Ultrasonic diagnosis system

• US 20010020131A1
• Filed: 03/06/2001
• Published: 09/06/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Mine, Yoshitaka, Kawagishi, Tetsuya
• Granted Patent: US 6,626,833 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/443
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/481 involving the use of contrast agent, e.g. microbubbles introduced into the bloodstream analysis of echo signal exploiting properties of a contrast enhancer in devices for short-range imaging with acoustic waves G01S7/52039
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52038 involving non-linear properties of the propagation medium or of the reflective target
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52046 Techniques for image enhancement involving transmitter or receiver image enhancement by image data processing G06T5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/346 using phase variation

Abstract

An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus has an ultrasonic probe having a plurality of arrayed transducer elements, a transmitting beam former for generating driving signals for driving transducer elements, and a receiving beam former for generating receiving signals based on echo signals received by transducer elements. The transmitting beam former generates driving signals so that phases of ultrasonic waves generated from transducer elements are aligned at multiple focal points. An image processor extracts harmonic components from receiving signals of ultrasonic waves having multiple focal points, and generates ultrasonic image data based on the harmonic components.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus comprising:

an ultrasonic probe having a plurality of arrayed transducer elements;

a transmitting beam former configured to generate driving signals for driving said transducer elements so as ultrasonic waves generated from said transducer elements become in phase at a plurality of focal points with different deeps;

a receiving beam former configured to generate receiving signal based on echo signals received by said transducer elements; and

an image processor configured to extract harmonic components from said receiving signals and generating ultrasonic image data based on said harmonic components.

2. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to

claim 1

, wherein said transmitting beam former generates said driving signals so as ultrasonic waves generated from first transducer elements out of said transducer elements are aligned in phase at a first focal point, and ultrasonic waves generated from second transducer elements are aligned in phase at a second focal point that is deeper than said first focal point.

3. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to

claim 2

, wherein said second transducer elements are located outside said first transducer elements.

4. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to

claim 2

, wherein said first transducer elements are distributed in a circular zone with a predetermined diameter, and said second transducer elements are distributed in a ring-shaped zone surrounding the outer circumference of said circular zone.

5. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to

claim 2

, wherein said transmitting beam former makes different a frequency of driving signals for said first transducer elements and a frequency of driving signals for said second transducer elements from each other.

6. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to

claim 2

, wherein said transmitting beam former sets the frequency of driving signals for said second transducer elements lower than the frequency of driving signals for said first transducer elements.

7. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to

claim 6

, wherein said image processor has a high-pass filter for removing harmonic components of ultrasonic waves from said second transducer elements out of receiving signals corresponding to zones at least shallower than said second focal point.

8. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to

claim 2

, wherein said transmitting beam former makes different an amplitude of driving signals for said first transducer elements and an amplitude of driving signals for said second transducer elements from each other.

9. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to

claim 2

, wherein said transmitting beam former sets the amplitude of driving signals for said second transducer elements higher than the amplitude of driving signals for said first transducer elements.

10. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to

claim 1

, wherein said transmitting beam former generates said driving signals so as ultrasonic waves generated from first transducer elements out of said transducer elements are aligned in phase at the first focal point, ultrasonic waves generated from second transducer elements are aligned in phase at the second focal point that is deeper than said first focal point, and ultrasonic waves generated from third transducer elements are aligned in phase at a third focal point that is deeper than said second focal point.

11. An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus comprising:

an ultrasonic probe having a plurality of arrayed transducer elements;

a transmitting beam former configured to generate driving signals for driving said transducer elements so as ultrasonic waves generated from said transducer elements form a plurality of focal points with different deeps;

a receiving beam former configured to generate receiving signals based on echo signals received by said transducer elements; and

an image processor configured to extract harmonic components from said receiving signals and generating ultrasonic image data based on said harmonic components.

12. An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus comprising:

an ultrasonic probe having a plurality of arrayed transducer elements;

a transmitting beam former configured to generate driving signals for driving said transducer elements so as ultrasonic waves generated from first transducer elements out of said transducer elements are aligned in phase at a first focal point, and ultrasonic waves generated from second transducer elements are aligned in phase at a second focal point that is deeper than said first focal point;

a receiving beam former configured to generate receiving signals based on echo signals received by said first and second transducer elements; and

an image processor configured to extract harmonic components from said receiving signals and generating ultrasonic image data based on said harmonic components.

13. An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus comprising:

an ultrasonic probe having a plurality of arrayed transducer elements;

a transmitting beam former configured to generate driving signals for driving said transducer elements so as ultrasonic waves generated from first transducer elements out of said transducer elements are aligned in phase at a first focal point, and ultrasonic waves generated from second transducer elements are aligned in phase at a second focal point that is deeper than said first focal point, and, so as ultrasonic waves generated from second transducer elements are deflected in phase by a predetermined angle from the ultrasonic waves generated from said first transducer elements at said first focal point;

a receiving beam former configured to generate receiving signals based on echo signals received by said first and second transducer elements; and

an image processor configured to generate ultrasonic image data based on said receiving signals.

14. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to

claim 13

, wherein said transmitting beam former generates said driving signals so as ultrasonic waves generated from said second transducer elements are aligned in phase with ultrasonic waves generated from said first transducer elements at said first focal point.

15. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to

claim 13

, wherein said transmitting beam former generates said driving signals so as ultrasonic waves generated from said second transducer elements are reversed in phase from ultrasonic waves generated from said first transducer elements at said first focal point.

16. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to

claim 13

, wherein said transmitting beam former shifts the phase of driving signals for said second transducer elements so as ultrasonic waves generated from said second transducer elements are deflected in phase by a predetermined angle from ultrasonic waves generated from said first transducer elements at said first focal point.

17. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to

claim 13

, wherein said transmitting beam former delays driving signals for said second transducer elements from driving signals for said first transducer elements so as ultrasonic waves generated from said second transducer elements are deflected by a predetermined angle from ultrasonic waves generated from said first transducer elements at said first focal point.