Abstract:
A medical imaging system is provided. A scan portion is configured to acquire signals. A plurality of interconnected components are configured to receive the signals and communicate information asynchronously.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     This invention relates generally to diagnostic imaging systems and methods, and more particularly, to imaging systems and methods configured to transfer imaging information via a high speed serial data bus (HSSDB).  
         [0002]     At least some known ultrasound systems experience problems with transmitting large amounts of data from one receiver component to a next receiver component, and ultimately to a radio frequency interface (RFI) and/or host computer of the ultrasound system. More than one beam of imaging data may be constructed substantially simultaneously at the plurality of receiver components. The collecting and processing of echo information along multiple scan lines within a subject is known as multi-line acquisition (MLA). Thus, large amounts of ultrasound information acquired and produced through MLA have to be processed and communicated in the ultrasound system.  
         [0003]     Data reduction and/or filtering of data provides one way to accommodate the rapid communication of large amounts of data. Through use of data reduction and/or filtering techniques, non-critical data may be filtered and deleted from the more critical data. However, once data reduction and filtering are performed at the receiver components, the data eliminated cannot be recovered at the RFI or host computer. Some ultrasound applications would be improved by use of all the raw data. For example, the communication of all of the raw imaging data results in producing better quality images. The use of parallel data buses provides another way to communicate large amounts of information rapidly. However, the use of parallel buses typically requires the costly addition of hardware, and synchronicity of the data is near impossible to maintain.  
         [0004]     Thus, known methods and systems may not and adequately transmit large amounts of imaging data through a plurality of receiver components and to an RFI and/or host computer of the imaging system.  
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     In one embodiment, a medical imaging system is provided. A scan portion is configured to acquire signals. A plurality of interconnected components are configured to receive the signals and communicate information asynchronously.  
         [0006]     In another embodiment, an ultrasound system is provided that includes a plurality of receiver components configured to receive synchronous ultrasound signals and process the received ultrasound signals to output asynchronous ultrasound information. Each of the plurality of receiver components is further configured to receive the asynchronous ultrasound information from at least one other of the plurality of receiver components and combine the asynchronously received ultrasound information with the received synchronous ultrasound signals to output asynchronously combined ultrasound information. The ultrasound system also includes a processor configured to receive asynchronously the combined ultrasound information and process the combined ultrasound information to produce ultrasound image information.  
         [0007]     In yet another embodiment, a receiver component for an ultrasound system is provided. The receiver component includes a plurality of inputs configured to receive synchronous ultrasound signals from an ultrasound scan. An interface of the receiver component is configured to receive asynchronous ultrasound information from another receiver component. A processor of the receiver component is configured to combine the received synchronous ultrasound information with the asynchronous received ultrasound information.  
         [0008]     In still another embodiment, a method for communicating information within an ultrasound system is provided. The method includes receiving ultrasound signals from an ultrasound scan. Ultrasound information based at least in part on the received ultrasound signals is asynchronously. The method also includes communicating the asynchronous ultrasound information between ultrasound system components. The communicated ultrasound information is combined with the received ultrasound signals to asynchronously provide combined ultrasound information. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]      FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of an ultrasound system constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a connectivity diagram illustrating connectivity between receiver components and an RFI board the ultrasound system of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart of an exemplary method for communicating information in an ultrasound system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram illustrating flow of ultrasound information between a plurality of components in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is an expanded view of a block diagram illustrating flow of ultrasound information to and from a receiver component in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0014]      FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of an ultrasound system  10  constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The ultrasound system  10  generally includes a transducer array  14  having transducer elements  12 , a transducer interface board  20 , preamplifier boards  30 , and a plurality of receiver components  40 . Each of the receiver components  40  are identified as a receiver component  42  (e.g., a receiver board), a receiver component  44 , a receiver component  46 , and a receiver component  48 . The ultrasound system  10  also includes a transmit boards group  100  and a Radio Frequency Interface (RFI) board  110 . The plurality of receiver components  40 , the transmit boards group  100 , and the RFI board  110  form a beamformer (BF).  
