A three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection apparatus includes: a sensing device for ultrasonic inspection including an ultrasonic sensor as a transducer, in which a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators are disposed in a matrix or an array; a drive element selecting unit for selecting and driving a piezoelectric vibrator for producing an ultrasonic wave among the ultrasonic transducer; a signal detecting circuit for detecting the electric signal of the reflected echo by receiving the reflected echo from the joined area; a signal processing unit for subjecting the electric signal to signal processing and generating three-dimensional imaging data by causing the electric signals to correspond to mesh elements in a three-dimensional imaging region of the object to be inspected; and a display processing device for displaying the detection results and three-dimensional image data from the signal processing unit, while detecting the size and the position of the molten-solidified portion, and the size and the position of the weld defect of the joined area, from the intensity distribution of the three-dimensional imaging data generated by the signal processing unit.

3d ultrasonographic device

The scaling characteristics of large diameter (6≤d≤12 cm) high repetition‐rate copper‐vapor lasers are investigated using a radially dependent laser‐discharge model. Results of the model are verified with experimental data obtained on several devices including an 8‐cm‐diam 100‐W copper‐vapor laser. Two effects, penetration of the applied electric field into the plasma and gas heating, which we show are the primary considerations in volumetric scaling, are discussed in detail. Thermal constriction of the discharge resulting from gas heating is prevented by plasma skin effects that allow stable performance at large diameters. These same effects are shown to explain the sequential excitation of the laser levels, resulting in both temporally and spatially dependent behavior of the laser pulse. Projections of output power and light‐pulse characteristics are made for lasers up to 12 cm in diameter.

Large-bore copper-vapor lasers : Kinetics and scaling issues

Encoded transmission and reception which reduces time side lobe are realized while suppressing increase of circuit scale. Transmission signals corresponding to a composite modulation code sequence composed from two or more modulation code sequences are outputted as transmission signals. A reception means demodulates reception signals stepwise by two or more demodulators. The demodulator can be thereby divided into two or more stages, and therefore with a circuit scale corresponding to the sum of the operation circuit numbers of two or more demodulators, time side lobe reduction effect can be obtained at a level equivalent to that obtainable with a circuit scale corresponding to the product of the operation circuit numbers of two or more demodulators.

Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus

A medical imaging system for imaging a patient's body includes a catheter having a position sensor and an ultrasonic imaging sensor wherein the position sensor transmits electrical signals indicative of positional information of a portion of the catheter in a patient's body and the ultrasonic imaging sensor transmits ultrasonic energy at a target in the patient's body, receives ultrasonic echoes reflected from the target in the patient's body and transmits signals relating to the ultrasonic echoes reflected from the target in the patient's body. A positioning processor is operatively connected to the catheter for determining positional information of the portion of the catheter based on the electrical signals transmitted by the position sensor. The system also includes a display and an image processor operatively connected to the catheter, the positioning processor and the display. The image processor displays on the display a catheter icon in a same orientation as an orientation of the portion of the catheter in the patient's body based on positional information derived from the position sensor. The image processor also generates an ultrasonic image of the target based on the signals transmitted by the ultrasonic sensor and depicts in real-time the generated ultrasound image on a display in a same orientation as the orientation of the portion of the catheter in the patient's body based on positional information derived from the position sensor.

Display of catheter tip with beam direction for ultrasound system

A valvuloplasty catheter has a dog-bone shaped balloon with semi-compliant smaller diameter waist and non-compliant larger diameter bulbous end regions. The balloon centers across the valve with the waist adjacent to the annulus. One bulbous region serves to hyperextend the valve leaflets and the other assists in stabilizing the balloon position to reduce migration. The semi-compliant waist increases in diameter as fluid enters the balloon until it comes into contact with the valve annulus. The pressure within the balloon per unit of volume delivery has a greater slope after contact with the annulus than before resulting in a change in slope for the pressure versus volume curve. The diameter of the balloon and annulus are determined at this inflection point when the balloon contacts the annulus.

Valvuloplasty Catheter And Methods

The object of the present invention is to provide a the three-dimensional ultrasonic imaging apparatus for improving accuracy of internal inspection of an object to be inspected and enabling an automatic determination by means of ultrasonic waves. The three-dimensional ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to the present invention includes: an ultrasonic transducer having a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators; a driving element selecting portion for selecting a piezoelectric vibrator to emit an ultrasonic wave among a plurality of the piezoelectric vibrators; a signal detecting circuit for causing ultrasonic waves emitted by the selected piezoelectric vibrator to enter the object to be inspected, receiving echo reflected from the object to be inspected, and thereby detecting an electric signal corresponding to the reflected echo; a signal processing portion for generating three-dimensional imaging data by subjecting the electric signal corresponding to the detected reflected echo to parallel arithmetic processing; and a display processing device for receiving the three-dimensional imaging data from the signal processing portion, correcting image luminance of the three-dimensional imaging data so as to flatten imaging intensity distribution in the plane direction of the surface of the object to be inspected, and then displaying a corrected result.

Three-dimensional ultrasonic imaging device

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection device capable of inspecting the inside of an object to be inspected precisely and rapidly in a non-destructive manner to quantitatively and automatically judge the presence of abnormality. SOLUTION: The three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection device is equipped with an ultrasonic transducer 11 having a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators 20 arranged thereto in a matrix or array state, a drive element selecting part 13 for selectively operating a piezoelectric vibrator 20 mn for ultrasonic oscillation, a signal detection circuit 16 for receiving the reflected echo from the joint 15 of the object 14 to be inspected due to oscillated ultrasonic waves to detect the electric signal, a signal processing part 17 for processing the detected electric signal to form three-dimensional imaging data corresponding to the mesh in the three-dimensional imaging region of the object 14 to be inspected and a display processing device 18 for detecting the size and position of a melt coagulation part 27 and the position or size of a welding flaw part 28 of the joint 15 from the intensity distribution of the formed three-dimensional imaging data and displaying the detection result and the three-dimensional imaging data from the signal processing part 17. COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection device

A color scintillator 26 comprises: an optical substrate 30 having bundled optical fibers; an acicular scintillator 50 provided with the optical substrate 30 , the acicular scintillator having either of an acicular crystal structure and a columnar crystal structure, the acicular scintillator reacting with at least one of an electromagnetic wave and a radial ray into light emitting; and a coating scintillator 51 coating the acicular scintillator 50 , the coating scintillator reacting with at least one of another electromagnetic wave and another radial ray which differ in either of an energy and a type from the electromagnetic wave and the radial ray reacting with the acicular scintillator 50 into light emitting in a different color from an emitting color in the acicular scintillator 50.

Color scintillator and image sensor

This three-dimensional ultrasonographic device is a three-dimensional ultrasonographic device having a matrix sensor 9 composed of a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators which are formed independently and arranged in a matrix, and it generates 3D imaging data based on reflected echoes of an ultrasonic wave obtained from the matrix sensor 9 and processes display images into two-dimensional images. Furthermore, this three-dimensional ultrasonographic imaging device connects a plurality of imaging data that are obtained while the matrix sensor 9 is moved, according to the position of the matrix sensor 9, thereby realizing imaging of a defect 14 for quantitative and intuitive judgment and enabling automatic judgment of the inspection. In addition, in imaging, an area other than an inspection area of the inspection object is masked, which realizes improved image quality.

Motohisa Abe

Papers

3d ultrasonographic device

Three-dimensional ultrasonic imaging device

Three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection device

Color scintillator and image sensor

3-dimensional ultrasonographic device