Patent ID: 6251073
Filing Date: 2001-06-26
Classification: A61B,G01S

Abstract:
Ultrasound apparatus for examining an area of tissue in a region of interest in a body comprising a housing having a viewing aperture, an ultrasonic transducer comprised of an array of ultrasonic elements disposed in the viewing aperture and having an inherent resolution, means substantially transparent to ultrasound carried by the housing forming an impedance matching lens overlying the array and having a surface capable of being placed in contact with the body, means for supplying transmitted electrical pulses to said transducer for a single transducer excitation to introduce ultrasonic signals into the body for reflection from an area of the tissue in the region of interest, said transducer being capable of converting ultrasonic signals reflected from within the body to provide electrical signals of raw date for the area of tissue, means for digitizing and storing the electrical signals and means for processing the digitized electrical signals to form one image frame from the raw data for a single area.