Patent ID: 9572546
Date: 2017-02-21
CPC Classifications: A61B,G01S

Claim:
1. An object information acquiring apparatus comprising: a probe in which a plurality of elements are arrayed in a first direction, wherein said plurality of elements perform electronic scanning by transmitting an ultrasound wave to a measurement target region of an object and receiving a reflected wave; a mechanical scanner arranged to position said probe in a scanning movement in said first direction and in a direction crossing said first direction, wherein each movement in said first direction forms a stripe; a transmission beam former which inputs, to each element included in a transmission aperture element row transmitting the ultrasound wave, from among said plurality of elements, an input signal for driving the element; a received signal beam former which combines received signals obtained by elements included in a reception aperture element row receiving the ultrasound wave, from among said plurality of elements; a generator which generates property information on the object from the combined received signal; and a controller which gradually reduces the number of elements included in the transmission aperture element row or the number of elements included in the reception aperture element row in the electronic scan as the position of said probe comes to the stripe on an end section of the measurement target region of the object, such that with respect to the elements included in the transmission aperture row or the reception aperture row, a center of the elements shifts within the array in a direction to the end section of the measurement target region as the position of said probe comes to the stripe on the end section.