Ultrasonic imaging of acoustic attenuation coefficients with elevation compounding

An ultrasound imaging system which produces attenuation coefficient maps of an image field comprising:

• an ultrasound probe with a 1.75D or 2D transducer array adapted to acquire ultrasonic echo signals from the image field in the azimuth and elevation dimensions;
• a beamformer adapted to process the ultrasonic echo signals to produce coherent echo signals for an ultrasound image of the image field;
• an attenuation coefficient estimator, coupled to the beamformer, and adapted to estimate attenuation coefficient values for maps of attenuation coefficients,
• wherein the attenuation coefficient estimator is further adapted to produce a plurality of attenuation coefficient maps in different planes in the elevation dimension;
• a confidence factor estimator, responsive to attenuation coefficient map data, which is adapted to produce a map of confidence factors pertaining to corresponding values of the attenuation coefficient map;
• an attenuation coefficient map compounder, coupled to the attenuation coefficient estimator, and adapted to compound the plurality of attenuation coefficient maps in the elevation direction;
• and
• a display adapted to display attenuation coefficient maps produced by the attenuation coefficient map compounder.