Patent ID: 7927276

Claim:
An apparatus for forming an ultrasound image, comprising: a plurality of transducers configured to transmit and receive ultrasound signals along a plurality of scan lines; a setter operable to set a common point, on which scan lines extended respectively from the plurality of first scan lines towards a back side of the transducers are concentrated; move the common point to set a plurality of virtual common points at the back side of the transducers; and determine plural groups of scan lines based respectively on the plurality of virtual common points; a frame former configured to form a plurality of image frames corresponding respectively to the plural groups of scan lines based on the received ultrasound signals; and a composite image former configured to receive a plurality of image frames; assign a weight to each of the image frames, said weight being determined based on a location of the virtual common point associated with the respective image frame; and produce weighed image frames based on the image frames and the weights; and to form a composite image for a spatially overlapped area between the weighed image frames.