Cardiac imaging using a phased array ultrasound system. I. System design.

A new two-dimensional, real-time, high resolution ultrasound imaging system is described. This system uses a linear array of ultrasound transducers to generate tomographic images of the heart in a circular sector format. Phased array techniques allow rapid steering of the ultrasound beam so that images are produced at the rate of 20 per second, or more, while maintaining a resolution of 2-4 mm throughout the field of view.