Abstract: The automatic bladder scanning apparatus includes a transducer assembly (30), which includes a plurality of individual transducer elements (32). A first plurality of transducer elements are connected into an approximately circular or octagonal arrangement to produce a transmitted signal beam. The data transmission signal is pseudo-random. The returning echo signal is received by another plurality of transducer elements arranged in a preselected pattern. One receiving pattern includes two orthogonal sets of linear arrays, while the other receiving pattern involves an octagonal arrangement. The received signals from the second plurality of transducer elements are processed to form a composite received signal. The composite received signal is then further processed to produce information concerning the three dimension image of the bladder, which information is then used to calculate the bladder volume.