Gated ultrasound imaging apparatus and method
First Claim
1. In an ultrasound imaging system comprising:
- a programmable transmit/receive beamformer system operative to generate transmit waveforms and responsive to ultrasonic signals radiated by an imaged region, said beamformer system characterized by beamformer parameters;
a display; and
a display controller responsive to the beamformer system and operative to generate at least one image on the display;
the improvement comprising;
a trigger signal source;
a beamformer controller coupled to the trigger signal source and the beamformer system,said controller automatically programming said beamformer parameters for intermittent first periods of triggered frame operation in response to the trigger signal source and for intermittent second periods of locator frame operation between at least some of the first periods, said beamformer parameters for the first periods differing from the beamformer parameters for the second periods in at least one of the following parameters;
transmit power, transmit center frequency, transmit line spacing, receive center frequency, transmit bandwidth, transmit spectral shape; and
wherein said controller is operable to cause displaying at least one triggered frame for a selectable persistence period.
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Abstract
An ultrasound imaging system is programmed to acquire first ultrasonic image frames intermittently. These first frames, typically triggered frames synchronized with a selected portion of an ECG cycle, are optimized for high image quality of a contrast agent included in the tissue. The imaging system automatically acquires second ultrasonic image frames between at least some of the first frames. The second image frames are typically locator frames which are optimized for reduced degradation of the contrast agent. More of the second frames are acquired per unit time than first frames, and both the first and second frames are displayed, either superimposed over one another or in side-by-side relationship. In this way the user is provided with substantially continuous transducer locating information, yet contrast agent destruction between acquisitions of the first, triggered frames is reduced or eliminated.
71 Citations
39 Claims
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1. In an ultrasound imaging system comprising:
- a programmable transmit/receive beamformer system operative to generate transmit waveforms and responsive to ultrasonic signals radiated by an imaged region, said beamformer system characterized by beamformer parameters;
a display; and
a display controller responsive to the beamformer system and operative to generate at least one image on the display;
the improvement comprising;a trigger signal source; a beamformer controller coupled to the trigger signal source and the beamformer system, said controller automatically programming said beamformer parameters for intermittent first periods of triggered frame operation in response to the trigger signal source and for intermittent second periods of locator frame operation between at least some of the first periods, said beamformer parameters for the first periods differing from the beamformer parameters for the second periods in at least one of the following parameters;
transmit power, transmit center frequency, transmit line spacing, receive center frequency, transmit bandwidth, transmit spectral shape; andwherein said controller is operable to cause displaying at least one triggered frame for a selectable persistence period. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
- a programmable transmit/receive beamformer system operative to generate transmit waveforms and responsive to ultrasonic signals radiated by an imaged region, said beamformer system characterized by beamformer parameters;
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20. In an ultrasound imaging system comprising:
- a programmable transmit/receive beamformer system operative to generate transmit waveforms and responsive to ultrasonic signals radiated by an imaged region, said beamformer system characterized by beamformer parameters;
a display; and
a display controller responsive to the beamformer system and operative to generate at least one image on the display;
the improvement comprising;a trigger signal source; a beamformer controller coupled to the trigger signal source and the beamformer system, said controller automatically programming said beamformer parameters for intermittent first periods of triggered frame operation in response to the trigger signal source and for intermittent second periods of locator frame operation between at least some of the first periods, said beamformer parameters for the first periods differing from the beamformer parameters for the second periods in at least one of the following parameters;
transmit power, transmit center frequency, transmit line spacing, receive center frequency, transmit bandwidth, transmit spectral shapewherein the locator frames are acquired with a dead time between at least one of scan lines and frames of the triggered frames. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
- a programmable transmit/receive beamformer system operative to generate transmit waveforms and responsive to ultrasonic signals radiated by an imaged region, said beamformer system characterized by beamformer parameters;
Specification