Patent ID: 6126601
Filing Date: 2000-10-03
Classification: A61B,G01S

Abstract:
An ultrasound imaging system comprising:an ultrasound transducer array comprising a multiplicity of transducer elements;a transmit beamformer for pulsing selected transducer elements during a series of transmit firings;a receive beamformer coupled to selected transducer elements of said transducer array for acquiring a respective receive signal subsequent to each transmit firing;a first signal processor programmable in a first imaging mode to process first receive signals into a first image signal having a first image format in accordance with a first application code and programmable in a second imaging mode to process second receive signals into a second image signal having a second image format in accordance with a second application code, wherein said first signal processor can operate in accordance with only one of said first and second application codes at any given time; anda display device for displaying an image having an image portion which is a function of said first image signal in said first imaging mode and of said second image signal in said second imaging mode.