Patent Document ID: 4206653
Application ID: 05949124
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. An apparatus for examining a body by means of ultrasonic energy, including: ultrasonic transducer means comprising at least one transmitting transducer, arranged to direct ultrasonic energy into a region of the body from a plurality of different dispositions therearound; at least one receiving transducer, which may also be the transmitting transducer, arranged to receive ultrasonic energy reflected from locations in the body to provide, for each of said positions of the transmitting transducer, at least one set of output signals representing integrals of reflection of said energy towards said receiving transducer for respective lines of reflecting locations, the lines being spaced apart from each other and at different distances from the transmitting transducer and the respective propagation times to the respective reflecting locations of any given line being the same; and processing means for providing a representation of the distribution of reflection coefficients in said region, the processing means including a data store representing said region and having a matrix of storage locations, one for each of a plurality of elements of the body in said region, and means for distributing to the storage locations, corresponding to elements intersected by each line of reflecting locations, a value related to the output signal for the respective line together with contributions from other output signals of the same set.