Ultrasound beamforming system and method with reconfigurable aperture

Inventors

Koptenko, Sergei

Assignees

Ursus Medical Designs LLC • URS-US MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY Inc

Abstract

An ultrasound imaging system beamforming method comprises reconfiguring the aperture at distinct beamforming instances by i) Increasing the number of channels forming the aperture at a beam forming instance while simultaneously decreasing the sampling rate with an increasing depth of focal point; ii) Increasing the number of array elements that are part of a composite element of a channel forming the aperture at a beam forming instance with an increasing depth of focal point, wherein a composite element is a plurality of individual array elements forming a single channel at a beam forming instance; and/or iii) Defining allowable delay error for each depth of focal point and selecting a base channel for each beamforming instance to form the aperture and selecting additional channels to form the aperture at the beam forming instance which have a delay error relative to the base channel less than the allowable delay error.

Core Innovation

The invention provides an ultrasound beamforming method and system with a reconfigurable aperture that dynamically adjusts the number of channels and the sampling rate according to the depth of the focal point during beamforming. As the depth increases, the number of channels forming the aperture increases while the sampling rate per channel decreases. Additionally, the system can increase the number of individual array elements combined into a composite element forming a single channel with increasing depth. This dynamic aperture reconfiguration also includes defining allowable delay errors for each depth and selecting channels whose delay errors relative to a base channel fall within these limits.

The problem being solved is the high complexity, size, power consumption, and cost of existing digital ultrasound beamformers, particularly in portable or handheld ultrasound devices. Such conventional systems typically require a one-to-one correspondence between array elements and beamforming channels, leading to expensive and bulky hardware. The invention addresses the challenge of reducing beamformer circuitry complexity without sacrificing diagnostic image quality. It accomplishes this by dynamically optimizing aperture configuration and intelligently controlling the beamformer channel sampling rate depending on the depth of the focal point, thereby preserving spatial and contrast resolution in a compact and energy-efficient ultrasound imaging system.

The invention also provides methods to maximize signal-to-noise ratio by minimizing focusing delay errors via appropriate selection of active channels based on allowable delay errors. It describes hardware architectures involving multiplexors controlled by address controllers with registers managing aperture base, length, and channel selection to realize these dynamic aperture adjustments. The design leverages principles such as reduced sampling rate at deeper focal depths due to signal attenuation and bandwidth decrease and dynamic combination of elements into composite channels to optimize the tradeoff between hardware complexity and image quality.

Claims Coverage

The patent includes multiple independent claims covering both the ultrasound beamforming method and the ultrasound beamforming system. The claims focus on the dynamic reconfiguration of the aperture in ultrasound beamforming by adjusting the number of channels and sampling rates according to focal depth, the composition of composite elements in channels, and the use of multiplexor address controllers to realize these configurations.

The claims collectively cover a method and system for ultrasound beamforming that dynamically and intelligently reconfigures the aperture size, channel composition, and sampling rates in relation to focal depth, using a multiplexor address controller to manage connections to the ADC. The inventive features provide solutions to reduce hardware complexity, power consumption, and cost while maintaining image quality, with symmetrical aperture formation and channel selection based on allowable delay errors enhancing focusing precision.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications