| US 7,542,790 B2 | ||
| Apparatus and method for velocity estimation in synthetic aperture imaging | ||
| Jorgen Arendt Jensen, Horsholm (Denmark); and Svetoslav Nikolov, Farum (Denmark) | ||
| Assigned to B-K Medical A/S, Gentoft (Denmark) | ||
| Appl. No. 10/491,170 PCT Filed Oct. 01, 2002, PCT No. PCT/DK02/00648 § 371(c)(1), (2), (4) Date Oct. 04, 2004, PCT Pub. No. WO03/029840, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 10, 2003. |
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| Claims priority of application No. 01610104 (EP), filed on Oct. 02, 2001. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2005/0043622 A1, Feb. 24, 2005 | ||
| Int. Cl. A61B 5/05 (2006.01); A61B 8/00 (2006.01); A61B 8/12 (2006.01); A61B 8/14 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 600—407 [600/437; 600/443] | 15 Claims |
| 1. An apparatus for measuring the velocity of a moving object or the velocities of a collection of moving objects, the apparatus
comprising:
a generator for generating excitation signals;
an emitting multi-element transducer for transforming the excitation signals into wave energy by emitting the wave energy
by excitation of elements or groups of elements of the multi-element transducer in a predefined sequence;
a receiving transducer having a plurality of receiving transducer elements for receiving signals from the moving object or
objects generated by interaction with the wave energy emitted from the emitting multi-element transducer;
a receive beam former for receiving signals from the plurality of receiving transducer elements and for delaying each of the
signals from the plurality of receiving transducer elements individually relative to the others of the signals from the plurality
of receiving transducer elements;
an update processor for obtaining a set of focused beams for respective excitations of the elements; and
a velocity processor executing computer-readable instructions for directing the velocity estimator to:
form a first image from a first set of focused beams, where the first set of focused beams are acquired in response to excitation
of respective sets of elements of the multi-element transducer, and where the sets of elements are excited in a first predetermined
order;
form a second image from a second set of focused beams, where the second set of focused beams are acquired in response to
excitation of respective sets of elements of the multi-element transducer, and where the sets of elements are excited in a
second predetermined order, where the first predetermined order and the second predetermined order are the same order; and
determine the velocity or velocities by correlating the first image and the second image.
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