Entries |
Document | Title | Date |
20080208053 | ULTRASOUND IMAGE DISPLAYING METHOD AND ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - An ultrasound image displaying method includes creating a 3D image based on B mode data with a high luminance and a low luminance in a B mode image being inverted, creating a color overlaid 3D image by applying colors based on color Doppler mode data only for pixels of the 3D image having a luminance not more than a predetermined value in the B mode image, and displaying the color overlaid 3D image. | 08-28-2008 |
20080234580 | Ultrasonic Imaging of Perfusion and Blood Flow with Harmonic Contrast Agents - An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging method and system produce diagnostic contrast images depicting both tissue perfusion and flow velocity in larger vessels by utilizing both linear and nonlinear imaging techniques. A sequence of echoes from differently modulated transmit pulses is received and processed in different ways to detect nonlinear signals from microbubble-perfused tissue and Doppler blood flow in larger vessels. The Doppler flow signals may be either linear or nonlinear or a mixture of both. A decision circuit classifies the detected signals for display pixels in a perfusion and/or flow and/or tissue image. Separate perfusion and flow images can be simultaneously displayed or an image of both perfusion and flow can be displayed. | 09-25-2008 |
20080242982 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ULTRASOUND IMAGING - Blood flow information is used to reduce noise manifest in blood vessel ultrasound B-mode images. A blood flow signal is obtained by a flow detector. After wall filtering, only the flow signal power in the blood vessel lumen remains, while signal power from stationary tissue region is suppressed. The flow signal component is used to calculate a flow component parameter that is used to generate a gain control signal α that reduces noise in a B-mode image. | 10-02-2008 |
20080242983 | SYSTEM CONTROLLER - A system controller according to the present invention communicates with a medical control device connectable to plural types of ultrasonic endoscopes. The system controller includes a plurality of operation instruction units, a communication unit, and a control unit. The plurality of operation instruction units are capable of issuing an instruction to the medical control device. The communication unit is capable of receiving a control command generated by the medical control device on the basis of table data representing the correspondence among the connection state of the ultrasonic endoscopes, the operational state of the medical control device, and the state of each of the plurality of operation instruction units. On the basis of the control command, the control unit performs a control to visually reflect, in each of the plurality of operation instruction units, the use state of respective functions achievable by the ultrasonic endoscopes and the medical control device. | 10-02-2008 |
20080249411 | ULTRASOUND SYSTEM AND METHOD OF FORMING AN ULTRASOUND IMAGE - The present invention is directed to an ultrasound system and a method of forming an ultrasound image. The ultrasound system includes a signal processing unit, a processor, an input unit and a blood flow angle computation unit. The signal processing unit may form ultrasound image signals based on ultrasound echo signals reflected from a target object. The processor may form a B-mode image based on the ultrasound image signals. The input unit may allow a user to set a sample volume on the B-mode image. The blood flow angle computation unit may compute a blood flow angle in the sample volume. The signal processing unit may further compute a Doppler angle based on the blood flow angle and form Doppler signals based on the Doppler angle. Also, the processor may further form a Doppler spectrum image and Doppler sound based on the Doppler signals. | 10-09-2008 |
20090054774 | Method and system for evaluation of the hemodynamic model in depression for diagnosis and treatment - The present invention provides a method and system for determining the cerebral hemodynamic model for depression, using carotid duplex ultrasound to establish percent stenosis of the extracranial right and left internal carotid arteries and transcranial Doppler ultrasound instrument to measure mean flow velocity within the cerebral including the right and left internal carotid arteries, right and left middle cerebral arteries, right and left anterior cerebral arteries, right and left posterior cerebral arteries, and basilar artery. The percent carotid stenosis and the mean flow velocity values in cerebral arteries are used to determine the cerebral hemodynamic model associated with depression in men and women, respectively. | 02-26-2009 |
20090131791 | Ultrasonic Diagnostic Imaging System With Spectral and Audio Tissue Doppler - A spectral tissue Doppler processor for an ultrasound system produces Doppler phase shift estimates of sequences of signal samples from a sample volume with a short-lag autocorrelator. The autocorrelation products are summed and an arc tangent taken of each sum to produce angle estimates. The angle estimates, which are proportional to the tissue motion velocity, are plotted, smoothed, and displayed as a spectral tissue Doppler display. The angle estimates are also used to produce the audio Doppler signal which is frequency-adjustable by a user. The spectral Doppler display exhibits good time and velocity resolution for motion which is less than that of blood flow such as myocardial motion. Major causes of blurring, unevenness, and distortion are reduced or eliminated. | 05-21-2009 |
20090131792 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS - An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus includes an image display device for displaying an image generated based on ultrasonic echo signals received from an subject on a screen, a trace pointer display device for displaying a trace pointer on the screen on which the image is being displayed during a trace measurement, and an operating device for allowing an operator to perform an action to instruct to start a trace measurement, an action to move the trance pointer on the screen, and an action to instruct to terminate a trace measurement. The image display device performs a zoomed-in display of an image portion in a section around the trace pointer. | 05-21-2009 |
20090171204 | Ultrasound System And Method Of Providing Ultrasound Images - The present invention relates to an ultrasound system for providing ultrasound images in a duplex mode. The ultrasound system comprises a transmission/reception unit for alternately transmitting a first ultrasound beam and a second ultrasound beam to a target object. The first and second ultrasound beams are transmitted for first and second time durations, respectively. The ultrasound system further comprises an image processing unit for forming a first diagnostic mode image based on echoes of the first ultrasound beam and a second diagnostic mode image containing a gap corresponding to the first time duration based on echoes of the second ultrasound beam. The image processing unit is further configured to perform gap filling based on edge points of the second diagnostic mode image to form a second diagnostic image with the gap removed. | 07-02-2009 |
20090203996 | ULTRASOUND-IMAGING SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR A USER-GUIDED THREE-DIMENSIONAL VOLUME-SCAN SEQUENCE - An ultrasound-imaging system and method is provided that permits an operator to acquire an image of a volume-of-interest in a time critical fashion, that is capable of referencing the volume rendering to a standard two-dimensional imaging mode, and permits the operator to selectively choose a number of display-mode parameters that result in an operator directed view of the volume-of-interest. The ultrasound-imaging system comprises an input device configured to receive a plurality of imaging parameters and a controller in communication with the input device. The ultrasound-imaging system generates an operator-directed transmit-beam scan sequence in response to the imaging parameters and transmits a spatially modified transmit-beam scan sequence over a portion of the volume-scan range of the ultrasound-imaging system. Moreover, the ultrasound-imaging system provides the flexibility for an operator to direct a plurality of operator-configurable multi-dimensional views. | 08-13-2009 |
