Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
Continuous transmit focusing method and apparatus for ultrasound imaging system
In one embodiment, an ultrasound imaging method comprises: providing a probe that includes one or more transducer elements for transmitting and receiving ultrasound waves; generating a sequence of spatially distinct transmit beams which differ in one or more of origin and angle; determining a transmit beam spacing substantially based upon a combination of actual and desired transmit beam characteristics, thereby achieving a faster echo acquisition rate compared to a transmit beam spacing based upon round-trip transmit-receive beam sampling requirements; storing coherent receive echo data, from two or more transmit beams of the spatially distinct transmit beams; combining coherent receive echo data from at least two or more transmit beams to achieve a substantially spatially invariant synthesized transmit focus at each echo location; and combining coherent receive echo data from each transmit firing to achieve dynamic receive focusing at each echo location.
Zonare Medical Systems, Inc.
G A A G G A G A G A G A G A
G10K A61B A61B G01S G01S A61B G01S A61B G01S A61B G01S A61B G01S A61B
inventional inventional inventional inventional inventional inventional inventional inventional inventional inventional inventional inventional inventional inventional
Robert W. Glen W. David J. Ting-Lan Ching-Hua Brian Derek Larry Y. L.
Steins McLaughlin Napolitano Ji Chou DeBusschere Mo