US 12,130,359 B2
Ultrasonic imaging by sparse sampling and associated devices, systems, and methods
Sheng-Wen Huang, Ossining, NY (US); Changhong Hu, Bothell, WA (US); Douglas Robert Maxwell, Woodinville, WA (US); David Hope Simpson, Bothell, WA (US); James Robertson Jago, Seattle, WA (US); Francois Guy Gerard Marie Vignon, Andover, MA (US); Jun Seob Shin, Winchester, MA (US); Xiaowen Hu, Bothell, WA (US); and Unmin Bae, Kenmore, WA (US)
Assigned to KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V., Eindhoven (NL)
Appl. No. 17/053,945
Filed by KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V., Eindhoven (NL)
PCT Filed May 7, 2019, PCT No. PCT/EP2019/061611
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 9, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/215115, PCT Pub. Date Nov. 14, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/668,838, filed on May 9, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0219952 A1, Jul. 22, 2021
Int. Cl. G01S 15/89 (2006.01); G01S 7/52 (2006.01)
CPC G01S 15/8927 (2013.01) [G01S 7/52034 (2013.01); G01S 7/52046 (2013.01); G01S 7/52085 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An ultrasound imaging system, comprising:
an ultrasound probe comprising:
an array of ultrasound transducer elements extending sequentially along a dimension and positioned at an end of the ultrasound probe;
electronic circuitry positioned in the ultrasound probe, in communication with the array of ultrasound transducer elements and configured to select a first receive aperture of the array of ultrasound transducer elements,
wherein the first receive aperture comprises:
a first subset of the array of ultrasound transducer elements and a second subset of the array of ultrasound transducer elements, wherein the first subset is positioned at a first end of the first receive aperture and the second subset is positioned at a second end of the first receive aperture opposite the first end;
a third subset of the array of ultrasound transducer elements positioned between the first subset and the second subset along the dimension,
wherein each element in the first receive aperture is contained in only one of the first subset, the second subset, or the third subset,
wherein the first receive aperture is configured to receive ultrasound echoes reflected from an anatomy and generate electrical signals representative of imaging data, and
wherein the electronic circuitry comprises:
one or more multiplexers, each multiplexer in communication with two or more non-contiguous elements of the array and configured to selectively transmit the electrical signals from one of the two non-contiguous elements of the array,
wherein at least one multiplexer is configured to select an element in the first subset or second subset;
a plurality of communication channels communicatively positioned between the electronic circuitry and a beamformer,
wherein the plurality of communication channels is configured to transmit the electrical signals generated by the first receive aperture to the beamformer,
wherein each of the one or more multiplexers is connected to a communication channel in the plurality of communication channels, and
wherein a total quantity of the ultrasound transducer elements of the array is greater than a total quantity of the plurality of communication channels; and
the beamformer in communication with the electronic circuitry and configured to:
receive the electrical signals generated by the first receive aperture;
apply a greater weight to the electrical signals generated by the first subset and the second subset than to the electrical signals generated by the third subset; and
output, to a display, an ultrasound image using the weighted electrical signals.