Patent US3690325A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0851241A2
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Ultrasonic diagnostic imaging of response frequency differing from transmit frequency
Assignee: ATL Ultrasound Inc
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Filing: 1997-11-07
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2017-11-07
Abstract
Abstract An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system and methods are described which produces ultrasonic images from harmonic echo components of a transmitted fundamental frequency. Preferably, a programmable digital filter is used to pass harmonic echo components for image processing to the exclusion of fundamental frequency signals. In a preferred embodiment, artifacts are removed by producing decorrelated replicas of the harmonic signals, which are then combined and used for imaging. To produce an image in the presence of depth dependent attenuation of high frequency echo signals, both fundamental and harmonic echo signals are processed and used to produce an image blended from components of both fundamental and harmonic echo signals.
Inventors
- 👤 Michalakis Averkiou
- 👤 Jeffry E. Powers
- 👤 Peter N. Burns
- 👤 David N. Roundhill
- 👤 Juin-Jet Hwang
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-25 17:48
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01S; G01S7/00; G01S7/52; G01S7/52017; G01S7/52046; A; A61; A61B; A61B8/00; A61B8/13; A61B8/14; A61B8/48; A61B8/488; A61B8/52; A61B8/5207; G01S7/52023; G01S7/52036; G01S7/52038; G01S15/00; G01S15/88; G01S15/89; G01S15/8906; G01S15/8979; G01S7/52033; G01S7/52053; G01S7/52057; G01S7/5206; G01S7/52074
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 47
Claim 1
Independent Claim
59 words
An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system for
imaging the harmonic response of structure inside a
body, comprising: means for transmitting ultrasonic energy into
the body at a fundamental frequency; means, responsive to said transmitted ultrasonic
energy, for receiving ultrasonic echo signals at a
harmonic of said fundamental frequency; and means for producing an ultrasonic image from
said harmonic echo signals.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
23 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 1, wherein said means for transmitting and said
means for receiving comprise an ultrasonic transducer
probe.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
40 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 2, wherein said ultrasonic transducer probe
comprises a plurality of transducer elements for
transmitting ultrasonic energy at a fundamental
frequency and for receiving ultrasonic echo signals
at a harmonic of said fundamental frequency.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
29 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 3, wherein said transducer elements exhibit a
response characteristic which encompasses both said
fundamental frequency and said harmonic of said
fundamental frequency.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
41 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 1, wherein said means for receiving ultrasonic
echo signals at a harmonic of said fundamental
frequency comprises a filter defining a passband
which includes said harmonic frequency to the
exclusion of said fundamental frequency.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
16 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 5, wherein said filter comprises a programmable
digital filter.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
21 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 1. wherein said means for producing an
ultrasonic image includes a B mode processor.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
26 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 7, wherein said B mode processor includes an
amplitude detector for detecting the envelope of said
harmonic echo signals.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
18 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 1, wherein said structure comprises naturally
occurring structure of the body.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
20 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 9, wherein said naturally occurring structure
comprises tissue and cells of the body.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
61 words
A method for producing an ultrasonic image
from the harmonic response of the interior of the
body comprising the steps of: transmitting ultrasonic energy into the body at
a fundamental frequency; receiving ultrasonic echo signals at a harmonic
of said fundamental frequency; and processing said harmonic echo signals to produce
ultrasonic image display signals; and displaying said ultrasonic image display
signals.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of Claim 11, wherein the steps
of transmitting and receiving comprise using an
ultrasonic probe with a transducer array to transmit
fundamental frequency ultrasonic energy and receive
harmonic echo signals.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of Claim 12, wherein the step of
using an ultrasonic probe comprises the step of
transmitting fundamental frequency ultrasonic energy
and receiving harmonic echo signals with the same
transducer elements.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of Claim 11, wherein the step of
receiving ultrasonic echo signals at a harmonic of
said fundamental frequency comprises passing received
ultrasonic echo signals through a filter which passes
signals at said harmonic of said fundamental
frequency to the exclusion of said fundamental
frequency.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of Claim 11, wherein said
processing step comprises B mode processing said
harmonic echo signals.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of Claim 15, wherein said step
of B mode processing includes the step of amplitude
detecting said harmonic echo signals.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
99 words
An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system for
producing an ultrasonic image of the harmonic
response of structure inside a body with reduced
artifacts, comprising: means for transmitting ultrasonic energy into
the body at a fundamental frequency; means, responsive to said transmitted ultrasonic
energy, for receiving ultrasonic echo signals at a
harmonic of said fundamental frequency; means for processing said harmonic ultrasonic
echo signals to generate at least partially
decorrelated replicas of said echo signals; means for combining said decorrelated replicas
to produce artifact-reduced harmonic echo signals;
and means for utilizing said artifact-reduced
harmonic echo signals to produce an ultrasonic image.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
14 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 17, wherein said artifacts comprise dropout
artifacts.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
15 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 18, wherein said artifacts further comprise
speckle artifacts.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
33 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 17, wherein said means for processing comprises
a bandpass filter for separating components of said
harmonic ultrasonic echo signals into two passbands
having differing center frequencies.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
28 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 20, wherein said means for processing further
comprises a detector for detecting harmonic
ultrasonic echo signals in each of said passbands.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
28 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 21, wherein said means for processing further
comprises a log compression processor for log
compressing said detected harmonic ultrasonic echo
signals.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
55 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 17, wherein said processing means comprises two
parallel channels, each having an input coupled to
receive harmonic ultrasonic echo signals and an
output coupled to said combining means, wherein each of said channels includes a
bandpass filter having a filter characteristic
different from that of the other channel.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
20 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 23, wherein said filter characteristic is the
peak response frequency of the filter.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
19 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 23, wherein said filter characteristic is the
center frequency of the filter.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
17 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 23, wherein each of said channels further
includes a detector.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
19 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 26, wherein each of said channels further
includes a log compression processor.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
28 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 17, wherein said processing means comprises
means for separating said harmonic ultrasonic echo
signals into two passbands of unequal dynamic range.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
41 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 28, wherein said two passbands comprise a low
frequency passband and a high frequency passband, and
wherein the dynamic range of said low frequency
passband is less than that of said high frequency
passband.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
26 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 29, wherein said processing means further
comprises means for mapping the dynamic range of each
of said passbands differently.
