Patent ID: 7090641

Claim:
An ultrasound image focusing method, comprising the steps of: sending to a volume being investigated a series of excitation ultrasonic signals, through an array of transducers aligned in a transverse direction (x), said ultrasonic signals propagating in depth in said volume according to a direction of propagation (y); acquiring, through said transducers, signals reflected from at least one reflector located in the volume being investigated, said signals defining a curve in a spatial domain (x, y), defined by said transverse direction (x) and by said direction of propropagation (y); performing on said reflected signals a transform in the transverse direction from said spatial domain to a first transformed domain; applying, in the transformed domain, a two-dimensional transformation, to straighten said curve (Ip 1 , Ip 2 , Ip 3 ) of said at least one reflector in said volume being investigated and make it essentially orthogonal to the direction of propagation (y); compressing said straightened curve (Im 1 , Im 2 , Im 3 ) in the transverse direction (x) to generate a compressed signal by concentrating said straightened curve in a zone centered at the level of the position of said reflector along said transverse direction (x).