Ultrasound blood flow/tissue imaging system
First Claim
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1. A system for ultrasound blood flow imaging, comprising:
- a transducer having a plurality of transducer elements arranged in a linear array;
transmitter means having a plurality of respective transmitters connected to a plurality of elements of said transducer, said transmitters selectively generating an ultrasound electric signal in synchronism with each other to cause said transducer to output a beam of ultrasound energy;
a switch having an input terminal connected to each of said transducer elements, said switch selectively connecting a subset of adjacent transducer elements to respective output ports;
ultrasound processing means connected to the output ports of said switch, said ultrasound processing means summing the signals from ultrasound elements that are substantially equidistant from the center transducer element in said beam and outputting said sum signals on respective output lines;
delay line means connected to each output line of said ultrasound processing means, said delay lines of said ultrasound processing means by amounts which increase for delay line means connected to transducer elements toward the center of said beam, thereby focusing said ultrasound return signals at the center of said beam;
summing means adding the outputs of each channel of said delay line means to each other to generate a delayed output signal;
clutter canceller means removing components of said delayed output signal corresponding to ultrasound returns from non-moving ultrasound reflectors;
flow processor means receiving said delayed output signal from said summing means and calculating a single blood flow velocity approximating a range of blood flow velocities that correspond to the frequency spectrum of said delayed output signal;
image memory means storing each of said data indicative of a single blood flow velocity for a plurality of discrete sample sites in each of a plurality of ultrasound beams;
display means receiving the output of said image memory means, said display means providing a visual indication of the blood flow at the sample sites beneath said transducer as a function of depth; and
control means controlling and coordinating the operation of said ultrasound imaging system.
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Abstract
An ultrasound imaging system is provided which produces gray scale images of the anatomy simultaneous with Doppler signal processing so as to provide a single real-time image that shows not only the vascular anatomy and surrounding tissue but also flow events in the vascular compartment. A phased linear array having near-continuous focus over the scanning field provides high resolution and very small Doppler sample volumes. The system tests incoming signals from throughout the scanning field for amplitude, phase and frequency so as to determine B-mode data, motion presence and direction, and echo source velocity.
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Citations
52 Claims
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1. A system for ultrasound blood flow imaging, comprising:
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a transducer having a plurality of transducer elements arranged in a linear array; transmitter means having a plurality of respective transmitters connected to a plurality of elements of said transducer, said transmitters selectively generating an ultrasound electric signal in synchronism with each other to cause said transducer to output a beam of ultrasound energy; a switch having an input terminal connected to each of said transducer elements, said switch selectively connecting a subset of adjacent transducer elements to respective output ports; ultrasound processing means connected to the output ports of said switch, said ultrasound processing means summing the signals from ultrasound elements that are substantially equidistant from the center transducer element in said beam and outputting said sum signals on respective output lines; delay line means connected to each output line of said ultrasound processing means, said delay lines of said ultrasound processing means by amounts which increase for delay line means connected to transducer elements toward the center of said beam, thereby focusing said ultrasound return signals at the center of said beam; summing means adding the outputs of each channel of said delay line means to each other to generate a delayed output signal; clutter canceller means removing components of said delayed output signal corresponding to ultrasound returns from non-moving ultrasound reflectors; flow processor means receiving said delayed output signal from said summing means and calculating a single blood flow velocity approximating a range of blood flow velocities that correspond to the frequency spectrum of said delayed output signal; image memory means storing each of said data indicative of a single blood flow velocity for a plurality of discrete sample sites in each of a plurality of ultrasound beams; display means receiving the output of said image memory means, said display means providing a visual indication of the blood flow at the sample sites beneath said transducer as a function of depth; and control means controlling and coordinating the operation of said ultrasound imaging system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A crossbar switch adapted for use in an ultrasound imaging system for receiving a plurality of ultrasound beams through N adjacent transducer elements, said crossbar switch comprising:
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transducer element selector means outputting a plurality of transducer element enable signals designating the transducer elements forming said beam; and N switching circuits, each of which has a plurality of inputs connected to one of said transducer elements and all transducer elements spaced multiples of N transducer elements from said transducer element, respectively, each of said switching circuits connecting the transducer element designated by said transducer element selector means to an output port, whereby all of said transducer elements may be processed in N channels.
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36. A system for processing signals corresponding to reflected ultrasound received through a plurality of adjacent ultrasound transducer elements, comprising multiplexer means for summing the outputs of transducer elements positioned equidistant from a transducer element at the approximate center of said plurality of adjacent transducer elements, whereby said multiplexer means reduces by approximately fifty percent the number of channels required to process said ultrasound signals from said transducer elements.
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37. In a delay line comprising a plurality of inductors connected in series, a plurality of varactors connected between the junction between adjacent inductors, and a control input line connected to said varactors to control the capacitance of said varactors and hence the delay of said delay line, the improvement comprising impedance control means for continuously varying the input and output impedance of said delay line as a function of said control signal so that the input and output impedance varies in accordance with the impedance of said delay line as the impedance of said delay line varies with the capacitance of said varactors.
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38. A delay line comprising a plurality of inductors connected in series, a plurality of varactors connected between the junction between adjacent inductors, and a control input line, said varactors being arranged in alternating polarities, with varactors connected in one polarity connected to a first control input line and varactors connected in the other polarity connected to a second control input line.
