Ultrasound imaging system with pixel oriented processing

• US 20090112095A1
• Filed: 04/14/2006
• Published: 04/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verasonics, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Verasonics, Inc.
• Inventors: Daigle, Ronald Elvin
• Granted Patent: US 8,287,456 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/454
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/06 Measuring blood flow measuring volume flow in general G01F, e.g. G01F1/66, G01F1/72; measuring speed of fluids in general G01P5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/13 Tomography A61B8/10, A61B8/12 take precedence; tomography for radiation diagnosis A61B6/02
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/14 Echo-tomography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4483 characterised by features of the ultrasound transducer
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/466 adapted to display 3D data 3D imaging and stereoscopic displays in devices for short-range imaging with acoustic waves G01S15/8993 and G01S7/52068, respectively; 3D image rendering G06T15/00; manipulating 3D models for computer graphics G06T19/00
• 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: A61B 8/483 involving the acquisition of a 3D volume of data
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/485 involving measuring strain or elastic properties
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/488 involving Doppler signals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/52 Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves image processing per se G06T
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/5207 involving processing of raw data to produce diagnostic data, e.g. for generating an image reconstruction G06T11/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/5223 for extracting a diagnostic or physiological parameter from medical diagnostic data for algorithms to analyse biomedical images G06T7/0012
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8984 Measuring the velocity vector
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8993 Three dimensional imaging systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8995 Combining images from different aspect angles, e.g. spatial compounding
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52034 Data rate converters
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52042 determining elastic properties of the propagation medium or of the reflective target diagnostic techniques involving the measurement of strain A61B8/485
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/5206 Two-dimensional coordinated display of distance and direction; B-scan display
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/5208 with integration of processing functions inside probe or scanhead

Abstract

An ultrasound imaging system with pixel oriented processing is provided in which an acoustic signal is generated, echoes from the acoustic signal are received at a plurality of receiving elements to obtain echo signals that are then stored, a given pixel is mapped into a region of the stored signals, the mapped region of the stored echo signals is organized into array for the given pixel after which the array is processed to generate a signal response for the given pixel to obtain acoustic information for the given pixel. The system can be implemented entirely on plug-in cards for a commercial PC motherboard. The system and method can be implemented for pixel-oriented or voxel-oriented image processing and display, eliminating intermediate data computations and enabling extensive use of software processing methods. Advantages include improved acquisition of signal dynamic range, flexible acquisition modes for high frame rate 2D, 3D, and Doppler blood flow imaging.

Claims

1. An ultrasound processing method, comprising:

generating an acoustic signal;

receiving at least one echo of the acoustic signal at a plurality of receiving elements and obtaining an echo signal therefrom;

storing each echo signal from each of the plurality of receiving elements;

mapping a given pixel into a region of the stored echo signals;

organizing the mapped region of the stored echo signals into an array for the given pixels;

processing the array to generate a signal response for the given pixels; and

using the signal response to obtain acoustic information for the given pixel.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising an initial step of generating a set of given pixels chosen to represent an area in a field of view of the transducer generating the acoustic signal, in which even given pixel in the set has a known spatial relationship to the plurality of receiving elements.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising generating an image from the acoustic information for the given pixels in the set.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising using the acoustic information to measure and display spatial data.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising using the acoustic information to measure and display temporal data.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising using the acoustic information to measure and display blood flow data.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising measuring and displaying tissue displacement response to induced mechanical displacement caused by an acoustic signal.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising generating a plurality of acoustic signals, receiving echoes from the plurality of acoustic signals, combining the received echoes over multiple generating and receiving cycles to enhance acoustic information obtained therefrom.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving echoes from the plurality of acoustic signals comprises obtaining echo signals from the received echoes, storing the echo signals, and combining the received echoes comprises combining the stored echo signals, and further comprising averaging the combined stored echo signals.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the signal response comprises an average of the echo signals.

11. The method of claim 1, comprising combining results of multiple cycles of generating acoustic signals, receiving echoes, obtaining echo signals from the received echoes and processing the echo signals to obtain pixel signals to derive enhanced acoustic information.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising processing the stored echo signals in multiple processing steps and combining the processing results to obtain enhanced acoustic information.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the enhanced acoustic information comprises spatial compounding that improves contrast resolution of a final image.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the enhanced acoustic information comprises a signal response representative of Doppler information associated with moving tissue or moving blood cells.

15. The method of claim 8 wherein the received echoes are stored at a rate that is higher than a rate of processing the array.

16. An ultrasound processing method, comprising:

generating an acoustic signal;

receiving at least one echo of the acoustic signal at a plurality of receiving elements and obtaining an echo signal therefrom;

storing each echo signal from each of the plurality of receiving elements;

mapping a given voxel into a region of the stored echo signals;

organizing the mapped region of the stored echo signals into an array for the given voxel;

processing the array to generate a signal response for the given voxel; and

using the signal response to obtain three-dimensional acoustic information for the given voxel.

17. The method of claim 16, comprising an initial step of generating a set of given voxels chosen to represent a region in a field of view of the transducer generating the acoustic signal, in which every given voxel in the set has a known spatial relationship to the plurality of receiving elements.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising generating a three-dimensional image from the acoustic information for the given voxels in the set.

19. The method of claim 17, comprising generating a plurality of acoustic signals, receiving echoes from the plurality of acoustic signals and obtaining corresponding echo signals, and combining voxel signals obtained from the echo signals over multiple cycles of generating, receiving, and storing to enhance acoustic information obtained therefrom.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the enhanced acoustic information represents Doppler information associated with moving blood cells or tissue.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising using the acoustic information to display directional 3D Doppler flow data.

22. A method of processing acoustic echoes, comprising:

storing acoustic echo signals received from a plurality of receiving elements;

mapping a given pixel into a region of the stored echo signals;

organizing the mapped region of the stored echo signals into an array for the given pixel;

performing operations on the array to generate a signal response for the given pixel; and

using the signal response to obtain acoustic information for the given pixel.

23. The method of claim 22, comprising an initial step of generating a set of given pixels chosen to represent an area in a field of view of the transducer generating the acoustic signal, in which even given pixel in the array set has a known spatial relationship to the plurality of receiving elements.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising generating an image from the acoustic information for the given pixels in the array.

25. An ultrasound processing system, comprising:

a module adapted to generate an acoustic signal, receive at least one echo of the acoustic signal at a plurality of receiving elements in the module and obtain a plurality of echo signals therefrom; and

a processor configured to communicate with the module and adapted to map a given pixel into a region of stored echo signals received from the module, to organize the mapped region of the stored echo signals into an array for the given pixel, to perform operations on the array to generate a signal response for the given pixel, and to use the signal response to obtain acoustic information for the given pixel.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein the processor is configured to generate a set of given pixels chosen to represent an area in a field of view of the module in which each given pixel in the set has a known spatial relationship to the plurality of receiving elements in the module.

27. The system of claim 26, further comprising means for generating an image from the acoustic information for the given pixels in the array.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein the processor is adapted to generate an image from the acoustic information for the given pixels in the array.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the processor is adapted to measure and display spatial data.

30. The method of claim 28 wherein the processor is configured to measure and display temporal data.

31. The system of claim 28 wherein the processor is adapted to measure and display blood flow data.

32. The method of claim 28 wherein the processor is adapted to measure and display tissue response to induced mechanical displacement caused by an acoustic signal.

33. The system of claim 26 wherein the processor is configured to generate a plurality of acoustic signals, receive echoes from the plurality of acoustic signals and obtain echo signals therefrom, store the echo signals, and combine the stored echo signals over multiple cycles of generating, receiving, and storing to enhance the acoustic information obtained therefrom.

34. The system of claim 33 wherein the combined echo signals are averaged.

35. The system of claim 33 wherein the signal response generated from processing the array comprises an average of the stored echo signals.

36. The system of claim 26 wherein the processor is adapted to perform multiple steps of processing the array and combining the results of the multiple steps of processing to obtain further enhanced acoustic information.

37. The system of claim 36 wherein the further enhanced acoustic information comprises spatial compounding that improves contrast resolution of a final image.

38. The system of claim 36 wherein the further enhanced acoustic information is representative of Doppler information associated with moving tissue or moving blood cells.

39. The system of claim 36 wherein the processor is configured to receive, obtain, and store echo signals at a rate that is higher than a rate of processing the array.

40. An ultrasound processing system, comprising:

a module adapted to generate an acoustic signal, receive at least one echo of the acoustic signal at a plurality of receiving elements in the module and obtain a plurality of echo signals therefrom; and

means for processing that communicates with the module and is adapted to map a given voxel into a region of stored echo signals received from the module, to organize the mapped region of the stored echo signals into an array for the given voxel, to perform operations on the array to generate a signal response for the given voxel, and to use the signal response to obtain acoustic information for the given voxel.

41. The system of claim 40 wherein the processing means is configured to generate a set of given voxels chosen to represent a volume in a field of view of the transducer in which each given voxel in the set has a known spatial relationship to the plurality of receiving elements in the transducer.

42. The system of claim 41, further comprising means for generating an image from the acoustic information for the given voxels in the set.

43. The method of claim 41 wherein the processing means is adapted to generate an image from the acoustic information for the given voxels in the array.

44. The method of claim 43 wherein the processing means is adapted to measure and display spatial data.

45. The method of claim 43 wherein the processing means is configured to measure and display temporal data.

46. The system of claim 43 wherein the processing means is adapted to measure and display blood flow data.

47. The method of claim 43 wherein the processing means is adapted to measure and display tissue response to induced mechanical displacement caused by an acoustic signal.

48. The system of claim 41 wherein the received echoes are combined over multiple cycles of generating, receiving, and storing to enhance the acoustic information obtained therefrom.

49. The system of claim 48 wherein the combined echo signals are averaged.

50. The system of claim 48 wherein the signal response comprises an average of the stored echo signals.

51. The system of claim 41 wherein the processing means is adapted to perform multiple steps of processing the array and combining the results of the multiple steps of processing to obtain further enhanced acoustic information.

52. The system of claim 51 wherein the further enhanced acoustic information comprises spatial compounding that improves contrast resolution of a final image.

53. The system of claim 51 wherein the further enhanced acoustic information is representative of Doppler information associated with moving tissue or moving blood cells.

54. The system of claim 51 wherein the processing means is configured to receive, obtain, and store echo signals at a rate that is higher than a rate of processing the array.