Patent ID: 8029445

Claim:
A method for processing ultrasonic image signals for imaging a small strong reflector object within a material, the method comprising: receiving a plurality of radio frequency (RF) input sample values representing reflected sound waves in a ultrasonic system; grouping said RF sample values into groups of RF sample values comprising a plurality of contiguous sample values associated with a respective time segment of said RF sample values, each group having a number of samples selected in proportion to a size of the reflector object; computing a norm value for each group of RF sample values to produce a plurality of respective norm values; expanding said norm values by raising each norm value to a power greater than one to produce a plurality of respective expanded norm values; thresholding said expanded norm values to produce a plurality of thresholded values for receipt by an imageformer; and causing said imageformer to produce an image representing said ultrasonic sound waves in response to said thresholded values.