BEAM-FORMING METHOD, ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSIS DEVICE, PROGRAM, AND INTEGRATED CIRCUIT

摘要

This beam-forming method, which processes an echo signal from a target region, said echo signal being obtained from a probe that contains a plurality of reception elements arranged on a prescribed line, includes the following steps: a step (S1) wherein a plurality of seed beams are generated using the aforementioned echo signal, which is obtained from at least two of the aforementioned plurality of reception elements; a step (S2) wherein at least one of said seed beams is used to generate a main beam and a plurality of side beams; and a step (S3) wherein a narrow beam for the abovementioned target region is generated by multiplying each side beam by a prescribed coefficient and subtracting said products from the main beam. The signal strength of the main beam with respect to the target region is greater than the signal strengths of the side beams with respect to said target region.