Portable medical ultrasound imaging device

Abstract

To provide a portable medical ultrasonic wave imaging unit and a method therefor.SOLUTION: A preferable embodiment of the invention uses a tablet touch screen display which can be operated to control imaging and display operation without necessity of using a traditional key board or control. A specific embodiment provides a multi chip module for an ultrasonic engine of a portable medical ultrasonic wave imaging system, in the invention, a transmission / reception chip, an amplifier chip and a beam former chip are assembled in a vertical lamination structure. An example further provides a medical ultrasonic wave imaging system comprising: an ultrasonic wave engine circuit board including one or a plurality of multi chip modules; and an ultrasonic wave engine circuit board including one or a plurality of multi chip modules. An example further provides a method for producing and assembling the multi chip modules, as taught herein.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

Technical Field

[0001] <Cross - Reference to Related Applications> This application is a continuation - in - part of U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 838,694, filed on March 15, 2013, and claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 615,627, filed on March 26, 2012, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 704,254, filed on September 21, 2012, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

Background Art

[0002] Medical ultrasonic imaging has become an industry standard for many medical imaging applications. In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for more user - friendly, portable medical ultrasonic imaging devices that can be easily carried by medical personnel between hospitals and / or off - site locations and that can accommodate medical personnel with a wide range of technical levels.

[0003] Conventional medical ultrasonic imaging devices typically include at least one ultrasonic probe / transducer, a keyboard and / or knobs, a computer, and a display. In a normal operating mode, the ultrasonic probe / transducer generates ultrasonic waves that can penetrate tissue at different depths based on frequency levels and receive ultrasonic waves reflected back from the tissue. Further, medical personnel can input system inputs to the computer via the keyboard and / or knobs and view ultrasonic images of tissue structures on the display.

[0004] However, conventional medical ultrasound imaging devices that utilize these keyboards and / or knobs can be bulky and may not be suitable for portable use in hospitals and / or field locations. Further, these keyboards and / or knobs typically have non-flat surfaces, making it difficult to keep clean in hospital and / or field environments where maintaining a sterile field can be important for patient health. Some conventional medical ultrasound imaging devices incorporate touch screen technology to provide a partial user input interface. However, conventional medical ultrasound imaging devices that utilize these touch screen technologies generally provide only limited touch screen functionality in combination with traditional keyboards and / or knobs, making them not only difficult to keep clean but also complex to use.

Summary of the Invention

[0005] In the present application, a medical ultrasound imaging system and method are disclosed. The disclosed medical ultrasound imaging system and method utilize a medical ultrasound imaging device including a handheld housing in a tablet form factor and a touch screen display disposed on the front panel of the housing. The touch screen display includes a multi-touch touch screen capable of recognizing and distinguishing one, multiple, and / or simultaneous touches on the surface of the touch screen display, thereby enabling the use of gestures ranging from simple single-point gestures to complex multi-point movement gestures as user input to the medical ultrasound imaging device.

[0006] In one aspect, an exemplary medical ultrasound imaging system includes a housing having a front panel and a rear panel fixed in parallel planes to each other, a touch screen display, a computer having at least one processor and at least one memory, an ultrasonic beamforming system, and a battery. The housing of the medical ultrasound imaging device is implemented in a tablet form factor. The touch screen display is disposed on the front panel of the housing and includes a multi-touch LCD touch screen capable of recognizing and distinguishing one, multiple, and / or simultaneous touches or gestures on the surface of the touch screen display. The computer, the ultrasonic beamforming system or engine, and the battery are operably disposed within the housing. The medical ultrasound imaging device can utilize a Firewire (registered trademark) connection operably connected between the ultrasonic engine and the computer within the housing, and a probe connector having a probe connection / removal lever that facilitates connection of at least one ultrasonic probe / transducer. Additionally, the exemplary medical ultrasound imaging system includes an I / O port connector and a DC power input.

[0007] In an exemplary mode of operation, a healthcare provider can utilize simple single-point gestures and / or more complex multi-point gestures as user inputs to a multi-touch LCD touch screen to control the operable modes and / or functions of an exemplary medical ultrasound imaging device. These simple single-point / multi-point gestures may correspond to single and / or multi-point touch events that are mapped to one or more predetermined actions that can be performed by a computer and / or an ultrasound engine. A healthcare provider can perform these single-point / multi-point gestures on the surface of the touch screen display with various finger, palm, and / or stylus movements. The multi-touch LCD touch screen receives the single-point / multi-point gestures as user inputs, provides the user inputs to a computer, and thereby, at least sometimes, utilizes a processor to execute program instructions stored in a memory for performing predetermined actions related to the single-point / multi-point gestures, together with an ultrasound engine. These single-point / multi-point gestures on the surface of the touch screen display can include, but are not limited to, tap gestures, pinch gestures, flick gestures, rotate gestures, double-tap gestures, spread gestures, drag gestures, press gestures, press-and-drag gestures, and palm gestures. Compared to existing ultrasound systems that operate mechanical switching, keyboard elements, or touchpad trackball interfaces and rely on several control features, a preferred embodiment of the present invention utilizes one on / off switch. All other operations are implemented using touch screen control. Further, a preferred embodiment utilizes a capacitive touch screen display that is sensitive enough to detect touch gestures actuated by a user's bare finger and a gloved finger of the user. Often, healthcare providers need to wear sterilized plastic gloves during a medical procedure.As a result, it is highly desirable to provide a portable ultrasonic device that can be used with a gloved hand, but this has previously prevented the use of touch screen display control functions in ultrasonic systems for many applications that require anti - sterilization measures. A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides control of all ultrasonic imaging operations in a touch screen display using programmed touch gestures by a worker wearing gloves.

[0008] In some exemplary embodiments, the depth of tissue penetration of the ultrasound generated by the ultrasound probe / transducer may be controlled by utilizing at least one flick gesture. For example, one flick gesture in the "up" direction on the surface of the touch screen display can increase the depth of penetration by 1 centimeter or any other suitable amount, and one flick gesture in the "down" direction on the surface of the touch screen display can decrease the depth of penetration by 1 centimeter or any other suitable amount. Further, a drag gesture in the "up" or "down" direction on the surface of the touch screen display can increase or decrease the depth of penetration by a multiple of 1 centimeter, or any other suitable amount. Additional operating modes and / or functions controlled by a specific one-point / multi-point gesture on the surface of the touch screen display include, but are not limited to, freeze / store operation, two-dimensional mode operation, gain control, color control, screen split control, PW imaging control, cine / temporal image clip scroll control, zoom and pan control, full screen control, Doppler and two-dimensional beam steering control, and / or body marking control. At least some of the operating modes and / or functions of an exemplary medical ultrasound imaging device can be controlled by one or more touch controls implemented on a touch screen display where beamforming parameters can be reset by moving a touch gesture. A healthcare provider can provide one or more specific one-point / multi-point gestures as user input to identify at least one selected subset of the touch controls to be implemented that are necessary and / or desired on the touch screen display. When several or more virtual buttons or icons are available, when operating in full screen mode, a greater number of touch screen controls enables greater functionality.

[0009] In another exemplary aspect, within a region of a touch screen display, by utilizing a pressing gesture and in response to the pressing gesture, a virtual window can be provided on the touch screen display to display at least an enlarged portion of an ultrasonic image displayed on the touch screen display. In yet another exemplary aspect, a pressing and dragging gesture can be utilized within that region of the touch screen display, and in response to the pressing and dragging gesture, a predetermined feature of the ultrasonic image can be traced. Further, a tapping gesture can be utilized within that region of the touch screen display substantially simultaneously with a portion of the pressing and dragging gesture, and in response to the tapping gesture, the tracing of a predetermined feature of the ultrasonic image can be completed. These operations can operate in different regions of one display format, whereby a movement gesture within a target region in the image can perform a different function from the same gesture that is performed within the image but outside the target region, for example.

[0010] By providing a multi-touch touch screen on a medical ultrasonic imaging device, medical personnel can control the device using simple single-point gestures and / or more complex multi-point gestures without the need to use a traditional keyboard or knob. Since there is no need to provide a traditional keyboard or knob on a multi-touch touch screen, these medical ultrasonic imaging devices are easy to keep clean in a hospital and / or field environment, can provide an intuitive and user-friendly interface, and at the same time, provide full functional operation. Further, by providing these medical ultrasonic imaging devices in a tablet form factor, medical personnel can easily move the device between hospital and / or field locations.

[0011] Certain exemplary embodiments provide a multi-chip module for an ultrasonic engine of a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system, wherein a transmit / receive (TR) chip, a preamplifier / attenuation correction (TGC) chip, and a beamformer chip are assembled in a vertical stacked configuration. The transmit circuit provides a high-voltage electrical drive pulse to the transducer element to generate a transmit beam. The transmit chip operates at a voltage exceeding 80V, and a CMOS process utilizing a 1-micron design rule has been used for the transmit chip, while a sub-micron design rule has been used for the low-voltage (less than 5V) receive circuit.

[0012] Preferred embodiments of the present invention utilize a sub-micron process to provide an integrated circuit having sub-circuits operating at multiple voltages (e.g., 2.5V, 5V, 60V, or higher voltages). These features can be utilized with a bi-plane transducer probe in certain preferred embodiments of the present invention.

[0013] Thus, one IC chip including a high-voltage transmit, a low-voltage amplifier / TGC, and a low-voltage beamforming circuit can be utilized on one chip. Using a 0.25-micron design rule, this mixed-signal circuit can accommodate beamforming of 32 transducer channels in a chip area less than 0.7×0.7 (0.49) cm 2 Thus, 128 channels can be processed using four 32-channel chips in a total circuit board area less than 1.5x1.5 (2.25) cm 2 less.

[0014] As used herein, the term "multi-chip module" refers to an electronic package in which a plurality of integrated circuits (ICs) are packaged together with an integrated substrate to facilitate use as a single component (i.e., an IC with higher processing power packaged in a much smaller volume). Each IC can include circuits fabricated on a thin semiconductor wafer. Exemplary embodiments further provide a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system including an ultrasonic engine including one or more of these multi-chip modules, and an ultrasonic engine circuit board having one or more multi-chip modules. Exemplary embodiments further provide a method of manufacturing and assembling multi-chip modules as taught herein. By vertically stacking a TR chip, a preamplifier / TGC chip, and a beamformer chip on a circuit board, the packaging size (e.g., length and width) and the footprint occupied by the chips on the circuit board are minimized.

[0015] The TR chip, preamplifier / TGC chip, and beamformer chip of the multi-chip module may each include a plurality of channels (e.g., from 8 channels per chip to 64 channels per chip). In certain embodiments, a high voltage TR chip, preamplifier / TGC chip, and sample interpolation receive beamformer chip may each include 8, 16, 32, 64 channels, respectively. In a preferred embodiment, each circuit in a two-layer beamformer module provides a 64-channel receive beamformer by having 32 beamformer receive channels. Two layers of 64-channel modules can be utilized to form a 128-channel handheld tablet ultrasonic device with an overall thickness of less than 2 cm. Additionally, a transmit multi-chip beamformer with the same or similar channel density in each layer can also be utilized.

[0016] Examples of the number of chips vertically integrated in a multi-chip module may include, but are not limited to, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, etc. In one embodiment of the ultrasonic device, one multi-chip module is provided on a circuit board of an ultrasonic engine that performs dedicated ultrasonic operations. In other embodiments, multiple multi-chip modules are provided on the circuit board of the ultrasonic engine. By stacking multiple multi-chip modules perpendicular to each other on the circuit board of the ultrasonic engine, the packaging size and the installation area of the circuit board may be further minimized.

[0017] One or more multi-chip modules on the circuit board of the ultrasonic engine minimize the overall packaging size and installation area while achieving a high channel count. For example, a 128-channel ultrasonic engine circuit board can be assembled using multi-chip modules within an exemplary planar dimension of approximately 10 cm × approximately 10 cm, which represents a significant improvement over the much larger space requirements of conventional ultrasonic circuits. In some embodiments, one circuit board of the ultrasonic engine including one or more multi-chip modules may have 16 to 128 channels. In certain embodiments, one circuit board of the ultrasonic engine including one or more multi-chip modules may have 16, 32, 64, 128, or 192 channels, etc.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0018] The above and other objects, aspects, features, and advantages of the exemplary embodiments will become more apparent and better understood by reading the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0019] A medical ultrasound imaging system and method are disclosed. The system and method for medical ultrasound imaging of the present disclosure utilize a medical ultrasound imaging device including a housing having a tablet form factor and a touch screen display disposed on a front panel of the housing. The touch screen display is capable of distinguishing one or more single, multiple, and / or simultaneous touches on the surface of the touch screen display, thereby enabling the use of gestures ranging from simple single-point gestures to complex multi-point gestures as user input to the medical ultrasound imaging device, including a multi-touch touch screen. Further details of the tablet ultrasound system and operation are described in U.S. Application No. 10 / 997,062, filed November 11, 2004, U.S. Application No. 10 / 386,360, filed March 11, 2003, and U.S. Patent No. 6,969,352, the entire contents of these patents and patent applications being incorporated herein by reference.

[0020] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of an exemplary medical ultrasound imaging device 100 according to the present application. As shown in FIG. 1, the medical ultrasound imaging device 100 includes a housing 102, a touch screen display 104, a computer with at least one processor and at least one memory implemented on a motherboard 106 of the computer, an ultrasound engine 108, and a battery 110. For example, the housing 102 can be implemented in a tablet form factor or any other suitable form factor. The housing 102 has a front panel 101 and a rear panel 103. The touch screen display 104 is disposed on the front panel 101 of the housing 102 and includes a multi-touch LCD touch screen that can recognize and distinguish one or more, multiple, and / or simultaneous touches on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104. The motherboard 106 of the computer, the ultrasound engine 108, and the battery 110 are operably disposed within the housing 102. The medical ultrasound imaging device 100 further includes a Firewire (registered trademark) connection 112 (see also FIG. 2A) operably connected between the motherboard 106 of the computer within the housing 102 and the ultrasound engine 108, and a probe connector 114 having a probe connection / removal lever 115 (see also FIGS. 2A and 2B) that facilitates connection of at least one ultrasound probe / transducer. The transducer probe housing includes a transducer array, a transmit and receive circuit, and, in certain preferred embodiments, circuit components including a beamformer and a beamformer control circuit. Additionally, the medical ultrasound imaging device 100 has one or more I / O port connectors 116 (see FIG. 2A), which can include, but are not limited to, one or more USB connectors, one or more SD cards, one or more network ports, one or more mini display ports, and a DC power input.

[0021] In an exemplary operation mode, a healthcare provider (herein also referred to as "user" or "multiple users") can utilize simple single-point gestures and / or more complex multi-point gestures as user inputs to the multi-touch LCD touch screen of the touch screen display 104 to control one or more operation modes and / or functions of the medical ultrasound imaging device 100. Such gestures are herein defined as the movement, stroke, or position of at least one finger, stylus, and / or palm on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104. For example, such single-point / multi-point gestures can include static or dynamic gestures, continuous or divided gestures, and / or any other suitable gestures. A single-point gesture is herein defined as a gesture that can be executed by a single touch contact point on the touch screen display 104 by one finger, stylus, or palm. A multi-point gesture is herein defined as a gesture that can be executed by multiple touch contact points on the touch screen display 104 by multiple fingers or any suitable combination of at least one finger, stylus, or palm. A static gesture is herein defined as a gesture that does not involve the movement of at least one finger, stylus, or palm on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104. A dynamic gesture is herein defined as a gesture that involves the movement of at least one finger, stylus, or palm, such as a movement performed by dragging one or more fingers on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104. A continuous gesture is herein defined as a gesture that can be executed by one movement or stroke of at least one finger, stylus, or palm on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104. A divided gesture is herein defined as a gesture that can be executed by multiple movements or strokes of at least one finger, stylus, or palm on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104.

