Acuson Corporation

U-systems, Inc.

Kolo Medical, Ltd.

Deepsight Technology, Inc.

Siemens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc.

Danhua Zhao

Zengpin Yu

Yongli Huang

Constantine Simopoulos

Jiangang Zhu

Xuefeng Zhuang

Lan Yang

Shih-Ping Wang

Wei Zhang

Samuel H Maslak

Bhaskar S Ramamurthy

Charles E Bradley

Stuart L Carp

Thomas Neff

David J Hedberg

Daniel E Need

Scott A Miller

Stirling S Dodd

Ken Sawatari

Liren Zhu

Albert Gee

Kutay F Ustuner

Patrick J Phillips

Shengtz Lin

Bimba Rao

Tommy Earl Cupples

Feng Yin

Guangming Zhao

A method of imaging may include receiving a first signal from one or more array elements of a first type in a mixed transducer array, receiving a second signal from one or more array elements of a second type in the mixed transducer array where at least one of the first type and the second type is an optical sensor, generating a first image from the first signal and a second image from the second signal, and combining the first image and the second image to generate a compound image.

Image compounding for mixed transducer arrays

Sensing apparatuses and method of making the sensing apparatuses are disclosed herein. In some variations, a sensing apparatus can comprise at least one optical waveguide, and at least one whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator configured to propagate a set of WGMs, where the WGM resonator communicates to the at least one optical waveguide a set of signals corresponding to the set of WGMs. In some variations, a polymer structure may encapsulate the at least one WGM resonator and/or the at least one optical waveguide. Furthermore, in some variations, the WGM resonator(s) may have one or more selectable modes with different bandwidth and sensitivity for sensing, which may, for example, enable tailoring the sensing apparatus to specific applications having certain bandwidth and/or sensitivity requirements.

Whispering gallery mode resonators for sensing applications

An acousto-optic imaging system may include at least one transducer that transmits an ultrasound signal having a fundamental frequency f. The acousto-optic imaging system includes at least one optical sensor that may produce one or more optical responses upon receiving harmonic-related ultrasound echoes corresponding to the transmitted ultrasound signal. For example, the one or more optical sensors may have a bandwidth ranging from at least f/M to Nf, where M and N are integers greater than 1.

Acousto-optic harmonic imaging with optical sensors

Techniques are described herein that are capable of providing a modularized acoustic probe that includes multiple acoustic transducers that have discrete substrates. A first acoustic transducer is configured to generate an acoustic signal and to transmit the acoustic signal toward an object. The second acoustic transducer is configured to detect a reflected acoustic signal, which results from the acoustic signal reflecting from the object, and to convert the reflected acoustic signal to an electrical signal. The first and second acoustic transducers have respective discrete substrates. In an example, the second acoustic transducer may not be configured to generate acoustic signals. In another example, the first and second acoustic transducers may be in respective first and second rows of a two-row transducer array. In accordance with this example, the first and second acoustic transducers may be designed to have an acoustic parameter having respective first and second parameter values.

Modularized acoustic probe

In some examples, a CMUT may include a plurality of electrodes, and each electrode may include a plurality of sub-electrodes. For instance, a first sub-electrode and a second sub-electrode may be disposed on opposite sides of a third sub-electrode. In some cases, a first bias voltage may be applied to the third sub-electrode and a second bias voltage may be applied to the first and second sub-electrodes while causing at least one of the first sub-electrode, the second sub-electrode, or the third sub-electrode to transmit and/or receive ultrasonic energy. For example, the second bias voltage may be applied at a different voltage amount than the first bias voltage, and/or may be applied at a different timing than the first bias voltage.

Bias control for capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers

In some examples, a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) array may include a plurality of CMUT elements arranged in a plurality of rows, each row including multiple CMUT elements. A bias voltage supply may be connected for supplying bias voltages to a first row, a second row, and a third row of the plurality of rows. In addition, a processor may be configured by executable instructions to control the bias voltages by applying a first bias voltage to the second row, and a second, different bias voltage to the first and third rows to configure the CMUT elements of the second row to at least one of transmit or receive ultrasonic energy with different efficiency than the CMUT elements of the first row and the third row. In some examples, individual contributions from different rows can be computed from different firing sequences for synthetic aperture beamformation in an elevation dimension.

CMUT signal separation with multi-level bias control

In some examples, a CMUT array may include a plurality of elements, and each element may include a plurality of sub-elements. For instance, a first sub-element and a second sub-element may be disposed on opposite sides of a third sub-element. In some cases, the third sub-element may be configured to transmit ultrasonic energy at a higher center frequency than at least one of the first sub-element or the second sub-element. Further, in some instances, the sub-elements may have a plurality of regions in which different regions are configured to transmit ultrasonic energy at different resonant frequencies. For instance, the resonant frequencies of a plurality of CMUT cells in each sub-element may decrease in an elevation direction from a center of each element toward the edges of the CMUT array.

Capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducers having varying properties

In some examples, a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) includes a first electrode and a second electrode. The CMUT may be connectable to a bias voltage supply for supplying a bias voltage, and a transmit and/or receive (TX/RX) circuit. In some cases, a first capacitor having a first electrode may be electrically connected to the first electrode of the CMUT, the first capacitor having a second electrode that may be electrically connected to the TX/RX circuit. Furthermore, a first resistor may include a first electrode electrically connected to the first electrode of the first capacitor and the first electrode of the CMUT. A second electrode of the first resistor may be electrically connected to at least one of: a ground or common return path, or the second electrode of the first capacitor.

