Patent ID: 7798963

Claim:
A method for producing an ultrasound image, comprising: monitoring a respiration waveform of a subject and detecting at least one substantially non-motion period in the respiration waveform, each non-motion period corresponding to a time when the subject's bodily motion caused by its respiration has substantially stopped, and at least one motion period of the respiration waveform, each motion period corresponding to a time when the subject's body is in motion due to its respiration; generating ultrasound at a frequency of at least 20 megahertz (MHz); transmitting ultrasound at a frequency of at least 20 MHz into a subject; acquiring ultrasound data during the at least one non-motion period of the subject's respiration waveform and during the at least one motion period of the subject's respiration waveform, wherein the steps of generating, transmitting and acquiring are incrementally repeated from a first scan line position though an nth scan line position; compiling the received ultrasound data to form an initial image; identifying at least one portion of the initial image comprising data received during a motion period of the subject's respiration waveform; and processing the initial image to produce the ultrasound image, wherein the processing step comprises: removing non-valid data from the initial image that was received during motion periods of the subject's respiration waveform to produce a partially blanked out image having at least one blanked out region; and substituting valid data received during the non-motion period of the subject's respiration waveform from another initial image formed in the above manner into the at least one blanked out region of the partially blanked out image to produce the ultrasound image.