Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus
First Claim
1. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising:
- an ultrasonic probe comprising piezoelectric transducers for electro-acoustic conversion;
transmit excitation means for exciting said piezoelectric transducers to transmit ultrasonic waves;
receiving means for receiving reflected waves from reflectors within a subject under examination through said piezoelectric transducers;
control means for controlling said transmit excitation means and said receiving means to scan a two-dimensional scanning plane;
detecting means for detecting an image signal from a received signal by said receiving means;
displaying means for displaying an image using said image signal output from said detecting means; and
a probe adapter for, when mounted on said ultrasonic probe, diffusing ultrasonic waves transmitted from said piezoelectric transducers and/or received from said reflectors in a slice direction perpendicular to the scanning plane.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In an ultrasonic imaging apparatus, ultrasound beams are diffused in the slice direction perpendicular to the scanning direction to thereby scan a three-dimensional region of a subject under examination with wide ultrasound beams. Thus, echoes are detected accumulated in the slice direction. Echoes from the surface of a region of interest, such as a fetus, are stronger than echoes from within the region of interest. As a consequence, an ultrasonic image is produced which approximates a surface image. The amount of data required to produce an ultrasonic image, the ultrasonic beam scanning procedure, and the signal processing system are the same as before, which permits real-time operation. A conventional ultrasonic imaging apparatus can be used without modification except a probe adapter for diffusing ultrasound beams in the slice direction.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising:
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an ultrasonic probe comprising piezoelectric transducers for electro-acoustic conversion; transmit excitation means for exciting said piezoelectric transducers to transmit ultrasonic waves; receiving means for receiving reflected waves from reflectors within a subject under examination through said piezoelectric transducers; control means for controlling said transmit excitation means and said receiving means to scan a two-dimensional scanning plane; detecting means for detecting an image signal from a received signal by said receiving means; displaying means for displaying an image using said image signal output from said detecting means; and a probe adapter for, when mounted on said ultrasonic probe, diffusing ultrasonic waves transmitted from said piezoelectric transducers and/or received from said reflectors in a slice direction perpendicular to the scanning plane. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An ultrasonic imaging apparatus comprising:
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an ultrasonic probe comprising a two-dimensional array of piezoelectric transducers; transmit excitation means for exciting said piezoelectric transducers to transmit ultrasonic waves; receiving means for receiving reflected waves from reflectors within a subject under examination through said piezoelectric transducers; control means for controlling said transmit excitation means and said receiving means to scan a two-dimensional scanning plane, and for controlling said transmit excitation means and said receiving means to diffuse the transmitting and/or receiving ultrasound waves in a slice direction perpendicular to the scanning plane; detecting means for detecting an image signal from a received signal by said receiving means; and displaying means for displaying an image using said image signal output from said detecting means. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A probe adapter for use with an ultrasonic probe comprising:
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an adapter body adapted to be removably mounted on said ultrasonic probe that is equipped with a number of piezoelectric transducers to scan a two-dimensional scanning plane; and diffusing means accommodated in said adapter body for diffusing ultrasonic waves transmitted from said ultrasonic probe and/or received from the reflectors within a subject in the slice direction perpendicular to the scanning plane. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An ultrasonic imaging apparatus comprising:
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an ultrasonic probe comprising piezoelectric transducers for electro-acoustic conversion; transmit excitation means for exciting said piezoelectric transducers to transmit ultrasonic waves; receiving means for receiving reflected waves from reflectors within a subject under examination through said piezoelectric transducers; control means for controlling said transmit excitation means and said receiving means to scan a two-dimensional scanning plane; detecting means for detecting Doppler components associated with a moving object and contained in a received signal by said receiving means as an image signal; displaying means for displaying a Doppler image using said image signal output from said detecting means; and a probe adapter for, when mounted on said ultrasonic probe, diffusing ultrasonic waves transmitted from said piezoelectric transducers and/or received from the reflectors within a subject in a slice direction perpendicular to the scanning plane. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification