US 11,899,142 B2
Ultrasound system with improved noise performance by persistence processing
Thanasis Loupas, Kirkland, WA (US); Paul Sheeran, Woodinville, WA (US); and Charles Tremblay-Darveau, Seattle, WA (US)
Assigned to KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V., Eindhoven (NL)
Appl. No. 16/964,615
Filed by KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V., Eindhoven (NL)
PCT Filed Jan. 15, 2019, PCT No. PCT/EP2019/050877
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jul. 24, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/145188, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 1, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/621,187, filed on Jan. 24, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0055398 A1, Feb. 25, 2021
Int. Cl. G01S 7/52 (2006.01); A61B 8/06 (2006.01); A61B 8/14 (2006.01); A61B 8/08 (2006.01); G01S 15/89 (2006.01)
CPC G01S 7/52077 (2013.01) [A61B 8/06 (2013.01); A61B 8/14 (2013.01); A61B 8/488 (2013.01); A61B 8/5246 (2013.01); A61B 8/5276 (2013.01); G01S 15/8906 (2013.01)] 9 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An ultrasound imaging system for producing images with improved noise performance, comprising:
an ultrasound probe adapted to acquire ultrasound echo signals from an image field for imaging;
an image processor that is coupled to the probe and adapted to produce an ultrasound image;
a memory comprising a noise model representing noise levels of pixel locations of the ultrasound image, wherein the noise model is further adapted for comparison with pixel values of an image to determine a likelihood that a pixel value is noise;
a noise bias coefficient processor that is adapted to produce noise bias coefficients by:
comparing the pixel values of the ultrasound image with the noise model to determine the likelihood that a pixel is noise; and
producing noise bias coefficients that are a function of the likelihood that a pixel value is noise;
a persistence processor which, based on persistence control coefficients and the noise bias coefficients, is adapted to improve noise performance of ultrasound images; and
a persistence control adapted for operation by a user to select persistence control coefficients for a low range or a high range of persistence settings, wherein increasing a persistence control coefficient increases a weighting applied to previous images, the number of images which are persisted, or both, for more aggressive persistence,
wherein the selected persistence control coefficients are further coupled to the noise bias coefficient processor so that as more aggressive persistence is selected, more aggressive noise processing is implemented to improve the signal to noise ratio of the ultrasound image.