Patent ID: 7601122

Claim:
An ultrasonic elastography system comprising: an ultrasonic transducer system configured to provide a set of echo signals from at least two different angles over a plurality of voxels in a region of interest, the set of echo signals including first echo signals taken with tissue of the region of interest substantially at rest in a first compressive state and second echo signals taken with tissue of the region of interest substantially at rest in a second compressive state, each echo signal associated with a single different angle; a memory device wherein the echo signals are stored for subsequent processing; a processor executing a stored program to combine at least portions of echo signals from the different angles through a voxel, after they have been stored in the memory device, to produce at least one compounded strain measurement for the voxel in the region of interest along a predetermined single given angle, the compounded strain measurement being produced by determining relative displacement in time of the portions of the echo signals to deduce displacement between tissue between the first compressive state and the second compressive state; and a graphic display communicating with the processor to receive and display the compounded strain measurement on the graphics display for viewing by a user of the ultrasonic elastography system.