Ultrasound machine having scalable receive beamformer architecture comprising multiple beamformers with common coefficient generator and related methods
First Claim
1. A method for operating an ultrasound machine, the method comprising:
- operating an ultrasound transmitter to transmit an ultrasound signal into a volume of interest;
receiving echo signals resulting from interaction of the transmitted ultrasound signal with structures in the volume of interest at a plurality of transducer elements;
passing the received echo signals to each of a plurality of beamformers and, in each of the beamformers at each of a sequence of times;
applying delays to the echo signals; and
summing the delayed echo signals to yield a scanline value;
in intervals between the times of the sequence of times, distributing from a beamforming coefficient generator common amongst the plurality of the beamformers, by way of a beamformer coefficient bus, new delay values to be applied to the echo signals at a subsequent one of the sequence of times, wherein the common beamforming coefficient generator calculates the delays to be applied to every echo signal passed to each of the plurality of beamformers; and
processing the scanline values from the plurality of beamformers to yield image data defining an image.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for generating high quality, high frame rate images in a handheld or hand-carried ultrasound imaging machine. The apparatus includes a time-multiplexed beamformer coefficient generator that supplies the necessary delay and weight coefficients to process multiple beams in parallel via a beamforming coefficient bus. This approach reduces the required hardware and power consumption to satisfy the physical space and power requirements of a handheld probe. To improve image quality, the ultrasound machine may optionally use synthetic aperture to improve penetration and resolution. The ultrasound machine may also use pulse inversion harmonics to improve image quality by improving signal-to-noise ratio.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method for operating an ultrasound machine, the method comprising:
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operating an ultrasound transmitter to transmit an ultrasound signal into a volume of interest; receiving echo signals resulting from interaction of the transmitted ultrasound signal with structures in the volume of interest at a plurality of transducer elements; passing the received echo signals to each of a plurality of beamformers and, in each of the beamformers at each of a sequence of times; applying delays to the echo signals; and summing the delayed echo signals to yield a scanline value; in intervals between the times of the sequence of times, distributing from a beamforming coefficient generator common amongst the plurality of the beamformers, by way of a beamformer coefficient bus, new delay values to be applied to the echo signals at a subsequent one of the sequence of times, wherein the common beamforming coefficient generator calculates the delays to be applied to every echo signal passed to each of the plurality of beamformers; and processing the scanline values from the plurality of beamformers to yield image data defining an image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An ultrasound machine comprising:
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an ultrasound transmitter; a plurality of transducer elements connected to the ultrasound transmitter; and a plurality of beamformers, wherein each of the beamformers are configured to receive signals from one or more of the plurality of transducer elements; wherein, during operation of the ultrasound machine, the ultrasound machine is configured to; operate the ultrasound transmitter to transmit an ultrasound signal into a volume of interest; receive, at the one or more transducer elements, echo signals resulting from interaction of the transmitted ultrasound signal with structures in the volume of interest at the plurality of transducer elements; pass, from the one or more transducer elements, the received echo signals to each of the plurality of beamformers and, in each of the beamformers at each of a sequence of times; apply delays to the echo signals; and sum the delayed echo signals to yield a scanline value; in intervals between the times of the sequence of times, distribute from a beamforming coefficient generator common amongst the plurality of the beamformers, by way of a beamformer coefficient bus, new delay values to be applied to the echo signals at a subsequent one of the sequence of times, wherein the common beamforming coefficient generator calculates the delays to be applied to every echo signal passed to each of the plurality of beamformers; and process the scanline values from the plurality of beamformers to yield image data defining an image. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification