Patent ID: 9566042
Date: 2017-02-14
CPC Classifications: A61B

Claim:
1. An ultrasonic imaging method for imaging a needle, a body tissue, and a body fluid flow comprising the steps of: transmitting ultrasound beams with differing operating frequencies, sound paths, and/or mechanical indexes within the same section of a region under examination, said transmitting comprising: transmitting towards the body tissue a first ultrasound beam at a fundamental frequency the first ultrasound beam having a first mechanical index; transmitting towards the needle a second ultrasound beam at said fundamental frequency with the first or a second mechanical index and at an angle of incidence between the transmitted beam and the needle such that the transmitted beam is substantially perpendicular to the needle, the sound path of the transmitted beam towards the needle being different from the sound path of the transmitted beam towards the body tissue; transmitting towards the body fluid flow a third ultrasound beam at a harmonic frequency of said fundamental frequency with the second mechanical index; and said first mechanical index being larger than said second mechanical index; receiving and storing reflected ultrasound signals from the first, second, and third transmitted ultrasound beams; and combining and visualizing together said reflected ultrasound signals by overlaying said reflected ultrasound signals according to an imaging protocol.