Arc scan ultrasonic imaging system having diverging lens and path-length

Abstract

An ultrasonic imaging system comprises a transducer array including a plurality of elongated piezoelectric transducers successively arranged along a curved surface for emission of diverging beams of acoustic energy and an acoustic diverging lens affixed to the curved surface for increasing the angle of divergence of the emitted acoustic energy. The system includes a source for successively generating burst energy and means for selectively establishing a connection from the energy source to a subarray of the transducers to transmit a beam of acoustic energy therefrom and shifting the connection to the next subarray by at least one transducer in response to the generation of subsequent acoustic energy to cause the emitted acoustic energy to be angulated in an arc scan format. Means are provided for compensating for differences in energy level resulting from the differences in the path-length of the acoustic lens.