[0022] Such single-point / multi-point gestures that are executed on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104 can correspond to single or multi-point touch events, which are mapped to one or more predetermined operations executable by the computer and / or the ultrasonic engine 108. The user can perform such single-point / multi-point gestures by various single finger, multiple fingers, stylus, and / or palm movements on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104. The multi-touch LCD touch screen receives the single-point / multi-point gestures as user input to the processor and provides the user input to the processor, which executes program instructions stored in the memory and, together with the ultrasonic engine 108, executes predetermined operations related to the single-point / multi-point gestures at least several times. As shown in FIG. 3A, these single-point / multi-point gestures on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104 include, but are not limited to, a tap gesture 302, a pinch gesture 304, a flick gesture 306, 314, a rotate gesture 308, 316, a double-tap gesture 310, a spread gesture 312, a drag gesture 318, a press gesture 320, a press-and-drag gesture 322, and / or a palm gesture 324. For example, these single-point / multi-point gestures can be stored in at least one gesture library of the memory implemented on the motherboard 106 of the computer. A computer program capable of controlling the system operation can be stored in a computer-readable medium and optionally implemented using a touch processor connected to an image processor and a control processor connected to a system beamformer. Therefore, the delay of the beamformer related to both transmission and reception can be adjusted in response to both static and moving touch gestures.

[0023] In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, at least one flick gesture 306 or 314 may be utilized by a user of the medical ultrasound imaging device 100 to control, if desired, the tissue penetration depth of the ultrasound generated by the ultrasound probe / transducer. For example, a dynamic, continuous flick gesture 306 or 314 in the "up" direction, or any suitable direction, on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104 can increase the depth of penetration by 1 centimeter or any other suitable amount. Further, a dynamic, continuous flick gesture 306 or 314 in the "down" direction, or any suitable direction, on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104 can reduce the depth of penetration by 1 centimeter or any other suitable amount. Further, a dynamic, continuous drag gesture 318 in the "up" or "down" direction, or any suitable direction, on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104 can increase or reduce the depth of penetration by a plurality of centimeters or any other suitable amount.

[0024] Additional operating modes and / or functions controlled by specific, one-point / multi-point gestures on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104 can include, but are not limited to, freeze / store operation, two-dimensional mode operation, gain control, color control, screen split control, PW imaging control, cine / temporal image clip scroll control, zoom and pan control, full screen display, Doppler and two-dimensional beam steering control, and / or body marking control. At least some of the operating modes and / or functions of the exemplary medical ultrasound imaging device 100 can be controlled by one or more touch controls implemented on the touch screen display 104. Further, the user can provide one or more specific one-point / multi-point gestures as user input to specify a selected subset of at least one implemented touch control as needed and / or as desired on the touch screen display 104.

[0025] Figure 3B shows a process sequence in which the ultrasonic beamforming and imaging operation 340 is controlled in response to a touch gesture input on the touch screen. A variety of static and moving touch gestures are programmed into the system so that a data processor can control beamforming and image processing operations within the tablet device (342). The user can select a first display operation having a first plurality of touch gestures associated with the first display operation (344). Using static or moving gestures, the user can perform one of a plurality of gestures that can control the imaging operation, and in particular, can adjust the beamforming parameters utilized to generate the image data associated with the first display operation (346), and can select one of the plurality of gestures. The displayed image is updated and displayed in response to the updated beamforming procedure (348). The user can further select to perform different gestures having different velocity characteristics (direction or velocity or both) to adjust (350) a second characteristic of the first ultrasonic display operation. The displayed image is then updated (352) based on the second gesture, whereby the imaging operation parameters or the beamforming parameters can be modified. Examples of this process are described in further detail herein, where the changes in the velocity and direction of various different gestures can be associated with the distinct imaging parameters of the selected display operation.

[0026] Whether it is color flow or spectral Doppler, ultrasonic images of flow or tissue movement are essentially obtained from the measurement of movement. In an ultrasonic scanner, a series of pulses are transmitted to detect the movement of blood. The echoes from static objects are the same for each pulse. The echoes from moving scatterers show a slight difference in the signal returning to the scanner over time.

[0027] As can be seen from FIGS. 3C to 3E, 3F, 3G, and 3H, there must be movement in the direction of the beam. That is, when the flow is perpendicular to the beam, there is no relative movement from the reception for each pulse, and the flow is not detected. These differences can be measured as a direct time difference, and more commonly, they are measured by the phase shift from which the "Doppler frequency" is obtained. These are then operated to generate a color flow display or a Doppler sonogram. In FIGS. 3C to 3D, the direction of the flow is perpendicular to the direction of the beam, and the flow is not measured by pulsed wave spectral Doppler. In FIGS. 3G to 3H, when the ultrasonic beam is steered to an angle that is better aligned with the flow, a weak flow is shown within the color flow map. In addition, the flow is measured by pulsed wave Doppler. In FIG. 3H, when the ultrasonic beam is steered to an angle that is even better aligned with the direction of the flow in response to the movement, the color flow map becomes stronger. In addition, when the correction angle of the PWD is aligned and arranged with respect to the flow, a strong flow is measured by the PWD.

[0028] In this tablet ultrasonic system, the ROI (region of interest) is also utilized to define a direction in response to the movement gesture of the ultrasonic transmission beam. FIG. 3I shows an image of the liver with a branch of renal blood flow in color flow mode, where the ROI is directly below the transducer and the direction of the flow is approximately normal to the ultrasonic beam, so that a very weak renal flow is detected. Therefore, the color flow mode is utilized to image the renal blood flow in the liver. It can be seen that the beam is approximately normal to the flow and a very weak flow is detected. The beam is steered using a flicking gesture with the finger placed outside the ROI. As can be seen from FIG. 3J, the ROI is steered by resetting the beamforming parameters so that the direction of the beam is aligned with the direction of the flow, and a much stronger flow is detected within the ROI. In FIG. 3J, the ultrasonic beam is steered to a direction better aligned with the direction of the flow using a flicking gesture with the finger placed outside the ROI. A stronger flow within the ROI can be seen. By using a panning gesture with the finger placed within the ROI, the ROI box moves to a position covering the entire kidney region, that is, by panning, the ROI box can perform a translational movement so that the box can cover the entire region of interest.

[0029] FIG. 3K shows a panning gesture. With a finger within the ROI, the ROI box can be moved to any location within the image plane. In the above-described embodiment, it is easy to distinguish that the "flicking" gesture with the finger outside the "ROI" box is intended for beam steering, and the "dragging and moving, panning" gesture with the finger within the "ROI" is intended for moving the ROI box. However, in applications where there is no ROI as a reference region, it can be easily seen that it is difficult to distinguish between "flick" or "panning" gestures. In this case, the touch screen program needs to track the initial speed or acceleration of the finger to determine whether it is a "flicking" gesture or a "dragging and moving" gesture. Therefore, the touch engine that receives data from the touch screen sensor device is programmed to distinguish between different speed thresholds that specify different gestures. Therefore, the time, speed, and direction associated with different movement gestures can have preset thresholds. Static and movement gestures of two or three fingers can each have separate thresholds to distinguish these control operations. Preset display icons or virtual buttons can have separate static pressure or duration thresholds. When operating in full-screen mode, the touch screen processor preferably operates in the central processing unit of a system that performs other imaging operations such as scan conversion and switching off static icons.

[0030] Figures 4A through 4C show exemplary subsets 402, 404, 406 of touch controls that can be implemented by a user of the medical ultrasound imaging device 100 on the touch screen display 104. Any other subset of touch controls can be implemented on the touch screen display 104 if needed and / or desired. As shown in FIG. 4A, subset 402 includes touch control 408 for performing two-dimensional (2D) mode operation, touch control 410 for performing gain control operation, touch control 412 for performing color control operation, and touch control 414 for performing image / clip freeze / store operation. For example, the user can utilize a pressing gesture 320 to actuate touch control 408 to return the medical ultrasound imaging device 100 to the 2D mode. Further, the user can utilize a pressing gesture 320 on one side of touch control 410 to reduce the gain level and a pressing gesture 320 on the other side of touch control 410 to increase the gain level. Additionally, the user can utilize a dragging gesture 318 on touch control 412 to specify a density range on the 2D image using a predetermined color code. In addition, the user can utilize a pressing gesture 320 to actuate touch control 414 to freeze / store a still image and acquire a cine image clip.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 4B, subset 404 includes touch control 416 for executing screen splitting control operations, touch control 418 for executing PW imaging control operations, touch control 420 for executing Doppler and two-dimensional beam steering control operations, and touch control 422 for executing annotation operations. For example, the user can utilize a pressing gesture 320 on touch control 416, whereby the user can switch between opposite sides of the split touch screen display 104 by alternately utilizing a tapping gesture 302 on each side of the split screen. Further, the user can utilize a pressing gesture 320 to activate touch control 418 to enter the PW mode, whereby (1) user control of angle correction, (2) movement of the baseline (e.g., "up" or "down") that can be displayed on the touch screen display 104 by utilizing a pressing and dragging gesture 322, and / or (3) increase or decrease of the scale by utilizing a tapping gesture 302 on the scale bar that can be displayed on the touch screen display 104 are made possible. Further, the user can utilize a pressing gesture 320 on one side of touch control 420 to perform two-dimensional beam steering in the "left" or any other appropriate direction by an increment of 5 or any appropriate increment, and utilize a pressing gesture 320 on another side of touch control 420 to perform two-dimensional beam steering in the "right" or any other appropriate direction by an increment of 5 or any appropriate increment. Additionally, the user can utilize a tapping gesture 302 on touch control 422, whereby the user can input annotation information via a pop-up keyboard that can be displayed on the touch screen display 104.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 4C, subset 406 includes touch control 424 for performing a dynamic range operation, touch control 426 for performing Teravision (registered trademark) software operations, touch control 428 for performing a map operation, and touch control 430 for performing a needle guide operation. For example, the user can utilize a pressing gesture 320 and / or a pressing and dragging gesture 322 on touch control 424 to control or set a dynamic range. Further, the user can utilize a tapping gesture 302 on touch control 426 to select a desired level of Teravision (registered trademark) software executed from memory by a processor on the computer motherboard 106. Further, the user can utilize a tapping gesture 302 on touch control 428 to perform a desired map operation. Additionally, the user can utilize a pressing gesture 320 on touch control 430 to perform a desired needle guide operation.

[0033] In the present application, various measurements and / or traces of an object (such as an organ, tissue, etc.) displayed as an ultrasonic image on the touch screen display 104 of the medical ultrasonic imaging device 100 (see FIG. 1) can be executed using a one-point / multi-point gesture on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104. The user can directly execute these object measurements and / or traces on the original ultrasonic image of the displayed object, on the enlarged version of the ultrasonic image of the displayed object, and / or on the enlarged portion of the ultrasonic image within the virtual window 506 (see FIGS. 5C and 5D) of the touch screen display 104.

[0034] FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B show original ultrasound images of a liver 502 with a cystic lesion 504, which are exemplary objects, i.e., displayed on a touch screen display 104 of a medical ultrasound imaging device 100 (see FIG. 1). It should be noted that these ultrasound images can be generated by the medical ultrasound imaging device 100 in response to ultrasound generated by an ultrasound probe / transducer operably connected to the device 100 penetrating the tissue of the liver. Measurements and / or tracings of the liver 502 with the cystic lesion 504 can be performed directly on the original ultrasound image displayed on the touch screen display 104 or on an enlarged version of the ultrasound image (see FIGS. 5A and 5B). For example, the user can obtain an enlarged version of these ultrasound images by using a spreading gesture (e.g., see the spreading gesture 312 from FIG. 3A to FIG. 3K) to spread two fingers on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104 to enlarge the original ultrasound image. These measurements and / or tracings of the liver 502 and the cystic lesion 504 can further be performed on an enlarged portion of the ultrasound image within a virtual window 506 on the touch screen display 104 (see FIGS. 5C and 5D).

[0035] For example, using his or her finger (see, e.g., finger 508 in FIGS. 5A - 5D), the user can obtain a virtual window 506 by using a gesture of pressing (see, e.g., pressing gesture 320 in FIGS. 3A - 3K) on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104 (see FIG. 5B) near a target area such as an area corresponding to the cystic lesion 504. In response to the pressing gesture, the virtual window 506 (see FIGS. 5C and 5D) is displayed on the touch screen display 104, likely at least partially overlapping the original ultrasound image, thereby providing the user with a view of an enlarged portion of the liver 502 near the cystic lesion 504. For example, the virtual window 506 in FIG. 5C can provide a view of an enlarged portion of the ultrasound image of the cystic lesion 504, which is covered by the finger 508 pressed against the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104. To relocate the enlarged cystic lesion 504 into the virtual window 506, the user can move the image of the cystic lesion 504 to a desired position within the virtual window 506 by using a gesture of pressing and dragging (see, e.g., pressing and dragging gesture 322 in FIGS. 3A - 3K) on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104 (FIG. 5D). In one embodiment, the medical ultrasound imaging device 100 can be configured to allow the user to select an enlargement level within the virtual window 506 that is 2 times larger, 4 times larger, or any other suitable magnification larger than the original ultrasound image. The user can remove the virtual window 506 from the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104 by lifting his or her finger (see finger 508 in FIGS. 5A - 5D) from the touch screen display 104.

[0036] FIG. 6A shows an ultrasonic image of another exemplary object displayed on the touch screen display 104 of the medical ultrasonic imaging device 100 (see FIG. 1), that is, it shows the four chambers of the apex of the heart 602. It should be noted that these ultrasonic images can be generated by the medical ultrasonic imaging device 100 in response to the ultrasonic waves generated by the ultrasonic probe / transducer operably connected to the device 100 penetrating the tissue of the heart. The measurement and / or trace of the heart 602 can be performed directly on the original ultrasonic image displayed on the touch screen display 104 (from FIG. 6A to FIG. 6E) or on an enlarged version of the ultrasonic image. For example, using his or her finger (see fingers 610, 612 in FIGS. 6B to 6E), the user can use one or more multi-finger gestures on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104 to perform a manual trace of the pericardial boundary 604 (FIG. 6B) of the left ventricle 606 (from FIGS. 6B to 6E) of the heart 602. In one embodiment, using his or her finger (see fingers 610, 612 in FIGS. 6B to 6E), the user can use a gesture of double-tapping on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104 (such as the double-tapping gesture 310 in FIG. 3A) to obtain the cursor 607, and use a gesture of dragging with one finger such as one finger 610 (such as the dragging gesture 318 in FIG. 3A) to move the cursor 607, so that the cursor 607 can be moved to a desired location on the touch screen display 104. The systems and methods described herein can be used for quantitative measurement of the movement of the heart wall and particularly for measurement of ventricular dysynchrony, as described in detail in U.S. Application No. 10 / 817,316 filed on April 2, 2004 (the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference).

[0037] Once the cursor 607 reaches a desired location on the touch screen display 104 such that the position of the finger 610 specifies it, the user can fix the cursor 607 at that location using a tap gesture (see, e.g., the tap gesture 302 from FIGS. 3A to 3K) with another finger such as finger 612. To perform a manual trace of the pericardial boundary 604 (see FIG. 6B), the user can use a press-and-drag gesture (see, e.g., the press-and-drag gesture 322 from FIGS. 3A to 3K) using finger 610 as shown in FIGS. 6C and 6D. The manual trace of the pericardial boundary 604 can be highlighted on the touch screen display 104 in any suitable manner (see, e.g., the dashed line 608 (from FIGS. 6C to 6E)). The manual trace of the pericardial boundary 604 can continue until finger 610 reaches any suitable location on the touch screen display 104 or until finger 610 returns to the location of the cursor 607 (as shown, e.g., in FIG. 6E). When finger 610 reaches a predetermined location of the cursor 607 or any other suitable location, the user can complete the manual trace operation by using a tap gesture (see, e.g., the tap gesture 302 from FIGS. 3A to 3K) using finger 612. These manual trace operations can be used to trace any other suitable features and / or waveforms (such as a pulsed wave Doppler (PWD) waveform). In one embodiment, the medical ultrasound imaging device 100 can be configured to perform any suitable calculations and / or measurements regarding these features and / or waveforms based at least in part on the manual trace of each respective feature / waveform.