20090306503 | ADAPTIVE VOLUME RENDERING FOR ULTRASOUND COLOR FLOW DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING - Adaptive volume rendering is provided for medical diagnostic ultrasound. The opacity of B-mode data is set relative to the opacity of Doppler data. The opacities for the different types of data are set as a function of ray depth. For example, the opacity of B-mode data near a tissue border is set to be more opaque than for tissue away from the border, and the opacity for flow data near a flow border is set to be less opaque than for flow away from the border. An image is rendered using a rendering parameter set as a function of ray depth, B-mode information and Doppler information. Other processes for enhancing and/or using rendering may be used. | 12-10-2009 |
20100106021 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING DOPPLER SIGNAL GAPS - A method and system for processing Doppler signal gaps is disclosed. The method comprising the steps of: receiving Doppler signals during Doppler signal acquisition to obtain data of in-phase (I) component and quadrate (Q) component signals of the Doppler signals; receiving interruption of the Doppler signals; estimating the data of the Doppler signals interrupted in said gap period filling the interrupted Doppler signals with the data of the estimated Doppler signals so that the data of the I and Q component signals in said gap period are filled to form a continuous output; and generating Doppler spectrum data or Doppler sound based on the data of the filled I and Q component signals. | 04-29-2010 |
20100234729 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CREATING TISSUE DOPPLER IMAGE USING SYNTHETIC IMAGE - An apparatus and method capable of producing a tissue Doppler image without repeatedly transmitting ultrasound signals by the ensemble number to each scan line. An ultrasound beam is transmitted in a non-sequential manner and a plurality of receive beams received in response to each transmission of the transmit beam are grouped into an increment data group of a scan line index increasing direction and a decrement data group of a scan line index decreasing direction. Auto correlation is performed on the increment data group of the scan line index ascending order and decrement data group of the scan line line index descending order, weights are applied to respective auto correlation values for the increment and decrement data group, and then the auto correlation values with the weight applied are summed to compute a mean phase. At least one of velocities, powers and variances in response to the mean phase is outputted to produce TDI. | 09-16-2010 |
20100274131 | Balance Body Ultrasound System - The present invention relates to a hand held ultrasound system having a balance body, a transducer assembly connected to said balance body via a communication means and a plurality of control elements arranged in an ergonomic fashion on said balance body, such that a user may hold said system and operate at least one of said control elements with the same hand. In particular a medical ultrasound system comprising a balance body incorporating system electronics, a power supply and a user interface wherein the user interface comprises a D-controller and a touch screen and a transducer assembly attached to the balanced body by a cable. The present invention relates to a hand held ultrasound system having a balance body, a transducer assembly connected to said balance body via a communication means and a plurality of control elements arranged in an ergonomic fashion on said balance body, such that a user may hold said system and operate at least one of said control elements with the same hand. In particular a medical ultrasound system comprising a balance body incorporating system electronics, a power supply and a user interface wherein the user interface comprises a D-controller and a touch screen and a transducer assembly attached to the balanced body by a cable. | 10-28-2010 |
20100286521 | MULTI-MODAL MEDICAL SCANNING METHOD AND APPARATUS - A hand held ultrasound scanning apparatus of a type able to perform multiple scan modes and a hand held display and processing unit able to receive and display ultrasound scanline data, having a control for initiation and termination of ultrasound scanning where further operation of the same control causes the scan mode in use by the apparatus to move progressively through the available scan modes. The scan modes are selected from B-mode, M-mode, Gated Doppler, Power Doppler, Pulsed Wave Doppler, Color Doppler, Duplex Doppler, and 3D volume imaging. | 11-11-2010 |
20100286522 | ULTRASONIC TECHNIQUE FOR ASSESSING WALL VIBRATIONS IN STENOSED BLOOD VESSELS - A real-time signal processing technique for ultrasonic imaging of tissue vibrations for localizing the source of a bruit in a 2D image with respect to the anatomy and/or for obtaining simultaneous information about vibrations and the underlying blood flow. The bruit can be quantitatively assessed using an ensemble of ultrasound echoes. Signal processing enables estimation of wall displacement and the display of time-resolved vibration spectrum. Vibrations are detected and color-coded according to their amplitude and frequency and overlaid on the B-mode and/or color-flow image in real time. Proposed vibration imaging algorithms use data acquired during conventional ultrasonic color-flow imaging and the clutter signal, normally suppressed in color-flow imaging, to detect and characterize tissue vibrations. Three vibration imaging algorithms based on parametric modeling of vibrations and other criteria distinguish between clutter, blood flow, and vibrations. The techniques are usable to detect, locate, image, and quantitatively grade stenoses in blood vessels. | 11-11-2010 |
20100286523 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING DOPPLER SPECTRUM IMAGES OF MULTIPLE SAMPLE VOLUMES - The embodiment of the present invention provides an ultrasound diagnostic system, including: an ultrasound diagnosis unit for transmitting ultrasound signals to a target object and receiving ultrasound echo signals to acquire B-mode image signals and Doppler spectrum image signals; a processor for forming at least one B-mode image based on the B-mode image signals and forming a plurality of Doppler spectrum images for a plurality of sample volumes designated on the B-mode image based on the Doppler spectrum image signals; a user input unit for allowing a user to input selection information indicating locations and sizes of the plurality of sample volumes; and an image display unit for displaying at least one B-mode image and the plurality of Doppler spectrum images. | 11-11-2010 |
20100305440 | Ultrasound System And Method For Providing A Motion Vector - A method of providing a motion vector is disclosed. The method according to embodiments of the present disclosure comprises: acquiring ultrasound data corresponding to a region of interest within a brightness mode (B-mode) image of a target object; forming a color Doppler mode image of the target object based on the ultrasound data; forming a motion vector of the target object based on the ultrasound data and the color Doppler mode image; and setting the motion vector on the color Doppler mode image. | 12-02-2010 |
20100324418 | ULTRASOUND TRANSDUCER - An ultrasound system having a transducer probe unit including at least one transducer for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals, wherein the transducer is moved with respect to the probe unit in a repetitive motion by an ultrasonic motor. | 12-23-2010 |
20100331688 | AUTOMATIC DIAGNOSIS SUPPORT APPARATUS, ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS, AND AUTOMATIC DIAGNOSIS SUPPORT METHOD - Certain embodiments provide an automatic diagnosis support apparatus includes extracting a plurality of parameters associated with a predetermined object by using medical information acquired by a medical image diagnosis apparatus and extracting the plurality of parameters for each disease associated with a disable-bodied person by using medical information associated with the disable-bodied person, calculating a ruler associated with each disease case by executing an MT system using the plurality of parameters for each disease associated with the disable-bodied person, calculating a distance between the object and a state space of the disable-bodied person associated with the each disease by executing the MT system using a plurality of parameters associated with the object, determining a disease type of the object by using the ruler and a distance between the object and a state space of a disable-bodied person, and generating diagnosis support information based on the determination result. | 12-30-2010 |
20110144494 | METHODS FOR ACQUISITION AND DISPLAY IN ULTRASOUND IMAGING - In general, the invention provides methods for use in the acquisition and display of ultrasound images. In particular, the invention provides methods for displaying ultrasound images using a persistence algorithm, gating ultrasound acquisition based on subject respiration, triggering ultrasound acquisition based on subject ECG, and destroying bubble contrast agents during imaging. The methods may be employed with any suitable ultrasound system. | 06-16-2011 |
20110208056 | Volumetric Quantification for Ultrasound Diagnostic Imaging - Volumetric quantification is provided in medical diagnostic ultrasound. By acquiring both B-mode and color flow data without stitching or acquiring in real-time at tens of volumes a second, more reliable quantification may be provided. Using multiple regions of interest in a volume may allow for more accurate and/or complete flow information, such as averaging flow from different locations in the same structure (e.g., use preservation of mass to acquire multiple measures of the same flow). | 08-25-2011 |
20110218435 | Prediction-Based Flow Estimation for Ultrasound Diagnostic Imaging - Flow estimation is provided. The flow is predicted. A mathematical, logic, machine learning or other model is used to predict flow. For example, the boundary conditions associated with a previous flow, the previous flow, and current boundary conditions are used to predict the current flow. The current flow is corrected using the predicted flow. Velocities may be unaliased based on the predicted flow. The predicted flow may replace the current flow. Prediction may additionally or alternatively be used in determination of lateral or elevational flow. | 09-08-2011 |
20110288413 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS CONTROL METHOD - According to one embodiment, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is configured to execute an imaging mode of alternately executing a continuous wave Doppler mode of acquiring time-series Doppler data by performing continuous wave transmission/reception with respect to an object and a B mode of acquiring tomogram data represented by luminance by transmitting and receiving a pulse wave to and from the object, the apparatus includes a data acquisition unit configured to acquire continuous wave Doppler data and the tomogram data by alternately executing the continuous wave Doppler mode and the B mode while switching the modes, and a display unit configured to simultaneously display Doppler spectrum information generated based on the continuous wave Doppler data and a tomogram generated based on the tomogram data. | 11-24-2011 |
20120016240 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND METHOD THEREOF - The present disclosure relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for providing a combination of an ultrasound image and a color flow image. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus detects a color index of each of pixels in a color flow image and provides a contour image composed of contour lines. Here, each of the contour lines is formed by grouping and connecting pixels having the same color index based on the detected color indexes of the respective pixels and formed for at least one color index level. A diagnosis method of the apparatus is also disclosed. | 01-19-2012 |
20120059263 | PROVIDING A COLOR DOPPLER MODE IMAGE IN AN ULTRASOUND SYSTEM - Embodiments for providing a color Doppler mode image are disclosed. In one embodiment, by way of non-limiting example, an ultrasound system comprises: an ultrasound data acquisition unit configured to transmit and receive ultrasound signals to and from a living body to acquire first ultrasound data and second ultrasound data; a user input unit configured to receive input information corresponding to a region of interest and a balance threshold value having a predetermined brightness value; and a processing unit configured to form a brightness mode image and a color Doppler mode image corresponding to the region of interest based on the first and second ultrasound data, respectively, form a balance mask for performing a balance process upon the color Doppler mode image based on the brightness mode image and the input information, and perform the balance process upon the color Doppler mode image based on the balance mask. | 03-08-2012 |
20120089024 | METHOD OF PROVIDING THREE DIMENSIONAL COLOR DOPPLER IMAGE AND ULTRASOUND SYSTEM FOR IMPLEMENTING THE SAME - There is disclosed an embodiment for providing a three dimensional color Doppler image. An ultrasound data acquisition unit may transmit and receive ultrasound signals to and from a target object to output ultrasound data. A processor may form Doppler signals including power information of the target object and at least one of direction information and velocity information of the target object by using the ultrasound data. The processor may further form a three dimensional Doppler mode image representing the power information and at least one of the direction information and the velocity information by using the Doppler signals. | 04-12-2012 |
20120143057 | ULTRASONOGRAPH - To provide a small-size ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus manufactured at a low cost, which is capable of displaying an optimum image in both the B mode and the color-Doppler mode, without providing a plurality of drive amplifiers of different transmission voltages to each transmission channel. | 06-07-2012 |
20120215107 | ULTRASOUND PROBE AND ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - An ultrasound probe includes a first transducer array for a B-mode image which transmits an ultrasonic beam for a B-mode image, a second transducer array for sound speed measurement which is tiltably provided and transmits an ultrasonic beam for sound speed measurement, and a tilting unit which tilts the second transducer array for sound speed measurement in accordance with the angle of an abdominal wall of the subject. | 08-23-2012 |
20120220871 | ULTRASOUND PROBE AND ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - An ultrasound probe includes a transducer array for a B-mode image which transmits and receives an ultrasonic beam for a B-mode image, and a transducer array for sound speed measurement which is laminated and formed above the transducer array for a B-mode image and receives an ultrasonic beam for sound speed measurement. | 08-30-2012 |
20120271172 | ULTRASOUND OBSERVATION APPARATUS - An ultrasound observation apparatus to which an ultrasound probe is connectable, the ultrasound probe including a capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducer whose sensitivity can be controlled according to an applied bias voltage, the ultrasound observation apparatus including a transmit section that outputs a transmit signal for causing ultrasound to be transmitted; a receive section that performs signal processing on a received receive signal; a bias voltage outputting section that varies the applied bias voltage, an image mode setting section that designates and sets an image mode for displaying an ultrasound image corresponding to ultrasound scanning; a parameter setting section that designates and sets a parameter for signal processing performed by the transmit section or the receive section, and a control section that controls the bias voltage based on a designation signal corresponding to the designation and setting of the image mode and the parameter. | 10-25-2012 |
20120289829 | BALANCE BODY ULTRASOUND SYSTEM - A hand held ultrasound system includes a balance body incorporating system electronics and a transducer assembly connected to the balance body. The hand held ultrasound system also includes control elements that are arranged in an ergonomic fashion on the balance body so that a user can hold the system and operate at least one of the control elements with the same hand. The system may also include a user interface that comprises a D-controller and a touch screen. | 11-15-2012 |
20120316441 | ULTRASONIC IMAGE GENERATING DEVICE AND IMAGE GENERATING METHOD - An ultrasonic image generating device which generates a cross-sectional image of a specific cross-section of a subject from ultrasonic images obtained by scanning the subject from a plurality of directions using an ultrasonic probe, includes: a cross-section position identifying unit which obtains cross-section information indicating a position and an orientation of the specific cross-section; a positional information obtaining unit which obtains positional information including a position and an orientation of each of the ultrasonic images of the subject; a reference image selecting unit which selects at least one of the ultrasonic images as a reference image, the at least one of the ultrasonic images having a distance from the specific cross-section that is less than a first threshold and an orientation difference from the specific cross-section that is less than a second threshold; and a cross-sectional image generating unit which generates the cross-sectional image using the reference image. | 12-13-2012 |
