Acoustic data acquisition/playback system and method
US6263094A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 2, 1999 |
| Grant date | Jul 17, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 2, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01S7/52026
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An acoustic data acquisition/playback system and method enable acquisition of acoustic data from an ultrasound imaging system and subsequent substantially real time playback of the acoustic data in the same system or a different system. Acoustic data is acquired at a particular data rate from a signal processing pipeline associated with the ultrasound imaging system during an image acquisition session wherein the acoustic data is produced by exposing a body to ultrasound signals. The acquired data is preferably acquired early in the pipeline so that it is completely raw (e.g., RF, IP, pre-beamformed, post-beamformed, pre-video, etc.), but it could be partially processed. Raw data or near raw data allows for greater flexibility in later signal processing. The acoustic data is stored during the session in a nonvolatile memory, which can optionally be removable. Next, at a time after the image acquisition session, the acoustic data is introduced into a signal processing system (the same ultrasound imaging system or a different signal processing system altogether) from the nonvolatile memory at least at the date rate that it was acquired, in order to produce a real time image for a rev…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.