Abstract: An ultrasonic flow mapping apparatus transmits and reflects waves from sampling points on a two-dimensional cross-section. The waves are detected while transmitting repeatedly ultrasonic pulses. The phase shifts of different reflected waves are calculated, and displayed in color to show a distribution of blood flow velocity. Artifact due to reflected waves from body organs, which remain even by using MTI filters, is detected from phase signals, which have not passed through the MTI filters, and the artifact is removed by lowering display brightness for a sampling point corresponding to a relevant detection output.

Abstract: A flowmeter based on an arrayed ultrasonic transducer operates to produce reception signals of a plurality of reception beams in parallel alignment from detected signals of reflection sound waves provided by transducer elements, performs moving target indication among the reception signals created by the repetition of transmission and reception, and thereafter performs Fourier transformation in the direction of beam alignment and direction of repetitive transmission and reception, and evaluates an axial velocity component and lateral (transverse) velocity component of a moving object from the resulting signal distribution.

Abstract: An ultrasonic apparatus for thereapeutical use, especially for remedying a malignant tumor, through activation of a drug at a desired local portion inside of a living body by sequentially irradiating a plurality kinds of convergent ultrasonic waves having different focal positions of different acoustic pressure distribution shapes but having a mutually overlapping focal zone and by switching them within a short period. The drug is activated as a promotor for an ultrasonic therapeutical effect through continuous generation and rupture of cavitation caused by the irradiated and switched ultrasonic waves.

Abstract: A flow meter for detecting a flow speed in such a manner that an ultrasonic pulsed continuous wave is repeatedly transmitted toward an object at predetermined intervals T, a phase vector indicative of the phase of a reception signal due to the reflected wave is produced at the predetermined intervals, the phase difference between the present phase vector and the preceding phase vector is detected, and a Doppler frequency is calculated from the average value of a plurality of phase difference values to obtain the speed of the object.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a pulse Doppler measuring apparatus using the so-called acceleration method. In order to prevent production of a secondary aliasing (where a phase vector is subjected to an aliasing), the apparatus is provided with an MTI filter, which decomposes a first phase vector of a reflected wave obtained by mixing a reflection signal with a reference signal into a real part and an imaginary part, obtains a first regression line for variations of each of the parts and extracts a second phase vector corresponding only to the high frequency component of the reflected wave by calculating differences of the real part and the imaginary part from the first regression line; and/or an angular component .DELTA..theta. of the phase difference vector is obtained; a second regression line is obtained for this phase difference angle .DELTA..theta.; and the phase difference angle .DELTA..theta. is corrected by using this second regression line, to prevent the production of a secondary aliasing.

Abstract: A flow meter for detecting the average speed of an object in such a manner that an ultrasonic pulsed continuous wave is repeatedly transmitted toward the object to obtain a phase vector from the reception signal of the wave reflected from the object, the phase difference between consecutive ones of phase vectors obtained at an interval T equal to the period of transmitted wave is detected, a plurality of phase difference values are added and averaged to obtain an average phase difference value, and a Doppler frequency is calculated from the average phase difference value to obtain the average speed of the object, in which in order to remove an error caused by aliasing of an angle in the course of the arithmetic operation for obtaining the average phase difference value, a plurality of presumed average phase difference values having the error are calculated from the average phase difference value, the difference between the change of a phase caused by adding the phase difference values successively and the cha

Abstract: A beam former method and an apparatus therefor in an ultrasonic imaging system, in which switching of delay elements is performed by means of delay switches in a section in which no ultrasonic wave transmission/reception is performed and switching noise generated in this section is stored as a noise signal into a memory. The stored noise signal is subtracted from a reception signal which is obtained through ultrasonic wave transmission/reception and which contains switching noise superimposed thereon to thereby obtain a reception signal from which the noise has been eliminated.

Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus for obtaining an ultrasonic echo image upon transmission/reception of a focussed ultrasonic beam by using an ultrasonic probe having curved array transducer elements disposed in a convexity. As the delay distribution data to be used for focussing respective transducer elements, a plurality of sets of delay distribution data, each set corresponding to a particular thickness of a fat layer under a skin of a specimen, are stored in a memory. In imaging the specimen, a set of the plurality of sets of delay distribution data is selected and read in accordance with the thickness of the fat layer of the specimen to control the delay distribution of a transmission or reception signal for respective transducer elements to thereby eliminate focussing errors to be caused by the concave lens effect of the fat layer.

Abstract: An ultrasonic measuring apparatus and method operating as an ultrasonic echocardiograph and a doppler blood flow speed meter by creating numerous microbubbles as a contrast medium or reflector only in an intended blood vessel. The apparatus comprises an injector which injects into a vein of patient an agent which is a substance encapsulated in numerous microcapsules of several micrometer or less in diameter and distributed in a carrier liquid so that it produces microbubbles through the reaction with blood, and a shock wave transmitter which emits a shock wave with the dominant positive pressure from the body surface toward a specific blood vessel such as the root of the aorta so that only microcapsules in the specific blood vessel, among all dispersed in the whole body, are broken by the shock wave and the agent is released in the blood flow.

Abstract: In a pulse Doppler flow speed meter in which ultrasonic wave pulses are transmitted repetitively at transmission intervals T and thereafter transmitted repetitively at transmission intervals (T+Ts), phases of reflected waves due to reflection of individual transmission pulses are measured sequentially to provide phase signals and the phase signals are subjected to frequency analysis to determine speed distributions, distributions of phase differences between phase signals corresponding to transmission pulses transmitted at the transmission intervals T and distributions of phase differences between phase signals corresponding to transmission pulses transmitted at the transmission intervals (T+Ts) are determined. A value of center of gravity of the former phase difference distributions and a value of center of gravity of the latter phase difference distributions are determined and then a phase difference between the two values of center of gravity is determined.