20130006111 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - According to one embodiment, based on a reception signal, the Doppler signal generation unit generates a first Doppler signal attributed to motion of a living body in a ROI and a second Doppler signal attributed to slower motion. The velocity display scale determination unit determines first and second velocity display scales based on velocity distribution ranges for the first and second Doppler signals, respectively. The image generation unit generates first and second Doppler images based on the first and second Doppler signals, respectively. The display unit displays the first and second Doppler images with the first and second velocity display scales, respectively. | 01-03-2013 |
20130012817 | PORTABLE ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - A portable ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has an ultrasonic probe, and a main body including a display unit provided on a front surface of the main body. An input device is provided at a rear surface of the main body to receive user command information from a user, which allows the user to operate the portable ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus with a hand that is gripping the portable ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. The apparatus may be used by moving the ultrasonic probe in contact with a surface of an object, sending ultrasonic signals from the object surface, receiving reflected ultrasonic signals from the object, and converting the ultrasonic signals into electrical signals. | 01-10-2013 |
20130046180 | FRAME AVERAGING CIRCUIT FOR USE IN AN ULTRASOUND IMAGING SYSTEM - A frame averaging circuit adapted for a color blood flow frame in a medical ultrasound imaging system. The frame averaging circuit comprises two sections, i.e., a recursive calculation section and a non-recursive section. The recursive calculation section employs an IIR filter in combination with a look-up table, and is adapted for dealing with the cases where no change occurs to the blood flow velocity direction. The non-recursive section compares the blood flow velocity, the energy and the energy prior to wall filtering of the color blood flow echo signal to various threshold values. Different from the recursive calculation section, the non-recursive section is employed when a change occurs to the blood flow velocity direction. | 02-21-2013 |
20130096433 | System and Method for Unattended Monitoring of Blood Flow - A system and method for unattended monitoring of blood flow using an array of transmitter elements configured to transmit acoustic signals along a transmission direction; an array of receiver elements configured to receive acoustic signals originating from the array of transmitter elements, wherein the array of transmitter elements is arranged approximately orthogonal to the array of receiver elements and wherein each receiver element is configured to provide an output signal; an electronics system comprising a transmitter control subsystem configured to adjust the transmission direction, a receiver control subsystem configured to selectively activate and deactivate receiver elements, thus defining an acoustic aperture, an analog adder circuit, and signal processing circuitry; a fastener to position the elements on a patient; and a processor in communication with the electronics system and configured to enable self-alignment of transmitted acoustic signals based on received acoustic signals and determine a blood flow parameter. | 04-18-2013 |
20130109968 | ULTRASONIC IMAGING DEVICE | 05-02-2013 |
20130116563 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - According to one embodiment, a first unit includes a first ultrasonic image generation unit generating a first ultrasonic image at a first processing speed and with a first processing function based on a reception signal, a connection unit detachably connecting the first unit to a second unit, and a connection detection unit detecting connection between the first and second units. The second unit includes a second ultrasonic image generation unit having a second processing speed faster than the first processing speed and a second processing function higher than the first processing function and generating a second ultrasonic image having larger data than the first ultrasonic image based on the reception signal upon detection of the connection. | 05-09-2013 |
20130144166 | MOTION DETECTION USING PING-BASED AND MULTIPLE APERTURE DOPPLER ULTRASOUND - A method of full-field or “ping-based” Doppler ultrasound imaging allows for detection of Doppler signals indicating moving reflectors at any point in an imaging field without the need to pre-define range gates. In various embodiments, such whole-field Doppler imaging methods may include transmitting a Doppler ping from a transmit aperture, receiving echoes of the Doppler ping with one or more separate receive apertures, detecting Doppler signals and determining the speed of moving reflectors. In some embodiments, the system also provides the ability to determine the direction of motion by solving a set of simultaneous equations based on echo data received by multiple receive apertures. | 06-06-2013 |
20130150717 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus according to an embodiment includes a processor, an image generator, a detector, and a controller. The processor is configured to acquire two-dimensional or three-dimensional blood flow information in time sequence in a scan range formed of a plurality of scan lines, from two-dimensional or three-dimensional echo data collected through ultrasound transmission/reception performed in the scan range. The image processor is configured to generate blood flow images in time sequence from the two-dimensional or three-dimensional blood flow information in time sequence in the scan range. The detector is configured to detect movement information in time sequence of speckles in a preset two-dimensional or three-dimensional region of interest, among the blood flow images in time sequence. The controller is configured to control a predetermined display to display movement information data that is data based on the movement information in time sequence. | 06-13-2013 |
20130165783 | PROVIDING MOTION MODE IMAGE IN ULTRASOUND SYSTEM - There are provided embodiments for providing a motion mode image corresponding to a motion of a target object. In one embodiment, by way of non-limiting example, an ultrasound system comprises: a user input unit configured to receive input information for setting a region of interest on a brightness mode image; and a processing unit configured to form the brightness mode image based on first ultrasound data corresponding to a target object and form vector information of the target object based on second ultrasound data corresponding to the target object, the processing unit being further configured to form a motion mode image including at least one of a brightness motion mode image and a color motion mode image based on the first ultrasound data and the vector information corresponding to the region of interest. | 06-27-2013 |
20130165784 | PROVIDING MOTION PROFILE INFORMATION OF TARGET OBJECT IN ULTRASOUND SYSTEM - There are provided embodiments for providing motion profile information corresponding to a motion of a target object by using vector Doppler. In one embodiment, by way of non-limiting example, an ultrasound system comprises: a processing unit configured to form vector information of a target object based on ultrasound data corresponding to the target object, form a Doppler mode image based on the vector information, and set a first region of interest on the Doppler mode image based on input information of a user, the processing unit being further configured to form motion profile information corresponding to the motion of the target object based on vector information corresponding to the first region of interest. | 06-27-2013 |
20130172744 | PROVIDING PARTICLE FLOW IMAGE IN ULTRASOUND SYSTEM - There are provided embodiments for providing a particle flow age for representing flow of at least one region of interest (more particularly, particle) by using vector Doppler. In one embodiment, by way of non-limiting example, an ultrasound system comprises: a processing unit configured to form vector information of a target object based on ultrasound data corresponding to the target object, form a Doppler mode image based on the vector information, and set at least one region of interest on the Doppler mode image based on input information of a user, the processing unit being further configured to form a flow image for representing flow of the at least one region of interest based on the vector information. | 07-04-2013 |
