Patent ID: 7927280
Filing Date: 2011-04-19
Classification: A61B,G01S,G10K

Abstract:
1. An ultrasound imaging probe, comprising: a transducer body exhibiting a transmit beam origination pattern that is substantially flat in an azimuth direction and curved outward in an elevation direction; a two-dimensional array of transducer elements mounted on the transducer body in rows extending in the azimuth direction and columns extending in the elevation direction; a plurality of sub-array beamformers including delay units for beam steering coupled to respective sub-arrays of the transducer elements, each of the sub-array beamformers being operable to apply transmit signals to the transducer elements in the respective sub-array and to delay signals received from the transducer elements in the respective sub-array and to combine the delayed signals into a composite signal, wherein the sub-array beamformers are operable apply the transmit signals to and receiving signals from the transducer elements in a stepping manner from one row or group of rows or one column or group of columns to the next; wherein ones of the sub-array beamformers are further operable not to steer beams located away from the ends of the array so that beams are parallel to each other and orthogonal to the array surface; wherein ones of the sub-array beamformers are further operable to steer in the azimuth direction ultrasound beams transmitted and received by transducer elements at the azimuthal ends of the array of transducer elements to be not orthogonal to the array surface, thereby causing the acoustic beam pattern of the probe to extend beyond the azimuthal ends of the array of transducer element; wherein ones of the sub-array beamformers are further operable to steer in the elevation direction ultrasound beams transmitted and received by transducer elements at the elevation ends of the array of transducer elements to be not orthogonal to the array surface, thereby causing the acoustic beam pattern of the probe to extend beyond the elevation ends of the array of transducer elements; and a communication link for coupling the composite signals to an ultrasound processing and display system.