Patent ID: 8043219

Claim:
A method for setting a transmit power level to image contrast agents, the method comprising: (a) acquiring first and second data from first and second scan lines, respectively, in a scan region from a scan for a same frame of data, the first and second data responsive to first and second transmit powers, respectively, the first transmit power different than the second transmit power and the first scan line different than the second scan line; (b) comparing, with a processor, the first data with the second data; (c) setting a third transmit power based on the comparison for contrast agent imaging; and imaging contrast agents with the third transmit power; and (d) detecting the first and second data as a function of contrast agent specificity; wherein (b) comprises identifying a maximum specificity of the first and second data; and wherein (c) comprises setting the third transmit power as a function of the one of the first or second transmit powers associated with the maximum specificity.