20130172745 | PROVIDING VECTOR DOPPLER IMAGE BASED ON DECISION DATA IN ULTRASOUND SYSTEM - There are provided embodiments for providing a vector Doppler image based on decision data. In one embodiment, by way of non-limiting example, an ultrasound system comprises: a processing unit configured to form vector information and additional information of a target object based on ultrasound data corresponding to the target object, wherein set decision data corresponding to the target object based on the additional information, the processing unit being further configured to form a vector Doppler mode image based on the decision data and the vector information. | 07-04-2013 |
20130184583 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS, MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - According to one embodiment, a ultrasonic transmission/reception unit transmits/receives ultrasonic waves to/from a subject through the ultrasonic probe and generates an echo signal relating to a scan surface. An image generation unit generates an ultrasonic image relating to the scan surface based on the echo signal. A filter executes filter processing with respect to the ultrasonic image and extracts image constituent elements. A feature information generation unit generates feature information indicative of an amount of change in number of the extracted image constituent elements with respect to a change in characteristics of the filter. | 07-18-2013 |
20130184584 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COMPUTERIZED ULTRASOUND IMAGE INTERPRETATION AND LABELING - A system for labeling medical ultrasound images includes a processor, an ultrasound probe, a display screen, an ultrasound image database, and a labeling module. The display screen is configured to display ultrasound images collected by the ultrasound probe. The ultrasound image database includes a plurality of stored ultrasound images. The labeling module is configured to compare the ultrasound images displayed on the display screen to the stored ultrasound images and automatically label the ultrasound images displayed on the display screen. | 07-18-2013 |
20130197365 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS CONTROL METHOD - In one embodiment, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus continuously generates driving signals by frequency-modulating waveforms having a plurality of center frequencies respectively assigned to orientation directions and multiplexing the waveforms and transmits continuous waves, and generates beam signals corresponding to the respective orientation directions by adding the respective echo signals and demultiplexing the signals for the respective center frequencies, demodulates beam signals corresponding to the respective orientation directions, frequency-analyzes the demodulated beam signals, calculates two-dimensional (beam direction and range direction) mapping of beam signals. | 08-01-2013 |
20130253320 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING TISSUE DOPPLER IMAGES - A method of obtaining a Doppler image of tissue, which is captured using an ultrasonic wave, the method including: transmitting an ultrasonic signal to a target object such that a plurality of ensembles are formed; receiving a ultrasonic response signal from the target object; filtering the received ultrasonic response signal by using a variable filter; estimating a frequency of the received ultrasonic response signal based on the filtered data; and generating the Doppler image of the tissue based on the estimated frequency. | 09-26-2013 |
20130261456 | VECTOR FLOW ULTRASOUND IMAGING - An ultrasound imaging console includes receive circuitry that receives a set of echoes produced in response to an ultrasound signal traversing blood flowing in a portion of a vessel in a field of view, a beamformer that beamforms the echoes, a velocity processor that determines flow direction and magnitude of the flowing blood based on the beamformed echoes, and a rendering engine that displays the determined flow direction and magnitude. | 10-03-2013 |
20130261457 | AUTOMATED IDENTIFICATION OF THE LOCATION OF A REGURGITANT ORIFICE OF A MITRAL VALVE IN AN ULTRASOUND IMAGE - An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system is described which quantifies regurgitant flow through a mitral valve, including the automatic indication of the location of a regurgitant orifice in an ultrasound image. A clinician images the regurgitant valve and indicates in the image the presumed location of the regurgitant orifice ( | 10-03-2013 |
20130261458 | ANALYSIS OF MITRAL REGURGITATION FROM SLIT ORIFICES BY ULTRASONIC IMAGING - An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system is described which quantifies regurgitant flow through a plurality of pinhole leaks or a slit leak of a mitral valve. A plurality of orifice locations of a leaking valve are identified and Doppler values obtained from a flow velocity field proximal each orifice. The Doppler values of each flow velocity field vectorially relating to the orifice location are processed to produce a measure of flow through the orifice. The flow measurements for a plurality of such orifices are summed to produce a quantified measure of regurgitant flow through a plurality of pinhole leaks or along a slit leak. | 10-03-2013 |
20130281855 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS AND CONTROLLING METHOD THEREFOR - In an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus according to an embodiment, a scan switching unit switches between scanning methods so as to perform a first scanning method by which an ultrasound wave is transmitted and received to and from each of a plurality of observation sites alternately once each if the depth on the scanning line in at least one of the observation sites is smaller than a threshold value and so as to perform a second scanning method by which an ultrasound wave is transmitted and received to and from each of the plurality of observation sites alternately in such a manner that an ultrasound wave is transmitted and received to and from at least one of the plurality of observation sites multiple times if the depth on the scanning line in the at least one of the observation sites is equal to or larger than the threshold value. | 10-24-2013 |
20130296703 | WALL FILTER FOR ULTRASONIC MITRAL REGURGITATION ANALYSIS - An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system is described which quantifies regurgitant flow through a mitral valve. Echo signals received by an ultrasound probe ( | 11-07-2013 |
20130303907 | Device and System For Imaging and Blood Flow Velocity Measurement - Apparatuses, systems, and methods for intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging and blood flow velocity measurement within a vessel using a rotational IVUS catheter are disclosed. The rotational IVUS catheter includes a transducer that is mounted to the catheter at an angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the catheter shaft, such that the imaging surface is substantially nonperpendicular to the angle of the blood flow. The IVUS imaging system includes the rotational IVUS catheter with the tilted transducer, sequencing hardware to generate a series of uniformly spaces transmit pulses and acquisitions per encoder pulse, and signal processing hardware to extract the phase from the ultrasound echo signals for velocity estimation at every pixel of the IVUS image. The system is configured to generate a hybrid IVUS image showing both structural and velocity characteristics of the vessel and the blood therein. | 11-14-2013 |
20130303908 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS CONTROL METHOD - According to one embodiment, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is configured to execute an imaging mode of alternately executing a continuous wave Doppler mode of acquiring time-series Doppler data by performing continuous wave transmission/reception with respect to an object and a B mode of acquiring tomogram data represented by luminance by transmitting and receiving a pulse wave to and from the object, the apparatus includes a data acquisition unit configured to acquire continuous wave Doppler data and the tomogram data by alternately executing the continuous wave Doppler mode and the B mode while switching the modes, and a display unit configured to simultaneously display Doppler spectrum information generated based on the continuous wave Doppler data and a tomogram generated based on the tomogram data. | 11-14-2013 |
