Ultrasound imaging device
View Patent ↗An ultrasound imaging apparatus includes a transmitter which transmits an ultrasound pulse to a subject, a receiver which receives ultrasound coming from the subject, and a signal processor to process a received signal at the receiver and generate image data. The receiver has a predetermined reception band, and the ultrasound pulse transmitted by the transmitter has one frequency band with a frequency peak. Each of an upper limit frequency and a lower limit frequency of the one frequency band is set to be values which make a low frequency harmonic component and a high frequency harmonic component produced by the ultrasound pulse be within the reception band. The signal processor generates image data by using a nonlinear component of at least one of the low frequency and high frequency harmonic component received by the receiver.
1. An ultrasound imaging apparatus, comprising a transmitter which transmits a fundamental wave pulse an to a subject, a receiver which receives an echo in response to the fundamental wave pulse from the subject, and a signal processor to process a received signal at the receiver and generate image data,
wherein the receiver has a predetermined reception band,
wherein the fundamental wave pulse transmitted by the transmitter consists of one frequency band having a frequency peak that includes fundamental wave components, and each of an upper limit frequency and a lower limit frequency of the one frequency band is set to be values which make both of a low frequency harmonic component and a high frequency harmonic component be generated within the reception band by a nonlinear acoustic overlap between the low and high frequency harmonic components within a bandwidth of the transmitted fundamental frequency component, where the lower and higher frequency component bands are different from the fundamental frequency component band; and
wherein the signal processor generates image data by using nonlinear components including both of a nonlinear component of at least one of the low frequency harmonic component and the high frequency harmonic component received by the receiver.
2. The ultrasound imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the transmitter transmits, as the fundamental wave pulse, a first ultrasound wave with the one frequency band and a second ultrasound wave with the one frequency band and having an inverted waveform of the first ultrasound wave, and
wherein the signal processor adds a first received signal received by the receiver, which is an ultrasound wave originating from the first ultrasound wave and comes from the subject, and a second received signal received by the receiver, which is an ultrasound wave originating from the second ultrasound wave and comes from the subject, and generates image data by using added signals.
3. The ultrasound imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the wave pulse of one frequency band has a lower limit of at least a first frequency and an upper limit of at least triple the first frequency.