         [0015]     Each of the receiver components  42 - 48  in the plurality of receiver components  40  has a similar architecture. Thus only one receiver component  48  is described in detail with corresponding structure present in each of the other receiver components. The receiver component  48  includes a plurality of Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) component groups, namely an ASIC group  50 , an ASIC group  51 , an ASIC group  52 , and an ASIC group  53 . Each of the ASIC component groups has a similar architecture, and thus only one ASIC group  50  is described in detail with corresponding structure present in each of the other ASICs. ASIC group  50  includes an A/D converter group  54  and an ASIC  61 , the A/D converter group  54  provides inputs  64  to the ASIC  61 .  
         [0016]     The operator of these components including the flow and processing of information will now be described. The RFI board  110  receives commands from a backend control processor/controller (BEP)  122  over an RFI-BEP controller bus  115  to control the formation of an ultrasound pulse to be emitted into a region of interest (e.g., region of interest of an object to be scanned). The RFI board  110  generates transmit parameters from the received commands that define a transmit beam of a certain shape and size from a certain point or points at the surface of the transducer array  14 . The transmit parameters are communicated over a connection  160  (e.g., serial link) from the RFI board  110  to the transmit boards group  100 . The transmit boards group  100  generates transmit signals from the received transmit parameters. The transmit signals are provided at certain levels and are phased with respect to each other to steer and focus a transmit beam into one or more transmit pulses or firings.  
         [0017]     The transmit boards group  100  communicates the transmit signals via a connection (e.g., communication link)  180  through the transducer interface board  20  to drive the plurality of transducer elements  12  within the transducer array  14  as is known. The connection  180 , in one embodiment, includes a plurality of individual channels or communication lines that correspond to the number of transducer elements  12  or to groups of transducer elements  12 . The transmit signals excite the transducer elements  12  to emit ultrasound pulses. The ultrasound pulses may be phased to form a focused beam along a desired scan line. Ultrasound echoes, which are backscattered ultrasound waves from, for example, tissue and blood samples within the scanned structure, are received at the transducer elements  12  at different times depending on the distance into the tissue from which the signals are backscattered the angle at which the signals contact the surface of the transducer array  14 . The transducer array  14  is a two-way transducer and converts the backscattered waves (ultrasound echoes) of energy into received signals.  
         [0018]     The received signals are communicated in separate channels from the transducer array  14  via a connection  16  (e.g., communication links) to the transducer interface board  20 , which communicates the received signals over a connection  130  to the preamplifier boards  30 . The preamplifier boards  30  perform time gain compensation (TGC) (e.g., swept gain), to increase the amplitude of the received signals from increasing depths in the body to compensate for the progressive attenuation of the deeper echoes. The amplified received signals from the preamplifier boards  30  are communicated over a connection  140  (e.g., communication link) to the plurality of receiver components  40 . In the illustrated example, the connections  16 ,  130 , and  140 , each include 256 channels and the channels in the connection  140  are divided into four groups of 64 channels. Each of the receiver components  42 - 48  in the plurality of receiver components  40  receives a group of 64 channels from the preamplifier boards  30 .  
         [0019]     The group of 64 channels received at receiver component  48  is subdivided into 4 groups of 16 channels. Each group of 16 channels is processed by one of the ASIC groups  50 ,  51 ,  52 , and  53 . For example, a group of 16 channels is received by the A/D converter group  54  of ASIC group  50 . The A/D converter group  54  converts the analog signals of the 16 received channels into digital signals providing digital inputs  64  to the ASIC  61 . The ASIC  61  processes the received digital signals into beam information and communicates the beam information to a bus  68  then to an ASIC  63 . The ASIC group  51  receives a group of 16 channels and uses an A/D converter group  55  to convert the received analog signals into digital signals for use by the ASIC  63 . The ASIC  63  processes the received digital signals into processed beam information, and may combine the beam data received over the bus  68  with the processed beam information. The combined beam information is then communicated from the ASIC  63  to an ASIC  65  via a bus  70 .  
