ULTRASOUND SYSTEM WITH AUTOMATED DOPPLER FLOW SETTINGS

摘要

An ultrasound system performs duplex colorflow and spectral Doppler imaging, with the spectral Doppler interrogation performed at a sample volume location shown on the colorflow image. The colorflow image is displayed in a color box overlaid on a co-registered B mode image. A color box position and steering angle processor analyzes the spatial Doppler data and automatically sets the color box angle and location over a blood vessel for optimal Doppler sensitivity and accuracy. The processor may also automatically set the flow angle correction cursor in alignment with the direction of flow. In a preferred embodiment these optimization adjustments are made automatically and continuously as a user pauses at points for Doppler measurements along a length of the blood vessel.

主权项

1. An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system which produces spectral Doppler displays of flow for anatomical locations selected from a colorflow image, the system comprising:
an ultrasonic transducer array probe which transmits beams and receives echo signals from a region of a subject where flow is present; a beamformer which controls the directions in which beams are transmitted by the probe; a Doppler processor responsive to the echo signals to produce Doppler signals; a Doppler image processor, responsive to the Doppler signals to produce Doppler images; a display on which Doppler images are displayed; and a color box position and steering angle processor, responsive to the Doppler signals to automatically determine a position of a color box over the Doppler images and orient a steering angle of the color box.