Phased array acoustic systems with intra-group processors
US6126602A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 17, 1999 |
| Grant date | Oct 3, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 17, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01S15/899
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The disclosed ultrasound imaging apparatus and method use a transducer array with a very large number of transducer elements or a transducer array with many more transducer elements than beamformer channels. The imaging apparatus includes a transmit array including a multiplicity of transducer elements allocated into several transmit sub-arrays, and a receive array including a multiplicity of transducer elements allocated into several receive sub-arrays. The apparatus also includes several intra-group transmit processors, connected to the transmit sub-arrays, constructed and arranged to generate a transmit acoustic beam directed into a region of interest, and several intra-group receive processors connected to the receive sub-arrays. Each intra-group receive processor is arranged to receive, from the transducer elements of the connected sub-array, transducer signals in response to echoes from the transmit acoustic beam. Each intra-group receive processor includes delay and summing elements constructed to delay and sum the received transducer signals. The apparatus also includes a receive beamformer including several processing channels connected to the intra-group receive processor…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.