US5590658A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Portable ultrasound imaging system
Assignee: TeraTech Corp
•
Filing: 1995-06-29
•
Granted: 1997-01-07
•
Expires: 2015-06-29
Abstract
Abstract A portable ultrasound imaging system includes a handheld scan head coupled by a cable to a portable battery-powered data processor and display unit, preferably in the form of a lap-top computer. The scan head enclosure houses an array of ultrasonic transducers and the circuitry associated therewith, including pulse synchronizer circuitry used in the transmit mode to time transmission of ultrasonic pulses and beam forming circuitry used in the receive mode to dynamically focus reflected ultrasonic signals returning from the region of interest being imaged. Because the pulse synchronizer and beam forming circuits are integrated on small chips, they can be included in the scan head, resulting in a portable low-power system. Also, since the beam forming and summation functions are performed in the scan head in proximity to the transducer elements, signal loss is substantially reduced, resulting in much higher image quality. In addition, the focused summed signal is transferred to the data processor and display unit by a cable which is far less sophisticated and expensive than the cables used in prior systems to transfer all of the transducer signals to a console signal processing unit.
Inventors
- 👤 Alice M. Chiang
- 👤 Steven R. Broadstone
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 14:10
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B8/00; A61B8/46; A61B8/461; A61B8/463; A61B8/42; A61B8/4209; A61B8/4236; A61B8/54; A61B8/546; A61B8/56; G; G01; G01S; G01S15/00; G01S15/88; G01S15/89; G01S15/8906; G01S15/8909; G01S15/8915; G01S15/8934; G01S15/8979; G01S7/00; G01S7/003; G01S7/52; G01S7/52017; G01S7/52053; G01S7/52057; G01S7/5206; G01S7/52063; G01S7/52073; G01S7/52079; G01S7/5208; A61B2560/00; A61B2560/04; A61B2560/0443; A61B2560/045; A61B7/00; A61B7/02; A61B7/04; A61B8/12; A61B8/44; A61B8/4444; A61B8/4455; A61B8/4483; A61B8/4488; G01S15/899; G01S7/52023; G01S7/52025; G01S7/52026; G01S7/52046; G01S7/52096
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 38
Claim 1
Independent Claim
114 words
A scan head for an ultrasound imaging system comprising: an array of ultrasonic transducers that receives reflected ultrasonic signals from a region of interest, the transducers converting the received ultrasonic signals into analog electrical signals; beam forming circuitry that receives the analog electrical signals and combines the electrical signals from the ultrasonic transducers, the beam forming circuitry including a delay circuit that generates an analog electrical representative of the region of interest; a hand-held housing in which the ultrasonic transducers and the beam forming circuitry are housed; and an interlace over which a combined electrical representation from the beam forming circuitry is forwarded from the hand-held housing to processing circuitry in a second housing.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
114 words
A scan head for an ultrasound imaging system comprising: an array of ultrasonic transducers that receives reflected ultrasonic signals from a region of interest, the transducers converting the received ultrasonic signals into analog electrical signals; beam forming circuitry that receives the analog electrical signals and combines the electrical signals from the ultrasonic transducers, the beam forming circuitry including a delay circuit that generates an analog electrical representative of the region of interest; a hand-held housing in which the ultrasonic transducers and the beam forming circuitry are housed; and an interlace over which a combined electrical representation from the beam forming circuitry is forwarded from the hand-held housing to processing circuitry in a second housing.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
44 words
The scan head of claim 1 wherein the beam forming circuitry comprises a feedback circuit that provides a correction signal which alters at least one of the electrical signals before the electrical signals are combined into the electrical representation of the region of interest.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
34 words
The scan head of claim 1 wherein the beam forming circuitry comprises a pair of programmable tapped delay lines for each ultrasonic transducer to dynamically focus the electrical signals generated by the ultrasonic transducers.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
14 words
The scan head of claim 3 wherein each delay line comprises a charge-coupled device.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
35 words
The scan head of claim 1 further comprising pulse synchronization circuitry that provides timing signals to the array of ultrasonic transducers to time ultrasonic signals transmitted into the region of interest by the ultrasonic transducers.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
29 words
The scan head of claim 1 further comprising amplification circuitry that amplifies the electrical signals from the ultrasonic transducers and couples the amplified signals to the beam forming circuitry.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
23 words
The scan head of claim 1 further comprising driver circuitry which generates signals to drive the ultrasonic transducers to transmit the ultrasonic signals.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
20 words
