601 results about "Ultrasound pulse" patented technology

A medical device having enhanced ultrasonic visibility is provided. The device permits localized drug delivery, probe positioning, fluid drainage, biopsy, or ultrasound pulse delivery, through the real-time ultrasound monitoring of the needle tip position within a patient. The device permits controlled dispersion of a drug into solid tissue, the lodging of particles into solid tissue, and drug delivery into specific blood vessels. As a needle is inserted, a fluid that contrasts echogenically with the organ environment is injected into the patient. The fluid travels a brief distance before being slowed and stopped by the patient's tissue and this fluid flow will be detectable by ultrasound. The needle position during insertion will be monitored using ultrasound until it is at the desired point of action. A therapeutic drug is then delivered or a probe inserted

A portable ultrasound imaging system includes a scan head coupled by a cable to a portable battery-powered data processor and display unit. The scan head enclosure houses an array of ultrasonic transducers and the circuitry associated therewith, including pulse synchronizer circuitry used in the transmit mode for transmission of ultrasonic pulses and beam forming circuitry used in the receive mode to dynamically focus reflected ultrasonic signals returning from the region of interest being imaged.

A method for optimizing transmit and receive ultrasound imaging pulses generates transmit pulses from an array of transducers which are energized by excitation signals that are applied to each individual transducer of the array. Each of the excitation signals are individually weighted to optimize the transducers' contribution to a predetermined energy function. Such optimization may also be performed on the received pulses.

Pulse-echo imaging systems and methods are provided, including a transmit code sequencer and a pulse generation circuit, The transmit code sequencer is configured to input a transmit code sequence to the pulse generation circuit. A transducer is configured to receive electrical signals provided as pulses using coded excitation according to the transmit code sequence, and to transduce the electrical signals to pulses of energy other than electrical signals. The transducer is further configured to receive echoes of the pulses of energy other than electrical signals and convert the echoes to received electrical signals generate using coded excitation. A receive circuit is configured to receive the received electrical signals generate using coded excitation, perform analog sampling of the received electrical signals generate using coded excitation, and provide a weighted, summed digital signal by processing the analog samples. At least one example of a pulse imaging system described is configured for ultrasonic pulse-echoes. At least one example of a pulse imaging system described is a medical diagnostic imaging system.

An ultrasound inspection apparatus particularly adapted to examine containers (sealed or unsealed) containing a liquid or solid bulk material. The apparatus has an overall configuration of a hand held pistol with a front transducer contact surface that is positioned against a front wall of the container. An ultrasound pulse is transmitted from the apparatus to be reflected from a back wall of a container being investigated. The received echo pulse is converted to a digital waveform. The waveform is analyzed relative to temperature, travel distance of the pulse(s), and time of travel to ascertain characteristics of the liquid or other materials and to provide identification of the same.

An ultrasonic pulse echo inspection apparatus and method for detecting structural failures. A focus lens is coupled to the transducer to focus the ultrasonic signal on an area to be inspected and a stop is placed in the focus lens to block selected ultrasonic waves. Other waves are not blocked and are transmitted through the structure to arrive at interfaces therein concurrently to produce an echo response with significantly less distortion.

An apparatus and method for determining the density and fluid-type of a fluid flowing in a capillary tube, the velocity and viscosity of a blood sample flowing in a capillary tube, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) of a blood sample after flow has been brought to an abrupt stop in a capillary tube, and / or the zeta sedimentation rate (ZSR) of a blood sample after flow has been brought to an abrupt stop in a capillary tube. These measurements are accomplished by directing a waveform pulse, such as an ultrasound pulse, at a pre-determined frequency transversely across the capillary tube and sample fluid, and by determining the flight of time of the pulse through the capillary tube and sample fluid and / or the Doppler shift of the echo signals reflecting off cells moving forwardly or transversely within a flowing, or stationary, blood sample.

An ultrasound imaging method for forming an image of an object using received signals reflected from the object, received after transmitting an ultrasound pulse to the object. The inventive method comprises the steps of (a) transmitting a first set of the ultrasound pulses to the object by applying voltages according to a first code of a pair of modified Golay codes to one or more transducers; (b) performing pulse compression on a first set of reflected signals of the first set of the ultrasound pulses reflected from the object; (c) transmitting a second set of the ultrasound pulses to the object by applying the voltages according to a second code of the pair of the modified Golay codes to said one or more transducers; (d) performing pulse compression on a second set of reflected signals of the second set of the ultrasound pulses reflected from the object; (e) adding the pulse compressed signals of the first and the second sets of the reflected signals; (f) producing a receive-focused signal by using the added signal; and (g) displaying the image according to the receive-focused signal after signal processing.

A fishfinder is provided for identifying with high precision a single fish under the ship and for measuring the length of the fish precisely. An operator of the fishfinder is assisted to grasp the depth and the length of the fish. A fishfinder transmits an ultrasound pulse having a high carrier frequency and an ultrasound pulse having a low carrier frequency by means of a pulse transmission and reception device at predetermined time intervals. A single fish echo is determined and tracked for a plurality of transmission intervals of ultrasound pulses emitted into the water. A target strength of single fish is measured based on the signal strength of a low carrier frequency echo signal from the single fish. The length of the fish is measured based on the target strength. A fish mark is displayed on the screen of an indicator, with the size of the fish mark depending on the fish length.

Under one aspect, an ultrasound system for producing a representation of an object includes: a concave transducer array configured to transmit ultrasonic pulses into the object and to receive ultrasonic pulses from the object, the ultrasonic pulses from the object containing structural information about the object, each transducer in the array generating an output signal representative of a portion of the structural information about the object; a multi-focal lens structure for focusing the transmitted ultrasonic pulses; a multiplexing structure in operable communication with the concave transducer array and including logic for coupling the output signals from at least one pair of transducers in the concave transducer array; and a beamformer in operable communication with the multiplexing structure and including logic for constructing a representation of structural information about the object based on the coupled output signals from the multiplexing structure.

In a high-resolution flow mode, a diagnostic ultrasound apparatus and a diagnostic ultrasound method that provide an image of blood flow or perfusion is provided with higher sensitivity and high resolution, which makes it possible to precisely observe the presence of fine blood vessels. In this apparatus, by scanning means (81 to 83), with a ultrasound pulse having a wideband frequency characteristic transmitting at least two times in the same direction within an object, a cross section to be imaged therein is scanned to obtain an echo signal at each time of transmission. By processing means 84, highpass filtering or differential processing is performed with rows of data in the time axis direction of an echo signal acquired at each sample location in the cross section, so that signals from blood flow are extracted. By producing means 85, the processed signals are produced into data of luminance or power. This data is displayed by displaying means 86 as a high-resolution color (flow) image or grayscale flow image indicative of blood flow or perfusion.

A synthetic aperture ultrasound system includes an ultrasound probe, and an ultrasound signal processor configured to communicate with the ultrasound probe to receive phase and amplitude information from a plurality of ultrasonic echo signals from a corresponding plurality of ultrasound pulses. The synthetic aperture ultrasound system also includes a positioning system configured to communicate with the ultrasound signal processor to provide probe position information. The positioning system is configured to determine a first position and a second position of the ultrasound probe relative to a region of interest. The ultrasound signal processor is further configured to coherently sum, utilizing the probe position information, at least one of the plurality of ultrasonic echo signals from the first position with at least one of the plurality of ultrasonic echo signals from the second position to provide a synthetic aperture that is larger than a physical aperture of the ultrasound probe.

A device for providing extracorporeal cardiac pacing. The device includes an ultrasound transducer mountable to the external thorax of a patient and an ultrasound generator for transmitting ultrasound pulses to the ultrasound transducer. The heart rate of a patient is monitored by the device. A controller evaluates the heartbeat as compared with threshold criteria for stimulation of the heart and causes the ultrasound generator to deliver ultrasound pulses to the ultrasound transducer at a prescribed intensity, frequency, and pulse duration.

Ultrasound bulk wave transducers and bulk wave transducer arrays for wide band or multi frequency band operation, in which the bulk wave is radiated from a front surface and the transducer is mounted on a backing material with sufficiently high absorption that reflected waves in the backing material can be neglected. The transducer is formed of layers that include a high impedance section comprised of at least one piezoelectric layer covered with electrodes to form an electric port, and at least one additional elastic layer, with all of the layers of the high impedance section having substantially the same characteristic impedance to yield negligible reflection between the layers. The transducer further includes a load matching section comprised of a set of elastic layers for impedance matching between the high impedance section and the load material and, optionally, impedance matching layers between the high impedance section and the backing material for shaping the transducer frequency response. For multiband operation, the high impedance section includes multiple piezoelectric layers covered with electrodes to form multiple electric ports that can further be combined by electric parallel, anti-parallel, serial, or anti-serial galvanic coupling to form electric ports with selected frequency transfer functions. Each electric port may be connected to separate electronic transceiver systems to obtain, through selection of drive signals on individual ports, selectable electric parallel, anti-parallel, serial, or anti-serial coupling of the ports in transmit mode, enabling transmission of ultrasound pulses with multi-band frequency components. In receive mode, signals from the individual electric ports can be combined after isolation amplifiers in a filter-combination unit to obtain composite electric ports with extreme wide-band transfer functions and multi-band transfer functions covering a range from a 1st to a 4th harmonic band.

Ultrasound imaging systems and methods are disclosed. In one embodiment, an ultrasonography method includes creating a database that is representative of a tissue, a fluid, or a cavity of a body, and transmitting ultrasound pulses into a region-of-interest in a patient. Echoes are received from the region of interest, and based upon the received echoes, compiling an ultrasonic pattern of the region-of-interest is compiled. The pattern is processed by comparing the region-of-interest patterns to the pattern information stored in the database. A composition within the region-of-interest of the patient is then determined.

The invention belongs to the technical field of non-destructive testing and measuring, and discloses a focusing rotary scanning photoacoustic ultrasonic blood vessel endoscope imaging device and a focusing rotary scanning photoacoustic ultrasonic blood vessel endoscope imaging method. The device comprises a photoacoustic ultrasonic endoscope imaging probe, a rotating connecting part and a peripheral circuit part, wherein pulse laser generates 90-degree reflection at the light outlet end and is irradiated on the blood vessel wall after being gathered by a cylindrical surface light gathering lens, photoacoustic signals are generated, a sound-sensitive element receives the photoacoustic signals, the photoacoustic signals are collected and recorded after being converted, the synchronous working of a data collector and a pulse laser is realized, triggering signals generated by the pulse laser trigger an ultrasonic pulse emitting and receiving device to emit electric signals, the electric signals trigger the sound-sensitive element to emit ultrasonic signals, the ultrasonic signals are reflected after reaching the blood vessels, are received by sound-sensitive elements and are collected and recorded after being converted, a step motor drives the device for carrying out scanning to obtain the whole blood vessel fault data, and photoacoustic and ultrasonic images are obtained after the processing. The sound-sensitive elements are shared by ultrasonic and photoacoustic images, and the high-resolution and high-sensitivity blood vessel internal ultrasonic photoacoustic imaging can be realized.

Disclosed is a method for determining the sound velocity (Cb) in a basic material, in which an ultrasonic probe having a transmitting probe, a receiver transducer, and a forward member is used. The forward member is provided with a coupling surface that couples the probe to the basic material, and has a sound velocity (Cv). The transmitting probe and the receiver transducer are aligned in an oblique manner from each other and from the coupling surface such that a main transmission direction of the transmitting probe and a main receiving direction of the receiver transducer intersect below the coupling surface. The centers of the transmitting probe and the receiver transducer are located at a distance K from each other and are located at a distance Dv from the coupling surface. According to the inventive method, the transmitting probe generates an ultrasonic pulse which runs through the forward member into the basic material, where the ultrasonic pulse creates a creeping wave, a portion of which arrives at the receiver transducer. The shortest sound traveling time (Ttot) is measured and the sound velocity (Cb) within the basic material is determined via the path between the transmitting probe and the receiver transducer, which supplies the shortest total traveling time (Ttot).

New methods of ultrasound imaging are presented that provide images with reduced reverberation noise and images of nonlinear scattering and propagation parameters of the object, and estimation of corrections for wave front aberrations produced by spatial variations in the ultrasound propagation velocity. The methods are based on processing of the received signal from transmitted dual frequency band ultrasound pulse complexes with overlapping high and low frequency pulses. The high frequency pulse is used for the image reconstruction and the low frequency pulse is used to manipulate the nonlinear scattering and / or propagation properties of the high frequency pulse. A 1st method uses the scattered signal from a single dual band pulse complex for filtering in the fast time (depth time) to provide a signal with suppression of reverberation noise and with 1st harmonic sensitivity and increased spatial resolution. In other methods two or more dual band pulse complexes are transmitted where the frequency and / or the phase and / or the amplitude of the low frequency pulse vary for each transmitted pulse complex. Through filtering in the pulse number coordinate and corrections of nonlinear propagation delays and optionally also amplitudes, a linear back scattering signal with suppressed pulse reverberation noise, a nonlinear back scattering signal, and quantitative nonlinear scattering and forward propagation parameters are extracted. The reverberation suppressed signals are further useful for estimation of corrections of wave front aberrations, and especially useful with broad transmit beams for multiple parallel receive beams. Approximate estimates of aberration corrections are given. The nonlinear signal is useful for imaging of differences in tissue properties, such as micro-calcifications, in-growth of fibrous tissue or foam cells, or micro gas bubbles as found with decompression or injected as ultrasound contrast agent.

In a diagnostic ultrasound apparatus, an ultrasound pulse signal is transmitted two times in each of the rasters on a region to be scanned. Subtraction between echo signals received at each time of transmission is made to obtain a difference signal. Either one of the echo signals and the difference signal are produced into individual tomographic images, independently of each other. The produced individual tomographic images are displayed with a superposed manner one on the other or parallel-arranged manner. This allows contrast echo imaging to be conducted on a rate subtraction imaging technique. Minute blood flows are depicted distinguishably from tissue surrounding those flows in a steady manner.

An ultrasound imaging system configured to simultaneously acquire and process multi-mode and multi-band echo information from a single set of pulse firings is provided. Raw ultrasound signals are digitized and stored in an I / Q data buffer. The stored data are then parallel preprocessed as a function of frequency band or alternative encoding. Parallel preprocessing optionally includes manipulating the data in respect to different imaging modes. Outputs of the parallel preprocessors are coupled to separate area formers used to simultaneously reconstruct various desired echo information to form a multi-mode or multi-band image. The echo formation process is optionally performed in parallel.

A plurality of spatially located ultrasound beacons are provided in known locations within a distributed communications system. Each of the ultrasound beacons is configured to emit ultrasound pulses that can be received by client devices in ultrasound communication range of the ultrasound beacons. The client devices are configured to analyze the received ultrasound pulses from the beacons to determine their time-difference of arrival and as a result, their location in the distributed communications systems. Use of ultrasound pulses can provide greater resolution in location determination of client devices since ultrasound waves experience strong attenuation in building walls, ceilings, and floors, thus avoiding detection of ultrasound waves from other ultrasound beacons not located in proximity to the client devices.

A wireless ultrasound imaging system includes plural probes, at least one access point device, and a processing subsystem. Each of the probes has at least one transducer element that is configured to emit ultrasound pulses into one or more imaged bodies and receive echoes of the pulses. The probes are configured to generate ultrasound data based on the echoes and to wirelessly transmit the ultrasound data. The access point device is configured to wirelessly receive the ultrasound data from the probes. The processing subsystem is communicatively coupled with the at least one access point device. The processing subsystem receives the ultrasound data from the probes and creates one or more images based on the ultrasound data. In one aspect, a plurality of the probes is configured to concurrently acquire the ultrasound data.

Disclosed herein are method(s) and device(s) capable of generating a small lesion as deep as a few millimeters beneath the skin's surface and several cubic millimeters in volume in orders of magnitude less time, namely, tens of milliseconds. More specifically, in one exemplary embodiment, a method of treating tissue (e.g., skin) is provided which includes generating one or more ultrasound pulses with each pulse having a pulse width shorter than a thermal relaxation time of a tissue treatment volume, and applying one or more of said ultrasound pulses to at least one portion of the tissue treatment volume to generate one or more treatment areas in a region. Methods of treating tissue can include effecting a therapeutic treatment in said region of the tissue, and / or effecting a cosmetic treatment in said target region.

An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus comprises an ultrasound probe, a transmitter (including a transmitting pulse generator and a transmitting beamformer), a receiver (including a preamplifier and a receiving beamformer), a CFM processor (including a moving-element signal extractor and a velocity corrector), a tomographic image processor, and a display unit. The apparatus scans a desired section of a subject by transmitting and receiving an ultrasound pulse to and from the subject, and displays images obtained by the scanning. The velocity corrector comprises a pulsation-characterizing-velocity (velocities of a moving element) calculator, a representative velocity (reference velocity) calculator, and a corrector to correct the velocities of the moving element based on the standard velocity. The corrected velocity data is visualized on display unit. The ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus makes it possible to display the pulsatility of blood vessels in an easier and useful way.

Ultrasound probes that transmits / receives ultrasound pulses with frequencies both in a low frequency (LF) and a high frequency (HF) band, where the radiation surfaces of said HF and LF bands at least have a common region. Several solutions for transmission (and reception) of LF and HF pulses through the same radiation surface are given. The arrays and elements can be of a general type, for example linear phased or switched arrays, or annular arrays or elements with division in both azimuth and elevation direction, like a 1.5D, a 1.75D and a full 2D array. The LF and HF element division and array apertures can also be different.

Ultrasound imaging systems and methods are disclosed. In one embodiment, an ultrasongraphy method includes creating a database that is representative of a tissue, a fluid, or a cavity of a body, and transmitting ultrasound pulses into a region-of-interest in a patient. Echoes are received from the region of interest, and based upon the received echoes, compiling an ultrasonic pattern of the region-of-interest is compiled. The pattern is processed by comparing the region-of-interest patterns to the pattern information stored in the database. A composition within the region-of-interest of the patient is then determined.

A method for the determining ultrasonic sound propagation speed and wall thickness of a tubular object. Time-domain and frequency-domain analyses are used, where the latter can determine acoustic dispersion if the specimen is made up of a dispersive material. Data is sensed from a series of transmitted ultrasonic waves, some of which are reflected. The data can be used to calculate speed of sound in the tube, as well as wall thickness. Inherent in the data is the speed of the ultrasonic wave; accordingly, correction for temperature variations in the tube is not required. The calculations based on measured speed of sound quantities produces more accurate results than in calculations where the speed of sound in the specimen is assumed.