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:
Feb. 21, 2017
Filed:
Nov. 21, 2013
Konica Minolta, Inc., Tokyo, JP;
KONICA MINOLTA, INC., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A beamforming method includes: generating a main beam signal by performing, with a focus on a first region, a delay and sum operation on receiving echo signals; generating a sub beam signal which has a low sensitivity to ultrasound signals reflected off the first region; and generating a narrow beam signal by (i) calculating a coefficient for narrowing an angle of the main beam signal, and (ii) multiplying the main beam signal by the coefficient, wherein in the generating of a sub beam signal, the sub beam signal is generated using a differential signal that is a difference between two beam signals each of which is generated by performing a delay and sum operation on the receiving echo signals, with a focus on a corresponding one of two regions of a subject which are different from the first region and are different from each other.