Diagnostic medical ultrasound system having a pipes and filters architecture
First Claim
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1. A component for use with a diagnostic medical ultrasound system comprising:
- an input source operative to provide a sequence of digital signals, each of said sequence of digital signals having been derived from at least one ultrasonic echo received by an ultrasound transducer from a subject in response to transmission of acoustic energy into said subject by said transducer;
at least one processor coupled with said input source and comprising an incremental data processing architecture for executing a first application program, said first application program operative to incrementally receive and process each of at least a subset of said sequence of digital signals in succession, said first application program comprising a plurality of processing stages, each of said plurality of processing stages sequentially coupled with another of said plurality of processing stages, each of said plurality of processing stages comprising an input, an output and a function, said input of one of said plurality of processing stages being coupled with at least one of said input source and said output of another of said plurality of processing stages, each of said plurality of processing stages operative to receive data via said input, perform said function and generate a result on said output, wherein said one of said plurality of processing stages coupled with said input source receives each of said subset of said sequence of digital signals in succession; and
wherein said output sink is further operative to receive said result from said output of at least one of said plurality of processing stages; and
an output sink coupled with said at least one processor and operative to receive said processed digital signals from said first application program.
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Abstract
A diagnostic medical ultrasound system is disclosed. The system obtains data representative of an ultrasonic echo, processes that data in a sequential architecture, and transmits the result to an output. Further, the ultrasound system provides an interface for non-sequentially architectured applications to interact within the sequential architecture of the present invention.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A component for use with a diagnostic medical ultrasound system comprising:
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an input source operative to provide a sequence of digital signals, each of said sequence of digital signals having been derived from at least one ultrasonic echo received by an ultrasound transducer from a subject in response to transmission of acoustic energy into said subject by said transducer;
at least one processor coupled with said input source and comprising an incremental data processing architecture for executing a first application program, said first application program operative to incrementally receive and process each of at least a subset of said sequence of digital signals in succession, said first application program comprising a plurality of processing stages, each of said plurality of processing stages sequentially coupled with another of said plurality of processing stages, each of said plurality of processing stages comprising an input, an output and a function, said input of one of said plurality of processing stages being coupled with at least one of said input source and said output of another of said plurality of processing stages, each of said plurality of processing stages operative to receive data via said input, perform said function and generate a result on said output, wherein said one of said plurality of processing stages coupled with said input source receives each of said subset of said sequence of digital signals in succession; and
wherein said output sink is further operative to receive said result from said output of at least one of said plurality of processing stages; and
an output sink coupled with said at least one processor and operative to receive said processed digital signals from said first application program. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of operating a diagnostic medical ultrasound system comprising:
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(a) receiving a sequence of digital signals by an input source, each of said sequence of digital signals having been derived from an ultrasonic echo received by an ultrasound transducer from a subject in response to transmission of acoustic energy into said subject by said transducer;
(b) executing a first application program on at least one processor coupled with said input source, said at least one processor comprising an incremental data processing architecture;
(c) receiving and processing incrementally, by said first application program, each of at least a subset of said sequence of digital signals in succession;
(d) transmitting said processed digital signals from said first application to an output sink coupled with said at least one processor;
(e) providing, by said first application program, a plurality of processing stages, each of said plurality of processing stages sequentially coupled with another of said plurality of processing stages wherein each of said plurality of processing stages comprises an input, an output and a function, said input of one of said plurality of processing stages being coupled with at least one of said input source and said output of another of said plurality of processing stages, (f) receiving data by each of said plurality of processing stages via said input;
(g) receiving, by said one of said plurality of processing stages coupled with said input source, a subset of said sequence of digital signals in succession;
(h) performing said function;
(i) generating a result on said output; and
(j) transmitting, to said output sink, said result from said output of at least one of said plurality of processing stages. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A diagnostic medical ultrasound system comprising:
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input source means for providing a sequence of digital signals, each of said sequence of digital signals having been derived from an ultrasonic echo received by an ultrasound transducer from a subject in response to transmission of acoustic energy into said subject by said transducer;
processor means coupled with said input source and comprising an incremental data processing architecture means for executing at least one application program means for receiving and processing a subset of said sequence of digital signals in succession; and
output sink means coupled with said processor for receiving said processed subset of said sequence of digital signals from said at least one application program means; and
wherein, said at least one application program means comprises a plurality of processing stage means, each of said plurality of processing stage means sequentially coupled with another of said plurality of processing stage means, each of said plurality of processing stage means comprises an input means, an output means and a function means, said input means of one of said plurality of processing stage means being coupled with at least one of said input source and said output means of another of said plurality of processing stage means, each of said plurality of processing state means operative to receive data via said input means, perform said function means and generate a result on said output means, wherein said one of said plurality of processing stage means coupled with said input source receives each of said subset of said sequence of digital signals in succession; and
wherein said output sink means is further operative to receive said result from said output means of at least one of said plurality of processing stage means.
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30. A component of a diagnostic medical ultrasound system comprising:
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an input source filter operative to incrementally provide a first sequence of digital signals, said first sequence of digital signals having been derived from at least one ultrasonic echo received by an ultrasound transducer from a subject in response to transmission of acoustic energy into said subject by said transducer;
an output sink filter operative to accept a second sequence of digital signals; and
a processing filter dynamically coupled with at least one of said input source filter and said output sink filter at a time of execution of said processing filter, said processing filter operative to receive and process each of said first sequence of digital signals in succession, said processing filter comprising a plurality of processing stages, each of said plurality of processing stages sequentially coupled with another of said plurality of processing stages, each of said plurality of processing stages comprises an input, an output and a function, said input of one of said plurality of processing stages being coupled with at least one of said input source and said output of another of said plurality of processing stages, each of said plurality of processing stages operative to receive data via said input, perform said function and generate a result on said output, wherein said one of said plurality of processing stages coupled with said input source receives each of said subset of said sequence of digital signals in succession; and
wherein said output sink is further operative to receive said result from said output of at least one of said plurality of processing stages.
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Specification