Patent ID: 7753850

Claim:
A method of obtaining an ultrasound perfusion image of tissues perfused with blood containing microbubbles, the method comprising: transmitting a plane wave of microbubble-destroying ultrasound into the tissues, the plane wave of microbubble-destroying ultrasound encompassing a first area of the tissues, the microbubble-destroying ultrasound having an intensity that is sufficient to destroy microbubbles in the tissues that are insonified by the microbubble-destroying ultrasound; repetitively transmitting a plurality of beams of imaging ultrasound into the tissues, wherein each beam of imaging ultrasound insonifies a second area of tissue within the first area, and wherein each second area is smaller than the first area, the imaging ultrasound having an intensity that is substantially insufficient to destroy microbubbles in the tissues that are insonified by the imaging ultrasound; receiving reflections from each of the transmitted imaging ultrasound beams in respective receive beams, wherein each of the receive beams is received from a third area of tissue within the first area, and wherein each third area is smaller than the first area; and processing the received reflections over a sufficient period to allow re-perfusion of the tissues to provide an ultrasound perfusion image.