Patent ID: 7804736

Claim:
In an ultrasound imaging system comprising an ultrasound transducer having an array of elements and a beam origin, each element for converting received energy into an echo signal, a process comprising the steps of: calculating an integer-valued depth (n), said depth (n) measured from said beam origin to a point on a beam axis of an ultrasound beam; estimating a distance ({circumflex over (d)} n ) representative of the exact distance (d n ) measured from a center of an element to said point on said beam axis; adding said estimated distance ({circumflex over (d)} n ) to said integer-valued depth (n) to generate an arrival time control signal or subtracting said estimated distance ({circumflex over (d)} n ) from said integer-valued depth (n) to generate a delay control signal; and processing an echo signal associated with said element based on the arrival time control signal or the delay control signal.