3-d flow estimation using row-column addressed transducer arrays

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016206285-A1
Application number	US-201514599857-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 19, 2015
Priority date	Jan 19, 2015
Publication date	Jul 21, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An ultrasound system includes a 2-D transducer array and a velocity processor. The 2-D transducer array includes a first 1-D array of one or more rows of transducing elements configured to produce first ultrasound data. The 2-D transducer array further includes a second 1-D array of one or more columns of transducing elements configured to produce second ultrasound data. The first and second 1-D arrays are configured for row-column addressing. The velocity processor processes the first and the second ultrasound data, producing 3-D vector flow data. The 3-D vector flow data includes an axial component, a first lateral component transverse to the axial component, and a second lateral component transverse to the axial component and the first lateral component.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An ultrasound system, comprising:
a 2-D transducer array, including:
a first 1-D array of one or more rows of transducing elements configured to produce first ultrasound data; and
a second 1-D array of one or more columns of transducing elements ( 208 ) configured to produce second ultrasound data,
wherein the first and second 1-D arrays are configured for row-column addressing; and
a velocity processor that processes the first and the second ultrasound data, producing 3-D vector flow data, including: an axial component, a first lateral component transverse to the axial component, and a second lateral component transverse to the axial component and the first lateral component.

2 . The ultrasound system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an algorithm bank that includes at least one algorithm from a group consisting of speckle tracking, crossed-beam ultrasound Doppler velocimetry, directional beamforming and transverse oscillation, wherein the velocity processor employs the at least one algorithm to process the first and the second ultrasound data to produce the 3-D vector flow data.

3 . The ultrasound system of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmit circuitry; receive circuitry; and a controller that controls the transmit and receive circuitry to transmit using one of the first or second 1-D arrays and receive simultaneously from both of the first and second 1-D arrays.

4 . The ultrasound system of claim 3 , further comprising:
first and second beamformer that process signals from one of the first or second 1-D arrays and produce first beamformed data; a first velocity processor that processes the first beamformed data, producing the velocity component perpendicular to the first or second 1-D array; third and fourth beamformer that process signals from the other of the first or second 1-D arrays and produce second beamformed data; and a second velocity processor that processes the second beamformed data, producing the velocity component perpendicular to the other of the first or second 1-D array.

5 . The ultrasound system of claim 4 , further comprising:
a fifth beamformer that process at least one of the signal from the first or the second 1-D array and produces third beamformed data; and a third velocity processor that processes the third beamformed data, producing the axial component.

6 . The ultrasound system of claim 4 , further comprising:
a third velocity processor that processes at least one of first beamformed data or the second beamformed data, producing the axial component.

7 . The ultrasound system of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmit circuitry; receive circuitry; and a controller that controls the receive and transmit circuitry to transmit using one of the first or second 1-D arrays and receive using the other of the first or second 1-D arrays and subsequently to transmit using the other of the first or second 1-D arrays and receive using the one of the first or second 1-D arrays, wherein the velocity processor processes data from at least one of transmit-receive sequences to estimate the lateral velocity components.

8 . The ultrasound system of claim 7 , further comprising:
first and second beamformer that process signals from one of the first or second 1-D arrays and produce first beamformed data; a first velocity processor that processes the first beamformed data, producing the velocity component perpendicular to the first or second 1-D array; third and fourth beamformer that process signals from the other of the first or second 1-D arrays and produce second beamformed data; and a second velocity processor that processes the second beamformed data, producing the velocity component perpendicular to the other of the first or second 1-D array.

9 . The ultrasound system of claim 8 , further comprising:
a fifth beamformer that process at least one of the signal from the first or the second 1-D array and produces third beamformed data; and a third velocity processor that processes the third beamformed data, producing the axial component.

10 . The ultrasound system of claim 8 , further comprising:
a third velocity processor that processes at least one of first beamformed data or the second beamformed data, producing the axial component.

11 . The ultrasound system of claim 7 , further comprising:
a first pair of beamformers that processes signals from one of the first or second 1-D arrays and produces first or second beamformed data; a first velocity processor that processes the first beamformed data, producing the two lateral velocity components.

12 . The ultrasound system of claim 11 , further comprising:
an axial velocity beamformer that process at least one of the signal from the first or the second 1-D array and produces third beamformed data; and a third velocity processor that processes the third beamformed data, producing the axial component.

13 . The ultrasound system of claim 11 , further comprising:
a third velocity processor that processes at least one of first beamformed data or the second beamformed data, producing the axial component.

14 . The ultrasound system of claim 1 , wherein the velocity processor employs transverse oscillation to produce the first and second lateral components.

15 . The ultrasound system of claim 1 , wherein the velocity processor employs directional beamforming to produce the first and second lateral components.

16 . The ultrasound system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an acoustical elevation lens affixed to the first and second 1-D arrays.

17 . The ultrasound system claim 16 , wherein the 2-D array is configured for two way focused B-Mode imaging, and the velocity processor estimates two velocity vectors in a plane of a B-mode image and a velocity vector out of the plane of the B-mode image.

18 . A method, comprising:
employing row-column addressing with a orthogonally disposed 1-D arrays of a 2-D transducer array to produce data for determining 3-D velocity components; and processing, with a velocity processor, the data to produce the 3-D velocity components, which includes at least two lateral components, one transverse to the axial component and the other transverse to the axial component and the one lateral component.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the velocity processor employs at least one of speckle tracking, crossed-beam ultrasound Doppler velocimetry, directional beamforming and transverse oscillation to produce the 3-D velocity components.

20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
transmitting ultrasound with only one of the orthogonally disposed 1-D arrays; receiving echoes concurrently with the orthogonally disposed 1-D arrays; and processing the received echoes to produce at least the two lateral components.

21 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
transmitting ultrasound with only one of the orthogonally disposed 1-D arrays and receiving echoes with only the other of the orthogonally disposed 1-D arrays; and processing the received echoes to produce at least the two lateral components.

22 . The method of claim 21 , further comprising:
transmitting ultrasound with only the other of the orthogonally disposed 1-D arrays and receiving echoes with only the one of the orthogonally disposed 1-D arrays; and processing the echoes received by the one and the other one of the 1-D arrays to produce at least the two lateral components.

Assignees

• Bk Medical Aps

Inventors

• Christiansen Thomas Lehrmann
• Rasmussen Morten Fischer
• Holbek Simon
• Thomsen Erik Vilain
• Jensen Jorgen Arendt

Classifications

• G01S15/8993

  Three dimensional imaging systems · CPC title

• G01S15/8979

  Combined Doppler and pulse-echo imaging systems · CPC title

• A61B8/06

  Measuring blood flow · CPC title

• G01S15/8925

  the array being a two-dimensional transducer configuration, i.e. matrix or orthogonal linear arrays · CPC title

• G01S15/8927

  using simultaneously or sequentially two or more subarrays or subapertures · CPC title