Ultrasound imaging beam-former apparatus and method

摘要

In some illustrative embodiments, an incoming signal from a transducer in an ultrasound imaging beam-former apparatus is applied to an in-phase sample-and-hold and a quadrature sample-and-hold. The quadrature sample-and-hold may be clocked a quarter period behind the in-phase sample-and-hold. The output of the sample-and-holds are applied to in-phase and quadrature analog-to-digital converters. A magnitude calculator receives the in-phase and quadrature digital values, and outputs a magnitude. A phase calculator receives the in-phase and quadrature digital values, and outputs a phase. An apodizer applies a difference between an amplitude of the outgoing signal and the magnitude and applies a first illumination to a image point in substantial proportion to the difference, and a phase rotator applies a second illumination to the image point in substantial proportion to the phase.

主权项

1. An apparatus, comprising:
a transducer array, comprising a plurality of transducers, each configured to convert reflected ultrasound pulses to at least one incoming signal, wherein each of the at least one incoming signals has a period and an amplitude; a signal receiver comprising:
a first sample-and-hold circuit configured to sample a first amplitude of the at least one incoming signal from a transducer at a first specified instant, the first sample-and-hold circuit configured to acquire at most one amplitude sample per an ultrasound transmit pulse/receive acquisition cycle, the first sample representing an in-phase amplitude;a separate second sample-and-hold circuit configured to sample a second amplitude of the at least one incoming signal from the transducer at a second specified instant, the second specified instant offset in time from the first specified instant by an amount less than about half the period of the incoming signal, the second sample-and-hold circuit configured to acquire at most one amplitude sample per the ultrasound transmit pulse/receive acquisition cycle, the second sample representing a quadrature amplitude;at least one analog-to-digital converter configured to convert the sampled amplitudes to digital values after both of the first and second sample-and-hold circuits have completed sampling; and a focusing apparatus configured to combine the digital values and to generate at least one image point.