Abstract: Method and apparatus for reducing random noise in digital video streams are described. In one innovative aspect, the device includes a noise estimator. The device also includes a motion detector configured to determine a motion value indicative of motion between two frames of the video stream, the motion value based at least in part on the noise value. The device further includes a spatial noise reducer configured to filter the image data based at least in part on a blending factor and the noise value. The device also includes a temporal noise reducer configured to filter the video data based on the motion value and the noise value. The device also includes a blender configured to blend the spatial and temporal filtered values to provide a weighted composite filtered output image.

Abstract: An ultrasound probe analog to digital converter includes an input successive approximation register (SAR) first stage; and an output SAR second stage in communication with the input SAR first stage. The input SAR first stage includes a programmable preamplifier integrated therein for residue amplification. The preamplifier is programmed to alternate between a linear amplifier operating mode and a comparator operating mode.

Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system acquires 3D data sets of the fetal heart by use of a gating signal synthesized from detected motion of the fetal heart. A sequence of temporally different echo signals are acquired from a location in the anatomy where motion representative of the heart cycle is to be estimated, such as a sample volume in the fetal carotid artery or an M line through the fetal myocardium. A heart cycle signal is synthesized from the detected motion and used to gate the acquisition of fetal heart image data at one or more desired phases of the fetal heart cycle. In an illustrated embodiment 3D data sets are acquired from multiple subvolumes, each over the full fetal heart cycle, then combined to produce a live 3D loop of the beating fetal heart.

Abstract: To implement a single-chip ultrasonic imaging solution, on-chip signal processing may be employed in the receive signal path to reduce data bandwidth and a high-speed serial data module may be used to move data for all received channels off-chip as digital data stream. The digitization of received signals on-chip allows advanced digital signal processing to be performed on-chip, and thus permits the full integration of an entire ultrasonic imaging system on a single semiconductor substrate. Various novel waveform generation techniques, transducer configuration and biasing methodologies, etc., are likewise disclosed. HIFU methods may additionally or alternatively be employed as a component of the “ultrasound-on-a-chip” solution disclosed herein.

Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system (50) includes analog and/or digital components which are configurable by firmware data. An ultrasound probe (10) contains firmware data for configuring the programmable devices of an ultrasound system for operation with the probe. The firmware data is uploaded from the probe and used to configure the analog and/or digital components for operation with the probe at runtime.

Abstract: An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus comprises a transducer array for transmitting ultrasonic beams to a subject, a multiplexer for sequentially selecting one channel of reception signal in every N number of channels of reception signals out of a plurality of channels of reception signals outputted from the transducer array which has received receiving ultrasonic echoes from the subject, a plurality of reception signal processors for sequentially processing an N number of channels of reception signals selected by the multiplexer to produce reception data, a beam former for performing beam forming on reception data sequentially produced by the plurality of reception signal processors and having time difference to produce sound ray signals, and an image producing unit for producing an ultrasound image based on the sound ray signals produced by the beam former.

Abstract: Methods and systems for pulse scanning and simultaneously displaying a blood flow image and a B-mode image are disclosed.

Abstract: A method of calibrating an ultrasound probe includes mounting an ultrasound probe onto a calibration system, transmitting an ultrasound test signal from an element of the probe through a test medium of the calibration system, and receiving the test signal on a matrix of hydrophones such that an element's position relative to other elements and other arrays within the same probe can be computed. Further, the system described herein is configured to detect the acoustic performance of elements of a probe and report the results to an end user or service provider.

Abstract: In some illustrative embodiments, an incoming signal from a transducer in an ultrasound imaging beam-former apparatus is applied to an in-phase sample-and-hold and a quadrature sample-and-hold. The quadrature sample-and-hold may be clocked a quarter period behind the in-phase sample-and-hold. The output of the sample-and-holds are applied to in-phase and quadrature analog-to-digital converters. A magnitude calculator receives the in-phase and quadrature digital values, and outputs a magnitude. A phase calculator receives the in-phase and quadrature digital values, and outputs a phase. An apodizer applies a difference between an amplitude of the outgoing signal and the magnitude and applies a first illumination to a image point in substantial proportion to the difference, and a phase rotator applies a second illumination to the image point in substantial proportion to the phase.

