US 11,988,783 B2
High speed ultrasonic thick slice imaging by combining slice images with microbeamformer provided in the probe to control steering
Karl Thiele, Andover, MA (US)
Assigned to KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V., Eindhoven (NL)
Filed by KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V., Eindhoven (NL)
Filed on Aug. 4, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/880,951.
Application 17/880,951 is a division of application No. 15/859,853, filed on Jan. 2, 2018, granted, now 11,442,157.
Application 15/859,853 is a continuation of application No. 12/594,885, granted, now 9,880,271, previously published as PCT/IB2008/051346, filed on Apr. 9, 2008.
Claims priority of provisional application 60/911,580, filed on Apr. 13, 2007.
Prior Publication US 2022/0373665 A1, Nov. 24, 2022
Int. Cl. G01S 7/52 (2006.01); A61B 8/08 (2006.01); G01S 15/89 (2006.01)
CPC G01S 7/52085 (2013.01) [G01S 7/52095 (2013.01); G01S 15/8925 (2013.01); G01S 15/8993 (2013.01); A61B 8/483 (2013.01); G01S 7/52065 (2013.01); G01S 15/8918 (2013.01); G01S 15/8934 (2013.01)] 7 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An ultrasonic imaging system for imaging, comprising:
an array transducer located in an ultrasound probe and configured to transmit and receive scanlines over a volumetric region;
a microbeamformer that is located in the probe and coupled to the array transducer, wherein the microbeamformer is configured (1) to control the array transducer to transmit beams and to receive echoes from a plurality of receive scanline locations and (2) to control steering and focusing of the transmit beams over a plurality of adjacent slices in the volumetric region that are parallel to each other in the elevation direction;
a detector that is coupled to the microbeamformer and is configured to detect image data from each of the plurality of adjacent slices;
a slice memory that is coupled to the detector and configured to store the image data from each of the plurality of adjacent slices;
a combiner that is coupled to the slice memory and configured to combine newly detected slice image data with previously detected slice image data to produce thick slice images; and
a display configured to display the thick slice images at a real time frame rate that is faster than that of the time to acquire the newly detected and the previously detected slice image data.