Patent ID: 8717843
Filing Date: 2014-05-06
Classification: A61B,G01H,G01S

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for ultrasound image acquisition integrated into a casing of an ultrasound probe for ultrasound imaging apparatus, the probe comprising: an array of electro-acoustic transducers, each one of said electro-acoustic transducers transmitting ultrasound waves when powered with an electric excitation signal and generating an electric reception signal when impinged by an ultrasound wave or pulse generated by a reflection of ultrasound waves transmitted therefrom; and a communication line operatively coupling said array of electro-acoustic transducers to a generating unit through which each transducer of said array of transducers feeds reception signals to a processing unit, and through which electric excitation signals generated by said generating unit are fed to each transducer of said array of transducers for exciting said transducer to transmit ultrasound waves, wherein said generating unit is configured to generate and feed excitation signals to said array of transducers, and wherein at least said processing unit is fitted into the probe casing and comprises a converting unit converting reception signals into an image, and a unit generating video signals for generating an image on a display unit, further comprising a wireless communication unit configured to transmit between said probe and a remote unit displaying and storing said image as video signals, wherein the processing unit comprises a storage wherein sequences of time windows for exciting individual transducers to transmit ultrasound pulses are stored, said time windows being defined to cause an acoustic transmission pulse successively transmitted as a spherical wave from each of a plurality of transmitting points arranged along said array of electro-acoustic transducers, wherein sequences of time windows for reception of reflection pulses of the acoustic transmission pulse are stored, said reflection pulses of said acoustic transmission pulse being converted into a reception signal by each of the receiving transducers during a corresponding reception time window of each of said receiving transducers according to a position of said receiving transducers on said array, said reception time windows being calculated beforehand for each point of a set of predetermined reflection points arranged at a predetermined distance one from the other and forming a grid of said predetermined reflection points extending in a scan plane or slice along which a body under examination is imaged, such that, by successive transmission of said acoustic transmission pulse shaped as said spherical wave from each of a plurality of transmitting points arranged all along said array of electro-acoustic transducers, a set of reflection signals is defined from individual reflection points of said grid of said predetermined reflection points for each spherical transmission pulse transmitted by a different transmission point, wherein said converting unit calculates, in real time and every time, said time windows, and wherein said converting unit comprises an image forming storage, wherein said set of reflection signals for each of the spherical transmission pulses transmitted by individual transmitting points are stored by in a storage unit and the image along said scan plane or slice of the body under examination is generated by summing the reflection signals of sets of reflection signals generated by the individual spherical transmission pulses transmitted by various transmitting points.