Method and system for nondestructive ultrasound testing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9759690-B2
Application number	US-201113033896-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 24, 2011
Priority date	Feb 24, 2011
Publication date	Sep 12, 2017
Grant date	Sep 12, 2017

Abstract

Methods, systems and computer program products for nondestructive ultrasound imaging are provided. An example method defines a plurality of subarrays, each comprising a plurality of ultrasound transducer elements. The method transmits a plurality of ultrasound beams from each of the plurality of subarrays, each ultrasound beam being transmitted at a preset beamsteering angle. Subsequent to each transmit, the method receives, at the array, a plurality of ultrasound reflections corresponding to the plurality of ultrasound beams. For each point to be imaged, the method selects one set of received element data for each of the plurality of subarrays. The selected set of element data corresponds to an ultrasound beam having a focal point closest to the point to be imaged. Finally, the method reconstructs a point to be imaged based on the selected received element data, and constructs an ultrasound image by repeating this process for each point to be imaged.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for ultrasound imaging, the method comprising:
defining a plurality of subarrays of an array, wherein each of the plurality of subarrays comprises a plurality of ultrasound transducer elements;
transmitting a set of ultrasound beams from at least one of the subarrays that illuminates a region to be imaged within an object under nondestructive test, wherein the set of ultrasound beams are transmitted at a plurality of beamsteering angles;
receiving a plurality of ultrasound reflections at the array corresponding to the plurality of ultrasound beams;
processing the ultrasound reflections and forming ultrasound element measurements, and selecting one set of ultrasound element measurements for a point to be imaged based on a beamsteering angle of the corresponding ultrasound beams, wherein the selected set of ultrasound element measurements corresponds to the ultrasound beams having a beamsteering angle closest to an angle from the array to the point to be imaged;
reconstructing a sample of an ultrasound image of the object under nondestructive test based on the selected set of ultrasound element measurements; and
reconstructing a plurality of such samples to form an ultrasound image.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of subarrays comprises one or more ultrasound transducer elements that are common to at least one other subarray.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of subarrays comprises distinct ultrasound transducer elements.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of beamsteering angles are preset beamsteering angles based on a number of ultrasound transducer elements in the plurality of subarrays.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of ultrasound beams is focused at a predefined focal distance.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein selecting the ultrasound element measurements comprises:
identifying coordinates of the point to be imaged;
computing a pixel angle as the angle between a normal to the subarray and a line joining the point to be imaged and a center of the subarray, based on the identified coordinates; and
identifying an ultrasound reflection based on the pixel angle, the beamsteering angle of a corresponding ultrasound beam, and a beam width of the ultrasound beam.

7. A system for ultrasound imaging, the system comprising:
an ultrasound transducer array divided into a plurality of subarrays, wherein each of the plurality of subarrays comprises a plurality of ultrasound transducer elements;
a transmit beamformer configured to transmit a set of ultrasound beams from each of the plurality of subarrays into an object under nondestructive test, wherein the set comprises a plurality of ultrasound beams transmitted at a plurality of beamsteering angles;
a received signal processor for receiving a plurality of ultrasound reflections and converting each of the ultrasound reflections into a measured ultrasound element data, wherein each of the plurality of ultrasound reflections correspond to one of the plurality of transmitted ultrasound beams;
a receive beamformer configured to select one set of measured ultrasound element data for each point to be imaged based on a beamsteering angle of the corresponding ultrasound beams, from each of the plurality of subarrays, wherein the selected set of measured ultrasound element data corresponds to the ultrasound beams having a beamsteering angle closest to an angle from the array to the point to be imaged; and
an image reconstruction processor for reconstructing an ultrasound image of the object under nondestructive test based on the selected set of measured ultrasound element data.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of subarrays comprises one or more ultrasound transducer elements that are common to at least one other subarray.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of subarrays comprises distinct ultrasound transducer elements.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of beamsteering angles are preset beamsteering angle based on a number of ultrasound transducer elements in each of the plurality of subarrays.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of ultrasound beams is focused at a predefined focal distance.

12. The system of claim 7 wherein the receive beamformer is further configured to
identify coordinates of the point to be imaged, and compute a pixel angle as the angle between a normal to the subarray and a line joining the point to be imaged and a center of the subarray, based on the identified coordinates; and
identify an ultrasound reflection based on the pixel angle, the beamsteering angle of a corresponding ultrasound beam, and a beam width of the ultrasound beam.

13. The system of claim 7 , wherein the image reconstruction processor is a scan convertor.

14. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer- executable instructions, when executed, cause one or more processors to:
define a plurality of subarrays of a transducer array, wherein each of the plurality of subarrays comprises a plurality of ultrasound transducer elements;
transmit a set of ultrasound beams from at least one of the plurality of subarrays into an object under nondestructive test, wherein the set comprises a plurality of ultrasound beams transmitted at a plurality of beamsteering angles;
receive, at the transducer array, a plurality of ultrasound reflections corresponding to the plurality of ultrasound beams;
for the plurality of subarrays, process the ultrasound reflections to form ultrasound element measurements and select ultrasound element measurements for a point to be imaged based on a beamsteering angle of the corresponding ultrasound beams, wherein the selected set of ultrasound element measurements corresponds to ultrasound beams having a beamsteering angle closest to an angle from the array to the point to be imaged;
reconstruct a sample of the ultrasound image of the object under test based on the selected ultrasound reflections; and
reconstructing a plurality of such samples to form an ultrasound image.

15. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of subarrays comprises one or more ultrasound transducer elements that are common to at least one other subarray.

16. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of subarrays comprises distinct ultrasound transducer elements.

17. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of beamsteering angles are preset beamsteering angle based on a number of ultrasound transducer elements in each of the plurality of subarrays.

18. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of ultrasound beams is focused at a predefined focal distance.

19. The computer program product of claim 14 , further comprising computer executable instructions to cause the one or more processors to:
identify coordinates of the point to be imaged;
compute a pixel angle as the angle between a normal to the subarray and a line joining the point to be imaged and a center of the subarray, based on the identified coordinates; and
identify an ultrasound reflection based on the pixel angle, the beamsteering angle of a corresponding ultrasound beam, and a beam width of the ultrasound beam.

20. A method for ultrasound imaging, the method comprising:
defining a plurality of subarrays of an array, wherein each of the plurality of subarrays comprises

Assignees

• Hoctor Ralph Thomas
• Zingelewicz Stephen Eric
• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Hoctor Ralph Thomas
• Zingelewicz Stephen Eric

Classifications

• G01N29/262 Primary

  by electronic orientation or focusing, e.g. with phased arrays (phased arrays per se G10K11/34) · CPC title

• G01N29/0654

  Imaging · CPC title