Industrial Consultancy & Sponsored Research (IC&SR) , IIT Madras

Method and Apparatus for Ultrasound Beamforming using Limited Number of Active Transducer Elements and Diverging Beams

Technology Category/Market

Category – Biomedical Engineering

Applications –Ultrasound techniques, imaging systems,

Industry – Biomedical

Market -The global medical imaging market size is expected to grow from $40.33 billion in 2023 to $61.51 billion in 2030, at a CAGR of 6.2% during the forecast period

Image

Problem Statement

  • Current approaches often involve the use of multiple transducer elements during transmission to enhance the depth of penetration and Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) where these methods typically excite multiple elements simultaneously, resulting in an unfocused ultrasound beam.
  • Hence, there is need for imaging techniques with  improved frame rate and lateral resolution of images thereby providing better image quality without increasing the complexity and cost of the imaging system

Technology

The invention discloses a method of ultrasound imaging comprising the steps :

  • Exciting a Set of Limited Number of Active Transmit Elements
  • Inducing Diverging Waves
  • Receiving Backscattered Echoes upon ultrasound
  • Translating Electronically the Active Transmit Elements
  • Reconstructing the Received Echoes in a Receive Beamformer
  • Processing to Form an Image by converting the time-delayed echoes into pixel values
  • Displaying the Image
  1. The said translating step may have an overlap between two adjacent sets of active transmit elements
  2. Also, the received echoes data may be from only a partial receive aperture

  • Said array  formed may be a single array or two dimensional array.
  • The diverging beam synthetic aperture ultrasound beamforming method offers a less complex ultrasound system by activating only 8 or 16 transducer elements during transmission

Key Features/Value Proposition

Technical Perspective:

  • A novel technique that combines Diverging Beam with Synthetic Aperture Technique (DB-SAT)
  • Sampled array (pitch = λ/2) without increasing system complexity
  • The technique of sending diverging waves and using limited number of active elements not only reduces system complexity and cost, but also yields high frame rate involving sparse emission

User Perspective:

  • Reduced complexity in terms of hardware and data handling.
  • Dynamic focusing in both transmit and receive, which leads to better lateral resolution and it is maintained throughout the depth of imaging.
Questions about this Technology?

Contact for Licensing

Research Lab

Prof. Arun K. Thittai

Department of Applied Mechanics

Intellectual Property

  • IITM IDF Ref. 1469
  • IN201641032922
  • PCT/IN2017/050427

Technology Readiness Level

TRL-2

Technology Concept Formulated 

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