US 11,719,812 B2
Ultrasound system
François Maurice, Draguignan (FR); Claude Cohen Bacrie, Aix en Provence (FR); and Mathieu Couade, Aix en Provence (FR)
Assigned to SuperSonic Imagine, Aix-en-Provence (FR)
Appl. No. 17/427,798
Filed by SUPERSONIC IMAGINE, Aix en Provence (FR)
PCT Filed Feb. 7, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/053105
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 2, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/161287, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 13, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 19305145 (EP), filed on Feb. 7, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0128687 A1, Apr. 28, 2022
Int. Cl. G01S 15/89 (2006.01); A61B 8/00 (2006.01); G10K 11/30 (2006.01); G10K 11/34 (2006.01)
CPC G01S 15/8952 (2013.01) [A61B 8/469 (2013.01); G01S 15/8954 (2013.01); G10K 11/30 (2013.01); G10K 11/343 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An ultrasound system comprising:
a probe adapted for being put into contact with a medium and comprising at least one transducer adapted for emitting and receiving ultrasound waves in said medium, and
a processing unit associated to said probe and adapted for processing signals from the probe,
said ultrasound system being characterized in that:
the probe is not axisymmetric and is a linear probe extending according to a longitudinal direction,
the probe comprises at least one portion comprising along the longitudinal direction a plurality of probe sections having a width that decrease from a first end to a second end of said portion so as to behave as a Fresnel lens in that the probe focusses the ultrasound waves towards and from a focal point inside the medium, said focal point being different for each frequency of said ultrasound waves, and
the processing unit analyses signals received from said probe at a plurality of frequencies around a nominal frequency for sensing the medium at a plurality of focal points situated in the medium, and
the processing unit builds an image of the medium on the bases of a plurality of focal points sensed in the medium, the image being composed of a grid of pixels, the pixels aligned in the longitudinal direction being determined by the signals at the plurality of frequencies, and the pixels aligned in the depth direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction being determined by the level of the signals received for a plurality of time of flight between the probe and focal point in the medium.