Ultrasound transducer probe with microbeamformer for multiline imaging

An ultrasonic transducer probe and system comprising:

• an array of transducer elements configured as a plurality of adjacent patches of transducer elements, wherein the array of transducer elements is operable to transmit a beam centered on a given patch;
• a microbeamformer coupled to the transducer elements of the array comprising:
• a plurality of controllable delays coupled to elements of the array to produce delayed echo signals;
• a plurality of controllable switches, wherein each of the plurality of controllable switches is individually coupled to a respective one of the plurality of controllable delays to direct the respective delayed echo signal to a selected one of a summing node of the given patch, a summing node of a second patch adjacent to the given patch, and a summing node of a third patch adjacent to the given patch on an opposite side of the given patch;
• and
• a plurality of microbeamformer outputs, each of the plurality of microbeamformer outputs coupled to at least one of the summing nodes;
• a microbeamformer controller coupled to the microbeamformer and configured to:
• control a first plurality of the plurality of controllable switches to direct signals from elements on a first side of the beam center to the summing node of the given patch;
• and
• control a second plurality of the plurality of controllable switches to direct signals from elements on a second side of the beam center to the summing node of the second patch or the third patch;
• and
• a system beamformer having a plurality of channels, each of the plurality of channels being coupled to receive a partial beamsum signal from at least one of the plurality of microbeamformer outputs, wherein the system beamformer is configured to process beamsum signals received from the patches to form multiline signals.