US5406949A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Digital processing for steerable CW doppler
Assignee: Siemens Medical Solutions USA Inc
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Filing: 1994-07-18
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Granted: 1995-04-18
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Expires: 2014-07-18
Abstract
Abstract A Doppler medical ultrasound apparatus, comprising means for transmitting ultrasound energy into a body, a plurality of parallel channels for receiving echoes of the ultrasound energy, digitizing the echoes, and digitally forming a received beam signal therefrom, means for processing the beam signals to produce a Doppler signal representing movement in a target volume within the body, and means for displaying the Doppler signal, and further including a summing circuit for summing a common dither signal with each of the received echoes and an A/D converter for digitizing the received echo in each parallel channel having the common dither signal added thereto.
Inventors
- 👤 Lin X. Yao
- 👤 Gregg Miller
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 09:22
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01S; G01S15/00; G01S15/02; G01S15/50; G01S15/58; G01S7/00; G01S7/52; G01S7/52017; G01S7/52023; G01S7/52025; G01S7/52026; G01S7/52028
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
100 words
A Doppler medical ultrasound apparatus, comprising: means for transmitting ultrasound energy into a body; a plurality of parallel channels for receiving echoes of the ultrasound energy, digitizing said echoes, and digitally forming a received beam signal therefrom; means for processing the beam signal to produce a Doppler information signal representing movement in a target volume within the body; and means for displaying the Doppler signal, each parallel channel including a summing circuit for summing a common dither signal with each of the received echoes, and an A/D converter for digitizing the received echo having said common dither signal added thereto.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
100 words
A Doppler medical ultrasound apparatus, comprising: means for transmitting ultrasound energy into a body; a plurality of parallel channels for receiving echoes of the ultrasound energy, digitizing said echoes, and digitally forming a received beam signal therefrom; means for processing the beam signal to produce a Doppler information signal representing movement in a target volume within the body; and means for displaying the Doppler signal, each parallel channel including a summing circuit for summing a common dither signal with each of the received echoes, and an A/D converter for digitizing the received echo having said common dither signal added thereto.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
30 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said means for transmitting and said plurality of parallel channels for receiving are caused to transmit and receive a continuous wave ultrasound signal.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
31 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 wherein said means for transmitting and said parallel channels for receiving each include a given number of elements of a multiple element ultrasound transducer array.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
31 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 wherein the means for displaying comprises an FFT processor coupled to a video display for causing display of the frequency spectrum of the Doppler signal.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
19 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said common dither signal is generated by a single dither signal generator.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
16 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 wherein said dither signal generator generates a sinusoidal dither signal.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
32 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 6 wherein said means for processing the received beam signal includes a low pass filter for filtering out said sinusoidal dither signal from said received beam signal.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
46 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said processing means includes a box car filter having a sample length which is an integer number times the number of digital samples generated by the A/D converter for each cycle of the ultrasound energy transmitted into the body.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
47 words
Apparatus in accordance with claim 7 wherein said low pass filter includes a box car filter having a sample length which is an integer number times the number of digital samples generated by the A/D converter for each cycle of the ultrasound energy transmitted into the body.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1998-04-17 | 1998-10-17 | 1999-04-18 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2002-04-17 | 2002-10-17 | 2003-04-18 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2006-04-17 | 2006-10-17 | 2007-04-18 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |