The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 10, 2002
Filed:
Mar. 10, 2000
Applicant:
Inventors:
Sriram Krishnan, San Jose, CA (US);
Lewis J. Thomas, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Assignee:
Acuson Corporation, Mountain View, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A61B 8/00 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
A61B 8/00 ;
Abstract
A method and system for contrast agent image beamformation is provided. The acoustic energy of transmit beams is spread laterally to reduce contrast agent destruction. For example, a smaller aperture is provided for contrast agent imaging than for a default imaging mode. As another example, an apodization profile with a low amplitude for edge elements for contrast agent imaging is used as compared to the edge elements for a default imaging mode. As yet another example, the focal point used for contrast agent imaging is set to be outside of the region of interest (e.g. a shallow or deep focal point).