Patent ID: 8235904

Claim:
An ultrasound system, comprising: a control unit configured to generate a first control signal for a B-mode scan and a second control signal for a C-mode scan: a transmit/receive unit responsive to the first and second control signals and being configured to transmit ultrasound signals along a plurality of predetermined number of scan lines set in a target object and form receive signals based on the ultrasound echo signals reflected from the target object, said receive signals including first receive signals formed in response to the first control signal and second receive signals formed in response to the second control signal; a storage unit configured to store the first and second receive signals; and an image processing unit configured to form a B-mode image and a C-mode image based on the first and second receive signals stored in the storage unit and to combine the B-mode image with the C-mode image to form a BC-mode image, wherein the control unit is configured to divide the scan lines into a plurality of scan line groups where the B-mode scan line groups are determined by the equation of T B =N B /PRF B and C-mode scan lines groups are determined by the equation of T c =(N c ×P s )/PRF c and generate a third control signal for alternately selecting one of the scan line groups for a B-mode scan along scan lines of the selected scan line group based on a time ratio, the control unit being further configured to repeatedly generate the second and third control signals, wherein the receive signals include scan line group receive signals formed through the B-mode scan along scan lines of the selected scan line group in response to the third control signal and new second receive signals formed in response to the second control signal, and wherein the image processing unit is configured to update the first receive signals with the scan line group receive signals, and form a new B-mode image based on the updated first receive signals and a new C-mode image based on the new second receive signals and combine the new B-mode image with the new C-mode image to form a new BC-mode image.