A - Human Necessities – 61 – B
Patent
A - Human Necessities
61
B
349/36, 349/47
A61B 10/00 (2006.01) A61B 8/08 (2006.01) G10K 11/20 (2006.01)
Patent
CA 1118088
TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. GLENN, citizen of the United States, residing in the State of Florida, have invented an improvement in ULTRASOUND IMAGING SYSTEM of which the following is a SPECIFICATION ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The disclosure is directed to an apparatus for scanning an object with a beam of ultrasound energy and for formulating image-representative signals from the ultrasound reflected from the object. An ultrasound reflector is disposed in the path of the ultrasound energy, the reflector typically being disposed in a suitable fluid, for example water. The reflector is mechanically driven and means are provided for sensing the relative angular position of the reflector and for generating a first clock signal as a function of the sensed position. Means, responsive to the ultrasound reflected from the object are provided for generating echo-representative electrical signals. These echo-representative electrical signals are stored at a line rate which depends upon the first clock signal. Finally, means are provided for reading out the stored signals at a line rate which depends upon a second clock signal, and for displaying the read out signals to obtain an image of the object, the line rate of the display being synchronized with the second clock rate. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the means for driving the reflector is adapted to drive the reflector at a non-linear rate, for example, sinusoidally. This is advantageous in that the drive can be applied at a frequency which approximates a resonance of the reflector in the fluid, and the abrupt motions of a sawtooth drive are avoided. In this embodiment, the duty cycle of the scan is enhanced by storing and displaying information obtained during both the positive and negative-going cycles of the sinusoidal drive. In other words, informa- tion is obtained and displayed while scanning in both directions, so there is no wasted flyback period. In the preferred embodiment, the electrical signals are stored in shift registers. The information stored during an angular sweep of the scanner in one direction is read out on a "first-in-first-out" basis, whereas the information stored during the sweep of the scanner in the opposite direction is read out on a "last-in-first-out" basis. - 2 -
305229
Gowling Lafleur Henderson Llp
New York Institute Of Technology
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