The scan head of claim 1 further comprising memory circuitry for storing data used to control the beam forming circuitry.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
23 words
The scan head of claim 1 further comprising gain control circuitry for controlling voltage levels of the electrical signals from the ultrasonic transducers.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
29 words
The scan head of claim 1 further comprising an analog to digital converter connected to the beam forming circuitry that converts the analog electrical representation to a digital representation.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
27 words
The scan head of claim 10 wherein the analog to digital converter is within the hand-held housing such that the combined electrical representation comprises the digital representation.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
17 words
The scan head of claim 10 wherein the analog to digital converter is within the second housing.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
149 words
A scan head for an ultrasound imaging system comprising: an array of ultrasonic transducers that transmits ultrasonic signals into a region of interest and that receives reflected ultrasonic signals from the region of interest, the transducers converting the received ultrasonic signals into electrical signals; pulse synchronization circuitry that provides timing signals to the array of ultrasonic transducers to time the ultrasonic signals transmitted into the region of interest by the ultrasonic transducers; beam forming circuitry that combines the electrical signals from the ultrasonic transducers, the beam forming circuitry including a delay circuit that generates an analog electrical representative of the region of interest; a first housing in which the ultrasonic transducers, the pules synchronization circuitry and the beam forming circuitry are housed; and an interface over which a combined electrical representation from the beam forming circuitry is forwarded from the first housing to processing circuitry in a second housing.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
149 words
A scan head for an ultrasound imaging system comprising: an array of ultrasonic transducers that transmits ultrasonic signals into a region of interest and that receives reflected ultrasonic signals from the region of interest, the transducers converting the received ultrasonic signals into electrical signals; pulse synchronization circuitry that provides timing signals to the array of ultrasonic transducers to time the ultrasonic signals transmitted into the region of interest by the ultrasonic transducers; beam forming circuitry that combines the electrical signals from the ultrasonic transducers, the beam forming circuitry including a delay circuit that generates an analog electrical representative of the region of interest; a first housing in which the ultrasonic transducers, the pules synchronization circuitry and the beam forming circuitry are housed; and an interface over which a combined electrical representation from the beam forming circuitry is forwarded from the first housing to processing circuitry in a second housing.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
44 words
The scan head of claim 13 wherein the beam forming circuitry comprises a feedback circuit that provides a correction signal which alters at least one of the electrical signals before the electrical signals are combined into the electrical representation of the region of interest.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
34 words
The scan head of claim 13 wherein the beam forming circuitry comprises a pair of programmable tapped delay lines for each ultrasonic transducer to dynamically focus the electrical signals generated by the ultrasonic transducers.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
14 words
The scan head of claim 15 wherein each delay line comprises a charge-coupled device.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
29 words
The scan head of claim 13 further comprising amplification circuitry that amplifies the electrical signals from the ultrasonic transducers and couples the amplified signals to the beam forming circuitry.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
23 words
The scan head of claim 13 further comprising driver circuitry which generates signals to drive the ultrasonic transducers to transmit the ultrasonic signals.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
20 words
The scan head of claim 13 further comprising memory circuitry for storing data used to control the beam forming circuitry.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
23 words
The scan head of claim 13 further comprising gain control circuitry for controlling voltage levels of the electrical signals from the ultrasonic transducers.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
29 words
The scan head of claim 13 further comprising an analog to digital converter connected to the beam forming circuitry that converts the analog electrical representation to a digital representation.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
27 words
The scan head of claim 21 wherein the analog to digital converter is within the hand-held housing such that the combined electrical representation comprises the digital representation.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
17 words
The scan head of claim 21 wherein the analog to digital converter is within the second housing.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