Claim 31
Independent Claim
69 words
A method for producing a harmonic
ultrasonic image with reduced artifacts comprising
the steps of: transmitting ultrasonic energy at a fundamental
frequency; receiving ultrasonic echo signals at a harmonic
of said fundamental frequency; processing said harmonic echo signals to produce
decorrelated replicas of said signals; combining said decorrelated replicas to produce
artifact reduced harmonic echo signals; and utilizing said artifact reduced harmonic echo
signals to produce an ultrasonic image.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of Claim 31, wherein the step of
processing said harmonic echo signals comprises
separating components of said harmonic echo signals
into two different passbands.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of Claim 32, wherein the step of
processing said harmonic echo signals comprises
separating components of said harmonic echo signals
into two different passbands of unequal dynamic
range.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method of Claim 33, wherein the step of
processing said harmonic echo signals comprises
separating components of said harmonic echo signals
into a high frequency passband of a given dynamic
range and a low frequency passband of a dynamic range
which is less than that of said given dynamic range.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
87 words
An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system for
producing a harmonic ultrasonic image of structure
inside a body, comprising: means for transmitting ultrasonic energy into
the body at a fundamental frequency; means, responsive to said transmitted ultrasonic
energy, for receiving ultrasonic echo signals at said
fundamental frequency and at a harmonic of said
fundamental frequency; and an image processor which processes said received
fundamental frequency echo signals and harmonic
frequency echo signals to produce an ultrasonic image
formed of components of both said fundamental and
said harmonic echo signals.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
23 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 35, wherein said receiving means includes means
for producing separated fundamental and harmonic
frequency echo signals.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
50 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 36, wherein said receiving means includes a
filter for producing fundamental frequency echo
signals to the at least partial exclusion of harmonic
frequency echo signals, and for producing harmonic
frequency echo signals to the at least partial
exclusion of fundamental frequency echo signals.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
40 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 35, wherein said image processor comprises
means for utilizing predominately harmonic echo
signals in the near field of said image, and
predominately fundamental frequency echo signals in
the far field of said image.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
85 words
An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system for
imaging the harmonic response of structure inside a
body which exhibits depth dependent attenuation of
ultrasonic energy, comprising: means for transmitting ultrasonic energy into
the body at a fundamental frequency which is equal to
or less than 5 MHz; means, responsive to said transmitted ultrasonic
energy, for receiving ultrasonic echo signals at a
harmonic of said fundamental frequency which is equal
to or less than 10 MHz; and means for producing an ultrasonic image from
said harmonic echo signals.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
56 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 39, wherein said transmitting means transmits
ultrasonic energy into the body at a fundamental
frequency which is equal to or less than 2.5 MHz; and wherein said receiving means receives ultrasonic
echo signals at a harmonic of said fundamental
frequency which is equal to or less than 5 MHz.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
50 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 39, wherein said transmitting means transmits
ultrasonic energy into the body at a fundamental
frequency which is less than 2 MHz; and wherein said receiving means receives ultrasonic
echo signals at a harmonic of said fundamental
frequency which is less than 4 MHz.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
36 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 39, wherein said receiving means includes a
programmable digital filter which is programmed to
pass a band of said harmonic echo signals to the
exclusion of said fundamental frequency.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
64 words
An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system for
imaging the nonlinear response of tissue, comprising: a transmitter for transmitting ultrasonic energy
into the body at a fundamental frequency; a receiver, responsive to echoes returned from
tissue following said ultrasonic energy transmission,
for separating signals representing the nonlinear
response of tissue to ultrasound; and an image processor for producing an ultrasonic
image from said nonlinear response signals.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
26 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 43, wherein said receiver includes a filter
circuit for separating signals representing the
nonlinear response of tissue to ultrasound.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
46 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 43, wherein said receiver includes a signal
processor, responsive to the reception of multiple
echoes from the same spatial location in tissue, for
combining said multiple echo signals to separate
signals representing the nonlinear response of tissue
to ultrasound.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
28 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 43, wherein the the nonlinear response of
tissue to ultrasound comprises a second or higher
order harmonic of said fundamental frequency.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
24 words
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system of
Claim 43, wherein the the nonlinear response of
tissue to ultrasound comprises a subharmonic of said
fundamental frequency.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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