Abstract: In embodiments of the present invention, an ultrasound system includes an ultrasound machine, which may be located in a hospital, clinic, vehicle, home, etc., coupled to a remotely located diagnosis station via a communication network. For some embodiments, the ultrasound machine includes an application-specific scan head that has identification information that allows the home ultrasound machine to notify a user whether the attached scan head is appropriate for the type of examination to be performed. For other embodiments, a first stage of beamforming is conducted in reconfigurable hardware and a second stage of beamforming is conducted in programmable software digital signal processor.