Patents by Inventor Bradley K. Herres

Bradley K. Herres 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: 5188112
    Abstract: An ultrasonic blood flow measuring and imaging system comprises a transmit-receive transducer for transmitting ultrasonic waves toward and into the human body and for receiving reflected echo signals which are then processed for use in a Doppler blood flow imaging and display system. Multiple ultrasonic pulse beams are transmitted into the body at each of a number of angles in an area under diagnosis. For each angle, a plurality of reflected echo signals are received during successive predetermined time intervals. Each received echo signal has a stationary component reflected from essentially stationary tissue and a Doppler component reflected from areas where movement is sensed, such as blood flow. The reflected echo signals are processed in an MTI filter subtracting a stationary component from the received echo signals to thereby extract a Doppler signal representative of a Doppler component of the received echo signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 1990
    Date of Patent: February 23, 1993
    Assignee: Acoustic Imaging Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Michael R. Sturgill, Bradley K. Herres, deceased, Paul M. Jaeger
  • Patent number: 5170792
    Abstract: An ultrasonic blood flow measuring and imaging system comprises a transmit-receive transducer for transmitting ultrasonic pulses toward and into the human body and for receiving reflected echo signals which are then processed for use in a Doppler blood flow imaging and display system. Multiple ultrasonic pulses are transmitted into the body at each of a number for angles in an area under diagnosis. For each angle, a plurality of reflected echo signals are received during successive predetermined time intervals. Each received echo signal has a tissue motion Doppler component representative of reflection from moving tissue and a blood flow Doppler component representative of relfection from both moving tissue and flowing blood. The reflected echo signals are processed in a system which includes tissue velocity determining elements for estimating the velocity of the tissue motion, and tissue velocity canceller elements for removing a tissue velocity component from the received echo signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 15, 1992
    Assignee: Acoustic Imaging Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Michael R. Sturgill, Richard H. Love, Marsha A. Thesen, Bradley K. Herres, deceased, Theodore F. Herres, executor, Muriel Herres, executor
  • Patent number: 5070879
    Abstract: Ultrasound imaging apparatus has a probe disposed on a longitudinal axis. A linear array of ultrasound transducer elements is arranged along the axis of the probe. The array is alternatively held stationary and oscillated relative to the probe about the axis between limits to define a sector. In a first mode, the transducer elements are actuated successively while the array is held stationary to generate a longitudinal rectilinear scan. In a second mode, some of the transducer elements are actuated repeatedly while the array is oscillated to generate a transverse sector scan orthogonal to the longitudinal scan. The echoes received by the transducer elements in the first and second modes are displayed as images of respective orthogonal planes. In either case, the user selects the position of the scan plane within the field of view of the array while the probe is held in a stationary position against the skin of the patient.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 10, 1991
    Assignee: Acoustic Imaging Technologies Corp.
    Inventor: Bradley K. Herres