Patent ID: 8233687

Claim:
An ultrasonic imaging apparatus comprising: a scanner configured to scan a 3D region using ultrasonic beams, a scanning line density of transmission of ultrasonic beams for a region of interest among said 3D regions being higher than a scanning line density of ultrasonic beams for regions other than said region of interest among said 3D regions, and an image-generating part configured to generate ultrasonic-image data of said 3D region, based on a received beam that has been obtained by said scan, wherein said scanner is configured to perform parallel signal processing in the regions other than said region of interest, and said scanning by said scanner comprises: scanning a predetermined slice by using ultrasonic beams to scan in a main scanning direction; scanning said 3D regions by scanning a plurality of slices by using ultrasonic beams to scan in a direction perpendicular to said main scanning direction, and equalizing a number of received beams to be received per slice by changing a number of transmission times of ultrasonic beams and a number of parallel signals per said slice.