ULTRASONIC MEASUREMENT APPARATUS, ULTRASONIC IMAGE APPARATUS, AND ULTRASONIC MEASUREMENT METHOD

• US 20150073277A1
• Filed: 08/27/2014
• Published: 03/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Original Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Inventors: HAYASHI, Masaki, WATANABE, Ryoki
• Granted Patent: US 9,867,594 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/447
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/145 characterised by scanning multiple planes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4427 Device being portable or laptop-like
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4494 characterised by the arrangement of the transducer elements devices for short-range imaging using particular transducer elements arrangements under G01S15/8909; arrangements of transducers in generation of mechanical vibrations of infrasonic, sonic or ultrasonic frequency B06B1/0607
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/461 Displaying means of special interest
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/462 characterised by constructional features of the display
• 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 8/5269 involving detection or reduction of artifacts for image enhancement algorithms G06T5/00
• CPC Class Codes: B06B 1/0603 using a piezoelectric bender, e.g. bimorph
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8915 using a transducer array
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8925 the array being a two-dimensional transducer configuration, i.e. matrix or orthogonal linear arrays
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8927 using simultaneously or sequentially two or more subarrays or subapertures
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52038 involving non-linear properties of the propagation medium or of the reflective target
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52047 for elimination of side lobes or of grating lobes; for increasing resolving power
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52085 Details related to the ultrasound signal acquisition, e.g. scan sequences control of medical diagnostic ultrasound devices A61B8/54
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/346 using phase variation

Abstract

An ultrasonic measurement apparatus includes a reception processing unit, a harmonic processing unit, a signal processing unit and an image generation unit. The reception processing unit is configured to receive, as a received signal, an ultrasonic echo corresponding to an ultrasonic wave transmitted toward a subject. The harmonic processing unit is configured to extract a harmonic component of the ultrasonic echo from the received signal. The signal processing unit is configured to add a weighting to the harmonic component by using a weight that varies depending on a value of the harmonic component. The image generation unit is configured to generate an image based on a signal to which the weighting has been added.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic measurement apparatus comprising:

a reception processing unit configured to receive, as a received signal, an ultrasonic echo corresponding to an ultrasonic wave transmitted toward a subject;

a harmonic processing unit configured to extract a harmonic component of the ultrasonic echo from the received signal;

a signal processing unit configured to add a weighting to the harmonic component by using a weight that varies depending on a value of the harmonic component; and

an image generation unit configured to generate an image based on a signal to which the weighting has been added.

2. The ultrasonic measurement apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein

the reception processing unit is configured to receive the ultrasonic echo via an ultrasonic element array having a plurality of channels, as the received signal of each of the channels,

the harmonic processing unit is configured to extract the harmonic component from the received signal of each of channels, and

the signal processing unit is configured to cause the weight for each of the channels to vary depending on the value of the harmonic component of each of the channels and to add the weighting to the harmonic component of each of the channels using the weight.

3. The ultrasonic measurement apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein

the signal processing unit is configured to perform a delay process corresponding to each of the channels on the harmonic component of each of the channels, and to cause the weight of each of the channels to vary depending on the value of the harmonic component of each of the channels after the delay processing.

4. The ultrasonic measurement apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein

the signal processing unit is configured to perform a spatial averaging process by taking a plurality of sub-apertures out from a plurality of apertures constituted of the channels to determine the weight of each of the channels used to add the weighting to the harmonic component of each of the channels after the delay processing.

5. The ultrasonic measurement apparatus as set forth in claim 2, further comprising:

a filter processing unit configured to remove noise by performing a filter process on one of the received signal of each of the channels and the harmonic component of each of the channels.

6. The ultrasonic measurement apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein

the reception processing unit is configured to receive, as received signals, the ultrasonic echo corresponding to two ultrasonic waves transmitted toward the subject with the two ultrasonic waves having a phase difference of 180°

at a predetermined frequency, and

the harmonic processing unit is configured to extract the harmonic component by adding the received signals of the ultrasonic echo corresponding to the two ultrasonic waves.

7. The ultrasonic measurement apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein

the harmonic processing unit is configured to extract the harmonic component by performing a filter process.

8. An ultrasonic image apparatus comprising:

a reception processing unit configured to receive, as a received signal, an ultrasonic echo corresponding to an ultrasonic wave transmitted toward a subject;

a harmonic processing unit configured to extract a harmonic component of the ultrasonic echo from the received signal;

a signal processing unit configured to add a weighting to the harmonic component by using a weight that varies depending on a value of the harmonic component;

an image generation unit configured to generate an image based on a signal to which the weighting has been added; and

a display unit configured to display the image that has been generated.

9. An ultrasonic measurement method comprising:

receiving, as a received signal, an ultrasonic echo corresponding to an ultrasonic wave transmitted toward a subject;

extracting a harmonic component of the ultrasonic echo from the received signal;

adding a weighting to the harmonic component by using a weight that varies depending on a value of the harmonic component; and

generating an image based on a signal to which the weighting has been added.