Abstract: Systems and methods of M-mode ultrasound imaging allows for M-mode imaging along user-defined paths. In various embodiments, the user-defined path can be a non-linear path or a curved path. In some embodiments, a system for M-mode ultrasound imaging can comprise a multi-aperture probe with at least a first transmitting aperture and a second receiving aperture. The receiving aperture can be separate from the transmitting aperture. In some embodiments, the transmitting aperture can be configured to transmit an unfocused, spherical, ultrasound ping signal into a region of interest. The user-defined path can define a structure of interest within the region of interest.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a method for ultrasonic imaging, in which two-dimensional images (10, 11) are acquired, one of which is aligned with a longitudinal direction of an interventional object (e.g. a needle) (13) to be moved towards a target area (7) within a subject of examination and the other one is intersecting the longitudinal direction of the interventional object (13) and automatically positioned dependent on the automatically determined position and orientation of the interventional object (13). Further, the invention is directed to an ultrasonic imaging device (1) adapted to conduct such a method.

Abstract: When correcting for velocity aberration in satellite imagery, a closed-form error covariance propagation model can produce more easily calculable error terms than a corresponding Monte Carlo analysis. The closed-form error covariance propagation model is symbolic, rather than numeric. The symbolic error covariance propagation model relates input parameters to one another pairwise and in closed form. For a particular image, the symbolic error covariance propagation model receives an input measurement value and an input error value for each input parameter. The symbolic error covariance propagation model operates on the input values to produce a set of output correction values, which correct for velocity aberration. The output correction values can be used to convert apparent coordinate values to corrected coordinate values. The symbolic error covariance matrix operates on the input error values to produce a set of output error values, which identify a reliability of the corrected coordinate values.

Abstract: An ultrasonic probe includes ultrasonic transducers and processing electronics to control emission of ultrasonic energy and to process and digitize returned echo data. Processed echo data can then be transmitted over a digital interface for display.

Abstract: A Multiple Aperture Ultrasound Imaging (MAUI) probe or transducer is uniquely capable of simultaneous imaging of a region of interest from separate apertures of ultrasound arrays. Some embodiments provide systems and methods for designing, building and using ultrasound probes having continuous arrays of ultrasound transducers which may have a substantially continuous concave curved shape in two or three dimensions (i.e., concave relative to an object to be imaged). Other embodiments herein provide systems and methods for designing, building and using ultrasound imaging probes having other unique configurations, such as adjustable probes and probes with variable configurations.

Abstract: Disclosed is an ultrasound diagnostic imaging apparatus including an ultrasound probe which outputs transmission ultrasound waves toward a subject by a driving signal and which outputs received signals by receiving reflection ultrasound waves from the subject and a transmitting unit which generates the transmission ultrasound waves by the ultrasound probe by outputting the driving signal, and the transmitting unit generates the driving signal of square wave having a waveform in which a standard pulse signal where a pulse cycle is 2 T is combined with two first pulse signals of same polarity having a pulse width A (A<T) and a second pulse signal having a pulse width B (B=T?2A), the second pulse signal having a polarity different from the polarity of the first pulse signals.

Abstract: A method for compensating cardiac and respiratory motion in atrial fibrillation ablation procedures includes (a) simultaneously determining a position of a circumferential mapping (CFM) catheter and a coronary sinus (CS) catheter in two consecutive image frames of a series of first 2-D image frames; (b) determining a distance between a virtual electrode on the CS catheter and a center of the CFM catheter for a first image frame of the two consecutive image frames, and for a second image frame of the two consecutive image frames; and (c) if an absolute difference of the distance for the first image frame and the distance for the second image frame is greater than a predetermined threshold, compensating for motion of the CFM catheter in a second 2-D image.

Abstract: An asymmetric ultrasound transducer array may include multiple regions or groups of transducer elements. The regions may be configured to generate respective ultrasound beams with different capabilities, such as, e.g., focusing at varying focal depths and lateral steering, and/or focusing into different volumes.

Abstract: A method of monitoring target tissue of a biological skeletal system. The method comprises applying a mechanical excitation to a portion of the biological skeletal system to generate a mechanical wave that passes through the target tissue, the target tissue modulating the mechanical wave to produce a response of the target tissue to the mechanical wave, measuring the response; and determining structural or functional status of the target tissue from the response. A system for applying the method is also provided.

