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:
Sep. 24, 2013
Filed:
Dec. 16, 2009
Toshinobu Tokita, Yokohama, JP;
Kazuhiko Fukutani, Yokohama, JP;
Takao Nakajima, Kawasaki, JP;
Katsumi Nakagawa, Yokohama, JP;
Toshinobu Tokita, Yokohama, JP;
Kazuhiko Fukutani, Yokohama, JP;
Takao Nakajima, Kawasaki, JP;
Katsumi Nakagawa, Yokohama, JP;
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
When a subject is pressed by a plate and an acoustic wave is received by a probe via the plate, the acoustic wave is refracted because of the difference between a sound velocity in the subject and a sound velocity in the plate. When the refraction is not considered, a reduction in resolution occurs. Weights for signals or virtual wavefronts corresponding to the signals to be added to one another are determined using a thickness of the plate, the sound velocity in the plate, the sound velocity in the subject, positions of image elements (pixels or voxels) for image information, and arrival times of the acoustic wave from an object that is a sound source. The signals or the virtual wavefronts corresponding to the signals are added to one another, thereby acquiring the image information.