Did You Know...
...Chester Carlson was a patent agent who tired of having to make multiple copies of patent applications using the only duplication method available at the time: carbon paper. In 1959 he came up with a new copying system and took it to IBM for evaluation. The "experts" at IBM determined potential sales to be only 5,000 units because people wouldn't want to use a bulky machine when they had carbon paper. Carlson's invention was the xerography process, the company founded on the system is Xerox.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 6210327 | Method and apparatus for sending ultrasound image data to remotely located device A computerized ultrasound imager is programmed with software that enables a "Live Imaging" mode. "Live Imaging" refers to the ability to keep a network association (between the imager and a remote device) open throughout the course of an examination of a ... | 04/03/2001 |
| 6176143 | Method and apparatus for estimation and display of spectral broadening error margin for doppler time-velocity waveforms A method of calibrating Doppler time-velocity waveforms obtained using a duplex ultrasound scanner. A spectral broadening error margin for the maximum velocity waveform is determined based on a unified theory of intrinsic spectral broadening for pulsed Do... | 01/23/2001 |
| 6176828 | Method and apparatus for optimal data mapping of power doppler images A method and an apparatus for color mapping of flow power data in which the flow states containing information of most interest to the user are enhanced, while flow states not containing information of interest are suppressed. This is accomplished using a... | 01/23/2001 |
| 6142947 | Ultrasound probe and related methods of assembly/disassembly A repairable compact ultrasound probe which is easy to assemble and disassemble, and which has cable load transfer and heat dissipation capabilities. The transducer assembly of the probe has a heat-conductive backing board which is fastened to a yoke inco... | 11/07/2000 |
| 6126601 | Method and apparatus for ultrasound imaging in multiple modes using programmable signal processor A method for configuring an ultrasound imaging system having a programmable signal processor and an operator interface. Application codes for programming the signal processor to process signals in accordance with respective imaging modes are stored in mem... | 10/03/2000 |
| 6123670 | Ultrasound imaging with optimal image quality in region of interest A method and an apparatus for displaying an ultrasound image comprising a region of interest (ROI) having an optimal image quality and a background region having a normal image quality. In the displayed image the background region lies outside the ROI. Th... | 09/26/2000 |
| 6120449 | Method and apparatus for compensating for inoperative elements in ultrasonic transducer array A method and an apparatus for compensating for fully or partially inoperative elements in an ultrasonic transducer array. The inoperative elements are compensated for by "bridging" or "shorting" them to fully operative elements. This compensation techniqu... | 09/19/2000 |
| 6117079 | Method and apparatus for handling image data after unsuccessful transfer to remotely located device A computerized imager is programmed with software that allows properly formatted image frames (objects) to be sent to one or more remotely located devices selected from a list of configured devices. For each job selected for transfer to a remote device, a... | 09/12/2000 |
| 6113544 | Method and apparatus for automatic transmit waveform optimization in B-mode ultrasound imaging A method and an apparatus for automating the B-mode transmit waveform center frequency/length adjustment based on actual image data. The average SNR and the spatial correlation statistics in selected kernels of the image data are analyzed to test if high-... | 09/05/2000 |
| 6108572 | Method and apparatus for harmonic imaging using multiple focal zones A method and apparatus for performing harmonic imaging. Each transmit focal zone in the near-field is interrogated by two or more transmit firings of different phase, while each transmit focal zone in the far-field is interrogated by a single transmit fir... | 08/22/2000 |
| 6102859 | Method and apparatus for automatic time and/or lateral gain compensation in B-mode ultrasound imaging A method and an apparatus for automating time-gain compensation (TGC) and lateral-gain compensation (LGC) based on the B-mode image data. The automatic gain adjustments are aimed at equalizing the mean signal intensities along the axial (for TGC) and/or l... | 08/15/2000 |
