Ultrasound imaging method and apparatus with dynamic non-linear filtering
US5396285A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 7, 1993 |
| Grant date | Mar 7, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 7, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N2291/02491
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for enhancing the clarity of and the diagnostic information in real-time B-mode and M-mode ultrasound displays including a beamformer for acquiring ultrasound receive signals for each ultrasound scan line of a two-dimensional image and processing the receive signals for each ultrasound scan line into detected and filtered video signals for storage in scan line acquisition memory with programmable dynamically variable non-linear filters for processing the video signals with continuously and automatically varying filter responses over a range of low and high pass responses followed by scan converting and display of the non-linearly processed video signals. The non-linear filters may process video signals in range along each ultrasound scan line or azimuthally along multiple ultrasound scan lines of a two-dimensional B-mode image. The non-linear filters also can be two-dimensionally programmable for processing video signals both in range along each ultrasound scan line and azimuthally along multiple ultrasound scan lines over regions of a two-dimensional B-mode image. The non-linear filter may be responsive to a local signal measurement and to spatial positions i…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.