Patents by Inventor Akiko Uchikawa

Akiko Uchikawa has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8246544
    Abstract: There is provided a first storage for storing digital reception beam data converted from a reception beam formed from an ultrasonic received signal; a first control component for controlling reading and writing of data from/in the first storage; a filter coefficient calculation portion for calculating a filter coefficient based on information on the reception beam, the information including a positional relationship between the reception beam and a transmission beam; and a first spatial filter operation portion for subjecting each of a plurality of the reception beam data including data of beams received in parallel from a single transmission beam to filtering processing for reducing a difference in image quality between adjacent beams based on the filter coefficient. Image data output from the first spatial filter operation portion are converted into scanning of a display monitor so as to display an image on the display monitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Akiko Uchikawa, Yoshihiko Ito, Yasuhiro Nakamura
  • Publication number: 20090198138
    Abstract: There is provided first storage means (3) for storing digital reception beam data converted from a reception beam formed from an ultrasonic received signal; first control means (2) for controlling reading and writing of data from/in the first storage means; a filter coefficient calculation portion (5) for calculating a filter coefficient based on information on the reception beam, the information including a positional relationship between the reception beam and a transmission beam; and a first spatial filter operation portion (4) for subjecting each of a plurality of the reception beam data including data of beams received in parallel from a single transmission beam to filtering processing for reducing a difference in image quality between adjacent beams based on the filter coefficient. Image data output from the first spatial filter operation portion are converted into scanning of a display monitor (8) so as to display an image on the display monitor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2005
    Publication date: August 6, 2009
    Applicant: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akiko Uchikawa, Yoshihiko Ito, Yasuhiro Nakamura
  • Patent number: 7566304
    Abstract: A small ultrasound diagnostic device is provided at a low cost that enables the appropriate control by a single power supply unit so as to give a predetermined transmission power to a driving waveform different for each mode without excess or deficiency and without affecting properties of the driving waveform. The ultrasound diagnostic device includes: an ultrasound generation unit (1) that transmits ultrasound; a waveform generation unit (2) that generates a single pulse or a burst pulse whose duty factor is variable in units of a time that is a period corresponding to a frequency outside a frequency band of the ultrasound generation unit (1) so as to drive the ultrasound generation unit (1); and a single power supply unit (3) that determines an amplitude of a driving waveform generated by the waveform generation unit (2). Thereby, an acoustic power of the transmitted ultrasound can be controlled without making the transmission amplitude variable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2009
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Nakamura, Akiko Uchikawa, Hisashi Akiyama, Morio Nishigaki, Hidenori Yoshitomi
  • Publication number: 20070010744
    Abstract: A small ultrasound diagnostic device is provided at a low cost that enables the appropriate control by a single power supply unit so as to give a predetermined transmission power to a driving waveform different for each mode without excess or deficiency and without affecting properties of the driving waveform. The ultrasound diagnostic device includes: an ultrasound generation unit (1) that transmits ultrasound; a waveform generation unit (2) that generates a single pulse or a burst pulse whose duty factor is variable in units of a time that is a period corresponding to a frequency outside a frequency band of the ultrasound generation unit (1) so as to drive the ultrasound generation unit (1); and a single power supply unit (3) that determines an amplitude of a driving waveform generated by the waveform generation unit (2). Thereby, an acoustic power of the transmitted ultrasound can be controlled without making the transmission amplitude variable.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 10, 2004
    Publication date: January 11, 2007
    Applicant: Matsushita Electronic Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Nakamura, Akiko Uchikawa, Hisashi Akiyama, Morio Nishigaki, Hideori Yoshitomi
  • Patent number: 5974891
    Abstract: A simple, compact and inexpensive ultrasonic wave diagnostic apparatus of electronic focus type in which the delay amount for controlling the phase of a transmission signal for each piezoelectric element is stored in a delay amount storage unit, the pulse width for controlling the frequency of the transmission signal for each piezoelectric element is stored in a pulse width storage unit, the time elapsed from a reference time point is counted by a counter, a change point of the transmission signal from the reference time point is calculated by a processor, the output of the processor is compared with the output of the counter by a comparator, a plurality of clock signals having different phases are generated by a multiphase clock generator, a clock generated by the multiphase clock signal generator is selected by a selective controller, and a pulse of the transmission signal is generated on the basis of the selected clock by a toggle circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 2, 1999
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Akiko Uchikawa, Hisashi Akiyama