Patent ID: 8591421

Claim:
A method for generating a composite image using an intravascular imaging device, the composite image comprising a plurality of pixels, the method comprising: inserting an imaging device into a blood vessel of a patient, the imaging device coupled to a processor, the imaging device comprising at least one transducer disposed in a lumen defined in a sheath, the at least one transducer configured and arranged for transforming applied electrical signals to acoustic signals; transmitting the acoustic signals along a plurality of radial scan lines by the at least one transducer as the at least one transducer rotates about a longitudinal axis of the sheath; receiving reflected echo signals by the at least one transducer along a first radial scan line of the plurality of radial scan lines, the echo signals corresponding to the transmitted acoustic signals; passing the received echo signals through a plurality of first signal processing channels to form a plurality of filtered signals, the plurality of filtered signals comprising a first resolution tissue structure signal, a first blood-flow signal, and a second resolution tissue structure image signal, wherein the first resolution tissue structure signal has a resolution that is higher than a resolution of the second resolution tissue structure image signal, wherein each of the plurality of first signal processing channels comprises a different first filter, and wherein each of the received echo signals is passed through each of the different first filters; processing the first resolution tissue structure signal and a plurality of additional first resolution tissue structure signals received from additional radial scan lines of the plurality of radial scan lines to generate a first resolution tissue structural image; processing the first blood-flow signal and the second resolution tissue structure image signal with a plurality of additional first blood-flow signals received from additional radial scan lines of the plurality of radial scan lines to generate a blood-flow image that comprises at least one of a blood-flow velocity image, a blood-flow energy image, or a second resolution structural energy image; and combining the first resolution tissue structural image with the blood-flow image to generate a composite image, for each pixel of the composite image, determining whether to use a corresponding pixel of the first resolution tissue structural image or a corresponding pixel of the blood-flow image to generate the composite image pixel.