Patent ID: 8317708

Claim:
An ultrasound system, comprising: an ultrasound data acquisition unit configured to transmit and receive ultrasound signals to and from a target object including a blood vessel to thereby output ultrasound data; and a processing unit in communication with the ultrasound data acquisition unit and being configured to form an ultrasound image based on the ultrasound data, perform an image process upon the ultrasound image to thereby detect a center of the blood vessel from the ultrasound image, set the center of the blood vessel as an optimal focal point position, and calculate a plurality of steering angles, a plurality of transmit (Tx) frequencies and a plurality of sound speeds, wherein the ultrasound data acquisition unit is further configured to transmit and receive ultrasound signals to and from the target object in consideration of each of the steering angles, the Tx frequencies and the sound speeds to thereby output a plurality of ultrasound data, wherein the processing unit is further configured to form a plurality of ultrasound images corresponding to each of the steering angles, the Tx frequencies and the sound speeds based on the plurality of ultrasound data, detect a signal to noise ratio (SNR), a number of edge points of the blood vessel and a contrast difference between pixels for each of the plurality of ultrasound images to thereby set an optimal steering angle, an optimal Tx frequency and an optimal sound speed based on the SNR, the number of edge points and the contrast difference.