Measuring and testing – Vibration – By mechanical waves
Patent
1981-03-11
1984-03-06
Ciarlante, Anthony V.
Measuring and testing
Vibration
By mechanical waves
73619, 73626, G01N 2904
Patent
active
044346581
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an ultrasonic wave tomographic imaging system which radiates an ultrasonic wave to an object and reproduces an internal condition of said object as an image from the reflected the wave, the transmitted wave, refracted wave or the scattered wave received from said object, particularly to an ultrasonic wave tomographic imaging system which provides an internal acoustic image having a high S/N ratio.
An ultrasonic wave tomographic imaging system radiates an ultrasonic wave to an object of which the internal condition is to be observed, receives the reflected wave, the transmitted wave or the scattered wave returning from the inside of said object as an internal acoustic image of said object and reproduces an internal condition of said object on the basis of said received waves.
As a system for observing internal condition, an X-ray diagnostic system is widely used. An ultrasonic wave tomographic imaging system, as compared with such an X-ray diagnostic system, is especially not destructive for organs and is less dangerous in the case of a human body as an object. Moreover, it has the merit that it is suited for diagnosis of the soft organs of human body.
As an ultrasonic wave tomographic imaging system, the camera system utilizing an ultrasonic wave lens is already known. This technique is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,937,066 "Ultrasonic Camera System and Method".
This ultrasonic camera system has the merits that the desired region can be examined on a real time basis movement of the image can be observed, and the system is superior to the other ultrasonic wave tomographic imaging systems (such as the pulse echo system).
As indicated in FIG. 1, this prior ultrasonic wave tomographic imaging system using a camera is composed of the ultrasonic wave generating means (a generator 1) and the ultrasonic wave receiving means (a receiver 2) which are respectively provided on the opposite side of the object 3.
The generator 1 comprises the ultrasonic wave generator 12 consisting of an electric-acoustic transducer such as a crystal, etc. housed in the case 11, and the contact surface 13 of the case 11 to the object is composed of a flexible organic film having an acoustic impedance which is almost equal to that of the object.
The receiver 2 comprises an ultrasonic wave lens 22 which functions as the ultrasonic wave optical system and an acoustic transducer 23 housed in the case 21, and the contact surface 24 of the case 21 is also composed of an organic film as in the case of said contact surface 13.
The cases 11 and 21 are filled with a medium (for example, water) which has an acoustic impedance almost equal to that of the object 3 such as a human body 3.
The generator 1 and receiver 2 composed respectively as explained above are provided in contact with the object 3 as indicated in FIG. 1, and the ultrasonic wave generator 12 radiates an ultrasonic wave to the object 3.
An acoustic image of object 3 by an ultrasonic wave is focused on the acoustic transducer 23 by means of the ultrasonic wave lens 22.
The ultrasonic wave lens 22 converges the ultrasonic waves as is well known and focuses an acoustic image at the section X in the location determined by the focal distance of the ultrasonic wave lens 22 and a distance between the ultrasonic wave lens 22 and the acoustic transducer 23 thereon.
As the acoustic transducer 23, an acoustic-visual image converter which utilizes an aluminum suspension liquid or an acoustic-electric transducer based on the piezoelectric effect can be used.
In the case of the ultrasonic wave tomographic imaging system of this type, an ultrasonic image of the imaging plane is correctly focused on the transducer 23 in the ideal case, but actually an ultrasonic wave image of the plane X is reflected, refracted or scattered until it reaches the surface of transducer 23, and moreover these images are superimposed to form an obscured image, or said ultrasonic wave image is degraded due to the following major causes of noise, namely the space n
REFERENCES:
patent: 3937066 (1976-02-01), Green et al.
patent: 3979711 (1976-09-01), Maginness et al.
patent: 4180790 (1979-12-01), Thomas
patent: 4253338 (1981-03-01), Iinuma et al.
Miwa Hirohide
Miyazaki Junji
Shimura Takaki
Ciarlante Anthony V.
Fujitsu Limited
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