Patent ID: 6238342
Filing Date: 2001-05-29
Classification: A61B,G01S

Abstract:
An ultrasound apparatus for performing material classification comprising:an ultrasound scanner, said scanner acquiring RF echo signals related to material properties;a digitizer, said digitizer responsive to said ultrasound scanner and converting the RF echo signals to digital signals representing echo signals from a plurality of spatial regions in material under examination;a processor, said processor responsive to the digital signals from said digitizer and extracting a plurality of spectral parameters relating to the RF echo signals;an input device, said input device for providing non-ultrasound material-related data to said processor;a classifier, said classifier being responsive to at least a portion of said plurality of spectral parameters and at least a portion of said non-ultrasound material-related data and assigning a material classification score to the points of the ultrasound scan; andan output device for providing data corresponding to the assigned material classification scores for at least one area corresponding to said spatial regions in said material.