Patent ID: 6186948
Filing Date: 2001-02-13
Classification: A61B,Y10S

Abstract:
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising:a probe having a two-dimensional array transducer scanning a three-dimensional regionin a body by transmitting an ultrasonic beam and receiving an ultrasonic echo signal;a transmitting/receiving circuit configured to drive the transducer to transmit an ultrasonic beam and to obtain two-dimensional cross sectional data corresponding to a two-dimensional cross sectional image and three-dimensional image information at a scan configuration in which the resolution of the two-dimensional image is higher than the resolution of the three-dimensional image information, the scan region for the three-dimensional image information is smaller than an area possible to scan by the apparatus, and the scan region for the three-dimensional cross sectional image is near the cross section from which the two-dimensional cross sectional image is obtained;a processor configured to produce a synthesized image from the two-dimensional cross sectional image data and the three-dimensional image information; anda display configured to display the three-dimensional image information overlapped on the two-dimensional cross sectional image in real time.