APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ESTIMATING A VELOCITY FIELD

Abstract

The invention concerns an apparatus for estimating a velocity of at least one scatterer in a medium, the apparatus comprising a generator for generating excitation signals, a curved array of virtual transducers (T1-Tn) for transforming said excitation signals into Archimedean spiral waves and for: • emitting said Archimedean spiral waves in a plurality of predetermined directions of propagation defined by a set of insonifi cation angles (αi), a curvature of said curved array of virtual transducers defining a reference center (O) and a radius of curvature (rn), • and for receiving, from said at least one scatterer, scattered signals generated by scattering of said Archimedean spiral waves emitted from said curved array of virtual transducers, a driving and processing unit (Uc) for estimating the velocity of said at least one scatterer wherein axial and lateral velocity components are estimated using a set of local wavefront orientations (aeq,i) of the Archimedean spiral waves as a function of the initial set of insonification angles (αi), the geometry of the curved array of transducers and the distance (r) to the reference center (O), each local wavefront orientation satisfying the following formula:.

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IPC Classification

A61B 8/ 00 A I G01S 15/ 58 A I G01S 15/ 89 A I