         [0020]     In like manner as described for the ASIC group  51 , the ASIC group  52  receives a group of 16 channels at an AID converter group  56 . The A/D converter group  56  converts the analog signals of the 16 received channels into digital signals for use by the ASIC  65 . The ASIC  65  processes the received digital signals into processed beam information, and may combine the beam data received over the bus  70  with the processed beam data. The combined beam data is then communicated from the ASIC  65  to an ASIC  67  via a bus  72 . In similar fashion as described for the ASIC group  52 , the ASIC group  53  receives a group of 16 channels at an A/D converter group  57 . The A/D converter group  57  converts the analog signals of the 16 received channels into digital signals for use by the ASIC  67 . The ASIC  67  processes the received digital signals into processed beam information, and may combine the beam data received over the bus  72  with the processed beam data. The combined beam data is then communicated from the ASIC  67  to a bus  74 . The bus  74  communicates the combined beam data from receiver component  48  to a processing chip (e.g., a field programmable gate array (FPGA)  75 ). The FPGA  75  may combine processed beam data received from another receiver board (e.g. receiver board  46 ) with the processed beam data received via bus  74 . The combined resulting beam data is communicated from FPGA  75  to the RFI board  110  via a high speed serial data bus (HSSDB)  150 . The RFI board  110  may further process the received beam data and communicate the resulting processed image information to the BEP  122  over a data bus  76 . The BEP  122  may then produce and display ultrasound images from the received image information as is known.  
         [0021]      FIG. 2  is a connectivity diagram  300  illustrating connectivity between the receiver components  42 - 48  of  FIG. 1 , and between the receiver components  42 - 48  and the RFI board  110 . The exemplary embodiment illustrates a daisy-chained connection (e.g. serial connections) from receiver component  42  to receiver component  44 , from receiver component  44  to receiver component  46 , from receiver component  46  to receiver component  48 , and from receiver component  48  to the RFI board  110 . However, it is contemplated that other connection arrangements may be implemented.  
         [0022]     Each of the receiver components  42 ,  44 ,  46 , and  48  has a corresponding group of ASICs, groups  302 ,  304 ,  306 , and  308 , respectively. Each group  302 ,  304 ,  306 , and  308  receives and processes a set of 64 synchronous signals from the transducer elements  12 . Each of the ASICs of the group  302  processes the synchronous signals into beam data and may sum the beam data with beam data from a previous ASIC of the group  302 . The resulting beam data from the group  302  is transmitted serially and synchronously to an FPGA  316 . The FPGA  316  packetizes the received beam data into a data packet  330  and transmits the data packet  330  asynchronously over an HSSDB  310  to an FPGA  320  of the receiver component  44 .  
         [0023]     Each of the ASICs of the group  304  processes synchronous signals received by the receiver component  44  into beam data, and may sum the beam data with beam data from a previous ASIC of the group  304 . The FPGA  320  unbundles the received data packet  330  of beam data. The FPGA  320  realigns (e.g., re-synchronizes) and interleaves the unbundled beam data with processed beam data received from the group  304  of ASICs. The FPGA  320  packetizes the realigned and interleaved beam data into a data packet  332  and transmits the data packet  332  asynchronously via an HSSDB  312  to an FPGA  324  of the receiver component  46 .  
         [0024]     Each of the ASICs of the group  306  processes synchronous signals received by the receiver component  46  into beam data, and may sum the beam data with beam data from a previous ASIC of the group  306 . The FPGA  324  unbundles the received data packet  332  of beam data. The FPGA  324  realigns (e.g., re-synchronizes) and interleaves the unbundled beam data with processed beam data received from the group  306  of ASICs. The FPGA  324  packetizes the realigned and interleaved beam data into a data packet  334  and transmits the data packet  334  asynchronously via an HSSDB  314  to an FPGA  75  of the receiver component  48 .  
         [0025]     Each of the ASICs of the group  308  processes synchronous signals received by the receiver component  48  into beam data, and may sum the beam data with beam data from a previous ASIC of the group  308 . The FPGA  75  unbundles the received data packet  334  of beam data. The FPGA  75  realigns (e.g., re-synchronizes) and interleaves the unbundled beam data with processed beam data received from the group  308  of ASICs. The FPGA  75  packetizes the realigned and interleaved beam data into a data packet  336  and transmits the data packet  336  asynchronously via an HSSDB  150  to an FPGA  75  of the RFI  110 .  
         [0026]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart of an exemplary method  400  for communicating information in an ultrasound system  10  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The technical effect of the method  400  is the asynchronous communication of ultrasound information between components of the ultrasound system. The method  400  generally provides for receiving ultrasound signals from an ultrasound scan and producing a packet of ultrasound information based in part on the received ultrasound signals. The packet is asynchronously transmitted at high speed. When received, the packet of ultrasound information may be combined with the received ultrasound signals to produce asynchronously a packet of combined ultrasound information. The technical effect produces packets of ultrasound information that are transmitted asynchronously. The packet may be transmitted over a high speed serial data bus (HSSDB) at a rate of, for example, approximately 1 gigabyte per second (Gbps), or 1.5 Gbps, or greater than 1.5 Gbps. The technical effect is achieved by performing the method  400  described in more detail below.  
         [0027]     Specifically, using the method  400 , synchronous ultrasound signals from an ultrasound scan (e.g. inputs  64  shown in  FIG. 1 ) are received  402 . At  404 , a data packet of ultrasound information is produced at a receiver component based at least in part on the received ultrasound signals. For example, the group  302  of ASICs (shown in  FIG. 2 ) receive synchronous input signals and process the signals into ultrasound information. The ultrasound information is communicated from the group  302  (shown in  FIG. 2 ) to the FPGA  316  (shown in  FIG. 2 ). The FPGA  316  produces a packet  330  containing the ultrasound information. The producing  404  of the data packet  330  may include concurrently transmitting the packet  330  while receiving the ultrasound signals to produce the ultrasound information for inclusion in the packet  330 . Producing  404  the packet  330  may further include providing error check information in a trailer of the packet  330 . At  406 , a determination is made as to whether more ultrasound information is to be added to the packet by a next receiver component. If more ultrasound information is to be added, the packet  330  is transmitted asynchronously at  408  to the next receiver component (e.g., receiver component  44  shown in  FIG. 2 ).  
         [0028]     The next receiver component (e.g., the receiver component  44 ) receives at  410  the packet  330 . At  412 , the ultrasound information received asynchronously in the packet  330  is combined with ultrasound information processed from the synchronous ultrasound signals received at receiver component  44  to produce a packet (e.g., the packet  332 ) of combined ultrasound information. For example, the group  304  of ASICs receive synchronous input signals and processes the signals into ultrasound information. The ultrasound information is communicated to the FPGA  320  for packetizing. The combining  412  further may include realigning the ultrasound information from the asynchronously received packet  330  with the processed ultrasound information for inclusion in the packet  332 . The combined ultrasound information may include inserted idles, as described herein. Processing flow then returns to the determination at  406 .  
         [0029]     If more ultrasound information is to be added by a next receiver component (e.g. the receiver component  46  or  48  of  FIG. 2 ), the processing at  408 ,  410 , and  412  is repeated. If not, the packet of combined ultrasound information produced at  412  is transmitted at  414  to the RFI  110  and/or to the host computer  122  (shown in  FIG. 1 ). The packet is received at  416 , and processed at  418  by the RFI  110  and/or the host computer  122 . The processing at  418  results in image information that may be displayed as an ultrasound image.  
         [0030]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram illustrating flow of ultrasound information between a plurality of receiver components  540  (e.g., receiver components  542 ,  544 ,  546 , and  548 ) in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Each of the plurality of receiver components  540  may be substantially the same. Each of the plurality of receiver components  540  is configured to receive synchronous ultrasound signals  502  from the transducer elements  12  (shown in  FIG. 1 ) and process the received ultrasound signals  502  to transmit asynchronously ultrasound information  580  using the methods described in connection with  FIG. 3 . Each of the plurality of receiver components  540  is further configured to receive  410  asynchronously ultrasound information  580  from at least one other of the plurality of receiver components  540 . The asynchronously received ultrasound information  580  is combined  412  with ultrasound information processed from the received synchronous ultrasound signals  502  to produce combined ultrasound information  580 . Each receiver component  542 - 548  is further configured to produce  404  a continuous stream of asynchronous packets of ultrasound information  580 .  
         [0031]     Each of the plurality of receiver components  540  is configured to transmit asynchronously a packet of the ultrasound information  580  concurrently with receiving the ultrasound signals  502  to produce the ultrasound information  580  for inclusion in the packet. The transceivers  504 ,  506 ,  508  and  510  are configured to communicate ultrasound information  580  bi-directionally and may include FPGAs. An RFI  521  is configured to receive asynchronously the combined ultrasound information  580 . The RFI  521  processes the combined ultrasound information  580  to produce ultrasound image information. The ultrasound image information is transmitted via a bus  523  to a host computer/controller  522  for use in producing an ultrasound image. Although the RFI  521  and the host computer  522  are shown in  FIG. 4  as distinct separate components, in an alternative embodiment, a host computer with the combined functionality may be provided instead of the RFI  521  and the host computer  522 .  
         [0032]     The processing of ultrasound signals  502  into ultrasound information at a receiver component  542 - 548  may be performed by a group of ASICs, (e.g., ASICs  561 ,  563 ,  565 , and  567 ) of the receiver component  548 . In an alternative embodiment, a group of processing elements other than ASICs may be used to perform the same functionality. The processing of the ultrasound information produced by a group of ASICs to form packets of ultrasound information  580  may performed by an FPGA transceiver (e.g., transceiver  510 ). In an alternative embodiment, a processing element other than an FPGA may be used in the transceivers  504 - 510 .  FIG. 4  shows four receiver components  542 - 548 . However, in an alternative embodiment, either one or a plurality of interconnected receiver components may be provided. HSSDBs  524 ,  526 ,  528 , and  530  are shown as serially connecting (daisy-chaining) the receiver components  542 - 548  and the RFI  521 . In an alternative embodiment, the HSSDBs  524 - 530  may connect to the RFI  521  in a parallel arrangement. The HSSDBs  524 - 530  may provide uni-directional flow of the ultrasound information  580  from the receiver components  542 - 548  to the RFI  521 . In an alternative embodiment, the HSSDBs  524 - 530  and a HSSDB  532  may provide bi-directional flow of the ultrasound information  580  between the receiver components  542 - 548  and the RFI  521 .  
         [0033]      FIG. 5  is an expanded view of a flow of ultrasound information to and from a receiver component  648  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment of  FIG. 5 , the receiver component  648  may be, for example, a receiver circuit board. The receiver component  648  includes a plurality of inputs  661 ,  663 ,  665 , and  667  configured to receive ultrasound signals  602  from an ultrasound scan. The receiver component  648  includes an interface  683  configured to receive asynchronously a data packet  680  containing ultrasound information  688  from another receiver component. The receiver component  648  also includes a processor  685  configured to combine the received synchronous ultrasound information  604  with the asynchronously received ultrasound information  688  as described herein. The processor  685  is configured to unbundle the incoming asynchronous data packet  680  received from another receiver component and combine/interleave the unbundled ultrasound information  688  with the synchronous ultrasound information  604  to produce the combined ultrasound information  689 . Processed ultrasound information is received from ASICs  606 ,  608 ,  610 , and  612  to produce the ultrasound information  604 . The combined ultrasound information  689  is bundled into a data packet  687 . A lapse in the synchronous ultrasound information  604  results in one or more idles being inserted as a spacer in the rebundled packet  687 . An idle is, for example, a filler with no ultrasound information included. The data packets  680  and  687  may be variable in length. Each data packet, (e.g., the packet  687 ) includes a header  682 , the ultrasound information  689 , and a trailer  684 . The trailer  684  signals the end of the bundling of the packet. The trailer  684  further includes an error check field  686 . The error check field  686  is in the trailer  684  of the data packet  687  due to the packet  687  being filled with synchronous ultrasound information  604  concurrently with the packet  687  being transmitted.  
         [0034]     While the invention has been described in terms of various specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims.