RECEIVE BEAMFORMER FOR ULTRASOUND
First Claim
1. A method of ultrasound receive beamforming, comprising:
- receiving a first plurality of sensing signals from a first plurality of transducer elements that originate from a target tissue region of interest;
digitizing said first plurality of sensing signals to form a first plurality of digital sensing signals;
data processing said first plurality of digital sensing signals along a first plurality of data paths to form a first plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals;
data path combining for generating data combinations of said first plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals to include two or more of said first plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals that originate from different ones of said first plurality of transducer elements;
interpolation filtering said data combinations using a plurality of interpolation filters, said plurality of interpolation filters filtering said data combinations to form a second plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals, andsumming said second plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals after said interpolation filtering to form an ultrasound receive beamformed signal.
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Abstract
A method of ultrasound receive beamforming includes receiving a first plurality of sensing signals from target tissue, forming a first plurality of digital sensing signals, and data processing the digital sensing signals along a first plurality of data paths to form a first plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals. Data path combining generates data combinations of the delayed and apodized digital sensing signals to include two or more of the delayed and apodized digital sensing signals that originate from different ones of the transducer elements. The data combinations are interpolation filtered using a plurality of interpolation filters to form a second plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals, which are then summed to form an ultrasound receive beamformed signal. The interpolation filters can be interpolation filters in a single shared filter bank, with each interpolation filter providing a different fractional delay.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of ultrasound receive beamforming, comprising:
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receiving a first plurality of sensing signals from a first plurality of transducer elements that originate from a target tissue region of interest; digitizing said first plurality of sensing signals to form a first plurality of digital sensing signals; data processing said first plurality of digital sensing signals along a first plurality of data paths to form a first plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals; data path combining for generating data combinations of said first plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals to include two or more of said first plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals that originate from different ones of said first plurality of transducer elements; interpolation filtering said data combinations using a plurality of interpolation filters, said plurality of interpolation filters filtering said data combinations to form a second plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals, and summing said second plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals after said interpolation filtering to form an ultrasound receive beamformed signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An ultrasound diagnostic imaging system, comprising:
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a plurality of transducer elements for transmitting ultrasound transmit pulses toward a target tissue region of interest, and receiving echo signals from said target tissue region of interest in response to said transmit pulses; a transmit section for driving said plurality of transducer elements for said transmitting of said ultrasound transmit pulses, and a receive section for processing a first plurality of sensing signals generated by said plurality of transducers responsive to said echo signals, said receive section comprising; a first plurality of data processing circuit blocks each operable for digitizing, delaying and apodizing one of said first plurality of sensing signals to form a first plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals; data path combining circuitry for generating data combinations of said first plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals to include two or more of said first plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals that originate from different ones of said first plurality of transducer elements; an interpolation filter bank coupled to an output of said data path combining circuitry for interpolation filtering said data combinations to generate a second plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals; a summer for summing said second plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals to form a beamformed signal, a backend imaging display processor coupled to receive and process said beamformed signal to generate a display signal, said display signal being suitable for causing display devices to produce an image, and a display device for receiving said display signal and producing said image. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A digital signal processor (DSP) IC for ultrasound signal processing, comprising:
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a substrate having a semiconductor surface; delaying and apodizing circuitry for processing a first plurality of digitized ultrasound sensing signals to form a first plurality of delayed and apodized digital ultrasound sensing signals; data path combining circuitry for generating data combinations of said first plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals to include two or more of said first plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals that originate from different ones of said first plurality of transducer elements, and an interpolation filter bank coupled to an output of said data path combining circuitry for interpolation filtering said data combinations to generate a second plurality of delayed and apodized digital sensing signals. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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Specification