US 12,352,904 B2
Ultrasound imaging apparatus and signal processing method, for efficient delay-and-sum processing
Teiichiro Ikeda, Chiba (JP); Kenichi Adachi, Chiba (JP); Kazuhiro Amino, Chiba (JP); and Masanori Hisatsu, Chiba (JP)
Assigned to FUJIFILM Corporation, Tokyo (JP)
Filed by FUJIFILM Healthcare Corporation, Kashiwa (JP)
Filed on Jan. 16, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/097,435.
Claims priority of application No. 2022-007445 (JP), filed on Jan. 20, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2023/0228858 A1, Jul. 20, 2023
Int. Cl. G01S 7/52 (2006.01); A61B 8/00 (2006.01)
CPC G01S 7/52025 (2013.01) [A61B 8/4488 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An ultrasound imaging apparatus comprising:
an ultrasound element array including a plurality of ultrasound elements arranged in an array;
a transmission beamformer configured to output a transmission signal to each of the ultrasound elements of the ultrasound element array, thereby causing the ultrasound elements to transmit ultrasound waves delayed by a phase of a predetermined amount to a subject, focusing the ultrasound waves at a predetermined transmission focus;
a phase compensation circuit control unit; and
a receive beamformer configured to perform receive beamforming on receive signals, the receive beamformer including
a plurality of delay circuits, each delay circuit being configured to receives a corresponding receive signal that is output by a corresponding ultrasound element of the ultrasound elements receiving the ultrasound waves reflected by the subject that has received the ultrasound waves, and to delay the receive signal by a delay time that is predetermined for the ultrasound element according to a receive focal point of the subject,
a plurality of phase compensation circuits, each phase compensation circuit being configured to shift the phase of the receive signal by a phase shift amount specified by the phase compensation circuit control unit, and to output a phase-compensated receive signal,
a plurality of branching portions, each branching portion being configured to branch a corresponding signal line of the corresponding receive signal input to the corresponding delay circuit from the corresponding ultrasonic element, and to connect the branched signal line to the phase compensation circuit, and
a summing circuit configured to sum (i) a delayed receive signal output from each of the plurality of delay circuits and (ii) the phase-compensated receive signal output from each of the plurality of phase compensation circuits, and to generate a beamformed signal.