Patent ID: 6464638
Filing Date: 2002-10-15
Classification: A61B,G01S

Abstract:
An ultrasound imaging system, comprising:a transmitter configured to generate a plurality of time interleaved transmit signals; a transducer in communication with the transmitter, said transducer having a lateral direction and an elevation direction, said transducer configured to translate and receive a plurality of time interleaved signals such that a plurality of controllably steered transmit lines in the lateral direction form a transmit scan beam, said transducer further configured to receive a plurality of ultrasonic responses reflected by the various tissues in a volume under observation insonified by the transmit scan beam at a plurality of vantage points separated in elevation, said transducer further configured to convert the received ultrasonic responses into a plurality of associated receive signals; a receiver in communication with the transducer configured to receive the plurality of receive signals, wherein the receiver is configured to acquire a plurality of response scan beams using a beamforming technique; a signal processor in communication with the receiver configured to mathematically combine image information derived from the plurality of response scan beams into a display signal; and a monitor in communication with the signal processor configured to convert the display signal into an image.