Patrick Nathaniel Phillips

US Patent:

6436041, Aug 20, 2002

Filed:

Dec 22, 2000

Appl. No.:

09/746690

Inventors:

Patrick J. Phillips - Sunnyvale CA
Ismayil M. Guracar - Redwood City CA

Assignee:

Acuson Corporation - Mountain View CA

International Classification:

A61B 800

US Classification:

600437, 600458

Abstract:

An improved method for suppressing fundamental or desired harmonic orders in an ultrasonic medical imaging system transmits at least one reverberation-suppression pulse prior to the transmission of a multiple-pulse sequence. Receive signals associated with the pulses of the multiple-pulse sequence are acquired and combined using receive weights selected to suppress energy at either the fundamental or a desired harmonic of the fundamental.

US Patent:

6436046, Aug 20, 2002

Filed:

Oct 27, 2000

Appl. No.:

09/698995

Inventors:

David J. Napolitano - Pleasanton CA
Christopher R. Cole - Redwood City CA
Gregory L. Holley - Mountain View CA
John A. Hossack - Palo Alto CA
Charles E. Bradley - Burlingame CA
Patrick Phillips - Sunnyvale CA

Assignee:

Acuson Corporation - Mountain View CA

International Classification:

A61B 800

US Classification:

600447, 600458

Abstract:

A medical diagnostic ultrasonic imaging system acquires receive beams from spatially distinct transmit beams. The receive beams alternate in type between at least first and second types across the region being imaged. The first and second types of receive beams differ in at least one scan parameter other than transmit and receive line geometry, and can for example differ in transmit phase, transmit or receive aperture, system frequency, transmit focus, complex phase angle, transmit code or transmit gain. Receive beams associated with spatially distinct ones of the transmit beams (including at least one beam of the first type and at least one beam of the second type) are then combined. In this way, many two-pulse techniques, including, for example, phase inversion techniques, synthetic aperture techniques, synthetic frequency techniques, and synthetic focus techniques, can be used while substantially reducing the frame rate penalty normally associated with such techniques.

US Patent:

6494841, Dec 17, 2002

Filed:

Feb 29, 2000

Appl. No.:

09/514803

Inventors:

Lewis Jones Thomas - Palo Alto CA
Samuel H. Maslak - Woodside CA
Patrick Phillips - Sunnyvale CA
Gregory L. Holley - Mountain View CA

Assignee:

Acuson Corporation - Mountain View CA

International Classification:

A61B 800

US Classification:

600447, 600458

Abstract:

A medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging method fires a sequence of pulses into a body and then receives, beamforms, weights and sums the resulting echo signals to suppress first order echoes. The sequence of pulses includes at least two pulses that differ in amplitude and phase. In one form, no two pulses of the sequence have the same amplitude and opposite phase. In another form, only linear echoes are suppressed. In a third form, second and third order echoes are preserved while linear echoes are suppressed.

US Patent:

6497666, Dec 24, 2002

Filed:

Oct 25, 2000

Appl. No.:

09/696511

Inventors:

Patrick J. Phillips - Sunnyvale CA
Ismayil M. Guracar - Redwood City CA

Assignee:

Acuson Corporation - Mountain View CA

International Classification:

A61B 814

US Classification:

600458

Abstract:

A medical ultrasonic imaging system transmits a set of two or more substantially identical transmit pulses into a tissue containing a contrast agent. The associated received pulses are filtered with a broadband filter that passes both the fundamental and at least one harmonic component of the echoes. The filtered received pulses are then applied to a clutter filter that suppresses harmonic and fundamental responses from slowly moving and stationary tissue, while clearly showing contrast agent response due to the loss of correlation effect. The disclosed system includes other signal paths for generating conventional B-mode images as well as combined images that include both components from the contrast-specific image as well as components from the B-mode image. An improved user interface allows the user to switch among these three images. Preferably the transmitter generates transmitted pulses having two or more spatially distinct focus zones, thereby improving the uniformity of contrast agent imaging over the imaged region.

