Ultrasonic transducer assembly and method for three-dimensional imaging
First Claim
1. A method for formation and display of three-dimensional images of the structure of objects employing ultrasonic energy, comprising the steps of:
- providing at least one ultrasonic transducer assembly comprising a plurality of transducer elements for emitting ultrasonic energy and being capable of detecting ultrasonic energy, said elements being adapted to emit beams of ultrasonic energy diverging in at least one plane;
operating said at least one array to transmit ultrasonic energy from at least two spaced locations into a common region of an object to be imaged, and to detect energy reflected from structure in said region;
analyzing the detected energy in order to determine the position of structure reflecting energy detected by said elements at said spaced locations, in three dimensions; and
generating and displaying a visible image including three-dimensional information responsive to the determined position of the structure.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Elongated arrays of individual ultrasonic transducer elements at spaced locations emit wedge-shaped beams of ultrasonic energy such that energy emitted by corresponding elements of the arrays travels into a common region of the object to be imaged. Energy emitted by the elements of both arrays is reflected by the same structure within the object. The relative distances of the reflecting structure from the corresponding elements of the arrays are compared to determine the elevation of the reflecting points with respect to an image plane, and a three-dimensional image of the reflectors is generated. A virtual image including information responsive to the elevation of the points can be derived, and used to recalculate the visible display corresponding to a user-selected image plane. The transducer may include a parallel pair of arrays.
338 Citations
56 Claims
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1. A method for formation and display of three-dimensional images of the structure of objects employing ultrasonic energy, comprising the steps of:
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providing at least one ultrasonic transducer assembly comprising a plurality of transducer elements for emitting ultrasonic energy and being capable of detecting ultrasonic energy, said elements being adapted to emit beams of ultrasonic energy diverging in at least one plane; operating said at least one array to transmit ultrasonic energy from at least two spaced locations into a common region of an object to be imaged, and to detect energy reflected from structure in said region; analyzing the detected energy in order to determine the position of structure reflecting energy detected by said elements at said spaced locations, in three dimensions; and generating and displaying a visible image including three-dimensional information responsive to the determined position of the structure. - 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)
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25. A method of forming three-dimensional images of structures employing ultrasonic energy, comprising the steps of:
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providing at least one elongated array of individually excitable transducer elements, each element of said array being operable to emit a sequence of generally wedge-shaped beams of ultrasonic energy focused in a plane including the direction of elongation of the array and diverging in the plane perpendicular thereto in response to an excitation signal, and said elements being capable of detecting return of ultrasonic energy after reflection from said structure; disposing said at least one array at spaced locations with respect to an object the internal structure of which is to be imaged, such that the beams of energy emitted by corresponding elements of said array are transmitted from said spaced locations into a common portion of the object; operating subsets of the elements of the array to transmit beams of ultrasonic energy from said spaced locations into the object, and to detect reflection of ultrasonic energy from energy-reflecting structure within the corresponding portion of the object at said spaced locations; locating common reflecting structure from which reflected energy is detected by corresponding elements at said spaced locations; determining the distance from each element to the common reflecting structure within the corresponding portion of the object; comparing the distances between said identified common structure and said corresponding elements in each of said arrays, to determine the relative location of said identified common structure with respect to an image plane; and generating and displaying a visible image including three-dimensional information responsive to the relative location of said identified common features. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method of generating a three-dimensional visible image of internal structure of an object, comprising the steps of:
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providing a transducer assembly comprising at least one elongated array of a number of individually excitable transducer elements, said array being operable to emit a series of beams of ultrasonic energy focused at a predetermined distance from the transducer assembly in a first plane, and diverging in the orthogonal plane, operating said array such that energy is transmitted into a common portion of the object from elements of said array at spaced locations, and detecting reflection of said energy from internal structure thereof at said spaced locations, comparing the reflection of energy by common features of said internal structure of said object as detected by elements at said spaced locations to determine the location of said features with respect to a first image plane, and generating and displaying an image of the internal structure of said object depicting the relative elevation of said features with respect to said first or a different image plane. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. Apparatus for generating and displaying a three-dimensional image of structure internal to an object, comprising:
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an ultrasonic transducer assembly for disposition in juxtaposition to said object, said transducer assembly comprising at least one elongated transducer array comprising a plurality of individual transducer elements and being operable to emit a series of beams of ultrasonic energy focused at a selectable distance from the transducer assembly in a first plane and diverging in the orthogonal plane, said elements being capable of detecting ultrasonic energy, controller means connected to the elements of said array for supplying drive signals to excite the elements of the array in succession to emit overlapping beams of ultrasonic energy into a common region of said object, and said controller means comprising means for processing signals received from elements of at least one said array disposed at spaced locations responsive to detection of energy reflected from structure in said region in order to; locate common features of the structure within a given portion of the object from which reflected energy is detected by corresponding elements in said array at said spaced locations; determine the distance from said corresponding elements to the located common features of the structure; compare the distances between identified common features of the structure and said corresponding elements to determine the relative elevation of said identified common features with respect to a first image plane; and generate a visible image including information corresponding to said relative elevation of said identified common features of the structure with respect to said first or a different image plane; and means for display of said visible image. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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Specification