| 6100626 | System for connecting a transducer array to a coaxial cable in an ultrasound probe A system for connecting a transducer array to a coaxial cable. A fanout flex circuit is electrically connected to the coaxial cable, to form one subassembly, and a transducer flex circuit is incorporated into a transducer stack in electrical connection wi... | 08/08/2000 |
| 6095977 | Method and apparatus for color flow imaging using Golay-coded excitation on transmit and pulse compression on receive A method and an apparatus for improving the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and/or resolution in color flow ultrasound imaging by using complementary-coded excitation of the transducer array. The SNR is improved by transmitting a pair of Golay-coded pulse seq... | 08/01/2000 |
| 6077226 | Method and apparatus for positioning region of interest in image A method and apparatus for adjusting the shape of a region of interest (ROI) in a frame of imaging data in response to an operator-actuated change in the depth of the ROI. The displayed image has a background region of data acquired using a first imaging ... | 06/20/2000 |
| 6071240 | Method and apparatus for coherence imaging A method and an apparatus for adaptively suppressing incoherent data in a coherent imaging system. A focused ultrasound beam is transmitted with conventional transmit beamforming time delays. The returning echo signals are processed along two separate rec... | 06/06/2000 |
| 6068598 | Method and apparatus for automatic Doppler angle estimation in ultrasound imaging A method for automatic Doppler angle estimation based on the B-mode and color flow (if available) image. The method uses an algorithm for automatic vessel slope measurement which first finds an optimal initial point within the sample volume or range gate,... | 05/30/2000 |
| 6059729 | Method and apparatus for edge enhancement in ultrasound imaging A method and an apparatus for enhancing edges in computer-generated images. Each image frame is divided into non-overlapping blocks of pixels. Each block is characterized by a value proportional to the contrast of the block. Each block is checked to see i... | 05/09/2000 |
| 6050947 | Method and apparatus for harmonic tissue imaging and contrast imaging using coded transmission A method and an apparatus for imaging the nonlinear components of an ultrasound signal returned from ultrasound scatterers in tissue or contrast agents in blood. The method employs a code-modulated wavelet for transmission combined with correlation filter... | 04/18/2000 |
| 6048313 | Method and apparatus for fractal-based enhancement of ultrasound imaging A method and an apparatus for increasing the contrast resolution of computer-generated images using fractal enhancement techniques. Each image frame is divided into blocks of pixels which are sorted into source and destination lists based on their distanc... | 04/11/2000 |
| 6047601 | Self-tuning crystal notch filter A self-tuning crystal notch filter suitable for rejecting a carrier signal in a receiver channel of a receiver of an ultrasound imaging system. The crystal notch filter has a resonant frequency which is electronically tuned. Tuning is done under software ... | 04/11/2000 |
| 6048311 | Method and apparatus for ultrasound imaging using adaptive gray mapping A method and an apparatus for improving the contrast of the displayed image data in a B-mode ultrasound imaging system. An adaptive gray mapping is based on the actual raw imaging data instead of assumptions about that raw data. The user specifies a regio... | 04/11/2000 |
| 6045507 | Method and apparatus for adaptive color flow optimization An ultrasound color flow imaging system is programmed to operate in an adaptive manner. The operational adjustments are made based on the system gain setting or the transmit packet size or both. Based on these operator inputs, the transmit burst length is... | 04/04/2000 |
| 6045504 | Method and apparatus for polynomial approximation of nonlinear operations in medical ultrasound imaging Methods and apparatus for reducing the amount of computation required by nonlinear operations in medical ultrasound imaging by using lower-order polynomials to approximate the nonlinear functions. The method can be applied to envelope detection, phase det... | 04/04/2000 |
| 6014897 | Method and apparatus for improving sidelobe performance of sparse array using harmonic imaging A method and an apparatus for enhancing the side-lobe performance of a sparse ultrasonic transducer array using harmonic imaging to reduce all beam sidelobe (including grating lobe) levels. Harmonic imaging consists of using the active transducer elements... | 01/18/2000 |
