Abstract: Systems, devices, and methods for ultrasonic imaging by sparse sampling are provided. In one embodiment, an ultrasound imaging system comprises an array of ultrasound transducer elements, electronic circuitry in communication with the array of ultrasound transducer elements and configured to select a first receive aperture of the array comprising a plurality of contiguous ultrasound transducer elements and at least one non-contiguous ultrasound transducer element, and a beamformer in communication with the electronic circuitry. Each ultrasound transducer element of the first receive aperture is configured to receive reflected ultrasound echoes and generate an electrical signal representative of imaging data.

Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system acquires different kinds of pilot images showing different characteristics of a region of a body where shearwave measurements are performed. The pilot images are analyzed by a push pulse locator to adaptively generate push pulses at locations in the body which minimize or avoid shearwave travel through blood vessels, through regions of stiffness inhomogeneities in the body, or at times when shearwaves are adversely affected by tissue motion.

Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system acquires different kinds of pilot images showing different characteristics of a region of a body where shearwave measurements are performed. The pilot images are analyzed by a push pulse locator to adaptively generate push pulses at locations in the body which minimize or avoid shearwave travel through blood vessels, through regions of stiffness inhomogeneities in the body, or at times when shearwaves are adversely affected by tissue motion.

Abstract: An ultrasound system acquires and displays contrast-enhanced ultrasound images as a bolus of contrast agent washes into and out of a region of interest in the body. During the wash-in, wash-out cycle the operation of the ultrasound system is changed to optimize system performance for different portions of the contrast cycle. The ultrasound transmission, receive signal processing, and image processing are among the operations of the ultrasound system which may be changed. The changes in system operation are invoked automatically at predetermined times or event occurrence during the wash-in, wash-out cycle.

Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system acquires different kinds of pilot images showing different characteristics of a region of a body where shearwave measurements are performed. The pilot images are analyzed by a push pulse locator to adaptively generate push pulses at locations in the body which minimize or avoid shearwave travel through blood vessels, through regions of stiffness inhomogeneities in the body, or at times when shearwaves are adversely affected by tissue motion.

Abstract: Systems and methods for reducing speckle while maintaining frame rate are disclosed. Multiple sub-images associated with different receive angles are acquired for a single transmit/receive event at an observation angle. The sub-images are compounded to generate a final image with reduced speckle. In some examples, multiple sub-images from multiple transmit/receive events are compounded to generate the final image. The observation angle and/or the receive angles may vary between transmit/receive events in some examples.

Abstract: Systems, devices, and methods for ultrasonic imaging by sparse sampling are provided. In one embodiment, an ultrasound imaging system comprises an array of ultrasound transducer elements, electronic circuitry in communication with the array of ultrasound transducer elements and configured to select a first receive aperture of the array comprising a plurality of contiguous ultrasound transducer elements and at least one non-contiguous ultrasound transducer element, and a beamformer in communication with the electronic circuitry. Each ultrasound transducer element of the first receive aperture is configured to receive reflected ultrasound echoes and generate an electrical signal representative of imaging data.

Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system acquires different kinds of pilot images showing different characteristics of a region of a body where shearwave measurements are performed. The pilot images are analyzed by a push pulse locator to adaptively generate push pulses at locations in the body which minimize or avoid shearwave travel through blood vessels, through regions of stiffness inhomogeneities in the body, or at times when shearwaves are adversely affected by tissue motion.

Abstract: A method and system of strain gain compensation in elasticity imaging is provided. The system can include a probe (120) for transmitting ultrasonic energy into a physiology (150) of a patient (50) and receiving echoes, a display device (170), and a processor (100) operably coupled to the probe and the display device. The processor can process ultrasound imaging data associated with an applied stress of the physiology of the patient. The processor can generate a strain compensation function associated with the applied stress based on at least one of (i) user inputs based on expected results associated with a portion of the physiology, (ii) a strain compensation model generated prior to processing the ultrasound imaging data, and (iii) at least a portion of the imaging data. The processor can apply the strain compensation function to the imaging data to generate a compensated strain image.

Abstract: An in vivo source of compression is used to cause a bodily structure of interest to expand and contract. Ultrasound signals are incident and their echoes are processed by a strain processor. Resulting strain images are freed from noise caused by external sources of compression. A tissue stiffness index is calculated to obtain quantitative measure of stiffness.

Abstract: This invention relates to a method of ultrasonically imaging a region of interest that may contain anechoic and/or hypoechoic echoes. The method comprises the steps of: providing a first and a second set of ultrasound data, said two sets comprising information of the region of interest at two different instants of time respectively, determining from the first and second data sets, a temporal consistency value of at least an area of the region of interest, and producing an image indicating this area as being hypoechoic or anechoic in accordance with said temporal consistency value. Doing so, an anechoic image produced by the method of the invention emphazises the rendering of anechoic and/or hypoechoic areas over echoic ones.

Abstract: Strain is directly estimated in ultrasound elasticity imaging without computing displacement or resorting to spectral analysis. Conventional ultrasound elasticity imaging relies on calculating displacement and strain is computed from a derivative of the displacement. However, for typical parameter values used in ultrasound elasticity imaging, the displacement can be as large as a hundred times or displacement differences. If a tiny error in the calculation of displacement occurs, this could drastically affect the calculation of strain. By directly estimating strain, image quality is enhanced and the reduction in computational effort facilitates commercialization to aid in diagnosing disease or cancerous conditions.

Abstract: A method and system of strain gain compensation in elasticity imaging is provided. The system can include a probe (120) for transmitting ultrasonic energy into a physiology (150) of a patient (50) and receiving echoes, a display device (170), and a processor (100) operably coupled to the probe and the display device. The processor can process ultrasound imaging data associated with an applied stress of the physiology of the patient. The processor can generate a strain compensation function associated with the applied stress based on at least one of (i) user inputs based on expected results associated with a portion of the physiology, (ii) a strain compensation model generated prior to processing the ultrasound imaging data, and (iii) at least a portion of the imaging data. The processor can apply the strain compensation function to the imaging data to generate a compensated strain image.

Abstract: An in vivo source of compression is used to cause a bodily structure of interest to expand and contract. Ultrasound signals are incident and their echoes are processed by a strain processor. Resulting strain images are freed from noise caused external sources of compression. A tissue stiffness index is calculated to obtain quantitative measure of stiffness.

Abstract: Strain is directly estimated in ultrasound elasticity imaging without computing displacement or resorting to spectral analysis. Conventional ultrasound elasticity imaging relies on calculating displacement and strain is computed from a derivative of the displacement. However, for typical parameter values used in ultrasound elasticity imaging, the displacement can be as large as a hundred times or displacement differences. If a tiny error in the calculation of displacement occurs, this could drastically affect the calculation of strain. By directly estimating strain, image quality is enhanced and the reduction in computational effort facilitates commercialization to aid in diagnosing disease or cancerous conditions.