Abstract: A method of ultrasound nonlinear imaging with high-bit Golay code excitation includes transmitting a first, a second, a third and a fourth Golay code signal wave which have more than four bits and are orthogonal pairs to each other; making the second and the forth Golay code signal wave be subtracted from the first and the third Golay code signal wave respectively to eliminate noise interference wave; performing compression filtering process to the above generated waves and taking a cross sum to generate two compressed code waves; taking the difference between the two compressed code waves to generate an image wave which includes at least two second-order harmonic waves; processing ultrasound nonlinear imaging by using the second-order harmonic waves and to generate an ultrasound image.

Abstract: Embodiments for providing a plurality of 3-dimensional ultrasound images by using a plurality of volume slices in an ultrasound system are disclosed. The ultrasound system comprises: an ultrasound data acquisition unit configured to transmit and receive ultrasound signals to and from a target object to acquire ultrasound data; a volume data forming unit configured to form volume data by using the ultrasound data; a user input unit for allowing a user to input a user instruction; and a processing unit configured to set a plurality of volume slice regions having different widths in the volume data in response to the user instruction and form a plurality of 3-dimensional ultrasound images by using volume slices defined by the volume slice regions.

Abstract: This invention employs an object information acquiring apparatus including a probe for receiving, as a received signal, an acoustic wave which is generated within an object irradiated with light and propagates on an object surface, and a processor for generating object information, which is information based on an internal optical characteristic value of the object, by using intensity of the received signal. The processor corrects the intensity of the received signal by using the reflectance upon the acoustic wave entering the probe which is calculated based on the angle of the acoustic wave entering the probe, and on the acoustic impedance and acoustic velocity of the object and the probe.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are an apparatus and a method for measuring velocity of an ultrasound signal. The apparatus for measuring velocity of an ultrasound signal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a transmitting module transmitting ultrasound signals to targets; a receiving module receiving the ultrasound signals reflected from the targets; an image generating module using the received ultrasound signals to generate a plurality of ultrasonic images having different sound velocities; and a sound velocity determining module using the plurality of generated ultrasonic images to determine optimal sound velocity for scanning the targets.

Abstract: In various embodiments, apparatus and methods are provided to perform acoustic imaging. An acoustic wave can be acquired at a detector, where the acoustic wave propagates from a target to the detector. The target may be acoustically illuminated to provide the acoustic wave. A signal from the detector in response to acquiring the acoustic wave can be processed in a model such that the processing implements a synthetic acoustic lens to generate an image of the target. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.

Abstract: A method of using a 1.5D array ultrasonic probe as a component of an inspection system intended for different diameter cylindrical parts without mechanical adjustments of the probe is presented. In particular, the method is presented as a way to improve the near surface resolution over an extended range of cylindrical parts diameter and inspection depths/tubes wall thickness with respect to usual 1D arrays of fixed curvature along the elevation axis. The method relies on a customizable concentric firing pattern of the acoustic pulses with respect to the cylindrical part surface, and on adjustment of the aperture size of the said array. The intended effect is to sharpen and minimize the extent of the front wall echo and to optimize the response from an eventual flaw in the inspected range.

Abstract: Systems and methods of overlaying a three-dimensional image of a tissue and an image of the tissue from an imaging transducer, having a field of view are disclosed. The method includes determining pixel dimensions of the field of view in the second co-ordinate space, scaling the three-dimensional image in the first co-ordinate space to match the pixel dimensions of the field of view in the second co-ordinate space, and displaying an overlaid image comprising the three-dimensional image and the field of view of the imaging transducer.

Abstract: Provided is a technique that implements harmonic imaging in an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, being unaffected by the voltage-dependent distortion and nonlinear characteristics of the transmit system in the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus that incorporates the transmit amplifier, the ultrasound probe, and the like, facilitating adjustment of the transmit voltage, and achieving a frame rate substantially equivalent to that of the conventional PI method. In the amplitude modulation method that synthesizes the transmit acoustic fields, thereby eliminating a basic wave component of an acoustic wave and creating an image from nonlinear component echoes being extracted, one transmit and receive out of plural transmits and receptions to obtain one scanning line also serves as the transmit and receive for obtaining other scanning line. The echo signals obtained by the shared transmit and receive are used to form the receive beams respectively on both the scanning lines that share the transmit and receive.

Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment include a transmitter/receiver, a signal processor, and an image generator. The transmitter/receiver causes an ultrasonic probe to transmit on each scanning line at least three ultrasonic pulses, the three ultrasonic pulses being: a first ultrasonic pulse including at least one frequency component and being transmitted with a first phase; a second ultrasonic pulse including the frequency component and being transmitted with a second phase different from the first phase by 180 degrees; and a third ultrasonic pulse including the frequency component and being transmitted with a third phase different from the first phase and the second phase by 90 degrees and generates a plurality of reception signals corresponding to the respective ultrasonic pulses. The signal processor combines the plurality of the reception signals and generates a composite signal. The image generator generates ultrasonic image data.

Abstract: According to one embodiment, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes a transceiver part, a signal processing part and an image generation part. The transceiver part controls an ultrasonic probe to perform a first and second scans. The first scan transmits a first ultrasonic wave and an ultrasonic wave, obtained by modulating an amplitude of the first ultrasonic wave, to scanning lines distributed three dimensionally, and receives first reflected waves. The second scan transmits a second ultrasonic wave to scanning lines distributed two dimensionally during the first scan, and receives second reflective waves. The transceiver part obtains first and second reception signals based on the first and second reflected waves. The signal processing part generates composite signals by combining the first reception signals. The image generation part generates three dimensional ultrasonic image data based on the composite signals, and two dimensional ultrasonic image data based on the second reception signals.

Abstract: An ultrasonic inspection apparatus includes: a probe; a transmission unit configured to cause the probe to transmit a ultrasonic beam; a reception unit configured to receive analog element signals output by the probe; an A/D conversion unit configured to perform A/D conversion on the analog element signal to obtain first element data; and a data processing unit configured to generate second element data from a plurality of the pieces of first element data, wherein the data processing unit changes conditions of acquisition of two or more of the pieces of first element data for generating the second element data depending on a depth of a position in which the second element data is obtained.

Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment includes a transmitter/receiver, a signal processor, an image generator, and a controller. The transmitter/receiver executes ultrasonic transmission/reception sets a plurality of times on an identical scanning line by changing transmission conditions, and generates a plurality of sets of reception signals, the ultrasonic transmission/reception sets including a plurality of ultrasonic transmissions/receptions on the identical scanning line serving as a unit. The signal processor combines the reception signals in each of the plurality of the sets, and generates a plurality of composite signals corresponding to each of the plurality of the sets. The image generator generates ultrasonic image data using the composite signals.

Abstract: High-frequency ultrasound imaging can be performed with greater quality and suppressed grating lobes by using methods and systems for effectively reducing the temporal length of transmit grating lobe signals in received ultrasound echoes. Systems and methods are provided for improved high-frequency ultrasound imaging. In various aspects, the method of shortening the time domain of grating lobe signals comprises splitting an array of N transmit elements into K sub-apertures. In further aspects, the grating lobes are suppressed by performing signal processing of the shortened grating lobe signals. In certain aspects, the signal processing method comprises weighting the samples by a calculated phase coherence factor.

Abstract: The invention concerns a device for treatment of an organ or tissue of a living being. The device comprises at least one treatment transducer for emission of ultrasound waves, preferably high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) waves, focusable on a focal point within or on the surface of said organ or tissue, as well as means for rotating said treatment transducer around an axis which intersects said focal point. The device further comprises synchronization means for synchronizing the rotation of the treatment transducer with at least the emission of ultrasound waves from said treatment transducer and/or an additional imaging transducer.

Abstract: Techniques, systems, and devices are disclosed for ultrasound diagnostics using spread spectrum, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms.

Abstract: An ultrasound imaging system with pixel oriented processing is provided in which an acoustic signal is generated, echoes from the acoustic signal are received at a plurality of receiving elements to obtain echo signals that are then stored, a given pixel is mapped into a region of the stored signals, the mapped region of the stored echo signals is organized into array for the given pixel after which the array is processed to generate a signal response for the given pixel to obtain acoustic information for the given pixel. The system can be implemented entirely on plug-in cards for a commercial PC motherboard. The system and method can be implemented for pixel-oriented or voxel-oriented image processing and display, eliminating intermediate data computations and enabling extensive use of software processing methods. Advantages include improved acquisition of signal dynamic range, flexible acquisition modes for high frame rate 2D, 3D, and Doppler blood flow imaging.

