Technologies

3D ultrasound imaging is widely used in the medical diagnostic area. Currently the dominant method for 3D ultrasound image acquisition is using wobbler scanning probe. In these probes, a 1-D array is used to generate 2D B-mode images. The array is driven by a motor, mechanically scanning along the lateral direction. As a result, a series of b-mode slices can be acquired to form the 3D image. As a replacement of wobbler probe, 2D array, also called matrix array, becomes commercially available recently. It is composed of a much larger number of transducer elements which is permutated as a 2D array. The mechanical scanning is replaced by electronic steering or scanning. The purpose of performing volume imaging is to acquire the spatial information of the target.