Patent ID: 6450960
Filing Date: 2002-09-17
Classification: A61B,Y10S

Abstract:
An apparatus for generating a real-time three-dimensional representation of an object, the apparatus comprising:(a) an electrical signal generator configured to generate a first electrical signal; (b) an acoustic transmitter electrically connected to the electrical signal generator and configured to emit an incident acoustic signal derived from the first electrical signal for insonifying the object, the incident acoustic signal characterized by an acoustic frequency; (c) an acoustic receiver positioned and configured to generate analog electrical signals in response to acoustic signals scattered from the insonified object at substantially a rate defined by the acoustic frequency; (d) an analog-to-digital converter electrically connected to the acoustic receiver and configured to convert the analog electrical signals to digital electronic signals at substantially the rate defined by the acoustic frequency; and (e) a signal processor in electrical communication with the converter and configured to time-resolve an amplitude and phase from each digital electronic signal and produce the three-dimensional representation from the time resolved amplitudes and phases.