Abstract: A method includes concurrently exciting neighboring pairs of transducer elements of an array for at least two transmits, wherein the array has a focus in a range of ten to twenty centimeters with a f-number of five or less. The method further includes receiving first echoes with individual transducer elements of a first sub-set of the transducer elements for a first of the at least two transmits, and receiving second echoes with individual transducer elements of a second sub-set of the transducer elements for a second of the at least two transmits. The method further includes extracting second harmonics from the echoes of the at least two transmits. The method further includes beamforming the extracted second harmonics. The method further includes generating an image based on the beamformed extracted second harmonics.

Abstract: A method for real-time computation of point-by-point apodization coefficients used for beam-forming includes storing apodization coefficients of receiving focus points in memory, and computing at least one of an included angle between a vector from a transducer element to a receiving point and a normal vector of the transducer element, and a trigonometric function value of the included angle. The method also includes addressing the memory storing the apodization coefficients according to the quantized included angle or trigonometric function value, and reading the apodization coefficients. In one embodiment, the method may include computing in advance apodization coefficients of a receiving focus point as the starting point for the subsequent interpolation operation and another receiving focus point as the ending point, and deriving, for each receiving channel, apodization coefficients of the points situated between these two receiving focus points through an interpolation operation.

Abstract: An ultrasound diagnostic device includes a plurality of channels configured to receive data and a scan line data forming unit including a plurality of sub-scan line data forming groups and a data summing unit. The sub-scan line data forming group forms partial data of scan lines, and the data summing unit forms scan line data of the scan lines by summing the partial data. The sub-scan line data forming group includes a plurality of sub-scan line data forming units for forming the partial data of the scan lines by using the receiving data and providing a transmission path of the receiving data. First data lines transmit the receiving data between at least one of the sub-scan data forming unit and the channels, and second data lines transfer the receiving data between the sub-scan line data forming units.

Abstract: Provided is an ultrasonic device including: an ultrasonic element array substrate having a plurality of ultrasonic elements configured to perform at least one of transmission and reception of ultrasound; an acoustic lens configured to focus the ultrasound; an acoustic matching unit formed using resin, the acoustic matching unit being arranged between the ultrasonic element array substrate and the acoustic lens; and a plurality of columnar spacing members arranged between the ultrasonic element array substrate and the acoustic lens so as to be in contact with the ultrasonic element array substrate and the acoustic lens.

Abstract: A method of ultrasound nonlinear imaging with Golay code excitation includes transmitting a first and a second Golay code signal wave which are orthogonal by each other; making the second Golay code signal wave be subtracted from the first Golay code signal wave to eliminate a first and a second noise interference wave to generate a third Golay code signal wave; using a first and a second compression filter to process the third Golay code signal wave to generate a first and a second compressed code signal wave; taking the difference between the first compressed code signal wave and the second compressed code signal wave to generate a third compressed code signal wave which includes at least two second-order harmonic waves; processing ultrasound nonlinear imaging by using the multi-frequency harmonic component waves to generate an ultrasound image.

Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes: a first reference beam generating unit generating a first reference beam from DAS signals calculated in an N-th frame; a second reference beam generating unit generating a second reference beam from a DAS signal calculated in an (N?1)-th frame, the DAS signal calculated in the N-th frame, and another DAS signal calculated in an (N+1)-th frame; an attenuation coefficient calculating unit calculating, based on the first reference beam and the second reference beam, an attenuation coefficient to be multiplied by the DAS signals calculated in the N-th frame; and a beamforming unit generating and providing a beamformed signal generated for a reference scan line in the N-th frame by multiplying a DAS signal calculated in the N-th frame by the attenuation coefficient.

Abstract: An ultrasound tracking system for tracking shallow structures by acquiring and processing a sequence of images is provided. The system comprises a transducer, a beamformer, and computational processing hardware, wherein the transducer has a plurality of sub-arrays with a gap between adjacent sub-arrays, the sub-arrays in generally parallel relation to one another, the sub-arrays comprising at least 12 elements, the beamformer in electronic communication with the sub-arrays, and the computational processing hardware comprising instructions for transforming signals from the sub-arrays into a plurality of data sets. An active hand prosthesis and an active hand exoskeleton is also provided.

Abstract: There is provided an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus capable of outputting an appropriate ultrasound image with no distortion regardless of a sound velocity distribution in a subject. In the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, sound velocities are calculated at two or more points in a subject, and coordinate transformation of a generated ultrasound image is performed based on the calculated sound velocities.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a beamforming apparatus for beamforming signals which are transmitted or received by a probe which includes a plurality of transducer blocks, each of which includes a plurality of transducers. The apparatus includes a controller configured to control components to delay signals to be transmitted by the plurality of transducers included in each transducer block or signals received by the plurality of transducers included in each transducer block, and an analog beamformer which includes a plurality of beamforming units which correspond to the respective transducer blocks. The plurality of beamforming units is configured to perform analog beamforming on signals transmitted or received by the plurality of transducers included in each transducer block based on a control signal which is received from the controller, to reduce a dynamic delay range, thereby reducing a size of a delay line.

