Circular arc wide beam transmission method and apparatus for ultrasonic imaging

1. A circular arc wide beam transmission method for ultrasonic imaging, comprising:

setting parameters for a focusing circular arc of a single transmission of an ultrasonic beam from a transmission aperture of a probe; and

calculating a transmission delay for each of a plurality of array elements in the transmission aperture of the probe based on the parameters for the focusing circular arc;

wherein an ultrasonic imaging system controls each array element to transmit ultrasonic waves according to the calculated transmission delay for that array element.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the parameters for the focusing circular arc comprise a location of the circle center, radius, and radian of the focusing circular arc, as well as a depth of focus.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the location of the circle center of the focusing circular arc coincides with the circle center of a circular arc of the probe surface.

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the location of the circle center of the focusing circular arc does not coincide with the circle center of a circular arc of the probe surface.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the center point of the focusing circular arc is located at the focal point of the transmission.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein calculating further comprises dividing the focusing circular arc into sub-focal points with equal radian, with each sub-focal point corresponding to an array element in the transmission aperture of the probe, whereby calculation of transmission delay for each array element is performed.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the calculation of transmission delay includes calculating a respective distance between each array element and its corresponding sub-focal point, determining a maximum distance, calculating respective difference between the respective distance and the maximum distance, and dividing the respective difference by the sound velocity to obtain the transmission delay for each array element.

8. A circular arc wide beam transmission apparatus for ultrasonic imaging, comprising:

a setting module for setting parameters for a focusing circular arc of a single transmission of an ultrasonic beam from a transmission aperture of a probe; and

a calculation module for calculating a transmission delay for each of the array elements in the transmission aperture of the probe based on the parameters for the focusing circular arc;

wherein an ultrasonic imaging system controls each array element to transmit ultrasonic waves according to the calculated transmission delay for that array element.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the parameters for the focusing circular arc comprise a location of the circle center, radius, and radian of the focusing circular arc, as well as a depth of focus.

10. The apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the center point of the focusing circular arc is located at the focal point of the transmission.

11. The apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the calculation module divides the focusing circular arc into sub-focal points with equal radian, with each sub-focal point corresponding to an array element in the transmission aperture of the probe, calculates a respective distance between each array element and its corresponding sub-focal point, determines the maximum distance, calculates respective difference between the respective distance and the maximum distance, and divides the respective difference by the sound velocity to obtain the transmission delay for each array element.

12. A computer-readable medium comprising program code for performing a circular arc wide beam transmission method for ultrasonic imaging, the method comprising:

setting parameters for a focusing circular arc of a single transmission of an ultrasonic beam from a transmission aperture of a probe; and

calculating a transmission delay for each of a plurality of array elements in the transmission aperture of the probe based on the parameters for the focusing circular arc;

wherein an ultrasonic imaging system controls each array element to transmit ultrasonic waves according to the calculated transmission delay for that array element.

13. A circular arc wide beam transmission apparatus for ultrasonic imaging, comprising:

means for setting parameters for a focusing circular arc of a single transmission of an ultrasonic beam from a transmission aperture of a probe; and

means for calculating a transmission delay for each of a plurality of array elements in the transmission aperture of the probe based on the parameters for the focusing circular arc;

wherein an ultrasonic imaging system controls each array element to transmit ultrasonic waves according to the calculated transmission delay for that array element.