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US006544179B1
(12) United States Patent ao) Patent No.: us 6,544,179 Bi
Schmiesing et al. (45) Date of Patent: Apr. 8,2003
An ultrasound imaging system includes an ultrasound scanhead coupled to an image processor that causes ultrasound images to be generated on the viewing screen of a display. The image processor includes a beamformer generating transmit and receive beams, a signal processor and a conventional scan converter. The signal processor receives signals from the beamformer to generate image data corresponding to an image, analyzes the image data and, based on the analysis, determines the number of transmit focal positions that should be used as well as the optimum location for each focal position. The signal processor then couples data to the beamformer to set the location of the focal position(s).
30 Claims, 11 Drawing Sheets
