KR20120055859A - Ultrasound system for providing continuous doppler image - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An ultrasound system is provided to drastically reduce the amount of digital processing by digitally processing data obtained at low speed. CONSTITUTION: An ultrasonic probe(210) transmits an ultrasonic signal to an object. The ultrasonic probe receives an ultrasonic echo signal reflected from the object and forms a reception signal. The reception signal is an analog signal. A transmission unit(220) forms a transmission pulse for obtaining a CW(Continuous Wave) Doppler image. A receiving unit(230) forms a digital signal by using the reception signal provided from the ultrasonic probe. The digital signal comprises IQ(In-phase/Quadrature) data or RF(Radio Frequency) data. A signal acquisition unit obtains the digital signal. A storage unit stores the digital signal.

Description

ULTRASOUND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING CONTINUOUS DOPPLER IMAGE}

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an ultrasound system, and more particularly to an ultrasound system for providing a continuous wave Doppler image.

Ultrasound systems have non-invasive and non-destructive properties and are widely used in the medical field for obtaining information inside an object. Without the need for a surgical operation to directly incise and observe a subject, an ultrasound system is very important in the medical field because it can provide a doctor with a high-resolution image of the inside of a subject in real time.

The ultrasound system transmits an ultrasound signal to an object through an ultrasound probe, receives an ultrasound signal reflected from the object (ie, an ultrasound echo signal), and forms an ultrasound image of the object using the received ultrasound echo signal.

Meanwhile, the ultrasound system transmits an ultrasound signal to an object and receives an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object by using an ultrasound probe including at least one transmit channel and at least one receive channel. Form a digital signal. The ultrasound system processes a digital signal to extract a Doppler signal, and forms a continuous wave Doppler image using the extracted Doppler signal.

Conventionally, an expensive high speed analog to digital converter (ADC) has been used to form a digital signal, but a system capable of providing a CW Doppler image using a low speed high accuracy ADC is required.

The present invention provides an ultrasound system capable of providing a continuous wave Doppler image using a low-speed high-precision analog to digital converter (ADC).

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ultrasound system, comprising: an ultrasound probe operative to transmit an ultrasound signal to an object, and receive an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object to form a received signal; And a receiving unit operable to form a digital signal corresponding to a continuous wave (CW) Doppler image based on the received signal, wherein the receiving unit is configured to output an amplified received signal by amplifying the received signal. low noise amplifier; A band pass filter (BPF) configured to perform narrowband pass filtering on the amplified received signal to output a narrowband signal; Sample & hold (S / H) operable to sample and hold the narrowband signal at an integer multiple of the signal frequency period; And an analog to digital converter (ADC) operable to output the digital signal by analog-to-digital converting the held signal.

In addition, the ultrasonic system according to the present invention, an ultrasonic probe for transmitting an ultrasonic signal to the object, and receiving an ultrasonic echo signal reflected from the object to form a plurality of received signals; And a receiving unit operable to form a digital signal corresponding to a continuous wave Doppler image based on the plurality of received signals, wherein the receiving unit amplifies the plurality of received signals and amplifies the plurality of received signals. A plurality of LNAs operative to output; A plurality of BPFs operable to perform narrowband pass filtering on the amplified plurality of received signals to output a plurality of narrowband signals; A plurality of S / Hs configured to sample the plurality of narrowband signals at integer multiples of a signal frequency period, and to sample and hold the sample at a plurality of sample times adjusted to be less than or equal to the signal frequency period to form a focus; An ADD operative to add the plurality of held signals to output an addition signal; And an ADC operable to analog-digital convert the addition signal to output the digital signal.

According to the present invention, a low-speed high-precision analog to digital converter (ADC) can be used to form a continuous wave (Doppler) Doppler image. It can be implemented at low cost.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasonic system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the ultrasonic signal acquisition unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a receiver according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a receiver according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasonic system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the ultrasound system 100 may include a signal acquirer 110, a processor 120, a storage 130, and a display 140.

The signal acquirer 110 transmits an ultrasound signal to the object, receives an ultrasound signal (that is, an ultrasound echo signal) reflected from the object, and acquires a signal corresponding to the ultrasound image. In this embodiment, the ultrasound image includes a continuous wave Doppler image.

2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a signal acquisition unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the signal acquirer 110 includes an ultrasonic probe 210, a transmitter 220, and a receiver 230.

The ultrasonic probe 210 includes at least two transducer elements (not shown) that operate to mutually convert electrical signals and ultrasonic signals. The ultrasound probe 210 transmits an ultrasound signal to the object and receives an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object to form a received signal. The received signal is an analog signal. The ultrasonic probe 210 may be any probe as long as the probe can transmit and receive an ultrasonic signal to obtain a continuous wave Doppler image. As an example, the ultrasound probe 210 includes a pencil type ultrasound probe including one transmit channel and one receive channel. As another example, the ultrasound probe 210 may include an ultrasound probe including a plurality of transmission channels and a plurality of reception channels.