20130345564 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - According to one embodiment, a transmission processing unit transmits, to a subject via the ultrasonic probe, ultrasonic waves corresponding to a Doppler mode and remaining modes. A reception processing unit receives the ultrasonic wave reflected by the subject via the ultrasonic probe as an echo signal. An ultrasonic image generation unit generates images in the Doppler mode and the remaining modes based on the echo signal. A control unit changes a ratio of transmission of the ultrasonic wave corresponding to the Doppler mode to transmission of the ultrasonic waves corresponding to the remaining modes in accordance with a degree of a pulsatory of the subject. | 12-26-2013 |
20140052001 | Mitral Valve Detection for Transthoracic Echocardiography - A mitral valve is detected in transthoracic echocardiography. The ultrasound transducer is positioned against the chest of the patient rather than being inserted within the patient. While data acquired from such scanning may be noisier or have less resolution, the mitral valve may still be automatically detected. Using both B-mode data representing tissue as well as flow data representing the regurgitant jet, the mitral valve may be detected automatically with a machine-learnt classifier. A series of classifiers may be used, such as determining a position and orientation of a valve region with one classifier, determining a regurgitant orifice with another classifier, and locating mitral valve anatomy with a third classifier. One or more features for some of the classifiers may be calculated based on the orientation of the valve region. | 02-20-2014 |
20140073923 | VELOCITY ESTIMATION FOR VECTOR FLOW IMAGING (VFI) IN ULTRASOUND - An ultrasound imaging system includes a transducer array, with an array of transducer elements that transmits an ultrasound signal and receives a set of echoes generated in response to the ultrasound signal traversing a flowing structure. The ultrasound imaging system further includes a beamformer that beamforms the set of echoes, generating a beamformed signal. The ultrasound imaging system further includes a pre-processor that performs basebanding, averaging and decimation of the beamformed signal and determines an autocorrelation of the basebanded, averaged and decimated beamformed signal. The ultrasound imaging system further includes a velocity processor that generates an axial velocity component signal and a lateral velocity component signal based on the autocorrelation. The axial and lateral velocity components indicate a direction and a speed of the flowing structure in the field of view. | 03-13-2014 |
20140073924 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MAKING AND USING ROTATIONAL TRANSDUCERS FOR CONCURRENTLY IMAGING BLOOD FLOW AND TISSUE - A method for generating a composite image using an intravascular imaging device includes receiving reflected echo signals from at least one transducer along a first of a plurality of radial scan lines. The received echo signals are passed through a plurality of signal processing channels to form a plurality of filtered signals. The filtered signals include a high-resolution tissue structure signal and at least one first pre-blood-flow-mask signal. High-resolution tissue structure signals are processed to form a high-resolution tissue structural image. First pre-blood-flow-mask signals are cross-correlated with second pre-blood-flow-mask signals from an adjacent radial scan line to form blood-flow-mask signals. Blood-flow-mask signals are processed to form a blood-flow mask. For each pixel of the composite image, it is determined whether to use a corresponding pixel of the high-resolution tissue structural image or a corresponding pixel of the cross-correlated blood flow mask to generate the composite image pixel. | 03-13-2014 |
20140081141 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS - In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment, a separator separates an arbitrary region of a displayed object represented from image data, in a depth direction, based on a characterizing quantity included in the image data. An image generation controller generates an image to be displayed in which depth direction information is reflected on the arbitrary region of the displayed object, separated by the separator. A display controller causes a monitor being capable of providing a stereoscopic vision to display the image to be displayed generated by the image generation controller. | 03-20-2014 |
20140107484 | METHOD FOR DISPLAYING ULTRASOUND IMAGE USING DOPPLER DATA AND ULTRASOUND MEDICAL APPARATUS THERETO - Color values of a Doppler image or Doppler data is considered together with a guideline displayed in the Doppler image, and thus a moving direction of a target body may be easily determined. Furthermore, by displaying a marker indicating a moving direction of the target body in the Doppler image, movement of the target body may be easily and efficiently recognized by using the guideline and the marker. | 04-17-2014 |
20140148699 | ULTRASONIC PROBE APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - An ultrasonic probe apparatus includes an ultrasound transceiver adapted to receive ultrasonic echo signals reflected after transmitting unfocused or defocused ultrasonic signals having a first frame rate; a converter adapted to convert ultrasonic echo signals received by the ultrasound transceiver into digital signals; an image processor adapted to generate a plurality of image data by processing the digital signals; a combiner adapted to combine the plurality of image data having a first frame rate into a plurality of composite image data having a second frame rate; and a transmitter adapted to transmit the plurality of composite image data having the second frame rate. | 05-29-2014 |
20140213905 | ULTRASOUND SYSTEM WITH DYNAMICALLY AUTOMATED DOPPLER FLOW SETTINGS AS A SAMPLE VOLUME IS MOVED - An ultrasound system performs duplex colorflow and spectral Doppler imaging, with the spectral Doppler interrogation performed at a sample volume location shown on the colorflow image. The colorflow image is displayed in a color box overlaid on a co-registered B mode image. A color box position and steering angle processor analyzes the spatial Doppler data and automatically sets the color box angle and location over a blood vessel for optimal Doppler sensitivity and accuracy. The processor may also automatically set the flow angle correction cursor in alignment with the direction of flow. In a preferred embodiment these optimization adjustments are made automatically and continuously as a user pauses at points for Doppler measurements along a length of the blood vessel. | 07-31-2014 |
20140257103 | Three Dimensional (3D) Transverse Oscillation Vector Velocity Ultrasound Imaging - An ultrasound imaging system ( | 09-11-2014 |
20140276057 | METHOD OF PROVIDING COPY IMAGE AND ULTRASOUND APPARATUS THEREFOR - A method of providing a copy image of a portion of an ultrasound includes displaying an ultrasound image on a first area of a touch screen; receiving a touch input with respect to the ultrasound image; extracting a partial image corresponding to the touch input from the ultrasound image; and displaying a copy image of the partial image on a second area of the touch screen that is different from the first area on which the ultrasound image is displayed. | 09-18-2014 |
20140336510 | Enhancement in Diagnostic Ultrasound Spectral Doppler Imaging - Spectral Doppler imaging is enhanced. The boundary between noise and signal is determined in each spectrum. The boundary is used to differentiate noise from signal. The noise level is reduced and/or the signal level is increased in the respective regions of the spectrum, providing more distinguishable regions. | 11-13-2014 |
20140357999 | COLOR FLOW ULTRASOUND IMAGING - An ultrasound imaging system includes an ultrasound transducer array that receives a set of echo signals produced in response to an ultrasound signal traversing flowing structure in a portion of a tubular structure of an object or subject in an imaging field of view, an image processor that processes the set of echo signals and generates an structure image, a color flow processor that processes the set of echo signals and generates a color flow image indicative of a flow of the flowing structure in the portion of the tubular structure, including a flow direction and a flow magnitude of the flowing structure, a color flow corrector that corrects the color flow image for at least one of color noise artifact or color flash artifact, producing a corrected color flow image, and a video processor that displays the structure image and the corrected color flow image superimposed over the structure image. | 12-04-2014 |
20140358000 | AUTOMATED DOPPLER PULSE CYCLE SELECTION | 12-04-2014 |
20140378834 | Continuous Transmit Focusing Method and Apparatus for Ultrasound Imaging System - 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. | 12-25-2014 |
20140378835 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment includes an acquiring unit and a detecting unit. The acquiring unit acquires fluid volume data representing fluid information related to a fluid flowing through a scan region that is a region three-dimensionally scanned by ultrasonic. The detecting unit detects a region that is a fluid existing region in the scanned region using the fluid information, and detects an inner cavity region of a lumen in volume data to be applied with image processing using the region thus detected. | 12-25-2014 |
20150045666 | Systems and Methods for Processing Ultrasound Color Flow Mapping - In one aspect, the invention relates to an ultrasound imaging system that includes an ultrasound receiver configured to receive ultrasound signals scattered from a sample in real time; an acoustic beam former; and an ultrasound data demodulation system. In one embodiment, the ultrasound imaging system further includes a processing system configured to process demodulated scan data and perform ultrasound image generation and flow processing and a display configured to show ultrasound image data and blood flow velocity data relative to such image data. Signals that include positive flow information and negative flow information are separated from received signals using phase-filters and analytic signal transforms such that a first and a second autocorrelation signal processing stage is used to generate mean positive flow, mean negative flow, and variance data for such flows. | 02-12-2015 |
20150057544 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS, ULTRASOUND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM - An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus includes an ultrasound image acquirer, an evaluation target determiner, a disease progression score calculator, a selector, and a display controller. The ultrasound image acquirer acquires ultrasound image signals of a plurality of frames. The evaluation target determiner analyzes the ultrasound image signal of each frame and determines the frame to be an evaluation target frame when the ultrasound image signal includes a target image section depicting a joint. The disease progression score calculator calculates, for each evaluation target frame, a disease progression score quantifying disease activity using an ultrasound image signal of the target image section included in the ultrasound image signal of the evaluation target frame. The selector selects at least one disease progression score in accordance with a predetermined numerical process. The display controller controls the display to display the selected disease progression score and an ultrasound image of a corresponding frame. | 02-26-2015 |
20150094582 | ULTRASOUND IMAGE CAPTURE DEVICE AND ULTRASOUND IMAGE CAPTURE METHOD - The present invention obtains certainty of the blood-flow velocity information that is estimated in the blood-flow mapping display. The signal processor in the ultrasound imager is provided with a Doppler velocity operation part configured to calculate a Doppler velocity from echo signals by using the Doppler effect, and a first blood-flow velocity operation part configured to generate a tissue tomographic image from the echo signals and calculate a blood-flow velocity of a predetermined portion from a motion of the tissue, on the basis of the tissue tomographic image. It is further provided with a second blood-flow velocity operation part configured to calculate the blood-flow velocity of the predetermined portion by using the Doppler velocity calculated by the Doppler velocity operation part. Then, a coincidence degree is calculated between the blood-flow velocity calculated by the first velocity operation part and the blood-flow velocity calculated by the second velocity operation part, as to the predetermined portion, and according to the coincidence degree, certainty/reliability of the blood-flow velocity information is obtained and displayed. | 04-02-2015 |
20150133786 | Responsive power saving in ultrasound - Responsive power saving is provided for ultrasound imaging, such as in portable ultrasound systems. By reducing scan line density in response to removal of a transducer from a patient, power usage may be reduced while still monitoring for return of the transducer to the patient. By disabling the display, power usage may be reduced while still monitoring for return of the transducer to the patient. All or most electronics not associated with monitoring for the return of the transducer to the patient may be disabled or not used to conserve power. | 05-14-2015 |
20150133787 | SPREAD SPECTRUM CODED WAVEFORMS IN ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTICS - Techniques, systems, and devices are disclosed for ultrasound diagnostics using spread spectrum, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms. In one aspect, a method includes synthesizing individual orthogonal coded waveforms to form a composite waveform for transmission toward a biological material of interest, in which the synthesized individual orthogonal coded waveforms correspond to distinct frequency bands and include one or both of frequency-coded or phase-coded waveforms; transmitting a composite acoustic waveform toward the biological material of interest, in which the transmitting includes transducing the individual orthogonal coded waveforms into corresponding acoustic waveforms to form the composite acoustic waveform; receiving returned acoustic waveforms that are returned from at least part of the biological material of interest corresponding to at least some of the transmitted acoustic waveforms that form the composite acoustic waveform; and processing the received returned acoustic waveforms to produce an image of at least part of the biological material of interest. | 05-14-2015 |
20150141824 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING ULTRASOUND IMAGE - A method of displaying an ultrasound image may improve the accuracy of disease diagnosis by enabling a user to recognize an accurate direction of a bloodstream. The method includes: obtaining first Doppler data that is generated by transmitting an ultrasound signal to an object and receiving an echo signal reflected from the object by using a probe; displaying a sound source marker at a first position on a screen; and generating and displaying a first color Doppler image from the first Doppler data in consideration of the first position. | 05-21-2015 |
20150320388 | PORTABLE ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - A portable ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has an ultrasonic probe, and a main body including a display unit provided on a front surface of the main body. An input device is provided at a rear surface of the main body to receive user command information from a user, which allows the user to operate the portable ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus with a hand that is gripping the portable ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. The apparatus may be used by moving the ultrasonic probe in contact with a surface of an object, sending ultrasonic signals from the object surface, receiving reflected ultrasonic signals from the object, and converting the ultrasonic signals into electrical signals. | 11-12-2015 |
20150342565 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - According to embodiment, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes transmission/reception circuitry transmitting/receiving an ultrasonic wave to/from an object via a piezoelectric transducer, ultrasonic image generation circuitry generating a series of ultrasonic images along a time series based on an output from the transmission/reception circuitry, specifying information generation circuitry generating predetermined specifying information concerning each of the series of ultrasonic images, selection circuitry selecting a color Doppler image from the series of ultrasonic images based on the specifying information in response to a predetermined operation during display of the series of ultrasonic images, and storage circuitry storing the selected color Doppler image. | 12-03-2015 |
20160000408 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS AND CONTROLLING METHOD - An ultrasound diagnosis apparatus according to an embodiment includes index image data generating circuitry and controlling circuitry. The index image data generating circuitry is configured to generate index image data indicating a relative positional relationship between extending direction information and information indicating a scanned position by an ultrasound wave transmitted from an ultrasound probe, wherein the extending direction information indicates a blood vessel extending direction and is generated on a basis of volume data representing a three-dimensional region that includes at least a part of the blood vessel region of a subject. The controlling circuitry is configured to cause a monitor to display the index image data. | 01-07-2016 |
20160007955 | ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS | 01-14-2016 |
20160015366 | ULTRASOUND VECTOR FLOW IMAGING (VFI) WITH CURVE TRACING - An ultrasound imaging system ( | 01-21-2016 |
20160051233 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING VARIABLE ULTRASOUND ARRAY PROCESSING IN A POST-STORAGE MODE - An ultrasonic imaging method includes activating a transmit aperture within a multi-element transducer array, transmitting one or more ultrasonic beams along scan direction(s) that span the region of interest, for each transmit event, receiving ultrasound echoes from each element of a receive aperture, grouping the receive channel echo data into two or more sets corresponding to different receive sub-apertures, combining each sub-aperture data set to generate partially focused echo-location data for one or more reconstruction lines, and storing all the sub-aperture echo data sets during a storage period in a format that can be retrieved for later analysis. A method includes, during a post-storage period, retrieving stored sub-aperture data, combining the sub-aperture data to form one or more selected reconstruction lines, processing echo data to extract motion information from one or more sample positions along the selected reconstruction lines, and displaying an image representative of the processed motion information. | 02-25-2016 |
20160074010 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR AUTOMATIC SETTING OF COLOR FLOW STEERING ANGLE - Systems and methods for automatically controlling a color flow steering angle during ultrasonic color flow imaging are provided. In one embodiment, a method for ultrasound imaging comprises automatically adjusting a color flow steering angle responsive to an adjustment of a focal depth setting. In this way, a sensitivity to color flow data may be increased by maintaining a constant overlap between a color flow image and a B-mode image, thereby increasing the accuracy of color flow imaging. | 03-17-2016 |
20160089114 | ULTRASOUND SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM FOR PROVIDING DOPPLER IMAGE - An ultrasound system, a method, and a computer-readable storage medium for providing a Doppler image of blood flow and a Doppler image of tissue movement are disclosed. The ultrasound system includes an ultrasound probe, a processor, and a display section. The ultrasound probe is configured to transmit ultrasound signals into a target object having blood flow and tissue, and receive ultrasound echo signals reflected from the target object. The processor is configured to acquire ultrasound data based on the ultrasound echo signals, generate a first Doppler image of the blood flow based on the ultrasound data, perform down-sampling on the ultrasound data to obtain down-sampled ultrasound data, and generate a second Doppler image indicating movement of the tissue based on the down-sampled ultrasound data. The display section is configured to display the first and second Doppler images. | 03-31-2016 |
20160113631 | ULTRASOUND IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS AND ULTRASOUND IMAGE PICKUP METHOD - The invention provides an ultrasound image pickup apparatus and an ultrasound image pickup method which can evaluate the stability of Doppler information acquired by Doppler ultrasonography and can observe a moving state of biological tissues (heart or a blood vessel) of an object based on the stabilized Doppler information. The ultrasound image pickup apparatus of the invention includes: a probe which transmits and receives an ultrasound signal to and from an object; a Doppler information generation unit which generates Doppler information from the ultrasound signal; a degree of approximation calculation unit which calculates a degree of approximation of the plurality of Doppler information items; and an approximate Doppler information acquisition unit which acquires the Doppler information having a predetermined degree of approximation as approximate Doppler information. | 04-28-2016 |
20160120607 | ULTRASONIC IMAGING DEVICE FOR EXAMINING SUPERFICIAL SKIN STRUCTURES DURING SURGICAL AND DERMATOLOGICAL PROCEDURES - An ultrasonic imaging system for indicating blood vessels of a human body includes an ultrasonic imaging module, a display module, a marking module, and processing module operatively coupled to the ultrasonic imaging module, the display module, and the marking module. The processing module is configured to obtain, using the ultrasonic imaging module, ultrasonic images corresponding to a portion of the human body; present, using the display module, the ultrasonic images, where the ultrasonic images depict one or more blood vessels of the human body; determine that the ultrasonic imaging system is aligned according to a particular blood vessel depicted in the ultrasonic images; and upon determining that the ultrasonic imaging system is aligned according to the particular blood vessel depicted in the ultrasonic images, apply, using the marking module, a marking substance to a surface of the human body. The marking substance is applied to a point immediately above the particular blood vessel. | 05-05-2016 |
20160128673 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSIS METHOD AND ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS - Provided are an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus and an ultrasound diagnosis method that provide to a user an ultrasound image which is easy to recognize. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus includes a probe, an ultrasound transmitter configured to transmit ultrasound waves to an object by using the probe, an ultrasound receiver configured to generate ultrasound data based on reflection waves corresponding to the transmitted ultrasound waves, a bio-signal obtaining unit configured to obtain bio-signals that are periodically generated, a data processor configured to obtain first loop image data and second loop image data based on the ultrasound data, and an image generator configured to generate combined data by combining the first loop image data and the second loop image based on the bio-signals. | 05-12-2016 |
20160135782 | FINGER JOINT ULTRASOUND IMAGING - A method of acquiring ultrasound images for a rheumatoid arthritis examination comprises receiving a hand in a scanning assembly including a transducer array and a fluid providing an acoustic coupling between the transducer array and the hand and identifying locations of a plurality of finger joints of the hand while the hand is held stationary in the scanning assembly. Ultrasound images of the plurality of finger joints are acquired with the transducer array while the hand is held stationary in the scanning assembly, wherein the ultrasound images are of an area less than an entire area of the hand based on the identified locations of the finger joints of the hand. | 05-19-2016 |
20160157829 | MEDICAL IMAGING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF GENERATING MEDICAL IMAGE - Provided are a medical imaging apparatus and a method of generating a medical image that are capable of generating a Doppler image by using a Doppler effect as well as an ultrasound image. The method of generating a medical image includes: acquiring received signals; acquiring an ultrasound image and displaying the acquired ultrasound image; acquiring a Doppler signal corresponding to a sample volume that is set on the ultrasound image, based on the received signals; generating a Doppler image based on the Doppler signal and displaying the generated Doppler image; receiving a user input for moving a location of the sample volume; and suspending, if the user input is received, the displaying of the Doppler image and updating the ultrasound image. | 06-09-2016 |
20160183918 | ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS, WEARABLE DEVICE, METHOD OF CONTROLLING ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS, METHOD OF CONTROLLING WEARABLE DEVICE, AND RECORDING MEDIUM HAVING METHODS RECORDED THEREON - Provided is an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus including: an image processor configured to acquire ultrasound data of an object; a controller configured to generate a wearable signal carrying information corresponding to a difference between the acquired ultrasound data and reference ultrasound data; and a communication module configured to transmit the wearable signal to a wearable device. The wearable signal is acquired by comparing the ultrasound data with the reference ultrasound data and includes information about the difference between the ultrasound data and the reference ultrasound data. | 06-30-2016 |