System and method for performing progressive beamforming

Abstract

A progressive beamformer in an imaging system includes a number of stages. A first stage delays and combines a number of received data streams to align the streams to a point of interest on a first beamline. The first stage feeds a number of subsequent stages that operate to buffer and re-delay at least a portion of the data streams received from a previous stage in order to align the data streams to a point of interest on a new beamline. In one embodiment, each stage operates to reduce the number of data streams that are passed to a subsequent stage without suffering from grating lobes. A beam reclamation process includes a number of stages that receive data streams from end elements in order to produce reclaimed beams that are added to beamline produced in a mainline beamforming process in order to produce output beamlines.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13 / 831,436 filed Mar. 14, 2013, and which is incorporated herein in its entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The disclosed technology relates generally to beamforming techniques and in particular to systems for beamforming in ultrasound imaging systems.BACKGROUND[0003]In ultrasound imaging systems, images of a tissue region are created by transmitting one or more acoustic pulses into the body from a transducer. Reflected echo signals that are created in response to the pulses are detected by the same or a different transducer. The echo signals cause the transducer elements to produce electronic signals that are analyzed by the ultrasound system in order to create a map of some characteristic of the echo signals such as their amplitude, power, phase or frequency shift etc. The map therefore can be displayed to a user as an image of the tissue.[0004]Most imaging ultrasound tran...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This approach significantly reduces the number of delay calculations required, decreases processing time, and minimizes the need for extensive memory buffers, while effectively eliminating grating lobes, thus enhancing the efficiency and accuracy of ultrasound imaging.

Problems solved by technology

Side lobes are unwanted sensitivity to sources at other points in space.

Grating lobes are a spatial alias of the main lobe and pose significant problems for any beamformer.

Since the left hand sides are related by a factor of two, this cannot be accomplished.

Although the slightly lower side lobe levels are desirable, the loss of main beam resolution is not generally a desired result.

This reclamation process consumes a fraction of the processing that the main beam requires.

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