Ultrasound imaging beam-former apparatus and method

Abstract

In some illustrative embodiments, an incoming signal from a transducer in an ultrasound imaging beam-former apparatus is applied to an in-phase sample-and-hold and a quadrature sample-and-hold. The quadrature sample-and-hold may be clocked a quarter period behind the in-phase sample-and-hold. The output of the sample-and-holds are applied to in-phase and quadrature analog-to-digital converters. A magnitude calculator receives the in-phase and quadrature digital values, and outputs a magnitude. A phase calculator receives the in-phase and quadrature digital values, and outputs a phase. An apodizer applies a difference between an amplitude of the outgoing signal and the magnitude and applies a first illumination to a image point in substantial proportion to the difference, and a phase rotator applies a second illumination to the image point in substantial proportion to the phase.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a plurality of transducers configured to convert reflected ultrasound pulses to at least one incoming electrical signal;   a signal receiver comprising:
 a first sample-and-hold circuit configured to sample a first amplitude of the at least one incoming electrical signal from a transducer amongst the plurality of transducers at a first specified instant, the first sample-and-hold circuit configured to acquire at most one amplitude sample per an ultrasound transmit pulse; and 
 a separate second sample-and-hold circuit configured to sample a second amplitude of the at least one incoming electrical signal from the transducer at a second specified instant, the second specified instant offset in time from the first specified instant, the second sample-and-hold circuit configured to acquire at most one amplitude sample per the ultrasound transmit pulse/receive acquisition cycle, the second amplitude representing an approximation of an amplitude component of the incoming electrical signal in phase quadrature with the first amplitude. 
   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , comprising at least one analog-to-digital converter circuit configured to convert the sampled first and second amplitudes to digital values. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the at least one analog-to-digital converter circuit is configured to convert the sampled first amplitude to a digital value after both of the first and sample-and-hold circuits have completed sampling during an ultrasound transmit pulse/receive acquisition cycle. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , comprising respective analog-to-digital converter circuits wherein a first analog-to-digital converter circuit is coupled to the first sample-and-hold circuit and the second analog-to-digital converter is coupled to the second sample-and-hold circuit. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , comprising a phase calculator configured to receive information indicative of an amplitude of the first sample and an amplitude of the second sample, and to responsively determine a phase value of a vector representation of the first and second samples. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , comprising a display configured to present a rendering of an image point having an intensity corresponding to the determined phase value. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , comprising a magnitude calculator configured to receive information indicative an amplitude of the first sample and an amplitude of the second sample, and to responsively determine a magnitude value of a vector representation of the first and second samples. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , comprising a display configured to present a rendering of an image point having an intensity corresponding to the determined magnitude value. 
     
     
         10 . A method, comprising:
 converting reflected ultrasound pulses to at least one incoming electrical signal having a period and an amplitude;   sample a first amplitude of the at least one incoming electrical signal from a transducer amongst the plurality of transducers at a first specified instant using a first sample-and-hold circuit configured to acquire at most one amplitude sample per an ultrasound transmit pulse; and   sampling a second amplitude of the at least one incoming electrical signal from the transducer at a second specified instant, the second specified instant offset in time from the first specified instant, the sampling performed using a separate second sample-and-hold circuit configured to acquire at most one amplitude sample per the ultrasound transmit pulse/receive acquisition cycle, the second amplitude representing an approximation of an amplitude component of the incoming electrical signal in phase quadrature with the first amplitude.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , comprising converting the sampled first and second amplitudes to digital values using at least one analog-to-digital converter. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one analog-to-digital converter circuit is configured to convert the sampled first amplitude to a digital value after both the first and second amplitude samples are obtained during an ultrasound transmit pulse/receive acquisition cycle. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , comprising converting the sampled first and second amplitudes to digital values using first and second digital-to-analog converters, respectively. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , comprising receiving information indicative of an amplitude of the first sample and an amplitude of the second sample, and, in response, determining a phase value of a vector representation of the first and second samples. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , comprising presenting a rendering of an image point having an intensity corresponding to the determined phase value. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , comprising receiving information indicative of an amplitude of the first sample and an amplitude of the second sample, and to responsively determine a magnitude value of a vector representation of the first and second samples. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , comprising presenting a rendering of an image point having an intensity corresponding to the determined magnitude value. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the first and second amplitudes comprise a signal pair; and
 wherein the method includes processing a plurality of signal pairs to obtain at least one focused image point including applying determined phase rotations to respective ones of the signal pairs.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein converting the transducer array comprises a transmit array and a receive array, wherein the transmit array comprises a first subset of elements and the receive array comprises a second subset of elements, and the first and second subsets are not identical. 
     
     
         20 . A processor-readable medium comprising instructions that, when performed by an ultrasound system under the control of a processor circuit, cause the ultrasound system to:
 convert reflected ultrasound pulses to at least one incoming electrical signal having a period and an amplitude;   sample a first amplitude of the at least one incoming electrical signal from a transducer amongst the plurality of transducers at a first specified instant using a first sample-and-hold circuit configured to acquire at most one amplitude sample per an ultrasound transmit pulse; and   sample a second amplitude of the at least one incoming electrical signal from the transducer at a second specified instant, the second specified instant offset in time from the first specified instant, the sampling performed using a separate second sample-and-hold circuit configured to acquire at most one amplitude sample per the ultrasound transmit pulse/receive acquisition cycle, the second amplitude representing an approximation of an amplitude component of the incoming electrical signal in phase quadrature with the first amplitude.