Surgery – Diagnostic testing – Detecting nuclear – electromagnetic – or ultrasonic radiation
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-18
2001-05-22
Jaworski, Francis J. (Department: 3737)
Surgery
Diagnostic testing
Detecting nuclear, electromagnetic, or ultrasonic radiation
C600S458000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06234967
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to ultrasonic diagnostic imaging systems and, in particular, to beam transmission for ultrasonic harmonic diagnostic imaging.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,833,613 and 5,456,257, of which I am a co-inventor, describe techniques for ultrasonic imaging with contrast agents at both fundamental and harmonic frequencies. The former patent describes harmonic imaging techniques whereby microbubble contrast agents are insonified with acoustic energy of intensities sufficient to cause the microbubbles to oscillate nonlinearly and thereby return echo signals containing harmonic signal components. The latter patent describes a contrast technique whereby microbubble contrast agents are insonified with an even greater intensity of acoustic energy, causing the microbubbles to become disrupted. The disruption of the microbubbles also causes the microbubbles to return echo signals containing harmonic signal components. In practice however the microbubble effects which develop these nonlinear signal components are not always easy to produce in a uniform manner over the image field. The present invention is directed to the more efficient, uniform development and control of these effects, as well as tissue harmonic imaging effects.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, the power level of transmit waves used to image contrast agents is varied with changes in the transmit beam aperture. In one embodiment these changes comprise changes in the angle of incidence between the transmit beam and the plane of the transmitting array transducer, as occurs in phase array (sector) scanning. In another embodiment these changes comprise changes in the transmit aperture size, as occur at the extremes of a linear scanning array transducer. The same principles are used in tissue harmonic imaging to develop a uniform level of harmonic signal development across the image field.
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ATL Ultrasound
Jaworski Francis J.
Yorks, Jr. W. Brinton
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