Patent ID: 6171246
Filing Date: 2001-01-09
Classification: A61B,G01S

Abstract:
A method for imaging an ultrasonic microbubble contrast agent in a region of the body in realtime comprising the steps of:transmitting pulses and receiving echoes to produce a grayscale image of tissue in the region of the body being imaged;transmitting time interleaved pulses and receiving multiple temporally discrete echoes from each of the sample volumes in the region where microbubbles are being imaged;separating harmonic components of said multiple echoes from said sample volumes and producing display signals of said microbubbles of said sample volumes from the harmonic components of said multiple echoes of said sample volumes; anddisplaying a realtime image sequence of said grayscale tissue signals combined or overlaid with said microbubble display signals in a distinguishing color,wherein said transmitted pulses for said realtime image sequence are at a power which is low enough to cause no substantial microbubble destruction in said imaged region but at a power which is sufficiently high enough to cause a detectable harmonic response by said microbubbles.