Patent application number | Description | Published |
20120243369 | SUBJECT INFORMATION ACQUISITION APPARATUS AND SUBJECT INFORMATION ACQUISITION METHOD - A subject information acquisition apparatus includes: an acoustic wave detector which detects an acoustic wave which is generated from a subject by irradiating light and outputs a detection signal; an amplifier which amplifies the detection signal which is output from the acoustic wave detector; a gain control unit which changes a gain of the amplifier as time elapses, according to a gain control table, in order to correct a drop in intensity of the acoustic wave caused by attenuation of fluence inside the subject; and a signal processing unit which obtains information inside the subject based on the signal amplified by the amplifier. Measurement under a plurality of measurement conditions, where at least fluence distribution inside the subject or a position of the acoustic wave detector differs, is possible, and the gain control unit changes the gain control table according to the measurement conditions. | 09-27-2012 |
20120296192 | PHOTOACOUSTIC IMAGING APPARATUS AND PHOTOACOUSTIC IMAGING METHOD - The present invention provides a photoacoustic imaging apparatus, having: a light source; a plurality of detecting elements for detecting an acoustic wave generated from a surface of an object and a light absorber inside the object, and converting the acoustic wave into a detection signal; and a signal processor for generating image data based on detection signals detected, wherein the signal processor has: a Fourier transformer for performing Fourier transform, in a spatial direction, on the signals detected at a same receiving time so as to obtain spatial frequency signals; and an inverse-Fourier transformer for performing inverse Fourier-transform after reducing components exhibiting less than a predetermined frequency from among the spatial frequency signals so as to obtain second signals, the signal processor generating image data using the second signals. | 11-22-2012 |
20120302866 | PHOTOACOUSTIC IMAGING APPARATUS AND PHOTOACOUSTIC IMAGING METHOD - A photoacoustic imaging apparatus includes a detector that outputs detection signals by detecting acoustic waves generated at surfaces and an inner portion of a sample by irradiating the sample with light; and a signal processing unit that generates image data using the detection signal. The signal processing unit calculates an average sound speed in the inner portion of the sample by using the detection signal of the acoustic wave generated at the surface of the sample and propagated through the inner portion of the sample, and generates the image data using the average sound speed and the detection signal of the acoustic wave generated at the inner portion of the sample. | 11-29-2012 |
20130245420 | SUBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING DEVICE AND SUBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING METHOD - A subject information acquiring device which has: an light absorbing member provided outside a subject; a light source radiating pulsed light on the subject and the light absorbing member; a detector detecting an acoustic wave produced from the subject and the light absorbing member by means of the pulsed light; and a signal processing unit acquiring subject information using a detection signal, and the signal processing unit calculates a second detection signal by specifying a signal resulting from an acoustic wave produced from the light absorbing member in a first detection signal, acquiring impulse response data using the specified signal, and deconvoluting the first detection signal using the impulse response data, and acquires the subject information using the second detection signal, can reduce image deterioration due to probe characteristics even when an impulse response of a probe is not measured in advance in a photoacoustic tomography. | 09-19-2013 |
20140018659 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS AND OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING METHOD - An object information acquiring apparatus, comprising: a plurality of detecting elements which detect an acoustic wave generated from an object irradiated with light and convert the acoustic wave into detection signals; a signal determining unit which determines a detection signal detected by a detecting element which is not in acoustic contact with the object, of the plurality of detecting elements; a signal acquisition unit which generates a corrected detection signal by deleting at least a region which is not based on an acoustic wave generated from the interior of the object, from the determined detection signal; and an image processor which forms image data of the object from a detection signal detected by a detecting element which is in acoustic contact with the object and from the corrected detection signal. | 01-16-2014 |
20140046165 | SPECIMEN INFORMATION ACQUISITION APPARATUS AND METHOD THEREFOR - There is provided a specimen information acquisition apparatus that can obtain an image in which an influence of a local fluence distribution in a specimen is reduced. A signal processing apparatus includes a region extraction unit and an optical constant estimation unit. The region extraction unit extracts two or more regions that have a known absorption coefficient, from an optical characteristic value distribution of the specimen. The optical constant estimation unit estimates an optical constant of a background of the specimen by using optical characteristic values of the two or more regions extracted by the region extraction unit and a local fluence distribution obtained from an optical constant which is set in advance for the specimen background. | 02-13-2014 |
20140058245 | MEASURING APPARATUS - A measuring apparatus is provided including a holding unit holding an object, an acoustic detecting unit including at least one detector which receives, via the holding unit, an acoustic wave generated from the object to which light is irradiated and converts the acoustic wave into an electrical signal, and a processor which generates image data of the object by using the electrical signal based on the acoustic wave received by the acoustic detecting unit at first and second measurement locations, wherein the acoustic detecting unit is arranged so as to form an overlapped area that is thicker than the object in a normal direction of an interface between the holding unit and the object as a result of the effective receiving areas of the detector in the first and second measurement locations overlapping in the object. | 02-27-2014 |
20140066744 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS - An object information acquiring apparatus according to the present invention has: a light source emitting light; a holding member holding an object; a probe receiving an acoustic wave, generated by the object when the light is irradiated on the object via the holding member, and outputting a received signal; and a signal processor acquiring information extracted from the object by using the received signal, wherein a region of the holding member that comes into contact with the object is configured as a non-uniform region that is a region where a normal direction of a tangential plane between the holding member and the object is not constant. | 03-06-2014 |
20140235993 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR - An object information acquiring apparatus includes a probe configured to detect a photoacoustic wave generated from an object irradiated with light, a signal collector configured to generate a first detection signal from the photoacoustic wave, a signal processor configured to generate, from the first detection signal, a second detection signal in which a component having a phase inverted from the phase of a component deriving from the photoacoustic wave is reduced, by using a differential signal of an impulse response of the probe, and an image generator configured to generate image data on the inside of the object using the second detection signal. | 08-21-2014 |
20140286549 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - Provided is an object information acquiring apparatus having: a light source; a probe that converts an acoustic wave generated from an object, onto which light is irradiated from the light source, into a detection signal; and a signal processor that obtains characteristic information inside the object based on the detection signal, wherein the signal processor obtains the characteristic information using information regarding a characteristic structure of a measurement target inside the object. | 09-25-2014 |
20140360271 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS - An object information acquiring apparatus comprises a light irradiation unit that irradiates an object with light; an acoustic probe that receives an acoustic wave generated within the object; a first data processing unit that generates a first image representing information within the object, on the basis of an acoustic wave received by the acoustic probe; a template acquisition unit that divides the first image into a plurality of regions on the basis of a spatial resolution within the image, and acquires a plurality of pieces of template data according to characteristics of each region after division; and a second data processing unit that performs deconvolution processing using corresponding template data with respect to each of the regions after division to generate a second image. | 12-11-2014 |
20150049581 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUISITION APPARATUS, OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUISITION METHOD AND PROGRAM - An object information acquisition apparatus includes: a plurality of acoustic wave detecting elements configured to detect an photoacoustic wave generated when an object is irradiated with light and output time-series detection signals; a member disposed outside the object; and a signal processing unit configured to acquire optical property information inside the object by performing image reconstruction through iterative reconstruction method in accordance with the time-series detection signals and an operand for which a response of the photoacoustic wave deriving from the member has been considered. | 02-19-2015 |