[0038] As described above, the user can perform measurements and / or tracing of an object on an enlarged portion of the original ultrasonic image of the object displayed within a virtual window on the touch screen display 104. FIGS. 7A through 7C show an exemplary object, namely, the original ultrasonic image of the liver 702 having a cystic lesion 704 displayed on the touch screen display 104 of the medical ultrasonic imaging device 100 (see FIG. 1). FIGS. 7A through 7C further show a virtual window 706 that provides a view of an enlarged portion of the ultrasonic image of the cystic lesion 704 covered by one of the user's fingers, such as finger 710, that is pressed against the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104. Using his or her finger (e.g., fingers 710, 712 in FIGS. 7A through 7C), the user can perform a size measurement of the cystic lesion 704 within the virtual window 706 by using one or more multi-finger gestures on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104.

[0039] For example, by using his or her finger (e.g., fingers 710, 712 in FIGS. 7A to 7C) to perform a double - tap gesture (double - tap gesture 310 shown in FIGS. 3A to 3K) on the surface 105, the user can obtain a first cursor 707 (FIGS. 7B, 7C). By using a drag gesture (e.g., drag gesture 318 in FIGS. 3A to 3K) with one finger such as finger 710, the user can move the first cursor 707 and move the first cursor 707 to a desired location. Once the first cursor 707 reaches the desired location determined by the position of finger 710, the user can use another finger such as finger 712 to perform a tap gesture (see tap gesture 302 in FIGS. 3A to 3K) to fix the first cursor 707 in that location. Similarly, by using a double - tap gesture (see double - tap gesture 310 in FIGS. 3A to 3K) on the surface 105, the user can obtain a second cursor 709 (see FIG. 7C). By using a drag gesture (e.g., drag gesture 318 in FIGS. 3A to 3K) with finger 710, the user can move the second cursor 709 and thus move the second cursor 709 to a desired location. Once the second cursor 709 reaches the desired location determined by the location of finger 710, the user can use another finger such as finger 712 to perform a tap gesture (see tap gesture 302 in FIGS. 3A to 3K) to fix the second cursor 709 in that location. In one embodiment, the medical ultrasound imaging device 100 can be configured to perform any suitable size calculation and / or measurement regarding the cystic lesion 704, at least partially based on the locations of the first and second cursors 707, 709.

[0040] Figures 8A through 8C show original ultrasound images of a liver 802 with a cystic lesion 804 displayed on a touch screen display 104 of a medical ultrasound imaging device 100 (FIG. 1), which is an exemplary object. Figures 8A through 8C show a virtual window 806 that provides a view of an enlarged portion of the ultrasound image of the cystic lesion 804, which is covered by one of the user's fingers, such as finger 810, that is pressed against the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104. Using his or her finger (e.g., fingers 810, 812 in FIGS. 8A through 8C), the user can perform a calibration measurement of the cystic lesion 804 within the virtual window 806 by using one or more multi-finger gestures on the surface 105 of the touch screen display 104.

[0041] For example, by using his or her finger (e.g., fingers 810, 812 in FIGS. 8A to 8C) to perform a double-tap gesture (double-tap gesture 310 shown in FIGS. 3A to 3K) on the surface 105, the user can obtain a first cursor 807 (FIGS. 8B, 8C). By using a drag gesture (e.g., the drag gesture in FIGS. 3A to 3K) with one finger such as finger 810 to move the first cursor 807, the first cursor 807 can be moved to a desired location. Once the second cursor 807 reaches the desired location determined by the location of finger 810, the user can use another finger such as finger 812 to perform a tap gesture (see tap gesture 302 in FIGS. 3A to 3K) to fix the cursor 807 at that location. The user then uses a press-and-drag gesture (press-and-drag gesture 322 in FIGS. 3A to 3K) to obtain a connection line 811 (see FIGS. 8B, 8C) and extend the connection line 811 from the first cursor 807 above the cystic lesion 804 to a desired location on the other side of the cystic lesion 804. Once the connection line 811 extends from the cystic lesion 804 to a desired location on the other side of the cystic lesion 804, the user can use finger 812 to obtain and fix a second cursor 809 (FIG. 8C) at that desired location by performing a tap gesture (tap gesture 302 in FIGS. 3A to 3K). In one embodiment, the medical ultrasound imaging device 100 can be configured to perform any suitable calibration calculation and / or measurement regarding the cystic lesion 804 based at least in part on the connection line 811 that extends at least partially between the locations of the first and second cursors 807, 809.

[0042] FIG. 9A shows a system 140 in which a transducer housing 150 having an array 152 of transducer elements can be attached to a housing 102 at a connector 114. Each probe 150 can have a probe identification circuit 154 that uniquely identifies the probe to be attached. When a user inserts different probes of different arrays, the system identifies the probe operation parameters. A preferred embodiment can include a display 104 having a touch sensor 107 connectable to a touch processor 109 that analyzes touch screen data from the sensor 107 and sends commands to both an image processing operation and a beamformer control processor (1116, 1124). In a preferred embodiment, the touch processor can include a computer-readable medium storing instructions for operating an ultrasonic touch screen engine that can control the display and imaging operations described herein.

[0043] Figure 9B shows a software flowchart 900 of a typical transducer management module 902 within an ultrasonic application program. When a transducer attachment 904 event is detected, the transducer management software module 902 first reads out the transducer type ID 906 and hardware revision information from the identification segment. The information is used to fetch (908) a specific set of transducer profile data from the hard disk and load this into the memory of the application program. The software then reads out adjustment data from the FACTORY segment 910 (912) and applies the adjustment to the profile data just loaded into the memory. The software module then sends a TRANSDUCER ATTACH message to the main ultrasonic application program (914), which is already utilizing the loaded transducer profile. After approval (916), an ultrasonic imaging sequence is executed and the USAGE segment is updated (918). The transducer management software module then waits for a TRANSDUCER DETACH event 920 or for five minutes to elapse. If a TRANSDUCER DETACH event is detected (921), a message (924) is sent and approved (926), the transducer profile data set is removed from the memory (928), and the module returns to wait for another TRANSDUCER ATTACH event. If the five-minute period elapses without detecting a TRANSDUCER DETACH event, the software module increments the cumulative usage counter of the USAGE segment 922 and waits for either another five-minute period to elapse or for a TRANSDUCER DETACH event. The cumulative message is recorded in the memory for maintenance and replacement record keeping.

[0044] There are many types of ultrasonic transducers. These differ in shape, number of elements, and frequency response. For example, a linear array with a center frequency of 10 to 15 MHz is more suitable for chest imaging, and a curved array with a center frequency of 3 to 5 MHz is suitable for abdominal imaging.

[0045] Often, different types of transducers may be required for the same or different ultrasonic scan sessions. In an ultrasonic system with only one transducer connection, the operator changes the transducer before the start of a new scan session.

[0046] In some applications, it is necessary to switch between different types of transducers during a single ultrasonic scan session. In this case, it is more convenient if multiple transducers are connected to the same ultrasonic system and the operator can quickly switch between these connected transducers by pressing a button on the operator console (without the need to physically disconnect and reconnect the transducers, which takes a longer time). A preferred embodiment of the inventors of the present application can include a multiplexer within the tablet housing that can select between multiple probe connector ports within the tablet housing, or the tablet housing can be connected to an external multiplexer that can be mounted on the cart described herein.

[0047] FIG. 10 shows an exemplary method for monitoring the synchrony of the heart in an exemplary embodiment. In this method, a reference template is loaded into the memory and the user is assisted in identifying the imaging plane (step 930). Next, the user identifies the desired imaging plane (step 932). Usually, a four-chamber view of the apex of the heart is utilized, but other images may be used and this does not depart from the spirit of the present invention.

[0048] Sometimes, it is difficult to identify the pericardial boundary, and when encountering such difficulties, tissue Doppler imaging of the same figure may be utilized (step 934). A reference template for identifying the septum and the free wall of the side is provided (step 936). Next, standard tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) with a preset velocity scale of, for example, ±30 cm / sec may be utilized (step 938).

[0049] Next, a reference to the desired tripleplex image may be provided (step 940). Either B-mode or TDI is utilized to derive a range gate (step 942). B-mode can be used to derive the range gate (step 944), or TDI can be used to derive the range gate (step 946). By using TDI or B-mode to derive the range gate, the direction correction angle can be utilized to display the radial mean velocity of the interventricular septum in spectral Doppler. Next, a first pulsed wave spectral Doppler is utilized to measure the radical mean velocity of the interventricular septum using a duplex or tripleplex mode (step 948). Software used to process the data and calculate dysychrony can utilize a location (e.g., a central point) to automatically set the angle between the dated locations of the heart wall to assist in simplifying the parameter settings.

[0050] A second range gate position is also derived using a duplex image or TDI (step 950), and if desired, the direction correction angle may be utilized. In step 950, the mean velocities of the interventricular septum and the free wall of the side are being tracked by the system. A time integral 952 of the spectral Doppler mean velocity is performed over the region of interest (e.g., the interventricular septum and the free wall of the left ventricle), and then the displacements of the septum and the left free wall are provided respectively.

[0051] The method steps described above may be utilized with high-pass filtering means (analog or digital), known in the relevant art, for removing baseline disturbance present in the signals being collected. Additionally, the disclosed method utilizes a plurality of simultaneous PW spectral Doppler lines to track the motion of the ventricular septum and the free wall of the left ventricle. Additionally, a plurality of gate structures may be utilized along each spectral line, thereby enabling quantitative measurement of local wall motion. Taking the average of a plurality of gates may enable measurement of global wall motion.

[0052] FIG. 11 is a detailed schematic block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the computer motherboard 106 (i.e., the host computer) of the ultrasonic device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2A, and an exemplary embodiment of the ultrasonic engine 108 (i.e., the front-end ultrasonic dedicated circuit). Components of the ultrasonic engine 108 and / or the computer motherboard 106 may be implemented in an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). In an exemplary embodiment, the exemplary ASIC has a high channel count and can pack more channels (32) per chip. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the ultrasonic engine 108 and the computer motherboard 106 may include more or fewer modules than those shown. For example, the ultrasonic engine 108 and the computer motherboard 106 may include the modules shown in FIG. 17.

[0053] The transducer array 152 is configured to transmit ultrasonic waves to and receive reflected ultrasonic waves from one or more imaging objects 1102. The transducer array 152 is coupled to the ultrasonic engine 108 using one or more cables 1104.

[0054] The ultrasonic engine 108 includes a high-voltage transmit / receive (TR) module 1106 to apply a drive signal to the transducer array 152 and receive a return echo signal from the transducer array 152. The ultrasonic engine 108 includes a TGC module 1108 to amplify the return echo signal and apply an appropriate preamplifier / attenuation correction (TGC) function to the signal. The ultrasonic engine 108 includes a sampled data beamformer 1110 that utilizes a delay factor for each channel after the return echo signal has been amplified and processed by the preamplifier / TGC module 1108.

[0055] In some exemplary embodiments, the high-voltage TR module 1106, the preamplifier / TGC module 1108, and the sample interpolation receive beamformer 1110 may each be a silicon chip having 8 to 64 channels per chip, although the exemplary embodiments are not limited to this range. In certain embodiments, the high-voltage TR module 1106, the preamplifier / TGC module 1108, and the sample interpolation receive beamformer 1110 may each be a silicon chip having channels such as 8, 16, 32, 64, etc. As shown in FIG. 11, the exemplary TR module 1106, the exemplary preamplifier / TGC module 1108, and the exemplary beamformer 1110 may each take the form of a silicon chip including 32 channels.

[0056] The ultrasonic engine 108 includes a first-in first-out (FIFO) buffer module 1112 that is utilized to buffer the processed data output by the beamformer 1110. The ultrasonic engine 108 further includes a memory 1114 for storing program instructions and data, and a system controller 1116 for controlling the operation of the ultrasonic engine module.

[0057] The ultrasonic engine 108 interfaces with the computer motherboard 106 via a communication link 112 that can conform to a standard high-speed communication protocol, such as Firewire (registered trademark) (a serial interface of the IEEE 1394 standard), or a high-speed (e.g., 200 to 400 Mbit / s or higher, etc.) Universal Serial Bus (USB 2.0, USB 3.0) protocol. The standard communication link to the computer motherboard operates at a rate of at least 400 Mbit / s or higher, and preferably, at a rate of 800 Mbit / s or higher. Alternatively, the link 112 may be a wireless connection such as an infrared (IR) link. The ultrasonic engine 108 includes a communication chipset 1118 (e.g., a Firewire (registered trademark) chipset) for establishing and maintaining the communication link 112.

[0058] Similarly, the computer motherboard 106 further includes a communication chipset 1120 (e.g., a Firewire (registered trademark) chipset) for establishing and maintaining the communication link 112. The computer motherboard 106 includes a core computer-readable memory 1122 for storing data and / or computer-executable instructions for performing ultrasonic imaging operations. The memory 1122 forms the main memory for the computer and may store approximately 4 Gb of DDR3 memory in one exemplary embodiment. The computer motherboard 106 further includes a microprocessor 1124 for executing the computer-executable instructions stored in the core computer-readable memory 1122 for performing ultrasonic imaging processing operations. An exemplary microprocessor 1124 may be an off-the-shelf commercial computer processor such as an Intel Core-i5 processor. Another exemplary microprocessor 1124 includes a digital signal processor (DSP)-based processor, such as one or more DaVinci (registered trademark) processors from Texas Instruments, etc. The computer motherboard 106 further includes a display controller 1126 for controlling a display device that can be utilized to display ultrasonic data, scans, and maps.

[0059] Exemplary operations performed by the microprocessor 1124 include, but are not limited to, down-conversion (for generating from received I, Q samples of ultrasonic data), scan conversion (for converting ultrasonic data into a display format of a display device), Doppler processing (for determining and / or imaging motion and / or flow information from ultrasonic data), color flow processing (for generating, in one embodiment using auto-correction, a color-coded map of Doppler shifts superimposed on a B-mode ultrasonic image), power Doppler processing (for determining power Doppler data and / or generating a power Doppler map), spectral Doppler processing (for generating spectral Doppler data and / or generating a spectral Doppler map), and post-signal processing. These operations are described in more detail in WO03 / 079038 A2, entitled "Ultrasound Probe with Integrated Electronics," filed on March 11, 2003, the entire contents of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference.

[0060] To realize a smaller or lighter portable ultrasonic device, the ultrasonic engine 108 includes a reduction in the overall packaging size and the footprint of the circuit board providing the ultrasonic engine 108. For this purpose, exemplary embodiments provide a small and lightweight formable ultrasonic device that minimizes the overall packaging size and footprint while providing a high channel count. In some embodiments, the high-channel-count circuit board of the exemplary ultrasonic engine may include one or more multi-chip modules such that each chip provides a plurality of channels (e.g., 32 channels). As used herein, the term "multi-chip module" refers to an electronic package in which a plurality of integrated circuits (ICs) are packaged within a unified substrate to facilitate use as a single component (i.e., a larger IC). By being utilized in an exemplary circuit board, the multi-chip module can integrate two or more active IC components on a high-density interconnect (HDI) substrate to reduce the overall packaging size. In an exemplary embodiment, the multi-chip module may be assembled by vertically stacking a transmit / receive (TR) silicon chip, an amplifier silicon chip, and a beamformer silicon chip of the ultrasonic engine. A single circuit board of the ultrasonic engine can include one or more of these multi-chip modules to provide a high channel count and at the same time minimize the overall packaging size and the footprint of the circuit board.

[0061] FIG. 12 is a schematic side view of a portion of a circuit board 1200 including a multi-chip module assembled in a vertical stack configuration. Two or more layers of active integrated circuit components are vertically integrated into a single circuit. The IC layers are oriented in spaced-apart planes that extend substantially parallel to one another in the vertical stack configuration. In FIG. 12, the circuit board includes an HDI substrate 1202 to support the multi-chip module. A first integrated circuit chip 1204, including for example a first beamformer device, is coupled to the substrate 1202 using any suitable coupling mechanism, such as the application and curing of epoxy. A first spacer layer 1206 is coupled to the surface of the first integrated circuit chip 1204 opposite the substrate 1202 using, for example, the application and curing of epoxy. A second integrated circuit chip 1208, including for example a second beamformer device, is coupled to the surface of the first spacer layer 1206 opposite the first integrated circuit chip 1204 using, for example, the application and curing of epoxy. A metal frame 1210 is provided between the integrated circuit chips for mechanical and / or electrical connection. An exemplary metal frame 1210 may take the form of a lead frame. The first integrated circuit chip 1204 may be coupled to the metal frame 1210 using wiring 1212. The second integrated circuit chip 1208 may be coupled to the same metal frame 1210 using wiring 1214. Packaging 1216 is provided to enclose the multi-chip module assembly and maintain the plurality of integrated circuit chips in a substantially parallel arrangement relative to one another.

[0062] As shown in FIG. 12, a high density function is provided on a circuit board by a three-dimensional vertical stack of a first integrated circuit chip 1204, a first spacer layer 1206, and a second integrated circuit chip 1208. At the same time, the overall packaging size and installation area are minimized compared to an ultrasonic engine circuit board that does not utilize a vertically stacked multi-chip module. Those skilled in the art will recognize that exemplary multi-chip modules are not limited to two stacked integrated circuit chips. Exemplary numbers of chips vertically integrated in a multi-chip module may include, but are not limited to, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and the like.

[0063] In one embodiment of the ultrasonic engine circuit board, a single multi-chip module as shown in FIG. 12 is provided. In other embodiments, multiple multi-chip modules are further shown in FIG. 12. In an exemplary embodiment, multiple multi-chip modules (e.g., two multi-chip modules) may be stacked vertically on top of each other on the circuit board of the ultrasonic engine, thereby further minimizing the packaging size and the installation area of the circuit board.

[0064] In addition to the need to reduce the installation area, it is further necessary to reduce the overall package height in a multi-chip module. In an exemplary embodiment, thinning of the wafer down to sub-hundreds of microns may be utilized to reduce the package height of the multi-chip module.

[0065] Any suitable technology can be utilized to assemble the multi-chip module on the substrate. Exemplary assembly technologies include, but are not limited to, laminated MCM (MCM-L) where the substrate is a multi-layer laminated printed circuit board, film deposition MCM (MCM-D) where the multi-chip module is formed on a base substrate using thin film technology, and ceramic substrate MCM (MCM-C) where several conductive layers are formed on a ceramic substrate and embedded in a glass layer that is high temperature co-fired ceramic (HTCC) or low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC).

[0066] FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an exemplary method for manufacturing a circuit board including a multi-chip module assembled in a vertical stack configuration. At step 1302, an HDI substrate is manufactured and provided. At step 1304, a metal frame (e.g., a lead frame) is provided. At step 1306, a first IC layer is coupled or adhered to the substrate, for example, using the application and curing of an epoxy. The first IC layer is wire bonded to the metal frame. At step 1308, for example, using the application and curing of an epoxy, a spacer layer is coupled to the first IC layer, whereby the layers are vertically stacked and extend substantially parallel to each other. At step 1310, a second IC layer is coupled to the spacer layer, for example, using the application and curing of an epoxy, whereby all of the layers are vertically stacked and extend substantially parallel to each other. The second IC layer is wire bonded to the metal frame. At step 1312, packaging is utilized to seal the multi-chip module assembly.

[0067] Exemplary chip layers in a multi-chip module may be coupled to each other using any suitable technique. For example, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 12, a spacer layer may be provided between chip layers to spatially separate the chip layers. A passive silicon layer, a die attach paste layer, and / or a die attach film layer may be utilized as the spacer layer. Exemplary spacer techniques utilized for manufacturing a multi-chip module are further described in the document entitled “Die Attach Adhesives for 3D Same-Sized Dies Stacked Packages” by Toh CH et al. (58 th Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC2008), pp. 1538-43, Florida, USA (May 27-30, 2008)), the entire contents of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference.

[0068] An important requirement for die attach (DA) paste or film is good adhesion to the passivation material of adjacent dies. Further, a uniform bond-link thickness (BLT) is required for large die applications. In addition, high bonding strength at high temperature and low moisture absorption is preferred for reliability.

[0069] Figures 14A through 14C are schematic side views of an exemplary multi-chip module that may utilize vertical stacked dies. Both peripheral and central pad wire bond (WB) packages are shown and may be utilized to wire bond exemplary chip layers of the multi-chip module. Figure 14A is a schematic side view of a multi-chip module including four vertically stacked dies, where the dies are spatially separated from each other by a passive silicon layer with a 2-in-1 diced die attach film (D-DAF). Figure 14B is a schematic side view of a multi-chip module including four vertically stacked dies, where the dies are spatially separated from each other by a DA film-based adhesive that functions as a spacer for each die. Figure 14C is a schematic side view of a multi-chip module including four vertically stacked dies, where the dies are spatially separated from each other by a DA paste or film-based adhesive that functions as a spacer for each die. The DA paste or film-based adhesive may have a wire-through function in some exemplary embodiments. In the exemplary multi-chip module of Figure 14C, film over wire (FOW) is utilized to enable a die package with long wire bonding and central bonding pads stacked. FOW utilizes a die attach film with a wire-through function that can stack wire-bonded dies of the same or similar size directly on top of each other without a passive silicon spacer. This solves the problem that would otherwise occur when dies of the same or similar size are stacked directly on top of each other, namely, the problem that no or sufficient clearance is provided in the bond wires of the underlying die.

[0070] The DA materials shown in FIGS. 14B and 14C preferably maintain the bond line thickness (BLT) with few or no voids and bleeds during the assembly process. During assembly, the DA material sandwiched between the dies maintains good adhesion to the dies. The material properties of the DA material are adjusted to maintain a high bonding force for high temperature reliability pressurization without bulk fracture. The material properties of the DA material are further adjusted to minimize or preferably eliminate moisture accumulation that can cause package reliability defects (e.g., popcorning, where pressure builds up from moisture within the package resulting in interface or bulk fracture).

[0071] FIG. 15 is a flowchart of a particular exemplary method of die - to - die lamination using film - over - wire (FOW) that permits the direct lamination of wire - bonded dies of the same or similar size directly on top of each other without a passive silicon spacer, using (a) a passive silicon layer with a 2 - in - 1 die - singulating die - attach film (D - DAF), (b) DA paste, (c) a thick DA - film, (d) a die - attach film with wire - through functionality. Each method reduces the wafer thickness by performing back - grinding of the wafer, enabling the stacking and high - density packaging of integrated circuits. The wafer is cut with a saw to separate the individual dies. The first die is adhered to the substrate of the multi - chip module, for example, by applying epoxy and curing in an oven. Wire bonding is utilized to connect the first die to the metal frame.

[0072] In method (a), the first passive silicon layer is bonded to the first die by lamination using a die attach film (D-DAF) for die cutting. The second die is bonded to the first passivation layer by lamination using D-DAF. Wire bonding is used to connect the second die to the metal frame. The second passive silicon layer is bonded to the second die by lamination using D-DAF. The third die is bonded to the second passivation layer by lamination using D-DAF. Wire bonding is used to connect the third die to the metal frame. The third passive silicon layer is bonded to the third die by lamination using D-DAF. The fourth die is bonded to the third passivation layer by lamination using D-DAF. Wire bonding is used to connect the fourth die to the metal frame.

[0073] In method (b), the application and curing of die attach (DA) paste are repeated for multi-thin film die lamination applications. The DA paste is applied on the first die, and the second die is provided on the DA paste and cured on the first die. Wire bonding is used to connect the second die to the metal frame. The DA paste is applied on the second die, and the third die is provided on the DA paste and cured on the second die. Wire bonding is used to connect the third die to the metal frame. The DA paste is applied on the third die, and the fourth die is provided on the DA paste and cured on the third die. Wire bonding is used to connect the fourth die to the metal frame.

[0074] In method (c), the die attach film (DAF) is cut out and pressed onto the bottom die, and then the top die is placed and thermally compressed against the DAF. For example, the DAF is pressed onto the first die, and the second die is thermally compressed on top of the DAF. Wire bonding is utilized to connect the second die to the metal frame. Similarly, the DAF is pressed onto the second die, and the third die is thermally compressed on top of the DAF. Wire bonding is utilized to connect the third die to the metal frame. The DAF is pressed onto the third die, and the fourth die is thermally compressed on top of the DAF. Wire bonding is utilized to connect the fourth die to the metal frame.

[0075] In method (d), film over wire (FOW) utilizes a die attach film with a wire-through function that can directly stack wire-bonded dies of the same or similar size on top of each other without passive silicon spacers. The second die is adhered and cured to the first die by lamination. Film over wire bonding is used to bond the second die to the metal frame. The third die is adhered and cured to the first die by lamination. Film over wire bonding is used to bond the third die to the metal frame. The fourth die is adhered and cured to the first die by lamination. Film over wire bonding is used to bond the fourth die to the metal frame.

[0076] When the above-described steps are completed, in each of methods (a) to (d), wafer forming and post-mold curing (PMC) are performed. After that, ball mounting and singulation are performed.

[0077] Further details of the die attachment techniques described above are in the document titled "Die Attach Adhesives for 3D Same-Sized Dies Stacked Packages" by TOH CH et al. (58 thDescribed in the Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC2008), pp. 1538 - 43, Florida, USA (May 27 - 30, 2008), the entire content of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference.

[0078] FIG. 16 is a schematic side view of a multi - chip module 1600 in which a TR chip 1602, an amplifier chip 1604, and a beamformer chip 1606 are vertically integrated in a vertical stacked configuration on a substrate 1614. The multi - chip module may be manufactured using any suitable technique shown in FIGS. 12 through 15. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the specific order in which the chips are stacked may be different in other embodiments. First and second spacer layers 1608, 1610 are provided to spatially separate the chips 1602, 1604, 1606. Each chip is coupled to a metal frame (e.g., a lead frame) 1612. In certain exemplary embodiments, a heat transfer and heat sink mechanism may be provided in the multi - chip module, thereby maintaining high - temperature reliability under pressure without bulk fracture. Other components of FIG. 16 are described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 14A through 14C.

[0079] In this exemplary embodiment, each multi-chip module may handle complete transmission, reception, TGC amplification, and beamforming operations for a large number of channels, such as 32 channels for example. By vertically integrating three silicon chips into a single multi-chip module, the space and installation area required on the printed circuit board are further reduced. A plurality of multi-chip modules may be provided on a single ultrasonic engine circuit board, thereby further increasing the number of channels while simultaneously minimizing the packaging size and installation area. For example, an ultrasonic engine circuit board 108 with 128 channels may be manufactured within an exemplary planar dimension of approximately 10 cm × approximately 10 cm, which represents a significant improvement over the space requirements of conventional ultrasonic circuits. In a preferred embodiment, a single circuit board of an ultrasonic engine including one or more multi-chip modules may have 16 to 128 channels. In a particular embodiment, a single circuit board of an ultrasonic engine including one or more multi-chip modules may have channels such as 16, 32, 64, 128, etc.

[0080] FIG. 17 is a detailed schematic block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a computer motherboard 106 (i.e., host computer) provided as a complete ultrasonic system on a single substrate and an exemplary embodiment of an ultrasonic engine 108 (i.e., front-end ultrasonic dedicated circuit). The exemplary single-substrate ultrasonic system shown in FIG. 17 may have an exemplary planar dimension of approximately 25 cm × approximately 18 cm, although other dimensions are possible. The complete ultrasonic system on a single substrate of FIG. 17 can be implemented in the ultrasonic devices shown in FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B, and 9A and may be utilized to perform the operations shown in FIGS. 3A to 3K, FIGS. 8A to 8C, FIG. 9B, and FIG. 10.

[0081] The ultrasonic engine 108 includes a probe connector 114 for facilitating the connection of at least one ultrasonic probe / transducer. In the ultrasonic engine 108, a TR module, an amplifier module, and a beamformer module are vertically stacked to form a multi-chip module as shown in FIG. 16, thereby minimizing the overall packaging size and the installation area of the ultrasonic engine 108. The ultrasonic engine 108 includes a first multi-chip module 1710 and a second multi-chip module 1712, in each of which a TR chip, an ultrasonic pulsar and receiver, an amplifier chip including a time gain control amplifier, and a sample data beamformer chip may be vertically integrated in the stacked configuration shown in FIG. 16. The first and second multi-chip modules 1710, 1712 may be vertically stacked on top of each other, thereby further minimizing the area required on the circuit board. Alternatively, the first and second multi-chip modules 1710, 1712 may be arranged horizontally on the circuit board. In an exemplary embodiment, the TR chip, the amplifier chip, and the beamformer chip are each 32-channel chips, and each multi-chip module 1710, 1712 has 32 channels. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the exemplary ultrasonic engine 108 may include, but is not limited to, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight multi-chip modules. In a preferred embodiment, the system can be configured to have a first beamformer in the transducer housing and a second beamformer in the tablet housing.

[0082] Due to the ASIC and multi-chip module configuration, a complete 128-channel ultrasonic system can be implemented in a tablet computer format size on a small single substrate. An exemplary 128-channel ultrasonic engine 108 can be housed, for example, within an exemplary planar dimension of about 10 cm × about 10 cm, which represents a significant improvement over the space requirements of conventional ultrasonic circuits. An exemplary 128-channel ultrasonic engine 108 further has a length of about 100 cm 2It can also be accommodated within the exemplary area.

[0083] The ultrasonic engine 108 further includes a clock generation complex programmable logic device (CPLD) 1714 for generating a timing clock to perform an ultrasonic scan using a transducer array. The ultrasonic engine 108 includes an analog-to-digital conversion circuit (ADC) 1716 for converting an analog ultrasonic signal received from the transducer array into a digital RF formed beam. The ultrasonic engine 108 further includes one or more delay profiles and a waveform generation field programmable gate array (FPGA) 1718 for managing the received delay profile to generate a transmission waveform. The ultrasonic engine 108 includes a memory 1720 for storing a delay profile for ultrasonic scans. An exemplary memory 1720 may be a single DDR3 memory chip. The ultrasonic engine 108 includes a scan sequence control field programmable gate array (FPGA) 1722 configured to manage an ultrasonic scan sequence, transmit / receive timing, storage and fetching of profiles to / from the memory 1720, and buffering and transfer via a high-speed serial interface 112 to the motherboard 106 of the computer of the digital RF data stream. The high-speed serial interface 112 may include a Firewire (registered trademark) or other serial or parallel bus interface between the motherboard 106 of the computer and the ultrasonic engine 108. The ultrasonic engine 108 includes a communication chipset 1118 (e.g., a Firewire (registered trademark) chipset) to establish and maintain the communication link 112.

[0084] The power module 1724 supplies power to the ultrasonic engine 108 to manage the charging environment and perform power management operations. The power module 1724 can generate regulated, low-noise power for the ultrasonic circuit and high voltage for the ultrasonic transmitter of the TR module.

[0085] The motherboard 106 of the computer includes a core computer-readable memory 1122 for storing data and / or computer-executable instructions for performing ultrasonic imaging operations. The memory 1122 forms the main memory for the computer and may store, in an exemplary embodiment, approximately 4 Gb of DDR3 memory. The memory 1122 may include a solid state drive (SSD) for storing an operating system, computer-executable instructions, programs, and image data. An exemplary SSD may have a capacity of approximately 128 Gb.

[0086] The motherboard 106 of the computer further includes a microprocessor 1124 for executing computer-executable instructions stored in the core computer-readable memory 1122 for performing ultrasonic imaging processing operations. Exemplary operations include, but are not limited to, down-conversion, scan conversion, Doppler processing, color flow processing, power Doppler processing, spectral Doppler processing, and post-signal processing. An exemplary microprocessor 1124 may be an off-the-shelf commercial computer processor, such as an Intel Core-i5 processor, etc. Another exemplary microprocessor 1124 may be a digital signal processor (DSP)-based processor, such as a Texas Instruments DaVinci® processor, etc.

[0087] The computer motherboard 106 includes an I / O and graphics chipset 1704 that includes input / output (I / O) such as USB ports, video display ports, etc. and a coprocessor configured to control graphics peripheral devices. The computer motherboard 106 includes a wireless network adapter 1702 configured to provide a wireless network connection. An exemplary adapter 1702 supports the 802.11g and 802.11n standards. The computer motherboard 106 includes a display controller 1126 configured to interface the computer motherboard 106 with a display 104. The computer motherboard 106 includes a communication chipset 1120, such as a Firewire (registered trademark) chipset or interface, configured to provide high-speed data communication between the computer motherboard 106 and the ultrasonic engine 108. An exemplary communication chipset 1120 may be an IEEE 1394b 800 Mbit / second interface. Other serial or parallel interfaces 1706, such as USB3, Thunder-Bolt, PCIe, etc., may be provided instead. A power module 1708 is provided to supply power to the computer motherboard 106, manage the charging environment, and perform power management operations.

[0088] An exemplary computer motherboard 106 may be housed within an exemplary planar dimension of about 12 cm × about 10 cm. An exemplary computer motherboard 106 can be housed within an exemplary area of about 120 cm 2 square.

[0089] FIG. 18 is a perspective view of an exemplary portable ultrasonic system 100 provided in an exemplary embodiment. The system 100 includes a housing 102 which is in a tablet form factor as shown in FIG. 18 but may be any other suitable form factor. The exemplary housing 102 may have a thickness of less than 2 cm, preferably between 0.5 cm and 1.5 cm. The front panel of the housing 102 includes a multi-touch LCD touch screen display 104 configured to recognize and distinguish one or more, multiple and / or simultaneous touches on the surface of the touch screen display 104. The surface of the display 104 may be touched using one or more of the user's finger, the user's hand, or optionally a stylus 1802. The housing 102 includes one or more I / O port connectors 116 which may include, but are not limited to, one or more USB connectors, one or more SD cards, one or more network mini display ports, and a DC power input.

[0090] The housing 102 includes or is coupled to a probe connector 114 for facilitating connection of at least one ultrasonic probe / transducer 150. The ultrasonic probe 150 includes a transducer housing including one or more transducer arrays 152. The ultrasonic probe 150 is connectable to the probe connector 114 using a housing connector 1804 provided along a flexible cable 1806. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the ultrasonic probe 150 may be connected to the housing 102 using any other suitable mechanism such as an interface housing including circuitry for performing ultrasonic specific operations such as beamforming. Further details of other exemplary embodiments of the ultrasonic system are described in WO 03 / 079038 A2 entitled "Ultrasound Probe with Integrated Electronics" filed on Mar. 11, 2003, the entire contents of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference.

[0091] FIG. 19 shows an exemplary view of a main graphic user interface (GUI) 1900 rendered on a touch screen display 104 of the portable ultrasound system 100 of FIG. 18. The main GUI 1900 may be displayed when the ultrasound system 100 is initiated. To assist the user in navigating the main GUI 1900, the GUI can be considered to include the following four exemplary work areas, namely, a menu bar 1902, an image display window 1904, an image control bar 1906, and a toolbar 1908. Additional GUI components may be provided to the main GUI 1900, for example, thereby enabling the user to close, resize, or terminate the GUI and / or the windows of the GUI.

[0092] The menu bar 1902 enables the user to select ultrasound data, images, and / or videos for display within the image display window 1904. The menu bar 1902 may include, for example, GUI components for selecting one or more files of patient folder directories and image folder directories. The image display window 1904 may display ultrasound data, images, and / or videos and optionally provide patient information. The toolbar 1908 provides functions related to image or video display, including, but not limited to, a save button for saving the current image and / or video to a file, a save loop button for saving the maximum allowable number of previous frames as a cine loop, a print button for printing the current image, an image freeze button for freezing the image, a playback toolbar for controlling the playback mode of the cine loop, and the like. Further details of exemplary GUI functions that may be provided to the main GUI 1900 are described in WO 03 / 079038 A2, entitled "Ultrasound Probe with Integrated Electronics," filed on Mar. 11, 2003, the entire contents of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference.

[0093] The image control bar 1906 includes touch control that can be operated by touches and touch gestures directly applied to the surface of the display 104 by a user. Exemplary touch controls can include, but are not limited to, two-dimensional touch control 408, gain touch control 410, color touch control 412, storage touch control 414, split touch control 416, PW imaging touch control 418, beam steering touch control 20, annotation touch control 422, dynamic range operation touch control 424, Teravision™ touch control 426, map operation touch control 428, and needle guide touch control 428. These exemplary touch controls are described in more detail in connection with FIGS. 4A through 4C.

[0094] FIG. 20 shows an exemplary embodiment of an exemplary medical ultrasound imaging device 2000 implemented in a tablet form factor. The tablet may have dimensions of 12.5" x 1.25" x 8.75" or 31.7 cm x 3.175 cm x 22.22 cm, but 2500 cm 3Any other suitable form factor having a volume less than and a weight less than 8 lb (about 3628 grams) may be used. As shown in FIG. 20, the medical ultrasound imaging device 2000 includes a housing 2030, a touch screen display 2010, on which an ultrasonic image 2010 and ultrasonic sound data 2040 may be displayed, and an ultrasonic control 2020 configured to be controlled by the touch screen display 2010. The housing 2030 may have a front panel 2060 and a rear panel 2070. The touch screen display 2010 forms the front panel 2060 and includes a multi-touch LCD touch screen capable of recognizing and differentiating one or more, multiple, and simultaneous touches of a user thereon. The touch screen display 2010 may have a capacitive multi-touch and AVAH LCD screen. For example, the capacitive multi-touch and AVAH LCD screen may be capable of showing an image to the user from multiple angles without loss of resolution. In another embodiment, the user may utilize a stylus for data input onto the touch screen. The tablet may include an integrated foldable stand that allows the user to swivel the stand from a storage position conforming to the tablet form factor so that the device can lie flat on the rear panel, or so that the user can swivel the stand and the tablet can stand upright at one of a plurality of oblique angles to the support surface.

[0095] The capacitive touch screen module includes an insulator such as glass coated with a transparent conductor (e.g., indium tin oxide, etc.). The manufacturing process may include an adhesion process between the glass, the x-sensor film, the y-sensor film, and the liquid crystal material. The tablet is configured such that a user may perform multi-touch gestures such as pinching or stretching while wearing dry or wet gloves. The surface of the screen detects the conductor in contact with the screen. The contact distorts the electrostatic field of the screen, thereby causing a measurable change in capacitance. Next, the processor interprets the change in the electrostatic field. An increase in the level of responsiveness is made possible by reducing the layers and generating the touch screen with "in-cell" technology. The "in-cell" technology eliminates the layers by placing capacitors within the display. The application of the "in-cell" technology reduces the visible distance between the user's finger and the touch screen target, thereby generating a more directional contact with the displayed content and increasing the responsiveness of taps and gestures.

[0096] Figure 21 shows a suitable cart system for a modular ultrasonic imaging system in the present invention. The cart system 2100 utilizes a base assembly 2122 that includes a docking bay for receiving a tablet. The cart configuration 2100 docks a tablet 2104 that includes a touch screen display 2102 to a cart 2108, which may include a full operator console 2124. After the tablet 2104 is docked to the cart stand 2108, a system is formed in which all features rotate around. The system in which all features rotate around may include an adjustable height device 2106, a gel holder 2110, a storage bin 2114, a plurality of wheels 2116, a hot probe holder 2120, and an operator console 2124. The control device may include a keyboard 2112 in the operator console 2124, which may further have additional peripheral devices such as a printer or a video interface or other control devices.

[0097] FIG. 22 shows a suitable cart system utilized in an embodiment having a modular ultrasonic imaging system in the present invention. The cart system 2200 may be configured with a vertical support 2212 connected to a horizontal support 2028. An auxiliary device connector 2018 having a location for an auxiliary device attachment 2014 may be configured to connect to the vertical support 2212. A 3-port probe MUX connection device 2016 may also be further configured to connect to a tablet. A storage bin 2224 can be configured to be attached to the vertical support 2212 by a storage bin attachment mechanism 2222. The cart system may further include a cable management system 2226 configured to be attached to the vertical support. The cart assembly 2200 includes a support beam 2212 attached to a base 2228 having wheels 2232 and a battery 2230 that provides power for extended operation of the tablet. The assembly may further include an accessory holder 2224 equipped with a height adjustment device 2226. The holders 2210, 2218 can be mounted on the beam 2212 or the console panel 2214. The multi-port probe multiplex device 2216 is connected to the tablet and provides simultaneous connection of several transducer probes that can be sequentially selected by the user with visual switches being displayed. Switching between the connected probes can be performed by a movement touch gesture, such as a three-finger flick, etc., on the displayed image or by touching a displayed virtual button or icon.

[0098] FIG. 23 shows a public cart-mounted system for a modular ultrasonic imaging system in the present invention. Arrangement 2300 shows a tablet 2302 connected to a docking station 2304. The docking station 2304 is attached to a mounting mechanism 2306. The mounting mechanism 2306 includes a hinge portion 2308 that can tilt the user display to a desired position of the user. The mounting mechanism 2306 is attached to a vertical portion 2312. The tablet 2302 described here can be mounted on a base docking unit 2304 mounted on a mounting assembly 2306 above the beam 2212. The base unit 2304 includes a cradle 2310, an electrical connector 2305, and a port 2307 that connect the system 2302 to a battery 2230 and a multiplexer device 2216.

[0099] FIG. 24 shows a preferred cart system 2400 in a modular ultrasonic imaging system in the present invention, where a tablet 2402 is connected on top of a mounting assembly 2406 by a connector 2404. Arrangement 2400 shows a tablet 2402 connected by a mounting mechanism 2404 to a vertical support 2408 without a docking element 2304. The mounting mechanism 2404 may include a hinge portion 2406 for display adjustment.

[0100] Figures 25A and 25B show a multi-functional docking station. Figure 25A shows a docking station 2502, a base assembly 2506, and a tablet 2504 engaging with the docking station 2502. The tablet 2504 and the docking station 2502 may be electrically connected. The tablet 2504 may be released by engaging with a release mechanism 2508 from the docking station 2502. The docking station 2502 may include a transducer port 2512 for connection with a transducer probe 2510. The docking station 2502 can include 3 USB3.0 ports, a LAN port, a headphone jack, and a power connector for charging. Figure 25B shows a side view of the tablet 2504 and the docking station 2502 with a stand in a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The docking station may include an adjustable stand / handle 2526. The adjustable stand / handle 2526 may be tilted for a plurality of viewing angles. The adjustable stand / handle 2526 may be flipped up for carrying purposes. The side view also shows the transducer port 2512 and the transducer probe connector 2510.

[0101] Figure 26 shows a two-dimensional imaging operation mode in a modular ultrasonic imaging system according to the present invention. The touch screen 2504 of the tablet may display an image obtained by a two-dimensional transducer probe using 256 digital beamformer channels. A two-dimensional image window 2602 shows a two-dimensional image scan 2604. The two-dimensional image may be obtained using a flexible frequency scan 2606, and control parameters are represented on the tablet.

[0102] Figure 27 shows the movement operation mode in the modular ultrasonic imaging system according to the present invention. The touch screen display 2700 of the tablet may display an image obtained in the movement operation mode. The touch screen display 2700 of the tablet may simultaneously display a two-dimensional 2706 and a motion imaging mode 2708. The touch screen display 2700 of the tablet may display a two-dimensional image window 2704 having a two-dimensional image 2706. The flexible frequency control 2702 displayed on the graphic user interface can be used to adjust the frequency from 2 MHz to 12 MHz.

[0103] Figure 28 shows the color Doppler operation mode by the modular ultrasonic imaging system according to the present invention. The touch screen display 2800 of the tablet displays an image obtained in the color Doppler operation mode. A two-dimensional image window 2806 is used as a base display. Color-coded information 2808 is overlaid on the two-dimensional image 2810. The ultrasonic-based imaging of red blood cells is obtained from the received echoes of the transmitted signal. The primary characteristics of the echo signal are frequency and amplitude. The amplitude depends on the amount of moving blood in the volume sampled by the ultrasonic beam. The display for controlling the scan quality can adjust a higher frame rate or a higher resolution. Higher frequencies may be generated by steep flows and can be displayed in brighter colors, while lower frequencies are displayed in darker colors. Flexible frequency control 2804 and color Doppler scan information 2802 may be displayed on the tablet display 2800.

[0104] Figure 29 shows the pulsed wave Doppler operation mode by the modular ultrasonic imaging system in the present invention. The touch screen display 2900 of the tablet may display an image obtained by the pulsed wave Doppler operation mode. The pulsed wave Doppler scan generates a series of pulses that are used to analyze the movement of blood flow within a small area along a desired ultrasonic cursor, referred to as a sample volume or sample gate 2012. The tablet display 2900 may show a two-dimensional image 2902 with the sample volume / sample gate 2012 superimposed thereon. The tablet display 2900 may utilize a mixed operation mode 2906 to show the two-dimensional image 2902 and the time / Doppler frequency shift 2910. The time / Doppler frequency shift 2910 can be converted into velocity and flow when the appropriate angle between the beam and the blood flow is known. The gray shading 2908 in the time / Doppler frequency shift 2910 may represent the signal intensity. The thickness of the spectral signal may indicate laminar flow or turbulent flow. The tablet display 2900 can show an adjustable frequency control 2904.

[0105] Figure 30 shows the triple scan operation mode by the modular ultrasonic imaging system in the present invention. The tablet display 3000 may include a two-dimensional window 3002 that can display a two-dimensional image alone or in combination with color Doppler or directional Doppler features. The touch screen display 3000 of the tablet may display an image obtained in the color Doppler operation mode. The two-dimensional image window 3002 is used as a base display. Color-coded information 3004 is superimposed 3006 on the two-dimensional image 3016. The pulsed wave Doppler feature may be used alone or in combination with two-dimensional imaging or color Doppler imaging. The tablet display 3000 may include a pulsed wave Doppler scan represented alone or in combination by a sample volume / sample gate 3008 superimposed on the two-dimensional image 3016, or something with a color code superimposed 3006. The tablet display 3000 may represent a split screen representing the time / Doppler frequency shift 3012. The time / Doppler frequency shift 3012 can be converted into velocity and flow when the appropriate angle between the insolating beam and the blood flow is known. The gray shadow 3014 in the time / Doppler frequency shift 3012 may represent the signal intensity. The thickness of the spectral signal may indicate laminar flow or turbulent flow. The tablet display 3000 may also show flexible frequency control 3010.

[0106] Figure 31 shows a GUI home screen interface 3100 for user operation modes by a modular ultrasonic imaging system according to the present invention. The screen interface 3100 for user operation modes may be displayed when starting the ultrasonic system. To assist the user in navigating the GUI home screen 3100, the home screen may be considered to include three exemplary work areas: a menu bar 3104, an image display window 3102, and an image control bar 3106. Additional GUI components may be provided on the main GUI home screen 3100 to permit the user to close, resize, or end the GUI home screen and / or the window of the GUI home screen.

[0107] The menu bar 3104 may allow the user to select ultrasonic data, images, and / or videos for display in the image display window 3102. The menu bar may include components for selecting one or more files from a patient folder directory and an image folder directory.

[0108] The image control bar 3106 may include touch controls that may be operated by touches and touch gestures applied directly to the surface of the display by the user. Exemplary touch controls may include, but are not limited to, a depth control touch control 3108, a two-dimensional gain touch control 3110, a full screen touch control 3112, a text touch control 3114, a screen split touch control 3116, an ENV touch control 3118, a CD touch control 3120, a PWD touch control 3122, a freeze touch control 3124, a store touch control 3126, and an optimization touch control 3128.

[0109] Figure 32 shows a GUI menu screen interface 3200 for a user operation mode by a modular ultrasonic imaging system according to the present invention. The screen interface 3200 for the user operation mode may be displayed when a menu selection mode is triggered from a menu bar 3204, whereby the operation of the ultrasonic system is started. To assist the user in navigating the GUI home screen 3100, the home screen may be considered to include three exemplary work areas: a menu bar 3204, an image display window 3202, and an image control bar 3220. Further GUI components may be provided on the main GUI menu screen 3200 to permit, for example, the user to close, resize, or terminate the GUI menu screen and / or a window of the GUI menu screen.

[0110] The menu bar 3204 may allow the user to select ultrasonic data, images, and / or videos for display in the image display window 3202. The menu bar 3204 may include touch control components for selecting one or more files from a patient folder directory and an image folder directory. Shown in an expanded format, the menu bar may include exemplary touch controls such as a patient touch control 3208, a preset touch control 3210, a review touch control 3212, a report touch control 3214, and a setup touch control 3216.

[0111] The image control bar 3220 includes touch controls that may be operated by touches and touch gestures applied directly to the surface of the display by the user. Exemplary touch controls may include, but are not limited to, a depth control touch control 3222, a two-dimensional gain touch control 3224, a full screen touch control 3226, a text touch control 3228, a screen split touch control 3230, a needle visualization ENV touch control 3232, a CD touch control 3234, a PWD touch control 3236, a freeze touch control 3238, a store touch control 3240, and an optimization touch control 3242.

[0112] Figure 33 shows a GUI patient data screen interface 3300 for the user operation mode by the modular ultrasonic imaging system according to the present invention. The screen interface 3300 of the user operation mode may be displayed when the patient selection mode is triggered from the menu bar 3302, and at this time the ultrasonic system is started. To assist the user in navigating the GUI patient data screen 3300, the patient data screen may be considered to include five exemplary work areas: a touch screen control 3304 for a new patient, a touch screen control 3306 for a new study, a touch screen control 3308 for a study list, a touch screen control 3310 for a work list, and a touch screen control 3312 for editing. Within each touch screen control, additional information entry fields are available (3314, 3316). For example, a patient information section 3314 and a study information section 3316 may be used to record data.

[0113] Within the patient data screen 3300, an image control bar 3318 includes touch controls that may be operated by touches and touch gestures directly applied to the surface of the display by the user. Exemplary touch controls may include, but are not limited to, an accept study touch control 3320, a close study touch control 3322, a print touch control 3324, a print preview touch control 3326, a cancel touch control 3328, a two-dimensional touch control 3330, a freeze touch control 3332, and a store touch control 3334.

[0114] Figure 34 shows a GUI patient data screen interface 3400 for the user operation mode by the modular ultrasonic imaging system according to the present invention. The screen interface 3400 of the user operation mode may be displayed when the preset selection mode 3404 is triggered from the menu bar 3402, and at this time the ultrasonic system is started.

[0115] Within the preset screen 3400, the image control bar 3408 includes touch controls that can be operated by touches and touch gestures directly applied to the surface of the display by the user. Exemplary touch controls may include, but are not limited to, save setting touch control 3410, delete touch control 3412, CD touch control 3414, PWD touch control 3416, freeze touch control 3418, store touch control 3420, and optimization touch control 3422.

[0116] FIG. 35 shows a GUI review data screen interface 3500 for a user operation mode by a modular ultrasonic imaging system according to the present invention. The screen interface 3500 of the user operation mode may be displayed when the preset expansion review 3504 and the selection mode 3404 are triggered from the menu bar 3502, at which time the ultrasonic system is started.

[0117] Within the review screen 3500, the image control bar 3516 includes touch controls that may be operated by touches and touch gestures directly applied to the surface of the display from the user. Exemplary touch controls may include, but are not limited to, thumbnail setting touch control 3518, sync touch control 3520, selection touch control 3522, previous image touch control 3524, next image touch control 3526, two-dimensional image touch control 3528, pose image touch control 3530, and store image touch control 3532.

[0118] The image display window 3506 may allow the user to review images in a plurality of formats. The image display window 3506 may allow the user to view the images 3508, 3510, 3512, 3514 in combination, or by subset, or to view any of the images 3508, 3510, 3512, 3514 individually. The image display window 3506 may be configured to display up to four images 3508, 3510, 3512, 3514 and show them simultaneously.

[0119] Figure 36 shows a GUI report screen interface for a user operation mode by a modular ultrasonic imaging system in the invention. The screen interface 3600 of the user operation mode may be displayed when a report expansion review 3604 is triggered from a menu bar 3602, and at this time the ultrasonic system is started. The display screen 3606 includes ultrasonic report information 3626. The user may utilize a worksheet section within the ultrasonic report 3626 to enter comments, patient information, and study information.

[0120] Within the report screen 3600, an image control bar 3608 includes touch controls that can be operated by touches and touch gestures directly applied to the surface of the display by the user. Exemplary touch controls may include, but are not limited to, a save touch control 3610, a save control as a touch 3612, a print touch control 3614, a print preview touch control 3616, a close study touch control 3618, a two-dimensional image touch control 3620, a freeze image touch control 3622, and a store image touch control 3624.

[0121] Figures 37A, 37B, and 37C show a GUI setup screen interface for a user operation mode by a modular ultrasonic imaging system in the invention. The screen interface 3700 of the user operation mode may be displayed when a report expansion review 3704 is triggered from a menu bar 3702, and at this time the ultrasonic system is started.

[0122] Within the setup expansion screen 3704, the setup control bar 3744 includes touch controls that can be operated by touches and touch gestures directly applied to the surface of the display by the user. Exemplary touch controls may include, but are not limited to, general touch control 3706, display touch control 3708, measurement touch control 3710, annotation touch control 3712, print touch control 3714, store / retrieve touch control 3716, DICOM touch control 3718, export touch control 3720, and study information image touch control 3722. The touch controls may include a display screen for the user to input configuration information. For example, the general touch control 3706 includes a configuration screen 3724 where the user may input configuration information. Further, the general touch control 3706 includes a section that enables user configuration of the soft key docking position 3726. FIG. 37B shows a soft key control 3752 with right alignment. FIG. 37B further shows that by operating the soft key control arrow 3750, the key alignment is changed to the opposite side, which in this case is the left alignment. FIG. 37C shows the left alignment of the soft key control 3762, and the user may operate the orientation change by using the soft key control arrow 3760 to change the position to the right alignment.

[0123] Within the review screen 3700, the image control bar 3728 includes touch controls that may be operated by touches and touch gestures directly applied to the surface of the display from the user. Exemplary touch controls may include, but are not limited to, thumbnail setting touch control 3730, sync touch control 3732, selection touch control 3734, previous image touch control 3736, next image touch control 3738, two-dimensional image touch control 3740, and pose image touch control 3742.

[0124] FIG. 38 shows a GUI setup screen interface for user operation modes by a modular ultrasonic imaging system in the invention. The screen interface 3800 of the user operation mode may be displayed when a report extended review 3804 is triggered from a menu bar 3802, at which time the ultrasonic system is started.

[0125] Within the setup extended screen 3804, a setup control bar 3844 includes touch controls that can be operated by touches and touch gestures directly applied to the surface of the display by the user. Exemplary touch controls may include, but are not limited to, general touch control 3806, display touch control 3808, measurement touch control 3810, annotation touch control 3812, print touch control 3814, store / acquire touch control 3816, DICOM touch control 3818, export touch control 3820, and study information image touch control 3822. The touch controls may include a display screen for the user to input and store / acquire information. For example, the store / acquire touch control 3816 includes a configuration screen 3802 where the user may input configuration information. Further, the store / acquire touch control 3802 includes a section that enables the user to perform a retrospective acquisition 3804. When the user enables the store function, the system returns to the default and stores the cine loop for the future. When the user enables the retrospective acquisition, the store function may collect the cine loop retrospectively.

[0126] Within the setup screen 3800, an image control bar 3828 includes touch controls that can be operated by touches and touch gestures directly applied to the surface of the display by the user. Exemplary touch controls may include, but are not limited to, thumbnail setting touch control 3830, synchronization touch control 3832, selection touch control 3834, previous image touch control 3836, next image touch control 3838, two-dimensional image touch control 3840, and pose image touch control 3842.

[0127] Figures 39A and 39B show an XY biplane probe including two one-dimensional, multi-element arrays. The arrays are such that one array is on top of the other, and the polarization axes of each array are arranged in the same direction. The elevation axes of the two arrays may be at right angles, or orthogonal to each other. As shown in FIG. 39A, the orientation of the arrays is represented by arrangement 3900. The polarization axes 3908 of both arrays point in the z-axis 3906 direction. The elevation axis of the bottom array points in the y-direction 3902, and the elevation axis of the top array points in the x-direction 3904.

[0128] Further, as shown in FIG. 39B, the one-dimensional multi-element arrays form an image as shown in arrangement 3912. The one-dimensional array having an elevation axis 3910 pointing in the y-direction 3914 forms an ultrasonic image 3914 on the plane of the x-axis 3904 and the z-axis 3906. The one-dimensional array having an elevation axis 3910 pointing in the x-direction 3904 forms an ultrasonic image 3914 on the plane of the y-axis 3902 and the z-axis 3906. The one-dimensional transducer array having an elevation axis 3910 along the y-axis 3902 and a polarization axis 3908 along the z-axis 3906 produces an ultrasonic image 3914 formed along the x3904 and z3906 planes. Another embodiment shown in FIG. 39C shows a one-dimensional transducer array having an elevation axis 3920 along the x-axis 3904 and a polarization axis 3922 in the z-axis 3906 direction. The ultrasonic image 3924 is formed on the y3902 and z3906 planes.

[0129] FIG. 40 shows the operation of the biplane image-forming xy probe, where the array 4012 has a high voltage applied to it for image formation. The high voltage drive pulses 4006, 4008, 4010 may be applied to the bottom array 4004 at the height of the y-axis. This application generates a transmit pulse for forming the received image on the XZ plane, while the elements of the top array 4002 are maintained at a grounded level.

[0130] Figure 41 shows the xy probe operation for biplane image formation. Figure 41 shows an array 4110 to which a high voltage is applied to form an image. High voltage pulses 4102, 4104, 4106 may be applied to the upper array 4112 at the height of the x-axis, thereby generating transmission pulses for forming the received image on the yz plane, while the elements of the bottom array 4014 are maintained at a grounded level (4108).

[0131] Figure 42 shows the circuit requirements of the biplane image forming xy probe. The receive beamforming requirements are shown for the biplane probe. Connections are made for receiving electronics 4202. And the elements from the bottom select array 4204 and the upper select array 4208 are connected to share one connection to the receive electronics 4202 channels. A two to one mux circuit can be integrated on the high voltage drivers 4206, 4210. A two to one multiplexer circuit can be integrated within the high voltage drivers 4206, 4212. One receive beam is formed for each transmit beam. The biplane system requires a total of 256 transmit beams, for which 128 transmit beams are utilized to form an XZ plane image and the other 128 transmit beams are utilized to form a YZ plane image. Multiple receive beamforming techniques can be utilized to improve the frame rate. An ultrasonic system with a dual receive beam function for each transmit beam provides a system capable of forming two receive beams. The biplane probe only requires a total of 128 transmit beams to form two orthogonal plane images, of which 64 transmit beams are utilized to form an XZ plane image and the other 64 transmit beams are utilized to form a YZ plane image. Similarly, in an ultrasonic system with a quad or four receive beam function, the probe requires 64 transmit beams to form two orthogonal plane images.

[0132] (A) and (B) of FIG. 43 show the application to simultaneous biplane evaluation. The ability of a cardiac ultrasound device to measure left ventricular (LV) mechanical dyssynchrony can help identify patients who are likely to benefit from cardiac resynchronization therapy. LV parameters that require quantification are TS-(lateral-septal), Ts-SD, TS-peak, etc. TS-(lateral-septal) can be measured on the echo image of the two-dimensional apical four-chamber view, while Ts-SD, Ts-peak (mid), Ts-onset (mid), Ts-peak (base), Ts-onset (base) can be obtained on two separate parasternal short-axis cross-sections, each having six segments at the level of the papillary muscle and the level of the mitral valve, providing a total of 12 segments. (A) to (B) of FIG. 43 show an xy probe that provides four apical chambers 4304 and an image of two apical chambers 4302 that are seen simultaneously.

[0133] (A) to (B) of FIG. 44 show the ejection fraction probe measurement technique. Since visualization of two orthogonal planes ensures obtaining on-axis views, a biplane probe provides EF measurement. An automatic border detection algorithm provides quantitative echo results to select an implant responder and guide AV delay parameter settings. As shown in (A) of FIG. 44, the XY probe acquires real-time simultaneous images from two orthogonal planes, and images 4402 and 4404 are displayed on a split screen. Using manual contour tracing or automatic border tracing techniques, the borders within the heart are traced at both end-diastolic and end-systolic time points, and EF is calculated therefrom. LV regions A1 and A2 in the views of apical 2CH 4402 and 4CH 4404 are measured at end-diastole and end-systole, respectively. Left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) and left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV) are calculated using the following formula.

[0134] [Number] Then, the ejection rate is calculated as follows.

Equation

[0135] The operations described herein are purely illustrative and do not imply a particular order. Further, the operations can be utilized in any sequence and / or partially when appropriate. In this specification, exemplary flowcharts are provided for illustrative purposes and these are non-limiting examples of the methods. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the exemplary methods may include more or fewer steps than those shown in the exemplary flowcharts and that the steps of the exemplary flowcharts may be executed in a different order than that shown.

[0136] In describing the exemplary embodiments, specific terms are used for clarity. For explanatory purposes, each specific term is intended to include at least all technical and functional equivalents that operate in a similar manner to achieve the same purpose. Further, in some examples where a particular exemplary embodiment includes a plurality of system elements or method steps, these elements or steps may be replaced by a single element or step. Similarly, a single element or step may be replaced by a plurality of elements or steps that achieve the same purpose. Further, although parameters for various characteristics are specified herein for the exemplary embodiments, these parameters may be adjusted to be scaled up or down by factors such as 1 / 20, 1 / 10, 1 / 5, 1 / 3, 1 / 2, etc., or approximated by truncation, unless otherwise specified.

[0137] Based on the above-described exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that these embodiments can utilize various computer-implemented operations related to data transferred to or stored in a computer system. These operations require physical manipulation of physical quantities. Typically, although not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical, magnetic, and / or optical signals that can be stored, moved, combined, compared, and / or otherwise manipulated.

[0138] Furthermore, any of the operations forming part of the exemplary embodiments described herein are useful mechanical operations. The exemplary embodiments further relate to devices or apparatuses for performing these operations. The apparatus can in particular be configured for the required purposes or can incorporate a general-purpose computer device selectively activated or configured by a computer program stored in a computer. In particular, various general-purpose machines using one or more processors coupled to one or more computer-readable media can be used in conjunction with a computer program written in accordance with the teachings disclosed herein, or it may be more convenient in some cases to configure a more dedicated apparatus to perform the required operations.

[0139] The foregoing description is directed to specific exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. However, it is obvious that other variations and modifications can be made to the described embodiments, whereby some or all of the related advantages are achieved. Further, the procedures, processes, and / or modules described herein can be implemented in hardware, software, and can be embodied as a computer-readable medium having program instructions, firmware, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more of the functions described herein may be performed by a processor executing program instructions from a memory or other storage device.

[0140] Those skilled in the art will understand that modifications and variations to the above-described systems and methods can be made without departing from the inventive concept disclosed herein. Accordingly, the disclosure should not be regarded as limited except within the scope and spirit of the appended claims. [Item 1] A tablet housing having a front panel, A computer within the housing having at least one processor and at least one memory, A touch screen display for displaying ultrasonic images, disposed on the front panel, An ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit disposed within the housing Comprising: The touch screen display and the ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit are communicatively connected to the computer, The computer is operable to change the operation of the ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit in response to a first input from the touch screen display, a handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device. [Item 2] The first input corresponds to a movement gesture on the touch screen display, the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to Item 1. [Item 3] The computer further comprising receiving a second input from the touch screen display, the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to Item 1 or 2. [Item 4] The second input corresponds to a gesture of double-tapping on the touch screen display, the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to Item 3. [Item 5] The handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to Item 3 or 4, further comprising displaying a first cursor within a region of a virtual window for displaying an enlarged image in response to the second input from the touch screen display. [Item 6] The handheld medical ultrasound imaging device according to item 5, further comprising receiving, by the computer, a third input received within the region of the virtual window from the touch screen display. [Item 7] The handheld medical ultrasound imaging device according to item 6, wherein the third input corresponds to a dragging gesture on the touch screen display. [Item 8] The handheld medical ultrasound imaging device according to item 6 or 7, further comprising moving the first cursor to a first location within the region of the virtual window in response to the third input from the touch screen display. [Item 9] The handheld medical ultrasound imaging device according to item 8, further comprising receiving, by the computer, a fourth input received at the first location within the region of the virtual window from the touch screen display. [Item 10] The handheld medical ultrasound imaging device according to item 9, wherein the fourth input corresponds to a pressing gesture on the touch screen display. [Item 11] The handheld medical ultrasound imaging device according to item 10, further comprising receiving, by the computer, a second further input from the touch screen display, wherein the second further input is received substantially simultaneously with the fourth input. [Item 12] The handheld medical ultrasound imaging device according to item 11, wherein the second further input corresponds to a tapping gesture on the touch screen display. [Item 13] The handheld medical ultrasound imaging device according to item 11 or 12, further comprising fixing the first cursor at the first location within the region of the virtual window in response to the second further input from the touch screen display. [Item 14] The handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 13, further comprising performing at least one measurement on the ultrasonic image by the computer based at least in part on the first cursor at the first location. [Item 15] The handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 13 or 14, further comprising receiving a third further input from the touch screen display by the computer. [Item 16] The handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 15, wherein the third further input corresponds to a gesture of double-tapping on the touch screen display. [Item 17] The handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 15 or 16, further comprising displaying a second cursor at a second location within the region of the virtual window in response to the third further input from the touch screen display. [Item 18] The handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 17, wherein the computer processes at least one measurement of the ultrasonic image based at least in part on the respective locations of the first cursor and the second cursor within the region of the virtual window. [Item 19] The handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to any one of items 13 to 16, wherein the computer receives a fourth further input from the touch screen display, and the fourth further input is received within the region of the virtual window. [Item 20] The handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 19, wherein the fourth further input corresponds to a gesture of pressing and dragging on the touch screen display. [Item 21] In response to the fourth further input from the touch screen display, further comprising connecting, on the touch screen display, a line extending from the first cursor through at least a portion of the ultrasonic image to a second location within the region of the virtual window, the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 19 or 20. [Item 22] The handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 19 or 20, further comprising receiving, by the computer, a fifth further input from the touch screen display. [Item 23] The handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 22, wherein the fifth further input corresponds to a tapping gesture on the touch screen display. [Item 24] In response to the fifth further input from the touch screen display, further comprising displaying a second cursor within the region of the virtual window and fixing the second cursor at a second location within the region of the virtual window, the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 22 or 23. [Item 25] The handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 24, further comprising measuring the ultrasonic image based on a connection line extending at least partially between the locations of the first cursor and the second cursor within the region of the virtual window. [Item 26] The handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to any one of items 1 to 25, further comprising a transducer array connected to the housing having a transducer connector. [Item 27] The handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to any one of items 1 to 26, wherein the housing has a volume of less than 2500 cubic centimeters. [Item 28] The handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to any one of items 1 to 27, wherein the housing is connected to a stand. [Item 29] The stand rotates with respect to the housing, the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 28. [Item 30] The housing is mounted on a cart, the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to any one of items 1 to 29. [Item 31] The multiplexer on the cart is electrically connected to the housing and can be connected to a plurality of transducer arrays, the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to any one of items 1 to 30. [Item 32] The housing docks with the stand, the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 28. [Item 33] The housing of the stand is electrically connected to the stand, and the stand has a plurality of external communication parts, the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 32. [Item 34] The multiplexer can be switched using touch gestures, the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 31. [Item 35] A method for operating a handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device, The medical ultrasonic imaging device is A tablet housing having a front panel, A computer in the housing having at least one processor and at least one memory, A touch screen display for displaying an ultrasonic image disposed on the front panel, An ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit disposed in the housing and includes The touch screen display and the ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit are communicably connected to the computer, The method is Receiving a first input from the touch screen display by the computer, In response to the first input from the touch screen display, changing the operation of the ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit A method of operating a handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device, including. [Item 36] The method of operating a handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 35, wherein the first input corresponds to a movement gesture on the touch screen display. [Item 37] The method of operating a handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 35 or 36, further including receiving, by the computer, a second input from the touch screen display. [Item 38] The method of operating a handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 37, wherein the second input corresponds to a double-tap gesture on the touch screen display. [Item 39] The method of operating a handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 37 or 38, further including displaying a first cursor within a region of a virtual window that displays an enlarged image in response to the second input from the touch screen display. [Item 40] The method of operating a handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 39, further including receiving, by the computer, a third input received within the region of the virtual window from the touch screen display. [Item 41] The method of operating a handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 40, wherein the third input corresponds to a drag gesture on the touch screen display. [Item 42] The method of operating a handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 40 or 41, further including moving the first cursor to a first location within the region of the virtual window in response to the third input from the touch screen display. [Item 43] The method of operating a handheld medical ultrasound imaging device according to item 42, further comprising, on the computer, receiving a fourth input at the first location within the region of the virtual window from the touch screen display. [Item 44] The method of operating a handheld medical ultrasound imaging device according to item 43, wherein the fourth input corresponds to a gesture of pressing on the touch screen display. [Item 45] The method of operating a handheld medical ultrasound imaging device according to item 44, further comprising, on the computer, receiving a second further input from the touch screen display, wherein the second further input is received substantially simultaneously with the fourth input. [Item 46] The method of operating a handheld medical ultrasound imaging device according to item 45, wherein the second further input corresponds to a tapping gesture on the touch screen display. [Item 47] The method of operating a handheld medical ultrasound imaging device according to item 45 or 46, further comprising fixing the first cursor at the first location within the region of the virtual window in response to the second further input from the touch screen display. [Item 48] The method of operating a handheld medical ultrasound imaging device according to item 47, further comprising, by the computer, performing at least one measurement on the ultrasound image based at least in part on the first cursor at the first location. [Item 49] The method of operating a handheld medical ultrasound imaging device according to item 47 or 48, further comprising, on the computer, receiving a third further input from the touch screen display. [Item 50] The above-described third further input is a method of operating the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 49, which corresponds to a gesture of double-tapping on the touch screen display. [Item 51] The method of operating the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 49 or 50, further comprising displaying a second cursor at a second location within the region of the virtual window in response to the above-described third further input from the touch screen display. [Item 52] The method of operating the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 51, further comprising performing at least one measurement of the ultrasonic image by the computer based at least in part on the respective locations of the first cursor and the second cursor within the region of the virtual window. [Item 53] The method of operating the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to any one of items 47 to 50, further comprising receiving, by the computer, a fourth further input from the touch screen display, wherein the fourth further input is received within the region of the virtual window. [Item 54] The method of operating the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 53, wherein the fourth further input corresponds to a gesture of pressing and dragging on the touch screen display. [Item 55] The method of operating the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 53 or 54, further comprising providing, on the touch screen display, a connection line extending from the first cursor through at least a portion of the ultrasonic image to a second location within the region of the virtual window in response to the fourth further input from the touch screen display. [Item 56] The method of operating the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 53 or 54, further comprising receiving, by the computer, a fifth further input from the touch screen display. [Item 57] The above-mentioned further fifth input is a method for operating the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 56, which corresponds to a tap gesture on the touch screen display. [Item 58] A method for operating the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 56 or 57, further including displaying a second cursor within the region of the virtual window in response to the above-mentioned further fifth input from the touch screen display, and fixing the second cursor at a second location within the region of the virtual window. [Item 59] A method for operating the handheld medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 58, further including, by the computer, performing at least one measurement of the ultrasonic image based on a connection line extending between the respective locations of the first cursor and the second cursor within the region of the virtual window. [Item 60] A method for operating a portable medical ultrasonic imaging device, wherein the portable medical ultrasonic imaging device has a front panel, a housing in a tablet form factor, a computer disposed within the housing having at least one processor and at least one memory, a touch screen display for displaying an ultrasonic image disposed on the front panel, and an ultrasonic beamformer circuit disposed within the housing and is provided with the touch screen display and the ultrasonic engine are communicably connected to the computer, the method includes receiving, by the computer, a first input from the touch screen display, tracing a predetermined feature of the ultrasonic image in response to the first input from the touch screen display, In the computer, receiving a second input from the touch screen display substantially simultaneously with a part of the first input; completing the trace of the predetermined feature of the ultrasonic image in response to the second input from the touch screen display; A method for operating a portable medical ultrasonic imaging device, including: [Item 61] The method for operating a portable medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 60, wherein the first input corresponds to a gesture of pressing and dragging on the touch screen display. [Item 62] The method for operating a portable medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 60 or 61, wherein the second input corresponds to a tapping gesture on the touch screen display. [Item 63] The method for operating a portable medical ultrasonic imaging device according to any one of items 60 to 62, further including receiving a third input from the touch screen display in the computer. [Item 64] The method for operating a portable medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 63, wherein the third input corresponds to a double-tapping gesture on the touch screen display. [Item 65] The method for operating a portable medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 63 or 64, further including displaying a first cursor within the area of the touch screen display in response to the third input from the touch screen display. [Item 66] The method for operating a portable medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 65, further including receiving a fourth input from the touch screen display by the computer. [Item 67] The method for operating a portable medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 66, wherein the fourth input corresponds to a dragging gesture on the touch screen display. [Item 68] The method of operating a portable medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 66 or 67, further comprising moving the first cursor to a first location within the region of the touch screen display in response to the fourth input from the touch screen display. [Item 69] The method of operating a portable medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 68, further comprising receiving, by the computer, a fifth input at the first location within the region of the touch screen display from the touch screen display. [Item 70] The method of operating a portable medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 69, wherein the fifth input corresponds to a pressing gesture on the touch screen display. [Item 71] The method of operating a portable medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 69 or 70, further comprising receiving, by the computer, a sixth input from the touch screen display substantially simultaneously with the fifth input. [Item 72] The method of operating a portable medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 71, wherein the sixth input corresponds to a tapping gesture on the touch screen display. [Item 73] The method of operating a portable medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 71, further comprising fixing the first cursor at the first location within the region of the touch screen display in response to the sixth input from the touch screen display. [Item 74] The method of operating a portable medical ultrasonic imaging device according to item 73, wherein the trace of the predetermined feature of the ultrasonic image includes a trace of the predetermined feature starting from the first cursor at the first location within the region of the touch screen display of the ultrasonic image. [Item 75] The method of operating a portable medical ultrasonic imaging device according to any one of items 60 to 74, further comprising performing at least one measurement of the ultrasonic image by the computer based at least in part on the trace of the predetermined feature of the ultrasonic image. [Item 76] A tablet form factor housing having a front panel, and A computer disposed within the housing, having at least one processor and at least one memory, and A touch screen display disposed on the front panel of the housing and communicatively connected to the computer, and An ultrasonic engine disposed within the housing and communicatively connected to the computer Comprising: The processor is operable to execute a plurality of program instructions from the memory to selectively initiate a plurality of operating modes by detecting a plurality of gestures on the touch screen display; The plurality of operating modes include A first operating mode for controlling the penetration depth of a plurality of ultrasounds; A second operating mode for performing a plurality of freeze / store operations; A third operating mode for controlling a plurality of two-dimensional image operations; A fourth operating mode for performing gain control; A fifth operating mode for performing color control; A sixth operating mode for implementing a split screen display; A seventh operating mode for performing PW imaging; An eighth operating mode for controlling cine / time series image clip scrolling; A ninth operating mode for controlling a plurality of zoom and pan operations; A tenth operating mode for performing Doppler and two-dimensional beam steering control; An eleventh operating mode for performing body marks A portable medical ultrasonic imaging device including two or more of the above. [Item 77] A tablet form factor housing having a front panel, a computer disposed within the housing and having at least one processor and at least one memory, a touch screen display disposed on the front panel of the housing and communicatively connected to the computer, an ultrasonic beamforming circuit disposed within the housing and communicatively connected to the computer, and the ultrasonic beamforming circuit is assembled as a vertically stacked multi-chip module, a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system. [Item 78] The vertically stacked multi-chip module includes a substrate, a first integrated circuit chip mounted on the substrate so as to extend parallel to the substrate, a first spacer layer connected to the first integrated circuit chip so as to extend parallel to the substrate, a second integrated circuit chip on a first layer so as to extend parallel to the first spacer layer, and the portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to Item 77. [Item 79] The portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to Item 78, wherein the first spacer layer and the second spacer layer are passive silicon layers. [Item 80] The portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to Item 78 or 79, wherein the first spacer layer and the second spacer layer are formed from die attach paste. [Item 81] The portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to any one of Items 78 to 80, wherein the first spacer layer and the second spacer layer are formed from die attach film. [Item 82] The above-described first spacer layer and the second spacer layer are a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to item 79, formed from a die bonding paste or film having a wire through-hole function. [Item 83] The connection mechanism for connecting the above-described first integrated circuit chip and the second integrated circuit chip to the frame is a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to item 82, which penetrates the first spacer layer and the second spacer layer. [Item 84] The transmit / receive integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip are a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to any one of items 77 to 83, which processes at least 16 transducer channels. [Item 85] The transmit / receive integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip are a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to any one of items 77 to 84, which processes a plurality of transducer channels in the range from 16 channels to 64 channels. [Item 86] The transmit / receive integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip are a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to any one of items 77 to 85, each of which processes at least 16 transducer channels. [Item 87] The transmit / receive integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip are a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to any one of items 77 to 86, each of which processes at least 32 transducer channels. [Item 88] The transmit / receive integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip are a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to any one of items 77 to 87, each of which processes at least 64 transducer channels. [Item 89] The portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to item 84, wherein the transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip are implemented as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). [Item 90] The portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to any one of items 77 to 89, wherein the multi-chip module is manufactured using a stacked multi-chip module manufacturing technique. [Item 91] The portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to any one of items 77 to 90, wherein the multi-chip module is manufactured using a film multi-chip module manufacturing technique. [Item 92] The portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to any one of items 77 to 91, wherein the multi-chip module is manufactured using a ceramic multi-chip module manufacturing technique. [Item 93] The portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to any one of items 77 to 92, wherein the multi-chip module is housed on a circuit board for the ultrasonic beamforming circuit. [Item 94] The circuit board for the ultrasonic beamforming circuit further has one or more additional multi-chip modules vertically stacked on the multi-chip module on the circuit board, each of the one or more additional multi-chip modules includes an additional ultrasonic transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, an additional amplifier integrated circuit chip, and an additional beamformer integrated circuit chip assembled in a stacked configuration within the multi-chip module. The portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to item 93. [Item 95] The portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to item 94, wherein the circuit board has a maximum length of about 10 cm and a maximum width of about 10 cm. [Item 96] The circuit board is a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to item 94 or 95, having a maximum area of about 100 cm2. [Item 97] The system is a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to any one of items 77 to 96, comprising 32 channels mounted on one circuit board for the ultrasonic beam forming circuit. [Item 98] The system is a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to any one of items 77 to 97, comprising 64 channels mounted on one circuit board for the ultrasonic beam forming circuit. [Item 99] The system is a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to any one of items 77 to 98, which processes data from 128 to 192 transducer channels connected by a cable to the housing including one circuit board for the ultrasonic beam forming circuit. [Item 100] The processor is operable to execute a plurality of program instructions from the memory to selectively initiate a plurality of operation modes by detecting a plurality of gestures on the touch screen display, and is a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to any one of items 77 to 99. [Item 101] The plurality of operation modes are a first operation mode for controlling the penetration depth of a plurality of ultrasounds, a second operation mode for executing a plurality of freeze / store operations, a third operation mode for controlling a plurality of two-dimensional image operations, a fourth operation mode for performing gain control, a fifth operation mode for performing color control, a sixth operation mode for implementing a split screen display, a seventh operation mode for performing PW imaging, an eighth operation mode for controlling cine / time series image clip scroll, A ninth operation mode for controlling a plurality of zooming and panning operations, a tenth operation mode for performing Doppler and two-dimensional beam steering control, an eleventh operation mode for performing a body mark, and a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to any one of items 77 to 100, including two or more of the above. [Item 102] a substrate, a first integrated circuit chip among a transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, an amplifier integrated circuit chip, and a beamformer integrated circuit chip, which is connected to the substrate so as to extend in parallel with the substrate, a first spacer layer connected to the first integrated circuit chip so as to extend in parallel with the first integrated circuit chip, a second integrated circuit chip among the transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip, which is connected to the first spacer layer so as to extend in parallel with the first spacer layer, a second spacer layer connected to the second integrated circuit chip so as to extend in parallel with the second integrated circuit chip, a third integrated circuit chip among the transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip, which is connected to the first spacer layer so as to extend in parallel with the second spacer layer, a metal frame, a plurality of connection mechanisms for connecting the transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip to the metal frame, and A multi-chip module for an ultrasonic beamformer that executes a plurality of ultrasonic dedicated operations of a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system. [Item 103] The multi-chip module according to item 102, wherein the first spacer layer and the second spacer layer are passive silicon layers. [Item 104] The first spacer layer and the second spacer layer are the multi-chip module according to item 102 or 103, which is formed from a die bonding paste. [Item 105] The first spacer layer and the second spacer layer are the multi-chip module according to any one of items 102 to 104, which is formed from a die bonding film. [Item 106] The first spacer layer and the second spacer layer are the multi-chip module according to any one of items 102 to 105, which has a wire through function and is formed from a die bonding paste or film. [Item 107] The plurality of connection mechanisms for connecting the integrated circuit chip to the metal frame are the multi-chip module according to item 106, which penetrate the first spacer layer and the second spacer layer. [Item 108] The transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip are each the multi-chip module according to any one of items 102 to 107, which has at least 16 channels. [Item 109] The transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip are each the multi-chip module according to any one of items 102 to 108, which has a plurality of channels in the range from 16 channels to 64 channels. [Item 110] The transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip are each the multi-chip module according to any one of items 102 to 109, which has 16 channels. [Item 111] An ultrasonic engine that executes a plurality of ultrasonic dedicated operations in a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system including a circuit board having the multi-chip module according to any one of items 102 to 110. [Item 112] An ultrasonic engine that executes a plurality of ultrasonic dedicated operations in a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system including a circuit board having a plurality of the multi-chip modules according to any one of items 102 to 110. [Item 113] The ultrasonic engine according to item 112, wherein the circuit board has a maximum length of about 10 cm and a maximum width of about 10 cm. [Item 114] The portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to item 78, wherein the substrate has a maximum area of about 100 cm2. [Item 115] Providing a housing in a tablet form factor having a front panel, Placing a computer having at least one processor and at least one memory in the housing, Placing a touch screen display on the front panel of the housing and communicably connecting the touch screen display to the computer, Assembling an ultrasonic transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, an amplifier integrated circuit chip, and a beamformer integrated circuit chip as a vertically stacked multi-chip module for the ultrasonic engine, Integrating the multi-chip module into the ultrasonic engine, Placing the ultrasonic engine in the housing and communicably connecting the ultrasonic engine to the computer A method of assembling a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system including. [Item 116] Assembling the vertically stacked multi-chip module includes Providing a substrate, Connecting a first integrated circuit chip among the transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip to the substrate so as to extend parallel to the substrate, Connecting a first spacer layer to the first integrated circuit chip so as to extend parallel to the first integrated circuit chip, Connecting a second integrated circuit chip among the transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip to the first spacer layer so as to extend in parallel with the first spacer layer, Connecting a second spacer layer to the second integrated circuit chip so as to extend in parallel with the second integrated circuit chip, Connecting a third integrated circuit chip among the transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip to the first spacer layer so as to extend in parallel with the second spacer layer, Providing a metal frame, Connecting the transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip to the metal frame A method of assembling a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to item 115, including the above. [Item 117] Assembling a second ultrasonic transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, a second amplifier integrated circuit chip, and a second beamformer integrated circuit chip as a second vertically stacked multi-chip module for an ultrasonic engine, Integrating the second vertically stacked multi-chip module into the ultrasonic engine A method of assembling a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system according to item 115 or 116, further including the above. [Item 118] Providing a substrate, Connecting a first integrated circuit chip among the transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip to the substrate so as to extend in parallel with the substrate, Connecting a first spacer layer to the first integrated circuit chip so as to extend in parallel with the first integrated circuit chip, Connecting a second integrated circuit chip among the transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip to the first spacer layer so as to extend in parallel with the first spacer layer; Connecting a second spacer layer to the second integrated circuit chip so as to extend in parallel with the second integrated circuit chip; Connecting a third integrated circuit chip among the transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip to the first spacer layer so as to extend in parallel with the second spacer layer; Providing a metal frame; Connecting the transmission / reception integrated circuit chip, the amplifier integrated circuit chip, and the beamformer integrated circuit chip to the metal frame A method of assembling a vertically stacked multi-chip module used in an ultrasonic engine of a portable medical ultrasonic imaging system, including: [Item 119] An operating method of a portable medical ultrasonic image, wherein the medical ultrasonic imaging device includes a transducer, a touch screen display, an ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit, and a processor. The method includes: Configuring the ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit to be communicably connected to the processor; Controlling parameters of the ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit by the processor; Configuring the touch screen display to simultaneously display a first ultrasonic image and a second ultrasonic image; Receiving, by the processor, a first input touch gesture for resetting parameters of the ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit; Changing the first ultrasonic image displayed on the touch screen display in response to the first input touch gesture from the touch screen display; Receiving, by the processor, a second input touch gesture for resetting parameters of the ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit, Changing the second ultrasonic image displayed on the touch screen display in response to the second input touch gesture from the touch screen display A method of operating a portable medical ultrasonic image, including: [Item 120] The method of operating a portable medical ultrasonic image according to item 119, further including configuring the touch screen display to operate in a full-screen mode. [Item 121] The method of operating a portable medical ultrasonic image according to item 119 or 120, further including configuring the touch screen display to simultaneously recognize a static touch screen gesture related to an icon and a free touch screen gesture independent of the icon. [Item 122] Performing the first input touch gesture on the first ultrasonic image displayed on the touch screen to change first ultrasonic image display characteristics, Performing the second input touch gesture on the second ultrasonic image displayed on the touch screen to change different second ultrasonic image display characteristics The method of operating a portable medical ultrasonic image according to any one of items 119 to 121, further including: [Item 123] Performing the first input touch gesture on the first ultrasonic image displayed on the touch screen to change a first parameter of characteristics of the ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit, Performing the second input touch gesture on the second ultrasonic image displayed on the touch screen to change another second parameter of characteristics of the ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit The method of operating a portable medical ultrasonic image according to any one of items 119 to 122, further including: [Item 124] The method for operating a portable medical ultrasonic image according to any one of Items 119 to 123, further including configuring the first transducer and the second transducer to operate simultaneously. [Item 125] Comprising constructing the first ultrasonic image displayed on the touch screen display so as to receive first ultrasonic image data from the first transducer, and constructing the second ultrasonic image displayed on the touch screen display so as to simultaneously receive second ultrasonic image data from the second transducer. The method for operating a portable medical ultrasonic image according to Item 124, further including the above. [Item 126] The method for operating a portable medical ultrasonic image according to Item 124 or 125, further including constructing the first ultrasonic image displayed on the touch screen display so as to perform real-time transfer from the first transducer to the second transducer. [Item 127] The method for operating a portable medical ultrasonic image according to any one of Items 124 to 126, further including configuring the touch screen display so as to receive an input touch gesture for performing real-time transfer during a plurality of beamforming operations. [Item 128] Configuring the touch screen display to operate in full screen mode, and transferring a static touch screen gesture related to an icon to a free touch screen gesture independent of the icon. The method for operating a portable medical ultrasonic image according to any one of Items 119 to 127, further including the above.

Claims

1. A touch screen display tablet device mounted on a cart, having a graphic user interface for selecting an ultrasonic imaging procedure, and a display controller for controlling the operation of the touch screen display, and a transducer array inside a transducer probe housing that performs one or more imaging operations, comprising the touch screen display tablet device is configured to select one or more imaging procedures and select measurements to be performed in response to one-point, multi-point, and / or movement gestures activated by one or more touches on the touch screen display, and the selectable imaging procedures include at least one of a cardiac imaging procedure and a needle visualization procedure, the cardiac imaging procedure includes a procedure for measuring an ejection fraction value in response to a first gesture input detected on the touch screen display inside the tablet display housing of the touch screen display tablet device, the needle visualization procedure includes a procedure for imaging a needle in response to a second gesture input detected on the touch screen display, the touch screen display is further configured to perform a touch-activated split screen display to simultaneously display a first ultrasonic image and a second ultrasonic image in an ultrasonic image display area on the touch screen display, a plurality of touch-activated icons can be displayed outside the ultrasonic image display area on the touch screen display, a selectable menu is configured for touch operation of a plurality of imaging modes, the graphic user interface is operated to display an ultrasonic image inside the ultrasonic image display area, and the touch screen display is operated by touch to display a plurality of selectable presets for a plurality of different imaging procedures, and each preset includes a plurality of imaging parameters for each of the plurality of different imaging procedures, the transducer array communicates with an ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit, the one or more imaging operations are performed using instructions received from an ultrasonic imaging system controller, The imaging operation(s) of one or more times includes selecting an imaging depth in response to a further gesture input detected on the touch screen display, and generating an image of a target area at the selected depth based on the result of the imaging operation(s) of one or more times. The generated image can be displayed in the ultrasonic image display area of the touch screen display. An ultrasonic imaging system that is portable and operated using a touch screen. **Claim 2** The transducer array includes a one-dimensional transducer array, a biplane transducer array, or a two-dimensional transducer array. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1. **Claim 3** The ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit receives a plurality of signals from the transducer array and generates imaging data. The imaging data is further processed for display inside the ultrasonic image display area. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1. **Claim 4** The transducer probe housing includes the ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1. **Claim 5** The ultrasonic imaging system further includes a transducer connector that connects the transducer probe housing to the ultrasonic imaging system using a cable. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1. **Claim 6** The tablet display housing has a volume of less than 2500 cm ３ and a weight of less than 8 pounds (about 3628 grams). The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1. **Claim 7** The ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit is inside the tablet display housing. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1. **Claim 8** A transmission and reception circuit, A waveform generation field programmable gate array (FPGA), And further includes. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1. **Claim 9** The touch screen display is actuated by a finger using at least one of a tap gesture, a press gesture, a drag gesture to activate gain control, a color control gesture, a zoom and pan control gesture, a marking control gesture, a full screen display gesture, and a scroll gesture. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1. **Claim 10** The touch screen display responds to a beam steering control gesture or an icon. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1. **Claim 11** The touch screen display is adjacent to the ultrasonic image display area and includes icons of a plurality of toolbars for controlling the displayed ultrasonic image. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1.

12. The touch screen display Responds to dynamic range touch control, annotation touch control, color touch control, operations activated by touches inside the ultrasonic image display area, and map touch control, or Is configured to display time / Doppler frequency shift. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1.

13. Further includes an image processor that executes scan conversion or velocity processing operations and controls network connections with a plurality of externally networked devices. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1.

14. The ultrasonic imaging system is connectable to a plurality of ultrasonic transducers, The touch screen display is configured to be activated by touch to select one of the connected plurality of ultrasonic transducers for one ultrasonic imaging procedure. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1.

15. The cart has an assembly including at least one of a battery, a keyboard, and a docking assembly for the touch screen display tablet device. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1.

16. The split screen display operation activated by touch is configured to display the first ultrasonic image generated by the first transducer array and the second ultrasonic image generated using the second transducer array. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1.

17. The axis of the first transducer array is orthogonal to the axis of the second transducer array. The transducer array includes a biplane transducer array. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 16.

18. In the split screen operation shown in the touch screen display activated by touch, the first ultrasonic image includes imaging depth control activated by the first touch screen. In the split screen operation actuated by the touch on the touch screen display, the second ultrasonic image shown includes imaging depth control actuated by a second touch screen. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1.

19. The plurality of presets includes an expandable window actuated by touch related to a plurality of presets selectable on the touch screen display. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1.

20. The touch screen display can be actuated by touch to display at least one of a patient data window and an ultrasonic procedure setup window inside the ultrasonic image display area. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1.

21. The transducer probe housing has one or more transmission and reception circuits, the ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit, and a beamformer control circuit. The ultrasonic beamformer processing circuit includes an integrated circuit configured in a stacked circuit assembly inside the transducer probe housing. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1.

22. The cardiac imaging procedure includes a two-chamber view of the heart or a four-chamber view of the heart. For the calculation of the ejection fraction measurement of the heart, the borders inside the heart at the end-diastolic and end-systolic time points are acquired. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1.

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