FORWARD AND SIDE LOOKING ULTRASONIC IMAGING

摘要

An ultrasound transducer array (408) includes at least one transducer elemen t (412) having a first (604) and second (606) portions separated by an acoustical discontinuity (520). The first portion (604) has the desired leng th to form a half-wave k31 resonance, while the second portion (606) has a resonant length for an undesired very low frequency out-of-band k31 resonanc e. The thickness of the transducer element (412) is designed for k33 half- resonance. Given the design, the transducer element (412) can operate and provide for both forward-looking (514) and side looking (512) elevation apertures. A method is also disclosed for using the disclosed ultrasound transducer (412) in ultrasound imaging.