Phase detection method based on a receiving sequence of sampled values

1. A phase detection method for evaluating an open or a closed vessel corresponding to a human tissue, comprising the following steps:

coupling a transmitter to an inlet of a vessel corresponding to a human tissue, and a receiver to an outlet of the vessel, and transmitting a transmitting signal having a known transmitting frequency f w from the transmitter into the vessel;

acquiring a receiving sequence (Y j ) of values (Y 0 , Y 1 , . . . , Y N−1 ) of a receiving signal (Y), said values (Y 0 , Y 1 , . . . , Y N−1 ) having been sampled with a known sampling frequency f s and said receiving signal (Y) representing a reaction to the transmitting signal;

providing a sine sequence (S j ) and a cosine sequence (C j ) for each index (j) of the receiving sequence (Y j ), said sine sequence (S j ) comprising sine values of consecutive multiples of a known circular frequency (Ω) which depends on the transmitting frequency f w and the sampling frequency f s , and said cosine sequence (C j ) including cosine values of consecutive multiples of the known circular frequency (Ω);

determining a phase real part (U) of the receiving signal (Y) based on a scalar product of the receiving sequence (Y j ) with the cosine sequence (C j ) and a phase imaginary part (V) of the receiving signal based on a scalar product of the receiving sequence (Y j ) with the sine sequence (S j ); and

determining a phase at the outlet of the transferring medium based on the phase real part (U), the phase imaginary part (V), the known transmitting frequency, and the known sampling frequency,

comparing the phase or a bias of the receiving signal to a corresponding phase or a corresponding bias of a receiving signal of a known reference vessel corresponding to a healthy human tissue to evaluate the vessel for abnormalities; and

comparing the phase to a corresponding reference value associated with a reference vessel to identify an abnormal condition.

2. The phase detection method according to claim 1 , wherein a normalization factor of the two scalar products depends on a length (N) of the receiving sequence (Y j ).

3. The phase detection method according to claim 2 , wherein the normalization factor is 2/N.

4. The phase detection method according to claim 1 , wherein the sampling frequency f s , with which the receiving signal (Y) is sampled, is lesser than a Nyquist-Shannon sampling frequency.

5. The phase detection method according to claim 1 , wherein the length (N) of the receiving sequence (Y j ), which is multiplied by a quotient from the known transmitting frequency f w and the known sampling frequency f s , is an integer and a period of the cosine sequence (C j ) as well as of the sine sequence (S j ).

6. The phase detection method according to claim 1 , wherein the length (N) of the receiving sequence (Y j ) corresponds to a quotient from the sampling frequency f s and a smallest common denominator from the sampling frequency f s and the transmitting frequency f w .

7. The phase detection method according to claim 1 wherein the bias of the receiving signal (Y) is determined based on a mean of the receiving sequence (Y j ).

8. The phase detection method according to claim 1 , wherein the known circular frequency Ω satisfies the following condition: Ω=2π(f w /f s ).

9. The phase detection method according to claim 1 , wherein the length (N) of the receiving sequence (Y j ) corresponds to a multiple of a quotient from the sampling frequency f s and a smallest common denominator from the sampling frequency f s and the transmitting frequency f w .

10. The phase detection method according to claim 1 , wherein the vessel comprises at least one of a body cell, a blood vessel, or an artery.

11. The phase detection method according to claim 1 , wherein the receiving signal is an ultrasonic signal.

12. The phase detection method according to claim 1 , wherein the human tissue comprises a brain tissue or a breast tissue.

13. The phase detection method according to claim 1 , wherein the human tissue comprises a blood vessel or an artery.

14. A phase detection method for evaluating a phase at an outlet of a transferring medium comprising a brain or breast tissue, the method comprising the following steps:

stimulating the transferring medium comprising a brain or breast tissue with a transmitting signal having a known transmitting frequency f w ;

receiving a receiving sequence (Y j ) of values (Y 0 , Y 1 , . . . , Y N−1 ) of a receiving signal (Y), said values (Y 0 , Y 1 , . . . , Y N−1 ) having been sampled with a known sampling frequency f s ;

providing a sine sequence (S j ) and a cosine sequence (C j ) for each index (j) of the receiving sequence (Y j ), said sine sequence (S j ) comprising sine values of consecutive multiples of a known circular frequency (Ω) which depends on the transmitting frequency f w and the sampling frequency f s , and said cosine sequence (C j ) including cosine values of consecutive multiples of the known circular frequency (Ω); and

determining a phase real part (U) of the receiving signal (Y) based on a scalar product of the receiving sequence (Y j ) with the cosine sequence (C j ) and a phase imaginary part (V) of the receiving signal based on a scalar product of the receiving sequence (Y j ) with the sine sequence (S j ),

determining a phase at the outlet of the transferring medium based on the phase real part (U), the phase imaginary part (V), the known transmitting frequency, and the known sampling frequency, and

comparing to a phase acquired for a reference for the transferring medium to identify abnormalities in the transferring medium.

15. The phase detection method according to claim 14 , where the transferring medium is a vessel, and further comprising the steps of providing an ultrasonic transmitter at an inlet of the vessel, transmitting the ultrasonic wave into the vessel, and receiving the ultrasonic wave at a receiver provided at an outlet of the vessel.