Patent ID: 11918418
Assignee: ORCASONICS INNOVATION LTD
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  G | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. An ultrasound imaging system comprising:
a source configured to generate an ultra-wideband frequency modulated (UWFM) ultrasound signal that has a time-bandwidth product (TBP) that is larger than 1,
at least one linear array of micromachined ultrasound transducers, configured to be coupled to a patient body,
a controller configured to transmit the generated ultrasound signal and to receive an ultrasound signal from the patient body—sequentially through the transducers to the body by switching the transducers according to a predefined pattern, and
an image processing unit configured to analyze the received ultrasound signals with respect to the transmitted ultrasound signals and the predefined transmission pattern and generate a far-field ultrasound image of a region of interest (ROI) in the patient body,
wherein:
the predefined pattern includes switching one transducer at a time and simulates a moving transmitter and a moving receiver having a virtual velocity which yields a Doppler effect,
the image processing unit comprises a match filter configured to derive a tissue response by comparing the received ultrasound signal to the transmitted ultrasound signal from each of the transducers, and
the image processing unit is configured to generate, from the derived tissue response, the ultrasound image as a Range-Doppler map of the ROI.