Abstract: An ultrasound imaging system includes a transducer array (102) with a plurality of transducer elements (106) configured to transmit an ultrasound signal, receive echo signals produced in response to the ultrasound signal interacting with stationary structure and flowing structure, and generate electrical signals indicative of the echo signals. The system further includes a beamformer (112) configured to process the electrical signals and generate sequences, in time, of beamformed data. The system further includes a filter (118) configured to process the beamformed data, and remove or replace a set of frequency components based on a threshold, producing corrected beamformed data. The system further includes a flow processor (120) configured to estimate a velocity of flowing structure from the corrected beamformed data. The system further includes a rendering engine (224) configured to display the flow velocity estimate on a display (124).

Abstract: A system (102) includes an ultrasound probe (104). The ultrasound probe includes a probe head (202), a handle (208), and an elongate shaft (226) disposed between and coupling the probe head and the handle. The probe head houses a transducer array (114). The elongate shaft includes a first portion (232) coupled to the probe head and a second portion (234) coupled to the handle. The second portion includes a first end region (238) coupled to the handle. The second portion further includes a second end region (236) extending above the handle and coupled to the first portion such that a line of site from behind the probe to the probe head is visually unobstructed by the handle.

Abstract: An ultrasound imaging system include a console with transmit circuitry configured to generate an excitation electrical pulse that excites transducer elements of a probe to produce an ultrasound pressure field and configured to receive an echo signal generated in response to the ultrasound pressure field interacting with tissue. The console further includes receive circuitry configured to convert the echo signal into an electrical signal, and an echo processor configured to generate a live ultrasound image based on the electrical signal into. The console further includes a tracking processor configured to extract, in real-time, a feature common to both the live ultrasound image and previously generated volumetric image data from at least the live ultrasound image, and register, in real-time, the live ultrasound image with previously generated volumetric image data based on the common feature extracted in real-time to create the fused image. A display displays the fused image.

Abstract: A method for determining a flow acceleration directly from beamformed ultrasound data includes extracting a sub-set of data from the beamformed ultrasound data, wherein the sub-set of data corresponds to predetermined times and predetermined positions of interest, determining the flow acceleration directly from the extracted sub-set of data, and generating a signal indicative of the determined flow acceleration. An apparatus includes a beamformer (112) configured to processes electrical signals indicative of received echoes produced in response to an interaction of a transmitted ultrasound signal with tissue and generate RF data, and an acceleration flow processor (114) configured to directly process the RF data and generate a flow acceleration therefrom.

Abstract: A method for determining pressure gradients with ultrasound data includes acquiring ultrasound data of a vessel and generating a velocity vector profile for flow in the vessel with the ultrasound data. The method further includes computing an acceleration with the velocity vector profile. The acceleration includes at least a temporal acceleration, and computing the temporal acceleration includes reducing noise from the velocity vector profile and determining the temporal acceleration from the noise-reduced velocity data. The method further includes determining the pressure gradients with the computed acceleration. The method further includes displaying an ultrasound image of the vessel with indicia indicative of the pressure gradients superimposed thereover.

Abstract: An ultrasound imaging system includes a transducer array (102) with a plurality of transducer elements (106) configured to transmit an ultrasound signal, receive echo signals produced in response to the ultrasound signal interacting with stationary structure and flowing structure, and generate electrical signals indicative of the echo signals. The system further includes a beamformer (112) configured to process the electrical signals and generate sequences, in time, of beamformed data. The system further includes a filter (118) configured to process the beamformed data, and remove or replace a set of frequency components based on a threshold, producing corrected beamformed data. The system further includes a flow processor (120) configured to estimate a velocity of flowing structure from the corrected beamformed data. The system further includes a rendering engine (224) configured to display the flow velocity estimate on a display (124).

Abstract: A method for determining a flow acceleration directly from beamformed ultrasound data includes extracting a sub-set of data from the beamformed ultrasound data, wherein the sub-set of data corresponds to predetermined times and predetermined positions of interest, determining the flow acceleration directly from the extracted sub-set of data, and generating a signal indicative of the determined flow acceleration. An apparatus includes a beamformer (112) configured to processes electrical signals indicative of received echoes produced in response to an interaction of a transmitted ultrasound signal with tissue and generate RF data, and an acceleration flow processor (114) configured to directly process the RF data and generate a flow acceleration therefrom.

Abstract: A method for determining pressure gradients with ultrasound data includes acquiring ultrasound data of a vessel and generating a velocity vector profile for flow in the vessel with the ultrasound data. The method further includes computing an acceleration with the velocity vector profile. The acceleration includes at least a temporal acceleration, and computing the temporal acceleration includes reducing noise from the velocity vector profile and determining the temporal acceleration from the noise-reduced velocity data. The method further includes determining the pressure gradients with the computed acceleration. The method further includes displaying an ultrasound image of the vessel with indicia indicative of the pressure gradients superimposed thereover.