Method and system for controlling ultrasound scanning sequence

Abstract

The sequence for a case of scanning by an ultrasound prove having a plurality of transducers, for example, m numbers, is as follows: first scan line.fwdarw.(m-1)th scan line.fwdarw.mth scan line.fwdarw.first scan line.fwdarw.second scan line.fwdarw.mth scan line.fwdarw.first scan line.fwdarw.second scan line.fwdarw.third scan line.fwdarw.first scan line.fwdarw.. . . The ultrasound probe transmits ultrasound beams to a subject and receives echo signals reflected from the subject in accordance with the above sequence. Doppler signals obtained from the echo signals are stored in a memory. When the predetermined number of Doppler signals in each line are stored in the memory, the Doppler signals in each line are read out from the memory. By such scanning sequence, a repeat frequency, i.e., a sampling frequency of Doppler signals of the ultrasound beams transmitted in the same direction, is a shorter. As a result, a low limit of measurable flow velocity is a lower, and a timing for reading out (outputting) the Doppler signals from the memory can be a constant.