| 6012458 | Method and apparatus for tracking scan plane motion in free-hand three-dimensional ultrasound scanning using adaptive speckle correlation A method and an apparatus for tracking scan plane motion in free-hand three-dimensional ultrasound scanning using adaptive speckle correlation. The method employs a correlation index which adapts to different display dynamic range and post-processing filt... | 01/11/2000 |
| 6010456 | Method and apparatus for acoustic subtraction imaging using linear and nonlinear ultrasonic images A method and an apparatus for imaging a nonlinear signal component isolated from the echo signal derived from transmission of a base waveform having fundamental frequency f0 and relatively high peak power. The nonlinear signal component is isol... | 01/04/2000 |
| 5964706 | Method and apparatus for pulsed doppler imaging using coded excitation on transmit and pulse compression on receive A pulsed Doppler technique uses coded excitation on transmit and pulse compression on receive. Coded excitation allows a long transmit pulse to be compressed on receive such that most energy is concentrated in a short interval. In the case of a single cod... | 10/12/1999 |
| 5961461 | Method and apparatus for adaptive B-mode image enhancement A method and an apparatus for adaptively enhancing the B-mode image during post-detection image processing in an ultrasound imaging system. A low pass filter which smooths out speckle and a high pass filter which enhances edges are placed in parallel sign... | 10/05/1999 |
| 5961463 | Nonlinear imaging using orthogonal transmit and receive codes A method and an apparatus for imaging the nonlinear components of an ultrasound signal returned from ultrasound scatterers in tissue or contrast agents in blood. The method employs a code-modulated wavelet for transmission combined with correlation filter... | 10/05/1999 |
| 5938611 | Method and apparatus for color flow imaging using coded excitation with single codes A color flow imaging technique uses coded excitation on transmit and pulse compression on receive. Coded excitation allows a long transmit pulse to be compressed on receive such that most energy is concentrated in a short interval. Multiple transmit firin... | 08/17/1999 |
| 5935074 | Method and apparatus for automatic tracing of Doppler time-velocity waveform envelope An analytical method for automatic tracing of a Doppler time-velocity waveform envelope. At the core of this algorithm is a maximum frequency detection mechanism which is based on searching for the highest frequency bin whose spectral amplitude exceeds a ... | 08/10/1999 |
| 5908391 | Method and apparatus for enhancing resolution and sensitivity in color flow ultrasound imaging using multiple transmit focal zones A method and an apparatus for increasing the spatial resolution and sensitivity of a color flow image while maintaining a desired acoustic frame rate. The ultrasound energy is concentrated at a more narrowly defined focal region, which allows for increase... | 06/01/1999 |
| 5904653 | Method and apparatus for three-dimensional ultrasound imaging combining intensity data with color flow velocity or power data A method and an apparatus for three-dimensional imaging of ultrasound data by combining projections of intensity data with projections of velocity or power data from a volume of interest. The apparatus is an ultrasound scanner which collects B-mode or col... | 05/18/1999 |
| 5902241 | Large-aperture imaging using transducer array with adaptive element pitch control An adaptive transducer array in which the element pitch is controlled by the imaging system depending on the mode of operation. A multiplicity of transducer elements are connected to a multiplicity of beamformer channels by a multiplexing arrangement havi... | 05/11/1999 |
| 5899863 | Method and apparatus for segmenting B-mode intensity data using doppler shift data in three-dimensional ultrasound imaging A method and an apparatus for improving the segmentation of a three-dimensional B-mode image by limiting the volume of pixel intensity data projected onto the imaging planes. If the volume of interest contains moving ultrasound scatterers, e.g., blood flo... | 05/04/1999 |
| 5895358 | Method and apparatus for mapping color flow velocity data into display intensities A method and an apparatus for mitigating aliasing when imaging moving fluid or tissue using velocity Doppler shift data. To eliminate the effects of slight aliasing in the velocity mode, symmetrical (or non-directional) velocity/color maps are used to map... | 04/20/1999 |
| 5865752 | Method and apparatus for ultrasound imaging using normalized difference between successive frames A method and an apparatus for frame averaging ultrasound imaging data. A one-tap IIR filter is used to average the corresponding pixel data of two frames. The frame averaging is a function of a normalized difference between the pixel data of the two frame... | 02/02/1999 |
