Sparse two-dimensional wideband ultrasound transducer arrays
US5911692A · kind A · utility
67Cited by
2References
12Claims
0Family size
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 20, 1998 |
| Grant date | Jun 15, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 20, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB06B1/0622
- WIPO fieldChemical engineering
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
An ultrasonic imaging system employs a thinned array of transducer elements in order to reduce the number of signal processing channels. The transducer elements are reduced in number and then selectively located at grid positions in a pattern which reduces the sidelobe levels produced by the array. Thinning is accomplished by discretizing the aperture of the transducer array in two steps. First, a continuous aperture is discretized as a set of concentric rings. Then each ring is replaced by a set of spaced transducer elements. A zero sampling technique is used to determine the number of elements on each ring.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.