Method for the ultrasound detection and characterisation of defects in a heterogeneous material, comprising the following steps: a) for each of a plurality of positions (z) at the surface of the material, - a multi-element probe comprising a plurality of transducers (14, 15) is disposed at the position (z) at the surface of the material; - for a plurality of configurations of the multi-element probe, ultrasound is emitted by at least one emitting transducer and at least one receiving transducer acquires a measurement signal representative of the amplitude of the ultrasound propagated in the material as a function of the time for this probe configuration at this position (z), the different configurations being distinguished from one another by different delays applied to the emission of ultrasonic waves by the transducers or by emitter or receiver functions fulfilled by different transducers (14, 15), b) implementing a focusing algorithm on a measurement data set grouping together the measurement signals for the different configurations of the multi-element probe for each position (z) of the multi-element probe, and obtaining for each probe position (z) an image in which each pixel of the image represents a probed point (w) of the material with which a focused amplitude is associated for said probed point (w) on different probe positions (z), c) for each probed point (w), determining a measurement of central tendency of the focused amplitude at the probed point on different probe positions (z), d) for each probed point (w), determining a function representative of the variability of the focused amplitude at this probed point (w) on different probe positions (z), e) for each image, correcting the focused amplitude at each probed point (w) by subtracting the measure of central tendency from the amplitude and by dividing by the function representative of the variability, in order to obtain corrected images, f) detecting and characterising defects in the material based on the corrected images. a) for each of a plurality of positions (z) at the surface of the material, - a multi-element probe comprising a plurality of transducers (14, 15) is disposed at the position (z) at the surface of the material; - for a plurality of configurations of the multi-element probe, ultrasound is emitted by at least one emitting transducer and at least one receiving transducer acquires a measurement signal representative of the amplitude of the ultrasound propagated in the material as a function of the time for this probe configuration at this position (z), the different configurations being distinguished from one another by different delays applied to the emission of ultrasonic waves by the transducers or by emitter or receiver functions fulfilled by different transducers (14, 15), - a multi-element probe comprising a plurality of transducers (14, 15) is disposed at the position (z) at the surface of the material; - for a plurality of configurations of the multi-element probe, ultrasound is emitted by at least one emitting transducer and at least one receiving transducer acquires a measurement signal representative of the amplitude of the ultrasound propagated in the material as a function of the time for this probe configuration at this position (z), the different configurations being distinguished from one another by different delays applied to the emission of ultrasonic waves by the transducers or by emitter or receiver functions fulfilled by different transducers (14, 15), b) implementing a focusing algorithm on a measurement data set grouping together the measurement signals for the different configurations of the multi-element probe for each position (z) of the multi-element probe, and obtaining for each probe position (z) an image in which each pixel of the image represents a probed point (w) of the material with which a focused amplitude is associated for said probed point (w) on different probe positions (z), c) for each probed point (w), determining a measurement of central tendency of the focused amplitude at the probed point on different probe positions (z), d) for each probed point (w), determining a function representative of the variability of the focused amplitude at this probed point (w) on different probe positions (z), e) for each image, correcting the focused amplitude at each probed point (w) by subtracting the measure of central tendency from the amplitude and by dividing by the function representative of the variability, in order to obtain corrected images, f) detecting and characterising defects in the material based on the corrected images.