A variable sampling receive beamformer for high resolution ultrasound endoscopy

用于高分辨率超声内窥镜检查的可变采样接收波束形成器

• 批准号: 476910-2015
• 负责人: Brown, Jeremy
• 金额: $ 9.08万
• 依托单位: Dalhousie University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Idea to Innovation
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=578776
• 关键词: variable; sampling; receive; beamformer; resolution

Conventional low frequency large penetration ultrasound imaging systems are based on large arrays of miniature transmitter-receiver elements called a transducer array. By using a transducer array, made of many individually addressed transduction elements, the effective curvature of the aperture can be changed electronically, resulting in a much better image quality. This is because the ultrasound energy can be focused and steered off to different angles. High-frequency ultrasound, on the other hand, is a relatively new technology that uses micro-fabricated imaging arrays that are capable of an order of magnitude higher resolution than conventional ultrasound systems currently used in diagnostic imaging. Although resolution increases with ultrasound frequency, the difficulty in fabricating the transducer arrays and electronic hardware is increased. This is because the size of the transduction elements become microscopic, and the required analog and digital frequencies of the electronic hardware increase. Despite these challenges, our research group has developed a high frequency miniaturized ( <3mm) imaging endoscope and most of the associated electronic hardware and software that will enable this technology to be used as a tool for visualizing tissues from within the body, as opposed to the current equivalent technology that is limited to external topical applications. Potential applications of such a high resolution endoscope include laparoscopic, auditory, intracardiac, neural imaging, and many more. Currently no other ultrasound technology exists that combines such high resolution, with the miniature forward looking endoscopic form factor. The potential for this technology to revolutionize diagnostics in several different fields of medicine is very real. This Idea to Innovation proposal describes the development of novel piece of high frequency ultrasound electronic hardware, and a strategy for transferring this into a commercial product. The proposed piece of relatively low-cost electronic hardware, will allow for images to be generated with minimal data capture rates and electronic processing so that images can be generated at extremely high frame rates.

传统的低频大穿透超声成像系统基于称为换能器阵列的大型微型发射器-接收器元件阵列。通过使用由许多单独寻址的换能元件组成的换能器阵列，可以通过电子方式改变孔径的有效曲率，从而获得更好的图像质量。这是因为超声波能量可以聚焦并转向不同的角度。另一方面，高频超声是一种相对较新的技术，它使用微加工成像阵列，其分辨率比目前诊断成像中使用的传统超声系统高一个数量级。尽管分辨率随着超声频率的增加而增加，但制造换能器阵列和电子硬件的难度也增加了。这是因为换能元件的尺寸变得微小，并且电子硬件所需的模拟和数字频率增加。 尽管存在这些挑战，我们的研究小组还是开发了一种高频小型化（<3mm）成像内窥镜以及大多数相关的电子硬件和软件，使该技术能够用作体内组织可视化的工具，而不是当前仅限于外部局部应用的等效技术。这种高分辨率内窥镜的潜在应用包括腹腔镜、听觉、心内、神经成像等。目前还没有其他超声技术能够将如此高分辨率与微型前视内窥镜外形相结合。这项技术彻底改变几个不同医学领域的诊断的潜力是非常真实的。 这个创新理念提案描述了新型高频超声电子硬件的开发，以及将其转化为商业产品的策略。所提出的相对低成本的电子硬件将允许以最小的数据捕获率和电子处理生成图像，从而可以以极高的帧速率生成图像。