Patent ID: 8884793

Claim:
A method for reducing ultrasound data from an ultrasound signal comprising a plurality of ultrasound pulses, the method comprising: a) rectifying the ultrasound signal, b) generating an envelope curve about the maximum values of the rectified ultrasound signal, wherein each of the ultrasound pulses is represented as a curve portion with a single maximum value, c) producing a first negative envelope curve signal, which is reduced by a first factor f, and a delayed envelope curve signal, which is not modified but is delayed by a time period t d , for each of the ultrasound pulses, d) adding the first negative envelope curve signal and the delayed envelope curve signal to form a first sum signal with a first zero crossing, wherein the first zero crossing represents a first time value, and e) associating an amplitude with the first time value, the amplitude corresponding to a signal height consistent with a maximum peak height from the envelope curve within a time interval about the first time value.