Patent Document ID: 5522392
Application ID: 08340180
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for enhancing an intravascular ultrasonic blood vessel image comprising the steps of: directing ultrasonic energy to an intravascular target to produce first ultrasonic echoes from said intravascular target; converting the first ultrasonic echoes reflected from said intravascular target into a first electrical signal, said first electrical signal including amplitude data and phase data; separating said first electrical signal into a first component signal and a second component signal; directing ultrasonic energy to said intravascular target to produce second ultrasonic echoes from said intravascular target; converting the second ultrasonic echoes reflected from said intravascular target into a second electrical signal; separating said second electrical signal into a third component signal and a fourth component signal; obtaining component difference information from said first, said second, said third and said fourth component signals to derive weighting information; weighting the amplitude data of the first electrical signal with the weighting information to produce processed image data representative of an intravascular image wherein blood images are suppressed; and outputting the processed image data.