Bias application for capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers

A modular, flexible architecture for offering full-field breast ultrasound (FFBU) functionality and general-purpose ultrasound functionality in a single system is described. A conventional, general-purpose ultrasound system is modified with an FFBU toolkit to create a dual-capability ultrasound system, the dual-capability ultrasound system being able to accommodate both general-purpose ultrasound functionality and FFBU functionality, using a single ultrasound engine. Among other advantages, real-world clinical environments may enjoy cost savings for initial system procurement, space savings on clinic floors, easier and less expensive system upgrades, and the ability to use a single system and user interface for both FFBU screening and for follow-up diagnosis, biopsy, etc. Among other advantages from an ultrasound manufacturer's perspective are the ability to quickly and/or more easily come to market with an FFBU-related offering by modifying their existing general-purpose ultrasound systems with FFBU toolkits to quickly create dual-capability ultrasound systems.

Full-field breast ultrasound system and architechture

A modular, flexible architecture for offering full-field breast ultrasound (FFBU) functionality and general-purpose ultrasound functionality in a single system is described. A conventional, general-purpose ultrasound system () is modified with an FFBU toolkit to create a dual-capability ultrasound system (), the dual-capability ultrasound system () being able to accommodate both general-purpose ultrasound functionality and FFBU functionality, using a single ultrasound engine (). Among other advantages, real-world clinical environments may enjoy cost savings for initial system procurement, space savings on clinic floors, easier and less expensive system upgrades, and the ability to use a single system and user interface for both FFBU screening and for follow-up diagnosis, biopsy, etc. Among other advantages from an ultrasound manufacturer's perspective are the ability to quickly and/or more easily come to market with an FFBU-related offering by modifying their existing general-purpose ultrasound systems () with FFBU toolkits to quickly create dual-capability ultrasound systems ().

Full-field breast ultrasound system and architecture

Image processing adapts to speckle. Speckle is identified from signal transitions. For example, peaks, valleys or mean crossings of image signals as a function of space or spatial location are identified. A speckle characteristic, such as speckle size, is estimated from the signal transitions. The estimation may be limited to soft tissue regions to reduce the effects of specular targets and noise on speckle estimation. The speckle is estimated for local regions or an entire image. By estimating speckle for local regions, image processing may account adaptively for regional variation in speckle size.

Speckle adaptive medical image processing

An SNR-adaptive method for processing a plurality of post-detection medical diagnostic ultrasonic images determines a cross-correlation parameter from corresponding multi-dimensional regions of first and second post-detection ultrasonic images, and then uses the cross-correlation parameter to suppress electronic noise in ultrasonic image processing. In some cases the multi-dimensional region of the first and second images are registered prior to cross-correlation to compensate for relative movement between the transducer and the imaged tissue between the first and second images.

Medical diagnostic ultrasonic imaging method and apparatus for suppressing electronic noise

A medical diagnostic ultrasonic imaging system analyzes receive signals generated by the system to adaptively set the interline delay and/or the transmit power to optimize frame rate while reducing or eliminating the wraparound artifact associated with transmit events that are too closely spaced in time for currently prevailing imaging conditions.

Medical diagnostic imaging system and method for adaptive interline delay and transmit power

An ultrasound system that generates compound images from component frames having decorrelated speckle patterns. Successive sets of distinct, speckle-affecting parameters are used to generate successive component frames for compounding, and are selected such that the successive component frames have decorrelated speckle patterns. The speckle-affecting parameters that are changed from frame to frame may be selected from a wide variety of parameters, including transmit beamformer parameters, receive beamformer parameters, and demodulator parameters. According to a preferred embodiment, the successive sets of speckle-affecting parameters differ from each other by at least two speckle-affecting parameters. According to another preferred embodiment, the amount by which each of the multiple speckle-affecting parameters is changed is less than a decorrelation threshold for that parameter, that is, by less that the amount that speckle-affecting parameter alone would be required to change in order to yield decorrelated speckle patterns if no other parameters were changed. When more speckle-affecting parameters are changed, each speckle-affecting parameter can be changed by an amount less than its decorrelation threshold, and yet decorrelated speckle patterns can still be obtained. Moreover, because two different types of speckle-affecting parameters tend to alter the spatial resolution of the component frames in different ways, the spatial resolution of the compounded image can be better as compared to the scenario in which only one speckle-affecting parameter is altered by its decorrelation threshold.

Method and system for generating ultrasound frames with decorrelated speckle patterns and generating a compound ultrasound image therefrom

A method, system, computer program product, and user interface for real-time ultrasonic visualization enhancement of a biopsy needle are disclosed in which a wide range of needle positions with respect to the ultrasound probe axis and with respect to the imaged plane are accommodated. Ordinary frames are compounded with special purpose frames, the special purpose frames having transmit and receive parameters adapted to highlight reception of echoes from the biopsy needle. Preferably, an elevation beam width associated with the special purpose ultrasound frames is wider than an elevation beam width associated with the ordinary ultrasound frames. Preferably, the beams of the special purpose ultrasound frames are steered such that they are incident upon the biopsy needle at an increased angle as compared to the angle of incidence for ordinary ultrasound frames. A method for automatically and adaptively determining the depth and orientation of a biopsy needle is also described, whereby beam steering parameters, focus parameters, etc. may be automatically and adaptively computed. The user may optionally provide selected beam steering parameters to the ultrasound imaging system using a simple, intuitive user interface.

Growing community of inventors

San Jose, CA, United States of America

Danhua Zhao