US 12,257,103 B2
Method and system for non-invasively characterizing a heterogeneous medium using ultrasound
William Lambert, Ivry sur Seine (FR); Alexandre Aubry, Ivry sur Seine (FR); Mathias Fink, Meudon (FR); and Laura Cobus, Winnipeg (CA)
Assigned to SUPERSONIC IMAGINE, Aix-en-Provence (FR); CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE - CNRS, Paris (FR); and Ecole Superieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris, Paris (FR)
Appl. No. 17/631,929
Filed by SUPERSONIC IMAGINE, Aix-en-Provence (FR); CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE—CNRS, Paris (FR); and Ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris, Paris (FR)
PCT Filed Jul. 31, 2020, PCT No. PCT/FR2020/051416
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 1, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/023933, PCT Pub. Date Feb. 11, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 1908904 (FR), filed on Aug. 2, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2024/0032889 A1, Feb. 1, 2024
Int. Cl. A61B 8/08 (2006.01); A61B 8/00 (2006.01); G01S 15/88 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 8/0833 (2013.01) [A61B 8/4488 (2013.01); A61B 8/5207 (2013.01); G01S 15/88 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. Method for non-invasive ultrasound characterization of a heterogeneous medium, the method comprising:
generating a series of incident ultrasonic waves in a region of the heterogeneous medium, generated by a transducer array, said series of incident ultrasonic waves constituting an input emission basis (i);
recording an experimental reflection matrix Rui(t) defined between the input emission basis (i) and an output reception basis (u);
determining a response REP(r,Δr) of the medium between an input virtual transducer (TVin) of spatial position rin calculated based on an input focusing of the experimental reflection matrix corresponding to an input focal spot around a first point (P1) and an output virtual transducer (TVout) of spatial position rout calculated based on an output focusing of the experimental reflection matrix corresponding to an output focal spot around a second point (P2),
said response REP(r,Δr) being expressed as a function of a central point (PC) of spatial position r in the medium and as a function of a distance coordinate Δr from said central point,
said central point (PC) being located midway between the first and second points (P1, P2) such that r=(rout+rin)/2 and such that Δr=(rout−rin)/2, and
said central point being the origin of a measurement axis (AXm) passing through said first and second points (P1, P2), said measurement axis (AXm) forming an angle β relative to a first axis (X) of the medium, and
the first point (P1) being at the distance coordinate +Δr on the measurement axis (AXm), and the second point (P2) being at an opposite distance coordinate −Δr on the measurement axis (AXm).