The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 30, 2013
Filed:
May. 28, 2010
Steven Charles Miller, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Steven Charles Miller, Phoenix, AZ (US);
General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US);
Abstract
A system and method of ultrasound imaging includes a beamformer including a plurality of channels, a two-dimensional transducer array including a plurality of elements, and a plurality of signal pathways linking the plurality of elements to the plurality of channels. The system and method also include a plurality of switches positioned along the plurality of signal pathways. The plurality of switches being configured to actively connect a subset of the plurality of elements to the plurality of channels in order to form a receive aperture. The plurality of switches are further configured to control an aspect ratio of the receive aperture by changing which of the plurality of elements are actively connected to the plurality of channels.