Abstract: In an ultrasonodiagnostic tomography apparatus for transmitting focused sound wave from a plurality of transducers forming an array to a predetermined focus point and for carrying out beam formation for receiving sound from said focus point with dynamic focusing, wherein the width of transmission beam at said focus point is controlled by means of said transducers so that the width of transmission beam at said focus point may be larger than the width of receiving beam from said focus point.

Abstract: In an ultrasonic imaging apparatus utilizing an array type ultrasonic probe having a number of arrayed probe elements, high frequency pulse signals subject to different delays are supplied to respective probe elements so as to generate an acoustic beam which converges to a predetermined focal point. When receiving a reflection acoustic beam resulting from the converging beam, a plurality of signal lines extending from respective probe elements are connected in common to set up a plurality of element groups each having a plurality of adjacently arrayed elements and respective signals derived from respective element groups are differently delayed and added together to generate a reception signal representative of a reception beam having a predetermined focal point.

Abstract: A pulse doppler apparatus transmits a ultrasonic sound wave at transmission intervals T and T+Ts alternately and iteratively, detects the phase difference attributable to the doppler shift in the reflected sound wave signal at the interval T and the phase difference in the reflected signal at the interval T+Ts sequentially, detects the difference between both phase differences, and transforms the difference into a doppler frequency. The apparatus includes an MTI filter which exerts the same filtering characteristics on the reflected sound signals at both intervals T and T+Ts.

Abstract: A flow meter, in which pulsed continuous ultrasonic wave is transmitted towards an object at predetermined intervals T to obtain a phase vector from a reception signal of wave reflected by the object and which calculates a Doppler frequency from the average value of phase differences between phase vectors at the sampling interval T to obtain a signal indicating the speed of the object, comprising a phase difference calculator by the auto-correlation method, by which a plurality of phase difference vectors indicating phase differences between phase vectors are added, the argument of the sum vector thus obtained representing the average phase difference, or a phase difference calculator by the 2-axial-component method, by which a phase difference is divided into 2 axial components, a cosine value and a sine value, and the average phase difference is obtained by using the average value for each of the components, and a phase difference calculator by the phase difference averaging calculator, by which a plurality

Abstract: A ultrasonic Doppler meter for measuring the speed of a moving body by measuring the phase shift due to the Doppler effect on received signals, comprising a transmitting/receiving unit transmitting ultrasonic bursts with a constant time interval towards the moving body and receiving reflected waves; a unit for measuring a phase difference vector representing a difference between phases of received signals corresponding to two successive transmitted pulses; a unit for calculating a difference between phase differences on the basis of two successive phase difference vectors stated above; and an accumulation unit for adding the difference between phase differences to a preceeding phase difference vector so as to obtain the speed of the moving object.

Abstract: Herein disclosed is a system for irradiating sound waves to be converged into an annular focal zone having a desired size. This system uses a transducer which is composed of a plurality of elements divided at least in a circumferential direction of the face of the transducer so that the phases of drive signals may be changed according to the respective circumferential positions of the oscillating elements to rotate the phases of the drive signals n rotations in the circumferential direction. As a result, the annular focal zone of having a desired radius is formed, and integrated values of sound waves in the circumferential direction may be substantially zero on the focal plane so that an unnecessary secondary focal zone is prevented from being formed.

Abstract: In an ultrasonic beam former for phasing and adding received signals supplied from respective elements of an ultrasonic transducer array and for producing the received output in conformity to a desired wave front, a plurality of sampling delay means for sampling and delaying the received signal supplied from each element are disposed for each channel. The plurality of delay means effect the sampling operation successively and alternately. Outputs of delay means are selected by switches activated in response to the alternate sampling operation. As a result, the sampling rate per signal channel is increased.

Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus capable of interchangeably using a plurality of probes each having ultrasonic transducer elements disposed in an array and being detachably connected to the apparatus via a connector, wherein a storage unit is provided in the probe for storing data associated with the elements disposal configuration or control information on scanning or focusing, and a controller provided in the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus accesses the storage unit via the connector to read the element disposal configuration data or the control information and perform a control operation of picking up an image in accordance with the read-out data.

Abstract: An ultrasonic Doppler blood flow meter comprises a transmit-receive transducer transmitting ultrasonic wave toward and into a living body and receiving an echo signal, quadrature detectors detecting a real (R) component and an imaginary (I) component of the receiving echo signal respectively, A/D converters converting analog output signals of the quadrature detectors into digital signals respectively, a converter subjecting the R and I components to quadrature transformation to generate output signals representing the absolute value and phase angle (.theta.) respectively of the received echo signal, and a signal processing circuit calculating the mean value of the differences (.DELTA..theta..sub.i =.theta..sub.i -.theta..sub.i-1) between the phase angles (.theta..sub.i) and their preceding ones (.theta..sub.i-1) detected when the ultrasonic wave is transmitted and the echo signal is received a predetermined number of times. In the signal processing circuit, the phase angle differences (.DELTA..theta.

Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus includes a circuit unit for obtaining an envelope signal of a received ultrasonic signal, an A/D converter for A/D converting the envelope signal, and a circuit unit responsive to the output from the A/D converter for emphasizing the high frequency components of the envelope signal through a digital signal processing.