ULTRASOUND IMAGING DEVICE

• US 20100168575A1
• Filed: 12/25/2006
• Published: 07/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: FUJIFILM Healthcare Corp. (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi Medical Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Hashiba, Kunio
• Granted Patent: US 8,235,899 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/443
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/14 Echo-tomography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/488 involving Doppler signals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/5207 involving processing of raw data to produce diagnostic data, e.g. for generating an image reconstruction G06T11/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/5246 combining images from the same or different imaging techniques, e.g. color Doppler and B-mode
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/895 characterised by the transmitted frequency spectrum
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8963 using pulse inversion
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8979 Combined Doppler and pulse-echo imaging systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/5202 for pulse systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52038 involving non-linear properties of the propagation medium or of the reflective target
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/005 Specific pre-processing for tomographic reconstruction, e.g. calibration, source positioning, rebinning, scatter correction, retrospective gating
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/916 Ultrasound 3-D imaging

Abstract

An ultrasound imaging device, which can extract nonlinear components efficiently and improve the ultrasound penetration, is provided.

The receiving means has a given reception band 74, and the lower limit frequency of the reception band 74 is the first frequency f₁. The frequency band of the ultrasound wave transmitted by the transmitting means is set as the first frequency f₁ or higher and 3 times of the first frequency f₁ or lower (f₁−3f₁). When the ultrasound wave in such band is transmitted, the low-frequency harmonic component 72 of the nonlinear component may have higher frequency than the first frequency f₁ and therefore can be received by the receiving means. Also, as most of the high-frequency harmonic components 73 can be generated in the reception band 74, most of the high-frequency harmonic components 73 can be received.

Claims

1. An ultrasound imaging device, comprising a transmission means which transmits ultrasound to the target, a receiving means which receives ultrasound coming from the target, and a signal processing part which processes the receipt signals at the receiving means and generates image data,

wherein the receiving means has a given reception band in which the lower limit frequency is the first frequency, and wherein the frequency range of the ultrasound to be transmitted by the transmitting means is set as the first frequency or higher and triple of the first frequency or lower.

2. The ultrasound imaging device according to claim 1,

wherein all spectral components of the ultrasound wave to be transmitted by the transmitting means are cosine wave.

3. The ultrasound imaging device according to claim 1,

wherein all spectral components of the ultrasound wave to be transmitted by the transmitting means are sine wave.

4. The ultrasound imaging device according to claim 1,

wherein the ultrasound wave to be transmitted by the transmitting means contains carrier components and modulating components for modulating the amplitude of the carrier components, and the carrier components consist of cosine wave.

5. The ultrasound imaging device according to claim 1,

wherein the ultrasound wave to be transmitted by the transmitting means contains carrier components and modulating components for modulating the amplitude of the carrier components, and the carrier components which consist of sine wave.

6. The ultrasound imaging device according to claim 1,

wherein the ultrasound wave to be transmitted by the transmitting means contains carrier components and modulating components for modulating amplitude of the carrier components, the frequency of the carrier wave is set as twice of the first frequency and the frequency of the modulating wave is set as the first frequency.

7. The ultrasound imaging device according to claim 6,

wherein the apparatus has an accepting means to receive instructions from users to increase or decrease the frequency of the modulating wave from the first frequency, and the transmitting means has a frequency adjusting means to increase or decrease the frequency of the modulating wave according to the increase or decrease which is received by the accepting means.

8. The ultrasound imaging device according to one of the claim 1 to claim 7,

wherein the maximum frequency of the reception band of the receiving means is the second frequency f₂, and the relationship of the frequency (f_c) of the carrier wave and the frequency (f_s) of the modulating wave with the second frequency f₂ satisfies 2f_c+2f_s≦

f₂.

9. The ultrasound imaging device according to one of claim 1 to claim 8,

wherein the transmitting means transmits, as the ultrasound wave, the first ultrasound wave with the frequency band and the second ultrasound wave with the frequency band having an inverted waveform of the first ultrasound wave,

wherein the signal processor adds the first received signals, which is ultrasound wave originating at the first ultrasound wave, coming from the target and received by the receiving means, and the second received signal, which is ultrasound wave originating at the second ultrasound wave, coming from the target and received by the receiving means, and generates image data by using added signals.

10. The ultrasound imaging device according to one of claim 1 to claim 9,

wherein the apparatus has a means to display the image data

11. An ultrasound imaging device comprising a transmitting means to transmit ultrasound wave to the target, a receiving means to receive ultrasound wave from the target and a signal processor to process signals received at the receiving means and generate image data,

wherein the receiving means has a given reception band with the first frequency as the minimum frequency, and the ultrasound wave to be transmitted by the transmitting means contains carrier wave and modulating wave for modulating the carrier wave, and

wherein the frequency of the carrier wave is set as twice or higher of the first frequency and the frequency of the modulating wave is set as the first frequency or higher.

12. The ultrasound imaging device according to claim 11,

wherein the frequency of the carrier wave is set as twice of the first frequency and the frequency of the modulating wave is set as the first frequency.

13. The ultrasound imaging device according to claim 11 or claim 12,

wherein the maximum frequency of the reception band of the receiving means is the second frequency (f₂), and the relationship of the frequency (f_c) of the carrier wave and the frequency (f_s) of the modulating wave with the second frequency f₂ satisfies 2f_c+2f_s≦

f₂.

14. The ultrasound imaging device according to one of the claim 11 to claim 13,

wherein all spectral components of the ultrasound wave to be transmitted by the transmitting means are cosine wave.

15. The ultrasound imaging device according to one of the claim 11 to claim 13,

wherein all spectral components of the ultrasound wave which is transmitted by the transmitting means are sine wave.

16. The ultrasound imaging device according to one of the claim 11 to claim 15,

wherein the apparatus has an accepting means to receive instructions from users to increase or decrease the frequency of the modulating wave from the first frequency as a center, and the transmitting means has a frequency adjusting means to increase or decrease the frequency of the modulating wave according to the increase or decrease which is received by the accepting means.

17. The ultrasound imaging device according to one of the claim 11 to claim 16,

wherein the transmitting means transmits, as the ultrasound wave, the first ultrasound wave and the second ultrasound wave having an inverted waveform of the first ultrasound wave, and

wherein the signal processor adds the first received signals which is an ultrasound wave originating at the first ultrasound wave, coming from the target and received by the receiving means, and the second received signal which is an ultrasound wave originating at the second ultrasound wave, coming from the target and received by the receiving means, and generates the image data by using added signals.