Patent ID: 7604595

Claim:
An ultrasound system, comprising: a probe having a 2 D array of transducers acquiring ultrasound information along a plurality of scan lines through an object in real time, said scan lines being arranged to define data volumes within the object; a beamformer having scan parameters that define said scan lines, said scan parameters having parameter values; an image buffer storing multiple data volumes successively acquired over time; a display processor accessing said data volumes stored in said image buffer successively to control generation of at least one of 2 D and 3 D renderings based on display parameters. wherein said display processor obtains from said image buffer a first data volume defined based on first scan parameter values, while said probe acquires ultrasound information for a second data volume that is entered into said image buffer, said second data volume being defined based on second scan parameter values; a navigation view presenting in real time the said renderings generated by said display processor with their corresponding 3 D orientation; a navigator controlling display of said navigation view in real time such that, as the user adjusts a display parameter value to change a view plane, images presented in said navigation view are updated to reflect said view plane; and a user interface configure to adjust said scan and display parameter values.