Real-time digital, synthetic-focus, acoustic imaging system

摘要

The invention involves a digital synthetic-focus, acoustic imaging system which is operative in real time and includes one or more electro-acoustic transducers arranged to receive broadband pulses from a pulse generator for excitation of acoustic pulses which are directed into the region under observation. Signals reflected from an object or discontinuity in the region are received by the same transducers, and after inverse filtering and nonlinear amplification are converted to digital signals. These digital signals are stored in separate high speed random access memory units for storage, but are subsequently time-equalized through use of a programmed focus memory unit prior to delivery to a digital adder and thence through a digital-to-analog converter for ultimate intensity modulation on a raster scanned display unit which provides the real time image.