Ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus including simple digital scan converter
US5902244A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 22, 1997 |
| Grant date | May 11, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 22, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01S7/52046
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus comprises a probe having a plurality of transducers for performing transmission/reception of ultrasonic waves; a selection circuit for sequentially selecting the transducers for performing transmission/reception of ultrasonic waves; and an A/D converter for converting a reception waveform signal from the transducer selected by the selection circuit into a digital waveform signal. The apparatus also includes a memory for storing the digital waveform signal converted by the A/D converter in correspondence with the selected transducer; and a read control circuit having a wavefront locus address generator for generating a wavefront locus data corresponding to time-of-flight data between each point in an ultrasonic scanning region and respective transducers to synthesize a wavefront converging on a point in the ultrasonic scanning region (including points which are not located on lines normal to the radiating surfaces of the transducers). The apparatus also includes an output unit for outputting the wavefront locus data to the memory as a read address in order to read waveform samples along the wavefront; and a synthesis circuit for synthesizing the wav…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.