ULTRASOUND MACHINE HAVING SCALABLE RECEIVE BEAMFORMER ARCHITECTURE COMPRISING MULTIPLE BEAMFORMERS WITH COMMON COEFFICIENT GENERATOR AND RELATED METHODS

摘要

An apparatus and method for generating high quality, high frame rate images in a handheld or hand-carried ultrasound imaging machine. The apparatus includes a time-multiplexed beamformer coefficient generator that supplies the necessary delay and weight coefficients to process multiple beams in parallel via a beamforming coefficient bus. This approach reduces the required hardware and power consumption to satisfy the physical space and power requirements of a handheld probe. To improve image quality, the ultrasound machine may optionally use synthetic aperture to improve penetration and resolution. The ultrasound machine may also use pulse inversion harmonics to improve image quality by improving signal-to-noise ratio.

主权项

1. An ultrasound machine comprising:
an ultrasound transmitter; a transducer, connected to the ultrasound transmitter and comprising a plurality of transducer elements, each of the plurality of transducer elements operative to generate an output signal in response to receiving ultrasound echo signals; a plurality of beamformers, each of the beamformers comprising:
a plurality of beamformer channels, each of the plurality of beamformer channels connected to receive the output signal from a corresponding one of the plurality of transducer elements, each of the plurality of beamformer channels comprising a variable delay having an output carrying a delayed value of the corresponding output signal wherein the delayed value is delayed relative to a reference time in an amount determined by a delay value in a first data storage location corresponding to the beamformer channel, the first data storage location operable to receive and store the delay value for the corresponding beamformer channel;a summing circuit connected to receive and sum delayed values of the corresponding output signals to yield a scanline value; the ultrasound machine further comprising:
a beamformer coefficient generator configured to generate the delay values for the channels of all of the plurality of beamformers;a beamformer coefficient bus connected between the beamformer coefficient generator and the data storage locations of the plurality of beamformers;a control circuit configured to control the beamformer coefficient generator to generate and deliver to the corresponding first data locations by way of the beamformer coefficient bus new delay values for the channels of all of the plurality of beamformers during a focal update cycle;a signal processor connected to receive the scanline values from the plurality of beamformers and to process the scanline values to yield an image.