Ultrasound diagnosis apparatus and method of operating the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11331083-B2
Application number	US-201816159127-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 12, 2018
Priority date	Oct 16, 2017
Publication date	May 17, 2022
Grant date	May 17, 2022

Abstract

An ultrasound diagnosis apparatus includes: a high voltage power source; a transmission circuit to receive power from the high voltage power source, generate a pulse generating an ultrasound wave, and apply the ultrasound wave to a probe in the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus; a power circuit to receive the power from the high voltage power source and charge a capacitor with electric energy when the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus operates in a shear wave mode, and supply, to the transmission circuit, shear wave mode power used for generating a shear wave, based on the electric energy; and a processor to control the power circuit to supply the shear wave mode power when the shear wave mode is in operation, and control the high voltage power source and the power circuit such that insufficient power of the shear wave mode power is supplied from the high voltage power source to the transmission circuit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An ultrasound diagnosis apparatus comprising:
a high voltage power source;
a transmission circuit configured to receive power from the high voltage power source, generate a pulse generating an ultrasound wave, and apply the ultrasound wave to a probe in the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus;
a power circuit configured to receive the power from the high voltage power source and be charged with electric energy when the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus operates in a shear wave mode, and supply, to the transmission circuit, shear wave mode power used for generating a shear wave, based on the electric energy; and
a processor configured to control the power circuit configured to supply the shear wave mode power when the shear wave mode is in operation,
wherein the processor is further configured to control the high voltage power source and the power circuit such that insufficient power of the shear wave mode power is supplied from the high voltage power source to the transmission circuit and the shear wave mode power is constantly supplied to the transmission circuit to prevent distortion of a pulse for generating the shear wave.

2. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus of claim 1 , wherein when the electric energy stored in the power circuit is reduced when the shear wave mode power is supplied from the power circuit to the transmission circuit, the processor is further configured to control the high voltage power source and the power circuit such that the insufficient power supplied from the high voltage power source increases.

3. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the power circuit comprises:
a capacitor charged with the electric energy for supplying the shear wave mode power;
a constant current circuit connected with the high voltage power source, and configured to supply the electric energy for supplying the shear wave mode power to the capacitor;
a first switch configured to control a connection between the constant current circuit and the capacitor; and
a second switch configured to control a connection between the capacitor and the transmission circuit.

4. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the processor is further configured to control the power circuit such that the connection between the constant current circuit and the capacitor is cut off by turning off the first switch, and the capacitor is connected with the transmission circuit by turning on the second switch, to supply the shear wave mode power to the transmission circuit based on the electric energy stored in the capacitor.

5. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the processor is further configured to control the power circuit such that the constant current circuit is connected with the capacitor by turning on the first switch, and the connection between the capacitor and the transmission circuit is cut off by turning off the second switch, to charge the capacitor with the electric energy based on a current supplied from the constant current circuit.

6. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the power circuit further comprises a discharging circuit configured to discharge the electric energy stored in the capacitor.

7. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the discharging circuit comprises a third switch configured to control a connection between the capacitor and a ground, and when the shear wave mode ends or an operation of charging the capacitor with the electric energy is not performed, the processor is further configured to control the discharging circuit such that the capacitor is connected with the ground by turning on the third switch to discharge the electric energy stored in the capacitor.

8. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transmission circuit is further configured to generate the pulse for generating the shear wave by using the shear wave mode power and applies the pulse to the probe.

9. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to control the probe such that the shear wave is transmitted to an object, an echo signal of the shear wave, reflected from the object, is received to calculate a propagation velocity of the shear wave, and an elasticity image is generated.

10. The ultrasound diagnosis apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to control the power circuit such that the electric energy stored in the power circuit is supplied to the transmission circuit when the shear wave mode is in operation, and control the power circuit such that the electric energy stored in the power circuit is not supplied to the transmission circuit when a mode other than the shear wave mode is in operation.

11. A method of operating an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus for generating a shear wave, the method comprising:
controlling a power circuit in the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus such that power supplied from a high voltage power source in the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus is stored as electric energy when the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus operates in a shear wave mode, and shear wave mode power used for generating the shear wave is supplied to a transmission circuit in the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus, based on the electric energy;
controlling the high voltage power source and the power circuit such that insufficient power of the shear wave mode power is supplied to the transmission circuit when the shear wave mode is in operation and the shear wave mode power is constantly supplied to the transmission circuit to prevent distortion of a pulse for generating the shear wave; and
controlling the transmission circuit to generate the pulse for generating the shear wave by using the shear wave mode power, and apply the pulse to a probe in the ultrasound diagnosis apparatus.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the controlling of the high voltage power source such that the insufficient power of the shear wave mode power is supplied to the transmission circuit comprises:
controlling the high voltage power source and the power circuit such that when the electric energy stored in the power circuit is reduced when the shear wave mode power is supplied from the power circuit to the transmission circuit, the insufficient power supplied from the high voltage power source increases.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the power circuit comprises:
a capacitor to charge the electric energy for supplying the shear wave mode power;
a constant current circuit connected with the high voltage power source, and configured to supply the electric energy for supplying the shear wave mode power to the capacitor;
a first switch configured to control a connection between the constant current circuit and the capacitor; and
a second switch configured to control a connection between the capacitor and the transmission circuit.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the controlling of the power circuit such that the shear wave mode power is supplied to the transmission circuit comprises:
controlling the power circuit such that the connection between the constant current circuit and the capacitor is cut off by turning off the first switch, and the capacitor is connected with the transmission circuit by turning on the second switch.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the controlling of the power circuit such that the shear wave mode power is supplied to the transmission circuit comprises: controlling the power circuit such that the capacitor is charged with the electric energy.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the controlling of the power circu

Assignees

• Samsung Medison Co Ltd

Inventors

• Lee Sang-Mok
• Hyeon Yong-Cheol

Classifications

• G01S7/5202

  for pulse systems · CPC title

• G01S7/52042

  determining elastic properties of the propagation medium or of the reflective target (diagnostic techniques involving the measurement of strain A61B8/485) · CPC title

• A61B8/54

  Control of the diagnostic device · CPC title

• A61B8/4405

  Device being mounted on a trolley · CPC title

• A61B8/485

  involving measuring strain or elastic properties · CPC title