Patents by Inventor Richard B. Bernardi

Richard B. Bernardi 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: 5398216
    Abstract: A triangulation method and apparatus for measuring the velocity of a flowing material at a point of interest along two lines of sight which have different vector components. The flow velocity along two different image vectors is measured simultaneously by separately processing the signals from left and right reception apertures (14, 16). In one case, the positions of the reception apertures are held constant and conventional dynamic focussing on receive is used to steer the apertures to follow the transmitted energy as a function of range depth. In an alternative case, the transducers included in each reception aperture are dynamically reassigned in order to maintain a fixed triangulation angle. In this case a reception aperture shifts away from the transmission aperture (12) to track the received backscattered ultrasonic energy at a constant triangulation angle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 1993
    Date of Patent: March 14, 1995
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Anne L. Hall, Richard B. Bernardi
  • Patent number: 5363851
    Abstract: A multi-lag method for estimating both high and low velocities of blood flow from a single set of firings in situations where both high-velocity and low-velocity signals are of interest. A color flow processor uses multiple lags in the firing sequence. The normal lag of unity is used for high-velocity estimation; lags greater than unity are used for low-velocity estimation. A normal firing sequence is set up with a pulse repetition frequency that allows accurate velocity estimation of the highest flow velocity that the operator expects. This sequence yields data that is appropriately wall filtered, and a high-velocity estimate is made by correlation over adjacent firings, that is, firings 1 and 2, 2 and 3, 3 and 4, and so on, to the end of the packet, are respectively correlated. The same data is then used to provide a low-velocity estimate. The correlation is calculated between firings that are spaced by multiple units of the pulse repetition interval, e.g.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 1993
    Date of Patent: November 15, 1994
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Anne L. Hall, Richard B. Bernardi
  • Patent number: 5349525
    Abstract: An ultrasonic imaging system for displaying color flow images includes a receiver which demodulates ultrasonic echo signals received by a transducer array and dynamically focuses the baseband echo signals. A color flow processor includes a frequency domain adaptive wall filter which automatically adjusts to changes in Doppler-shifted frequency and bandwidth of the wall signal components in the focused baseband echo signals after the echo signals have undergone Fourier transformation into the frequency domain. The mean Doppler-shifted frequency of the resulting filtered baseband echo signals is used to indicate velocity of moving scatterers and to control color in the displayed image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 1993
    Date of Patent: September 20, 1994
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Robert J. Dunki-Jacobs, Anne L. Hall, Richard B. Bernardi, Matthew O'Donnell, Lewis J. Thomas, Kenneth B. Welles, II, William E. Engeler
  • Patent number: 4850362
    Abstract: An ultrasonic imaging system having imaging and Doppler displays. The imaging and Doppler transducers are scanned simultaneously and the Doppler transducer is stopped and triggered at a selected angle of its oscillation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 1987
    Date of Patent: July 25, 1989
    Assignee: Interspec, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael J. Rello, Richard B. Bernardi
  • Patent number: 4604697
    Abstract: An array of acoustic transmit/receive transducers is placed near the body to be imaged. Acoustic energy is projected upon the body sequentially from different ones of the transducers, each projection covering the entire scene or field of view which it is desired to image. The electrical signals produced from reflected acoustic energy picked up by different transducers are phase shifted, or time delayed as appropriate, so that those from any particular point within the body will additively combine in amplitude, while signals from other points will not. In so doing, there is preserved not only the information about the amplitude of the combined signal from the transducers, but also any information about phase shifts (or time delays as the case may be) which does not result in complete alignment of the signals from the different transducers. The resulting complex signals are further processed, to vectorially add them.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 1983
    Date of Patent: August 5, 1986
    Assignee: Interspec, Inc.
    Inventors: Ajay K. Luthra, Saleem Kassam, Richard B. Bernardi
  • Patent number: 4251779
    Abstract: A frequency program synthesizing apparatus and method is disclosed for controlling delay circuitry in ultrasonic imaging systems. Each frequency program synthesizer includes an adjustable frequency source for producing the clocking signals and a multichannel memory having a plurality of address channels each allocated for digitally storing a signal representing the frequency corresponding to one of said frequency program steps and circuitry for applying the stored signals in a sequence to cause the adjustable frequency generator to produce the frequency program. Each program synthesizer also includes updating circuitry for adjusting the values of the stored digital frequency representations to compensate for undesirable differences between the frequency of the generated program and a set of predetermined program frequency steps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 1978
    Date of Patent: February 17, 1981
    Assignee: Picker Corporation
    Inventors: Seeley C. Kellogg, Philip J. Peluso, Richard B. Bernardi
  • Patent number: 4208916
    Abstract: An electronically scanned phased array diagnostic system for describing internal structure of a subject by the use of ultrasonic energy. The system includes a transducer unit with an array of ultrasonic energy conversion segments and control circuitry for actuating the segments to direct ultrasonic energy into the subject. Imaging circuitry is included for interpreting electrical return signals produced by the segments in response to ultrasonic echoes. The imaging circuitry includes transmission delay circuits for imposing time delays on the return signals for steering and focusing system echo reception. Each transmission delay circuit includes first and second delay elements for impressing first and second delay time components on the return signals. Each pair of the first delay elements are coupled in parallel with separate transducer elements, and serially combined with a downstream second delay element.The first delay elements provide a portion of the reception steering capability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 1978
    Date of Patent: June 24, 1980
    Assignee: Picker Corporation
    Inventors: Kai E. Thomenius, Richard B. Bernardi
  • Patent number: 4205686
    Abstract: An ultrasonic system and method for examining the structure of a subject body is disclosed. The system includes an improved ultrasonic transducer and power circuitry for electrically stimulating the transducer to produce an incident ultrasonic energy beam along a path extending into the subject. The incident beam produces echoes within the subject, some of which propagate back toward the transducer. The transducer, in response to received echoes, produces electrical signals bearing information about the structure of the subject. The system further includes circuitry for processing the electrical signals and a display apparatus responsive to the processed electrical signals for producing a visual display of subject structure.The transducer includes a concavo-convex piezoelectric emitter for producing ultrasonic energy having a dominant frequency, an acoustical impedance matching transformer and a coupling element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 1977
    Date of Patent: June 3, 1980
    Assignee: Picker Corporation
    Inventors: Daniel J. Harris, Richard B. Bernardi
  • Patent number: 4169385
    Abstract: A frequency program synthesizing apparatus and method is disclosed for controlling delay circuitry in ultrasonic imaging systems. The ultrasonic system includes a multi-element ultrasonic transducer for propagating ultrasonic energy into a subject, display apparatus for producing visual information about the subject from the ultrasonic energy, and imaging electronics for processing image information representing electrical signals from the transducer and employs the processed signals to cause the display to generate a visual image of internal subject structure.The imaging electronics includes delay circuitry which required programs of precisely controlled stepped clocking frequencies, and have frequency program synthesizers for producing the clocking signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 1978
    Date of Patent: October 2, 1979
    Assignee: Picker Corporation
    Inventors: Seeley C. Kellogg, Philip J. Peluso, Richard B. Bernardi