Method and system for monitoring ultrasound probe health

A method for monitoring ultrasound probe health for an ultrasound probe having a transducer array comprising a plurality of elements, the method comprising:

• acquiring test data from the plurality of elements by performing the following steps for each of the plurality of elements:
• transmitting an ultrasonic signal from one or a subset of the plurality of elements;
• receiving a signal on at least one of the plurality of elements based on the transmitted ultrasonic signal;
• automatically analyzing the test data to determine a health report for the ultrasound probe, wherein the health report includes a health status for each of a plurality of components of the ultrasound probe, wherein at least one of the plurality of components is not part of the transducer array;
• displaying, on a display device, a simulated image based on a numerical phantom using the determined health status for each of the plurality of components of the ultrasound probe;
• and
• displaying, on the display device at the same time as the simulated image, a reference image based on the numerical phantom using a new health status for each of the plurality of components of the ultrasound probe.

An ultrasound system, comprising:

• an ultrasound probe including a transducer array comprising a plurality of elements;
• a display device;
• a processor in electronic communication with the ultrasound probe and the display device, wherein the processor is configured to:
• control the ultrasound probe to acquire test data from the plurality of elements by performing the following steps for each of the plurality of elements:
• transmit a signal from one or a subset of the plurality of elements;
• receive a signal on at least one of the plurality of elements based on the transmitted signal;
• automatically analyze the test data to determine a health report for the ultrasound probe, wherein the health report includes a health status for each of a plurality of components of the ultrasound probe, wherein at least one of the plurality of components is not part of the transducer array;
• automatically display, on the display device, the health report comprising a health status for each of the plurality of components of the ultrasound probe, wherein the health report includes information for at least one of the plurality of components.