US Patent:

6517489, Feb 11, 2003

Filed:

Apr 19, 2001

Appl. No.:

09/839709

Inventors:

Patrick J. Phillips - Sunnyvale CA
Kutay F. Ustuner - Mountain View CA
Charles E. Bradley - Burlingame CA
Lewis J. Thomas - Palo Alto CA
David J. Napolitano - Pleasanton CA

Assignee:

Acuson Corporation - Mountain View CA

International Classification:

A61B 814

US Classification:

600458

Abstract:

A medical ultrasonic imaging method uses transmitted plane waves, or transmitted wavefronts that are substantially planar, to improve contrast agent imaging by generating peak pressures that are more uniform over depth. Depending on the type of contrast agent, the returned frequencies of interest, and the desired strength of the non-linear response, multiple wavefronts can be generated at substantially the same time to increase peak pressures.

US Patent:

6551246, Apr 22, 2003

Filed:

Apr 19, 2001

Appl. No.:

09/839890

Inventors:

Kutay F. Ustuner - Mountain View CA
Charles E. Bradley - Burlingame CA
Lewis J. Thomas - Palo Alto CA
Ching-Hua Chou - Fremont CA
David J. Napolitano - Pleasanton CA
Patrick J. Phillips - Sunnyvale CA

Assignee:

Acuson Corporation - Mountain View CA

International Classification:

A61B 800

US Classification:

600447

Abstract:

A pulse echo beamforming system generates high spatial bandwidth ultrasound images using only a few transmit/receive events per frame. Each transmit/receive event consists of firing an unfocused or weakly focused wave and receiving and storing the echo on every receive channel. Each set of stored echoes is delayed and apodized to form component beams for each desired image point in the region insonified by that particular wave. The final images are synthesized by adding two or more of the component beams for each image point.

US Patent:

6602195, Aug 5, 2003

Filed:

Jan 22, 2001

Appl. No.:

09/767158

Inventors:

Sriram Krishnan - San Jose CA
Patrick J. Phillips - Sunnyvale CA
Gregory L. Holley - Mountain View CA
Ismayil M. Guracar - Redwood City CA

Assignee:

Acuson Corporation - Mountain View CA

International Classification:

A61B 800

US Classification:

600447

Abstract:

A medical ultrasound imaging pulse transmission method transmits at least three pulses, including at least two pulses of different amplitude and at least two pulses of differing phase. The larger-amplitude pulse is transmitted with a larger aperture and the smaller-amplitude pulses are transmitted with respective smaller subapertures. The subapertures are arranged such that the sum of the subapertures used for the smaller-amplitude pulses is equal to the aperture used for the larger-amplitude pulse. In this way, pulses of differing amplitudes are obtained without varying the power level of individual transducer elements, and precise control over pulse amplitude is provided.

US Patent:

6632177, Oct 14, 2003

Filed:

May 1, 2002

Appl. No.:

10/136935

Inventors:

Patrick J. Phillips - Sunnyvale CA
Ismayil M. Guracar - Redwood City CA

Assignee:

Acuson Corporation - Mountain View CA

International Classification:

A61B 814

US Classification:

600458

Abstract:

Methods and systems for detecting contrast agents is provided. Differences between different sized vessels throughout a period of contrast agent enhancement are identified without significantly depleting the available contrast agent. Dual detection paths are used for imaging, such as one path for detecting nonlinear response and another path for detecting differences between the responses to two or more pulses. Where echoes from two or more pulses of acoustic energy are combined to detect the nonlinear response, the nonlinear response may also include signals originating from a loss-of-correlation (LOC) or motion between received pulses. These signals generated from LOC or motion can be produced from agent disruption where a second received echo is different from a first received echo due to a change in a bubbles shape (i. e. , destruction), or from simple spatial translation between acoustic pulses as seen from the same spatial location, respectively. Together the LOC or motion signals and the nonlinear signals can differentiate contrast agent from tissue.