US 11,726,195 B2
Ultrasound systems and methods for measuring acoustic attenuation coefficients
Sheng-Wen Huang, Ossining, NY (US); Hua Xie, Cambridge, MA (US); Jean-Luc Francois-Marie Robert, Cambridge, MA (US); Man Nguyen, Melrose, MA (US); and Vijay Thakur Shamdasani, Kenmore, WA (US)
Assigned to KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V., Eindhoven (NL)
Appl. No. 16/648,010
Filed by KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V., Eindhoven (NL)
PCT Filed Sep. 6, 2018, PCT No. PCT/EP2018/073962
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Mar. 17, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/057503, PCT Pub. Date Mar. 28, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/560,248, filed on Sep. 19, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2020/0256971 A1, Aug. 13, 2020
Int. Cl. G01S 7/52 (2006.01); A61B 8/00 (2006.01); G01N 29/11 (2006.01); G01S 15/89 (2006.01); G01H 3/12 (2006.01); G01H 9/00 (2006.01); G01N 29/24 (2006.01); G01N 29/34 (2006.01)
CPC G01S 7/52085 (2013.01) [A61B 8/58 (2013.01); G01H 3/125 (2013.01); G01H 9/002 (2013.01); G01N 29/11 (2013.01); G01N 29/2406 (2013.01); G01N 29/2437 (2013.01); G01N 29/343 (2013.01); G01S 7/52036 (2013.01); G01S 15/895 (2013.01); G01N 2291/015 (2013.01); G01N 2291/02475 (2013.01); G01S 15/8959 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for determining an attenuation coefficient of tissue, the method comprising:
transmitting ultrasound pulses from an ultrasound transducer towards a tissue in accordance with a pulse sequence, the pulse sequence including pulses of at least one first frequency inside and at least one second frequency outside a main passband of the ultrasound transducer, wherein the pulse of at least one first frequency is within a wideband pulse range and the pulse of at least one second frequency is within a narrowband pulse range;
receiving echo signals that correspond to the pulses of the at least one first and the at least one second frequencies of the pulse sequence;
determining an attenuation coefficient of the tissue based, at least in part, on a combination of received echo signals that correspond to the pulses of the at least one first and the at least one second frequencies; and
displaying an ultrasound image concurrently with the calculated attenuation coefficient.