Echolocation data generation

• US 8,764,661 B2
• Filed: 01/07/2010
• Issued: 07/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co., Ltd. (Excelsior Union Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Zonare Medical Systems Incorporated (Excelsior Union Ltd.)
• Inventors: McLaughlin, Glen, Ji, Ting-Lan, Napolitano, David
• Primary Examiner(s): COOK, CHRISTOPHER L
• Application Number:
  US12/684,086
• Publication Number:
  US 20100268083A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,636 Days
• Field of Search: 600443-448, 600454-456, 600/458, 73625-626
• US Class Current: 600/443
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/00 Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves imaging of objects using sonar G01S15/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/06 Measuring blood flow measuring volume flow in general G01F, e.g. G01F1/66, G01F1/72; measuring speed of fluids in general G01P5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/08 Detecting organic movements or changes, e.g. tumours, cysts, swellings A61B8/02 - A61B8/06 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0833 involving detecting or locating foreign bodies or organic structures
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/13 Tomography A61B8/10, A61B8/12 take precedence; tomography for radiation diagnosis A61B6/02
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/14 Echo-tomography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4438 Means for identifying the diagnostic device, e.g. barcodes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4455 Features of the external shape of the probe, e.g. ergonomic aspects
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/462 characterised by constructional features of the display
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/488 involving Doppler signals
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/017 Doppler techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/02416 Solids in liquids
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/02466 Biological material, e.g. blood
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/06 Visualisation of the interior, e.g. acoustic microscopy medical or veterinary diagnosis using sonic waves A61B8/00; representation of acoustic wave distribution G01H3/125, G01H9/002; short-range imaging systems using reflection of acoustic waves G01S15/8906
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/0609 Display arrangements, e.g. colour displays indicating or recording in connection with measuring in general G01D
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/11 by measuring attenuation of acoustic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/14 using acoustic emission techniques echo of particles G01N29/046; measuring mechanical vibrations or acoustic waves in solids in general G01H1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/348 with frequency characteristics, e.g. single frequency signals, chirp signals measuring frequency of mechanical vibrations or acoustic waves in general G01H1/06, G01H3/04; measuring frequency or analysing frequency spectra G01R23/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8915 using a transducer array
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8918 the array being linear
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/892 : the array being curvilinear
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8954 : using a broad-band spectrum
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8981 : Discriminating between fixed and moving objects or between objects moving at different speeds, e.g. wall clutter filter
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52023 : Details of receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52046 : Techniques for image enhancement involving transmitter or receiver image enhancement by image data processing G06T5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 42/06 : using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves

Abstract

Methods of probing a material under investigation using an ultrasound beam. Echolocation data is generated using a multi-dimensional transform capable of using phase and magnitude information to distinguish echoes resulting from ultrasound beam components produced using different ultrasound transducers. Since the multi-dimensional transform does not depend on using receive or transmit beam lines, a multi-dimensional area can be imaged using a single ultrasound transmission. In some embodiments, this ability increases image frame rate and reduces the amount of ultrasound energy required to generate an image.

Claims

1. A method of generating echolocation data in an ultrasound device, the method comprising the steps of:

generating first data by converting a plurality of echoes into electronic signals, the first data having a plurality of values associated with time and separately associated with a plurality of positions in at least one spatial dimension, the plurality of values including phase and magnitude information;

generating the echolocation data from a single transmitted ultrasound beam using the first data and a multidimensional de-convolution data transform responsive to the phase or magnitude information, the echolocation data having at least one value derived from two or more values of the plurality of values associated with different positions in the plurality of positions; and

generating an image on a display device using the echolocation data, wherein the displayed image corresponds to the different positions in the plurality of positions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of values in the echolocation data are each derived from values of the plurality of values having different positions in the at least one spatial dimension.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the multidimensional de-convolution data transform is responsive to the phase information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the multidimensional de-convolution data transform includes a transformation from two-dimensional raw data to two-dimensional echolocation data.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the two-dimensional raw data includes time and ultrasound transducer data and the echolocation data includes a position in Cartesian coordinates.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the echolocation data includes determining a main contributing element (MCE) to detected echoes from the plurality of echoes associated with each location within a material under investigation.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining the MCE includes at least one of ascertaining a transducer from a plurality of transducers closest to the each location and evaluating a direction of a broad beam and a shape of a transducer array.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein generating the echolocation data includes distinguishing signals resulting from the MCE from signals resulting from secondary contributing elements (SCEs), the SCEs being transducers from the plurality of transducers other than the MCE which contribute to signals arising from an ultrasound reflective objects.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the generating the echolocation data includes identifying components of SCE data that correlate with MCE data based in part on a cross correlation, so as to improve a signal to noise ratio of the MCE data.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the cross correlation is based in part on first data laying along a first line associated with the MCE and second data laying along a second line associated with an SCE of the SCEs.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first data and the second data are each pre-processed based on an apodization function.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the cross correlation produces a correlation data set, the correlation data set being a function of phase difference versus similarity between the first data and the second data.