General Electric Company

Siemens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc.

Mark G Magrane

Paul Donald Freiburger

Chi-Yin Lee

Matthew N O'Donnell

Methods and systems for automatic optimization in spectral Doppler ultrasound imaging are provided. The value for one or more spectral Doppler parameter is optimized using numerical optimization rather than predefined sampling. Various spectral Doppler parameters are set, such as a position of the gate, gate size, transmit frequency, filter settings, Doppler gain, beamline orientation or angle of intersection between the gate position and the scan line, aperture size, or other spectral Doppler transmit or receive parameters effecting the spectral Doppler imaging. A processor automatically calculates a setting or value for one or more of the spectral Doppler parameters, resulting in more objective optimization than provided by a user setting.

Automatic optimization in spectral doppler ultrasound imaging

Automatic optimization in spectral Doppler ultrasound imaging

The dynamic range of ultrasound images is extended by providing compensation of errors inherent in the manufacturing process of medical ultrasound phased array probes. Time delay errors are predetermined and stored in a memory associated with each probe. A system then reads the values needed to perform error compensation directly from the particular probe being used.

Calibration of phased array ultrasound probe

A method for steering a beam of vibratory energy to a desired angle .theta. with respect to the plane of an array of transducers, uses apparatus which generates a plurality of sampling strobe sequences with each strobe pulse occurring at a time interval T after the preceding strobe pulse, where T satisfies the Nyquist condition. A different one S.sub.j of the strobe signals is assigned to each different transducer channel and the commencement time of the strobe signal in each channel is offset by a time interval which is a first positive integer multiple M.sub.j, selected for each angle .theta., of an offset time interval which is not greater than 1/32nd of the reciprocal of the ultrasonic excitation frequency F.sub.u. Each strobe signal triggers conversion of the present amplitude of the return signal directly to a digital data word; the apparatus then digitally delays each data word in each of the N channels for a delay time interval selected to cause the delayed data words from all N channels, when coherently summed, to represent any change in reflectance in the beam at the desired angle .theta..

Method and apparatus for fully digital beam formation in a phased array

Variable focusing in a phased array sector scanner is provided by selectively delaying the operation of a plurality of analog to digital converters thereby skewing sampled data. The skewed sampled data is then stored in a digital memory, and further focusing of the data is realized by selectively delaying the readout of data from the memories.

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Redmond, WA, United States of America

Mark G Magrane