Method and system for PDA-based ultrasound
First Claim
1. A method of ultrasound imaging, said method comprising:
- attaching a detachable transducer head to a beamforming module to form a hand-held probe assembly that includes said beamforming module and said detachable transducer head;
receiving ultrasound signals with said hand-held probe assembly from a region of interest to generate a plurality of received digital signals within said hand-held probe assembly;
digitally beamforming said plurality of received digital signals within said hand-held probe assembly to generate at least one beam of digital data corresponding to said region of interest; and
transmitting said at least one beam of digital data to a commercially available personal digital assistant (PDA) over a standard digital interface.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system are disclosed for a compact, inexpensive ultrasound system using an off-the-shelf personal digital assistant (PDA) device interfacing to a hand-held probe assembly through a standard digital interface. The hand-held probe assembly comprises a detachable transducer head attached to a beamforming module that performs digital beamforming. The PDA runs Windows applications and displays menus and images to a user. The PDA also runs ultrasound data processing software to support a plurality of imaging modes. An internal battery is provided in the PDA to power the system. The transducer head is detachable from the beamforming module.
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Citations
52 Claims
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1. A method of ultrasound imaging, said method comprising:
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attaching a detachable transducer head to a beamforming module to form a hand-held probe assembly that includes said beamforming module and said detachable transducer head;
receiving ultrasound signals with said hand-held probe assembly from a region of interest to generate a plurality of received digital signals within said hand-held probe assembly;
digitally beamforming said plurality of received digital signals within said hand-held probe assembly to generate at least one beam of digital data corresponding to said region of interest; and
transmitting said at least one beam of digital data to a commercially available personal digital assistant (PDA) over a standard digital interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system for performing ultrasound imaging, said system comprising:
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a beamforming module for performing ultrasound signal processing functions including digital beamforming;
a detachable transducer head attaching to said beamforming module to form a hand-held probe assembly; and
a commercially available personal digital assistant (PDA) connecting to said hand-held probe assembly through a standard digital interface wherein said PDA performs ultrasound data processing functions. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method of ultrasound imaging, said method comprising:
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attaching a detachable transducer head to a signal processing module to form a hand-held probe assembly that includes said signal processing module and said detachable transducer head;
receiving ultrasound signals with said hand-held probe assembly from a region of interest to generate a plurality of received digital signals within said hand-held probe assembly;
transmitting said plurality of received digital signals to a commercially available personal digital assistant (PDA) over a standard digital interface; and
digitally beamforming said plurality of received digital signals within said PDA to generate at least one beam of digital data corresponding to said region of interest. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A system for performing ultrasound imaging, said system comprising:
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a signal processing module for performing ultrasound signal processing;
a detachable transducer head attaching to said signal processing module to form a hand-held probe assembly; and
a commercially available personal digital assistant (PDA) connecting to said hand-held probe assembly through a standard digital interface wherein said PDA performs ultrasound data processing functions including digital beamforming. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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Specification