Ultrasonic system for point of care and related methods

A method for collecting image data, comprising:

• securing a single transducer to a selected location, the transducer comprising a deformable housing, at least one securing member, and an ultrasonic transducer array comprising a plurality of transducer elements having a center frequency ranging from about 1.2 MHz to about 5.7 MHz and disposed within the deformable housing arranged at a pitch of about 450 μm to 710 μm;
• collecting image data by operating the transducer via an information processing device while keeping the transducer stationary relative to the selected location;
• correcting the collected image data using at least one beamforming algorithm, wherein the at least one beamforming algorithm corrects for arbitrary positions of one or more of the plurality of transducer elements of the ultrasonic transducer array;
• and
• enhancing an image representative of the collected image data using at least one image enhancement algorithm to provide an enhanced image.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having a machine program embedded therein and accessible to at least one processor for executing the machine program, the at least one processor being associated with a single transducer configured to acquire image data below a selected surface, wherein the single transducer comprises an ultrasonic transducer array having a plurality of transducer elements arranged at a pitch of about 450 μm to 710 μm, wherein the machine program comprises:

• instructions to operate the transducer at a center frequency ranging from about 1.2 MHz to about 5.7 MHz and to collect image data;
• instructions to correct the collected image data for arbitrary positions of the transducer elements of the ultrasonic transducer array;
• and
• instructions to enhance an image representative of the collected image data.