupled to the transducer elements in one of said N columns;
- control means coupled to each of said M row and N column control lines for generating row control signals for each of said row control lines and column control signals for each of said column control lines, a control signal for each transducer being a combination of one of said row control signals and one of said column control signals;
- a plurality of active devices, each coupled to one of said transducer elements for combining the row control signal and the column control signal of that transducer element;
- means for combining the output of each transducer element to produce an array output signal;
- and
- means coupled to said transducer output combining means for generating image data from said array output signal.
5 more elements
A method for acoustic imaging, comprising the steps of:
- providing control logic;
- providing a plurality of transducer elements arranged in an array, each coupled to said control logic and capable of transmitting an acoustic signal representative of an electrical transmit control signal propagated from said control logic and generating an electrical receive signal representative of an incident acoustic signal;
- generating an electrical transmit control signal for each transducer element such that the electrical transmit control signal for each transducer element contains a coded signal;
- generating an electrical receive control signal for each transducer element that contains an appropriate frequency and phase shift that when combined with that transducer element's electrical receive signal permits the coherent combination of the electrical receive signals of each of the plurality of transducer elements;
- combining the coherent output signals from said transducer elements so as to form a coherently combined array output signal;
- decoding a combined reflected coded signal in the coherently combined array output signal to produce a decoded output signal;
- and
- generating image data from the decoded output signal.
5 more elements
An acoustic imaging apparatus, comprising:
- control logic;
- a plurality of transducer elements arranged in an array, each coupled to said control logic and capable of transmitting an acoustic signal representative of an electrical transmit control signal propagated from said control logic and generating an electrical receive signal representative of an incident acoustic signal;
- means within said control logic for generating an electrical transmit control signal for each transducer element that contains a frequency based coded signal and cause causing each transducer to emit an acoustic signal representative of said coded signal;
- means for modifying the frequency and chase phase of an electrical receive signal of each transducer element for coherently combining reflected coded signals within the electrical receive signals thereof;
- means coupled to said modifying means for decoding the combined reflected coded signals to achieve a time delay based on that coded signal;
- and
- means coupled to said decoding means for generating image data from an output signal therefrom.
4 more elements
An acoustic energy transmitting apparatus, comprising:
- a plurality of electro-acoustic transducer elements arranged in an M row by N column array, where M and N are positive integers and at least one of M and N is greater than one;
- control circuit for propagating row and column control signals for each of said M rows and said N columns, each control signal having a frequency and a phase component;
- and
- wherein each transducer element is configured to function as an active device so as to achieve a combining at each transducer element of the frequency and phase components of the row and column control signals for that transducer element in such a manner as to provide a focused acoustic signal at a given focal distance and direction from said array.
1 more element
An acoustic energy transmitting apparatus, comprising:
- a plurality of electro-acoustic transducer elements arranged in an M row by N column array, where M and N are positive integers and at least one of M and N is greater than one;
- M row control lines, each coupled to the transducer elements in one of said M rows;
- N column control lines, each coupled to the transducer elements in one of said N columns;
- control circuit for propagating row and column control signals for each of said M rows and said N columns, a control signal for each transducer element being a combination of one of said row control signals and one of said column control signals;
- a plurality of active devices, each coupled to one of said transducer elements for combining the row control signal and the column control signal of that transducer element;
- wherein said transducer elements, control circuit and active devices are configured so as to achieve a combining at each transducer element of the row and column control signals for that transducer element in such a manner as to provide a focused acoustic signal at a given focal distance and direction from said array;
- and
- wherein each of said electro-acoustic transducer elements is configured within said apparatus to function in a non-linear manner in operation.
5 more elements
An acoustic energy receiving apparatus, comprising:
- a plurality of electro-acoustic transducer elements arranged in an M row by N column array;
- control circuit for propagating row and column control signals for each of said M rows and said N columns, each row and column control signal having a frequency and a phase component;
- and
- wherein said transducer elements and said control circuit are configured so as to achieve a combining at each transducer element of the frequency and phase components of the row and column control signals for that transducer element with a resultant electrical receive signal, corresponding to an acoustic signal incident on that transducer element, in such a manner as to modify the frequency and phase of the transducer element's electrical receive signal so as to achieve the coherent combination of the modified electrical receive signals from all of said plurality of transducer elements;
- and
- a filter that filters spurious frequencies output from the transducer elements;
- wherein said transducer elements, control circuit and filter are configured to achieve focused acoustic signal reception at a given distance and direction from said array.
4 more elements
An acoustic energy receiving apparatus, comprising:
- a plurality of electro-acoustic transducer elements each capable of generating an electrical receive signal in response to an incident acoustic wave and arranged in an M row by N column array, where M and N are positive integers and at least one of M and N is greater than one;
- control circuit for propagating row and column control signals for each of said M rows and said N columns, the control signal for each transducer element being a combination of the row and column control signals for that transducer element;
- wherein said row and column control signals are configured, for each transducer element, such that when combined with the electrical receive signal of that transducer element the electrical receive signal is modified in such a manner as to permit the simultaneous processing of the modified electrical receive signals from said plurality of transducer elements;
- a first circuit that combines the modified electrical receive signals of each of said transducer elements to form an array output signal;
- and
- a second circuit coupled to said first circuit that generates image data from said array output signal.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.