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39. In an ultrasound imaging system generating blood flow velocity data from a beam of ultrasound returns taken from different sample site depths through an ultrasound transducer having a plurality of transducer elements, said beam being centered about at least one transducer element, a dynamic aperture system comprising:
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a plurality of variable gain circuits receiving respective signals from said transducer elements, each of said variable gain circuits generating an output bearing a ratio to the input that is determined by a respective gain control signal; and gain control means generating said gain control signals, said gain control means increasing the ratio between their output and input for signals from transducer elements further away from the center of each ultrasound beam as ultrasound returns from deeper sample sites are processed, whereby the aperture of said transducer becomes larger for sample sites of increasing depth. - View Dependent Claims (40)
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41. In an ultrasound imaging system generating blood flow velocity data from a beam of ultrasound returns taken from different sample site depths, memory means for reordering said blood flow velocity data, comprising a digital memory receiving said blood flow velocity data for each beam of said ultrasound returns corresponding to M sets of N ultrasound return samples, each of the N ultrasound return samples in each set being taken in succession from the same ultrasound transmission at N different discrete sample site depths and each of the M sets of such return samples being taken at the same beam location from M successive ultrasound transmissions, said memory means outputting said data corresponding to N sets of M ultrasound return samples, all of the M ultrasound return samples in each set being output in succession and corresponding to ultrasound returns taken from said M successive ultrasound transmissions at the same discrete sample site depth, and each of the N sets of such return samples being taken at said N respective discrete sample byte depths, whereby data are written into said memory means in the sequence of data words S1,1 ;
- S1,2 ;
S1,3 ;
. . . S1,N ;
S2,1 ;
S2,2 . . . S2N ;
. . . SM,2 . . . SM,N and read out from said memory means in the sequence of data words S1,1 ;
S2,1 ;
S3,1 ;
. . . SM,1 ;
S1,2 ;
S2,2 ;
S3,2 ;
. . . SM,2 ;
. . . S1,N ;
S2,N ;
S3,N ;
. . . SM,N.
- S1,2 ;
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42. In an ultrasound imaging system generating successive sets of data, each corresponding to a plurality of ultrasound return samples taken from the same sample site, said return samples having a frequency spectrum of fd, fd ±
- fr, fd ±
2fr, fd +3fr . . . fd ±
Mfr, where fr is the repetition frequency of said ultrasound transmissions and M is an integer greater than 1, a flow processor comprising N band-pass filters, each having respective pass bands centered at fo, fo ±
fr, fo ±
2fr, fo ±
3fr . . . fo Mfr, where fo =(fr /N)P and P=0, 1, 3 . . . N-1, whereby the magnitude of the output of each band-pass filter is indicative of the velocity of moving sound scatterers at said sample site. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
- fr, fd ±
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49. In an ultrasound imaging system generating flow velocity data indicative of the magnitude of a plurality of discrete ultrasound Doppler frequencies, velocity-determining means receiving said flow velocity data and generating a word indicative of a single blood flow velocity that approximates a range of said ultrasound frequencies, said velocity-determining means comprising:
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power-determining means receiving said flow velocity data and determining the power of each of said discrete Doppler frequencies; peak power-detecting means for determining which of said Doppler frequencies has the maximum power and for providing an output indicative thereof; first calculating means receiving said flow velocity data and the output of said peak power detection means, said first calculating means calculating a first value from said digital flow velocity data, said first value corresponding to the sum of the magnitude of at least one discrete Doppler frequency above and at least one discrete Doppler frequency below the discrete Doppler frequency having the maximum power; second calculating means receiving said flow velocity data and the output of said peak power detection means, said second calculating means calculating a second value from said digital flow velocity data, said second value corresponding to the sum of the magnitude of at least one discrete Doppler frequency above and at least one discrete Doppler frequency below the discrete Doppler frequency having the maximum power; and third calculating means calculating as said data indicative of a single blood flow velocity the ratio of said first value to said second value.
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- 50. In an ultrasound transducer adapted for use with an ultrasound imaging system transmitting and receiving a plurality of ultrasound signals from respective transducer elements arranged in a linear array, said ultrasound signals being coupled through a coupling wedge comprising a hollow, wedge-shaped body defining a cavity filled with a coupling fluid, said wedge-shaped body having a first wall in contact with said transducer elements, a second wall positioned at an angle with respect to said first wall and adapted to contact the skin of a patient in order to position said transducer elements at a fixed predetermined angle with respect to the skin of said patient, and a third wall extending between said first and second walls to form a triangle with said first and second walls, the improvement comprising a sound-absorbing material lining the inner surface of said third wall to absorb ultrasound signals reflected from said second wall back into said coupling fluid.
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52. In an ultrasound transducer adapted for use with an ultrasound imaging system transmitting and receiving a plurality of ultrasound signals from respective transducer elements arranged in a linear array, said ultrasound signals being coupled through a coupling wedge comprising a hollow, wedge-shaped body defining a cavity filled with a coupling fluid, said wedge-shaped body having a first wall in contact with said transducer elements, a second wall positioned at an angle with respect to said first wall and adapted to contact the skin of a patient in order to position said transducer elements at a fixed predetermined angle with respect to the skin of said patient, a third wall extending between said first and second walls to form a triangle with said first and second walls, and two opposed, generally parallel, triangularly shaped side walls enclosing the volume between said first, second and third walls, the improvement comprising a configuration for said coupling wedge wherein said third wall is angled toward one of said side walls so that any ultrasound reflected from said third wall is reflected toward one of said side walls rather than toward said first or second walls.
Specification