Acoustic ultrasound variable origin, variable angle scanning system

Abstract From the Canadian patent

An acoustic scanning method and apparatus implemented by transmitting ultrasonic pressure waves and receiving return echoes on a set of spatially nonoverlapping acoustic lines scanned along a transducer array with the active acoustic lines shifted and steered so that each acoustic line originates at an arbitrary point on and at an arbitrary angle to the face of the array. In a preferred embodiment, an extension of each acoustic line may also pass through a substantially common vertex that is not on the face of the transducer array, but preferably behind it a selectable distance to provide an extended field of view. The extended fieldof-view is defined by the selectively variable location of …