141 words
A method of scanning a region of interest with ultrasound energy comprising: providing a hand-held scan head having a housing in which an array of ultrasonic transducers and beam forming circuitry is located, the beam forming circuitry including a delay circuit; holding the hand-held scan head in a hand of a user to position the transducers in the housing adjacent to the region of interest; receiving reflected ultrasonic signals from the region of interest with the ultrasonic transducers, the ultrasonic transducers converting the received ultrasonic signals into analog electrical signals; selectively delaying and combining the electrical signals from the ultrasonic transducers with the beam forming circuitry into an analog electrical representation of the region of interest; and forwarding an electrical representation from the beam forming circuitry out of the housing of the scan head over an interface to a second housing.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
141 words
A method of scanning a region of interest with ultrasound energy comprising: providing a hand-held scan head having a housing in which an array of ultrasonic transducers and beam forming circuitry is located, the beam forming circuitry including a delay circuit; holding the hand-held scan head in a hand of a user to position the transducers in the housing adjacent to the region of interest; receiving reflected ultrasonic signals from the region of interest with the ultrasonic transducers, the ultrasonic transducers converting the received ultrasonic signals into analog electrical signals; selectively delaying and combining the electrical signals from the ultrasonic transducers with the beam forming circuitry into an analog electrical representation of the region of interest; and forwarding an electrical representation from the beam forming circuitry out of the housing of the scan head over an interface to a second housing.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 24 wherein the step of providing beam forming circuitry comprises providing a feedback circuit that provides a correction signal which alters at least one of the electrical signals before the electrical signals are combined into the electrical representation of the region of interest.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 24 wherein the step of providing beam forming circuitry comprises providing a pair of programmable tapped delay lines for each ultrasonic transducer to dynamically focus the electrical signals generated by the ultrasonic transducers.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method of claim 26 wherein each delay line comprises a charge-coupled device.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 24 further comprising the step of providing pulse synchronization circuitry within the housing of the scan head to provide timing signals to the array of ultrasonic transducers to time ultrasonic signals transmitted into the region of interest by the ultrasonic transducers.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 24 further comprising: amplifying the electrical signals from the ultrasonic transducers; and coupling the amplified signals to the beam forming circuitry.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 24 further comprising storing data used to control the beam forming circuitry in memory within the housing of the scan head.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 24 further comprising controlling voltage levels of the electrical signals from the ultrasonic transducers with gain control circuitry.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 24 further comprising generating an image of the region of interest.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 24 further comprising converting the analog electrical representation to a digital representation using an analog to digital converter connected to the beam forming circuitry.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 33 further comprising providing the analog to digital converter within the hand-held housing such that the combined electrical representation comprises the digital representation.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 33 further comprising providing the analog to digital converter within the second housing.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US4213195A
Cited
US4152678A
Cited
US4058003A
Cited
US4173007A
Cited
US4267584A
Cited
US4140022B1
Cited
US4140022A
Cited
US4127034A
Cited
US4180790A
Cited
US4170766A
Cited
US4208916A
Cited
US4288764A
Cited
US4280203A
Cited
US4368037A
Cited
US4458324A
Cited
US4464726A
Cited
US4542653A
Cited
US4632124A
Cited
US4787392A
Cited
US5063541A
Cited
US5257629A
Cited
US5089983A
Cited
US5126962A
Cited
US5030953A
Cited
EP0627635A2
Cited
US5123415A
Cited
US5199437A
Cited
US5435313A
Cited
US5269307A
Cited
US5203335A
Cited
US5287753A
Cited
EP0585070A1
Cited
US5249578A
Cited
US5396285A
Cited
US5345426A
Cited
US5365929A
Cited
US5386830A
Cited
US5381795A
Cited
US5402793A
Cited
US5345939A
Cited
US5390674A
Cited
US5450851A
Cited
US5462057A
Cited
US5438994A
Cited
US5456257A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2000-01-07 | 2000-07-08 | 2001-01-07 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2004-01-07 | 2004-07-08 | 2005-01-07 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2008-01-07 | 2008-07-08 | 2009-01-07 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |