Portable Ultrasound Probe Streaming for High-Resolution Imaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Medical ultrasound imaging systems, particularly portable ones, face challenges in achieving high resolution while maintaining a compact form factor and are often expensive.
Innovation Solution
A portable ultrasound imaging system utilizing a THUNDERBOLT I/O interface to connect a probe with a personal computer, where a transducer emits alternating positive and negative ultrasound pulses, and echoes are digitized and streamed to the computer for coherent compounding and image generation, leveraging a THUNDERBOLT 3.0 interface for real-time data transfer and a personal computer for image processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a portable ultrasound imaging system is designed with a compact form factor, then portability and cost-effectiveness are improved, but image resolution and imaging capability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the heavy processing components (signal processing, image reconstruction, coherent compounding) from the portable device and relocates them to a remote server or cloud computing platform. The portable unit only handles data acquisition and transmission, dramatically reducing its form factor while maintaining high image resolution through remote processing capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a communication interface (USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, or wireless connection) as an intermediary between the portable probe and the remote processing system. This intermediary enables high-speed data transfer of raw echo signals to the remote server, allowing the portable device to leverage remote computing power without requiring local processing hardware.
2Device complexity
If traditional data transfer interfaces are used in portable ultrasound systems, then device simplicity is maintained, but real-time imaging capability and data transfer speed deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the data transfer interface parameters by adopting USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt connections that support significantly higher data transfer rates (up to 10 Gbps or 28 Gbps respectively) compared to traditional USB 2.0 interfaces. This parameter change enables real-time transmission of high-volume raw echo data from the portable probe to the remote processing system without compromising interface simplicity.
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple ultrasound pulses are transmitted to improve image quality, then image resolution is improved, but the number of transmissions and time required increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary coherent compounding of multiple scanlines during the data transmission phase to the remote server. By preparing and organizing the data in advance during transfer, the system reduces the need for additional post-processing transmissions and enables faster image reconstruction, effectively reducing the overall imaging time while maintaining high resolution through compounding of multiple pulses.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables high-resolution ultrasound imaging in a portable and cost-effective manner by utilizing a personal computer for image processing, overcoming data transfer limitations and reducing the number of ultrasound pulse transmissions.
Implementation Method 1
The transducer alternately transmits positive and negative ultrasound pulses to a target being imaged... Echoes of the ultrasound pulses reflected from internal structures of the human body are sampled from the transducer
Data Source
AI summary
A portable ultrasound imaging system includes a probe and a personal computer. The personal computer is connected to the probe by way of a THUNDERBOLT I/O interface. The probe includes a transducer that alternately transmits positive and negative ultrasound pulses to a target being imaged, which is a human body. Echoes of the ultrasound pulses reflected from internal structures of the human body are sampled from the transducer, digitized into echo data, and streamed to the personal computer over the THUNDERBOLT I/O interface. In the personal computer, scanlines are generated from the echo data. Overlapping scanlines are coherently compounded and positioned together to form an ultrasound image.