The transmitter 220 forms a transmission pulse for obtaining a CW Doppler image. Therefore, when the transmission pulse is provided from the transmitter 220, the ultrasound probe 210 converts the transmission pulse into an ultrasound signal, transmits the ultrasound pulse to the object, and receives the ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object to form a reception signal. In this embodiment, the transmitting unit 220 includes a transmitting pulser (not shown) and a transmitting pulser drive (not shown).

The receiver 230 forms a digital signal using the received signal provided from the ultrasonic probe 210. The digital signal includes in-phase / quadrature (IQ) data or radio frequency (RF) data.

3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a receiver according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the receiver 230 amplifies a received signal provided from the ultrasonic probe 210 and outputs an amplified received signal by a low noise amplifier (LNA) 310 and amplified by the LNA 310. Sampling and holding the narrowband signal provided from the BPF 320 and the BPF 320, which performs narrowband pass filtering on the received signal to output a narrowband signal. A sample & hold (S / H) 330 that operates, and an analog to digital converter (ADC) 340 that operates to analog-digital convert the held signal and output a digital signal. The receiver 230 according to the present embodiment is a receiver for a pencil type ultrasonic probe.

4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a receiver according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, the receiver 230 amplifies a plurality of received signals provided from the ultrasonic probe 210 and outputs a plurality of amplified received signals. A plurality of BPFs 420a to 420n and a plurality of BPFs 420a to 420n operable to perform narrowband pass filtering on a plurality of received signals amplified at 410a to 410n to output a plurality of narrowband signals. Sampling a narrowband signal at an integer multiple of the signal frequency period, sampling at a plurality of finely tuned sample times (e.g., less than 1/8 of the signal frequency period), and sampling and holding the sample to hold it in focus; Output from ADD 440 and ADD 440 operative to add a plurality of held signals output from the plurality of S / Hs 430a to 430n and the plurality of S / Hs 430a to 430n By adding analog signals to analog and digital conversion And an ADC 450 operative to output a digital signal. The receiver 230 according to the present exemplary embodiment is an ultrasonic probe receiver including a plurality of transmission channels and a plurality of reception channels.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the processor 120 is connected to the signal acquisition unit 110. The processor 120 processes the digital signal provided from the signal acquisition unit 110 to extract the Doppler signal, and forms a CW Doppler image using the extracted Doppler signal. The processor 120 includes a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a graphic processing unit (GPU), and the like.

The storage unit 130 stores the digital signal acquired by the signal acquisition unit 110. The display 140 displays the CW Doppler image formed by the processor 120.

While the invention has been described and illustrated by way of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

100: ultrasonic system 110: signal acquisition unit
120: processor 130: storage unit
140: display unit 210: ultrasonic probe
220: transmitter 230: receiver
310: LNA 320: BPF
330: S / H 340: ADC
410a ~ 410n: LNA 420a ~ 420n: BPF
430a-430n: S / H 440: ADD
450: ADC

Claims (2)

As an ultrasound system,
An ultrasound probe operative to transmit an ultrasound signal to an object and receive an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object to form a received signal; And
A receiver operable to form a digital signal corresponding to a continuous wave Doppler image based on the received signal
Includes, the receiving unit,
A low noise amplifier (LNA) operable to amplify the received signal to output the amplified received signal;
A band pass filter (BPF) configured to perform narrowband pass filtering on the amplified received signal to output a narrowband signal;
Sample & hold (S / H) operable to sample and hold the narrowband signal at an integer multiple of the signal frequency period; And
An analog to digital converter (ADC) operable to output the digital signal by analog-to-digital converting the held signal;
. As an ultrasound system,
An ultrasound probe configured to transmit an ultrasound signal to an object, and receive an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object to form a plurality of received signals; And
A receiver operable to form a digital signal corresponding to a continuous wave Doppler image based on the plurality of received signals
Includes, the receiving unit,
A plurality of LNAs operable to amplify the plurality of received signals and output a plurality of amplified received signals;
A plurality of BPFs operable to perform narrowband pass filtering on the amplified plurality of received signals to output a plurality of narrowband signals;
A plurality of S / Hs configured to sample the plurality of narrowband signals at integer multiples of a signal frequency period, and to sample and hold the sample at a plurality of sample times adjusted to be less than or equal to the signal frequency period to form a focus;
An ADD operative to add the plurality of held signals to output an addition signal; And
An analog-to-digital converter for converting the addition signal to output the digital signal
.

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