Network-based ultrasound imaging system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021278531-A1
Application number	US-202117330301-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 25, 2021
Priority date	Aug 18, 2014
Publication date	Sep 9, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and methods for network-based ultrasound imaging are provided, which can include a number of features. In some embodiments, an ultrasound imaging system images an object with three-dimensional unfocused pings and obtains digital sample sets from a plurality of receiver elements. A sub-set of the digital sample sets can be electronically transferred to a remote server, where the sub-set can be beamformed to produce a series of two-dimensional image frames. A video stream made up of the series of two-dimensional images frames can then be transferred from the remote server to a display device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of ultrasound imaging comprising the steps of:
transmitting an unfocused three-dimensional ping into an object from a transmitter element of a transducer array in a probe of a data capture device; receiving echoes of the unfocused three-dimensional ping from one or more reflectors with a plurality of receiver elements of the transducer array; converting analog signals from each of the plurality of receiver elements into a full dataset of digital sample sets, wherein the full dataset comprises digital sample sets from all the receiver elements; communicating the full dataset to a network-based image generation system; in the network-based image generation system, combining digital sample sets from a plurality of the receiver elements to represent a three-dimensional location of each reflector as a voxel in a 3D volume; selecting first voxel within the 3D volume; identifying closest digital sample sets within the full dataset to the selected first voxel for each receiver element; summing the closest digital sample sets to produce a final representation of the selected first voxel.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising repeating the selecting, identifying, and summing steps for a plurality of selected voxels.

3 . The method of claim 1 where the final representation of the selected first voxel is made up of combined data from a plurality of receiver elements.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting a second unfocused three-dimensional ping into an object from a second transmitter element, and repeating the receiving, converting, communicating, combining, selecting, identifying, and summing steps or the second unfocused three-dimensional ping.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising coherently combining the closest digital sample sets when the receiver elements fall within the same coherence window.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising incoherently combining the closest digital sample sets when the receiver elements fall outside of the same coherence window.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising coherently or incoherently combining the voxels of the 3D volume to form a 3D image.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising extracting a 2D slide of pixels from the 3D volume to form a two-dimensional image.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising selecting a desired two-dimensional image with a user interface.

Assignees

• Maui Imaging Inc

Inventors

• Call Josef R
• Davis Henry A
• Smith David M
• Specht David J
• Le Viet Nam
• Mchardy Lang J
• Digiovanni Ii Joseph James
• Osborn Nathan W
• Ritzi Bruce R

Classifications

• G06F3/14

  Digital output to display device {; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units} · CPC title

• G01S15/8993

  Three dimensional imaging systems · CPC title

• G01S15/8929 Primary

  using a three-dimensional transducer configuration · CPC title

• G01S15/8925

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

• G01S7/52053

  Display arrangements · CPC title