Abstract: A novel diagnostic ultrasound apparatus has a plurality of ultrasound probes 1, delay means pairs 4 and 7 arranged respectively in the plurality of ultrasound probes to electronically delay the timings of transmissions or receptions of ultrasonic waves by the ultrasonic transducers, position/orientation detecting means 10 and delay control signal generating means for generating a delay control signal to control signal delays of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers of the plurality of ultrasound probes, using information acquired from the means 10. The delay control signal is input to the delay means to control the timings of transmission of ultrasonic waves to a target object of examination.

Abstract: An ultrasonic device includes a base, a plurality of ultrasonic transducer elements, and a reinforcing body. The base defines a plurality of openings arranged in an array form. The ultrasonic transducer elements are arranged respectively corresponding to the openings with a plurality of vibration films being respectively provided for the ultrasonic transducer elements. The reinforcing body is fixed to the base in an area between adjacent ones of the vibration films when viewed in a plan view along a thickness direction of the base. The reinforcing body has Young's modulus greater than Young's modulus of the base.

Abstract: Various methods and systems are provided for ultrasonically scanning a tissue sample using a modular transducer system. In one example, a system for ultrasonically scanning a tissue sample comprises: an adjustable arm; a scanning assembly attached to the adjustable arm, the scanning assembly including a housing configured to remain stationary during scanning and a module receiver that is configured to translate with respect to the housing during scanning; and a transducer module comprising a transducer array of transducer elements, wherein the transducer module is configured to be removably coupled with the module receiver in order to establish both a mechanical connection and an electrical connection between the module receiver and the transducer module.

Abstract: An ultrasound imaging system includes features to reduce speckle and time gain compression noise. A handheld ultrasound system may include beam forming electronics and digital waveform generators to generate the transmitted pulses with fine grained apodization to improve coherence and reduce speckle. Speckle filtering may be included in the ultrasound system. Features to reduce quantization noise and improve the time gain compression response may be provided.

Abstract: The invention generally relates to systems and methods for producing intravascular images. In certain embodiments, systems and methods of the invention involve causing transducers of an intravascular ultrasound device to generate a plurality of different types of data, each type of data being based on a different manner of operation of the transducers. The systems and methods of the invention additionally involve adjusting the manner of operation of the transducers for one of the types of data to thereby adjust an acquisition frame rate of the one type of data to an adjusted acquisition frame rate. The one type of data at the adjusted acquisition frame rate is then received and an intravascular image that includes the one type of data at the adjusted acquisition frame rate is displayed.

Abstract: Provided is a mobile ultrasound diagnosis probe apparatus including a transmission signal forming unit forming a transmission signal for obtaining a frame of an ultrasound image, an ultrasound probe transducing the transmission signal of the transmission signal forming unit into an ultrasound signal, transmitting the ultrasound signal to an object, and obtaining analog ultrasound data reflected from the object, a two-dimensional array processor adjacently arranging the obtained analog ultrasound data compensated with respect to time gains thereof and adjusted with respect to intensity and contrast thereof for each ultrasound vector to be processed into two-dimensional array ultrasound data, a compressor compressing the two-dimensional array ultrasound data adjacently arranged for each ultrasound vector, and a wireless communication unit wirelessly transmitting the compressed two-dimensional array ultrasound data to an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus.

Abstract: Ultrasound imaging apparatus including a two-dimensional array of plural transducer elements distributed two-dimensionally and transmits and receives ultrasonic waves while scanning an area to be imaged to create an ultrasound three-dimensional image. Transducer elements are divided into plural element blocks including a first element block of which a size in a second direction of an arrangement surface of the two-dimensional array is larger than a size in a first direction of the surface, and a second element block of which a size in the first direction is larger than a size in the second direction. Each of the element blocks is divided into a predetermined number of groups to form a transmit beam and plural receive beams in the area to be imaged. Further included is a selecting means for making transmit/receive channels of the transducer elements grouped to be one channel in each of the groups.