Abstract: An ultrasound imaging system includes a probe and a console. The probe includes an elongate shaft with a long axis, a transducer array disposed the shaft along the long axis and configured to generate signals indicative of received echoes, and a motor with a position sensor configured to rotate the shaft within a predetermined arc. The console includes a beamformer configured to process the signals from the transducer array and generate at least a volume of data for each sweep of the transducer array along the arc. The console further includes a display configured to display the volume of data.

Abstract: A method includes receiving first electrical signals from a first single-element transducer (1121) and second electrical signals from a second single-element transducer (1122). The transducers are disposed on a shaft (110), which has a longitudinal axis (200), of an ultrasound imaging probe (102) with transducing sides disposed transverse to and facing away from the longitudinal axis. The transducers are angularly offset from each other on the shaft by a non-zero angle. The transducers are operated at first and second different cutoff frequencies. The shaft concurrently translates and rotates while the transducers receive the first and second ultrasound signals. The method further includes delay and sum beamforming, with first and second beamformers (1201, 1202), the first and second electrical signals, respectively via different processing chains (7121, 7122), employing an adaptive synthetic aperture technique, producing first and second images.

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: An ultrasound imaging includes a beamformer configured to process ultrasound echo signals generated by the plurality of elements of a transducer array. The beamformer includes a delay processor configured to generate a delay for each of the signals and apply the delays to corresponding signals and a summer configured to sum the delayed signals to produce an image. The delay processor includes a spatio-temporal processor configured to computed delays based on time-of-flight calculations from a center of the elements to one of a transmit focal point, a virtual source or a plane, a spatial correction processor configured to compute delay corrections for the computed delays, an adder configured to add the delay corrections to the computed delays to produce corrected delays, and a delay component configured to delay each of the signals with a corresponding corrected delay.

Abstract: An ultrasound imaging system includes a beamformer configured to generate 2-D images offset from each other based on sweeping motion of a transducer array during a 3-D ultrasound imaging procedure producing volumetric data. The ultrasound imaging system further includes a 2-D mask processor configured to generate a 2-D mask image for each of the 2-D images. Each of the 2-D mask images includes a contour of a predetermined structure of interest in the volumetric data. The ultrasound imaging system further includes a 3-D mask processor configured to segment the structure from the 3-D image with the 2-D mask images, generating a 3-D segmentation.

Abstract: An ultrasound imaging system includes an imaging probe including an array with a plurality of elements and a drive system configured to move the transducer array with a first pitch during data acquisition. A console includes a transmit circuit configured to excite the elements to transmit a first sequence of different sub-sets of the elements and then a second sequence, wherein the plurality of elements is offset from each other by a predetermined shift for the sequences. The console further includes a receive circuit configured to receive echo signals from the elements for the sequences. The console further includes a processor configured to beamform the received signals for the sequences and generate scanlines for the sequences and configured to combine pairs of scanlines across the sequences to produce a single sequence with a second pitch that is less than the first pitch.

Abstract: An ultrasound imaging system includes a beamformer configured to generate 2-D images offset from each other based on sweeping motion of a transducer array during a 3-D ultrasound imaging procedure producing volumetric data. The ultrasound imaging system further includes a 2-D mask processor configured to generate a 2-D mask image for each of the 2-D images. Each of the 2-D mask images includes a contour of a predetermined structure of interest in the volumetric data. The ultrasound imaging system further includes a 3-D mask processor configured to segment the structure from the 3-D image with the 2-D mask images, generating a 3-D segmentation.

Abstract: An ultrasound imaging system includes an imaging probe including an array with a plurality of elements and a drive system configured to move the transducer array with a first pitch during data acquisition. A console includes a transmit circuit configured to excite the elements to transmit a first sequence of different sub-sets of the elements and then a second sequence, wherein the plurality of elements is offset from each other by a predetermined shift for the sequences. The console further includes a receive circuit configured to receive echo signals from the elements for the sequences. The console further includes a processor configured to beamform the received signals for the sequences and generate scanlines for the sequences and configured to combine pairs of scanlines across the sequences to produce a single sequence with a second pitch that is less than the first pitch.

Abstract: An ultrasound imaging system includes a probe and a console. The probe includes an elongate shaft with a long axis, a transducer array disposed the shaft along the long axis and configured to generate signals indicative of received echoes, and a motor with a position sensor configured to rotate the shaft within a predetermined arc. The console includes a beamformer configured to process the signals from the transducer array and generate at least a volume of data for each sweep of the transducer array along the arc. The console further includes a display configured to display the volume of data.

Abstract: A method includes receiving first electrical signals from a first single-element transducer (1121) and second electrical signals from a second single-element transducer (1122). The transducers are disposed on a shaft (110), which has a longitudinal axis (200), of an ultrasound imaging probe (102) with transducing sides disposed transverse to and facing away from the longitudinal axis. The transducers are angularly offset from each other on the shaft by a non-zero angle. The transducers are operated at first and second different cutoff frequencies. The shaft concurrently translates and rotates while the transducers receive the first and second ultrasound signals. The method further includes delay and sum beamforming, with first and second beamformers (1201, 1202), the first and second electrical signals, respectively via different processing chains (7121, 7122), employing an adaptive synthetic aperture technique, producing first and second images.

Abstract: An ultrasound imaging includes a beamformer configured to process ultrasound echo signals generated by the plurality of elements of a transducer array. The beamformer includes a delay processor configured to generate a delay for each of the signals and apply the delays to corresponding signals and a summer configured to sum the delayed signals to produce an image. The delay processor includes a spatio-temporal processor configured to computed delays based on time-of-flight calculations from a center of the elements to one of a transmit focal point, a virtual source or a plane, a spatial correction processor configured to compute delay corrections for the computed delays, an adder configured to add the delay corrections to the computed delays to produce corrected delays, and a delay component configured to delay each of the signals with a corresponding corrected delay.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method for producing compounded ultrasound images by beamforming a first and a second low-resolution image using data from a first ultrasound emission, beamforming a third and a fourth low-resolution image using data from a second ultrasound emission, summing said first and said third low-resolution image creating a first high-resolution image and said second and said fourth low-resolution image creating a second high-resolution image, wherein the method further comprises computing a first envelope image for said first high-resolution image and a second envelope image for said second high-resolution image, and processing said first envelope image and said second envelope image creating in a first compounded high-resolution image.