System and Method for Combined ECG-Echo for Cardiac Diagnosis

A system for obtaining volumetric ultrasound data from a subject, comprising:

• an ultrasound transducer assembly including (i) a transmit transducer that transmits ultrasound waves, (ii) a two-dimensional receive transducer array comprising a plurality of elements that receives ultrasound echoes and converts the ultrasound echoes into electrical signals, (iii) receive circuitry for generating a plurality of abbreviated data records for each of the plurality of transducers, wherein each of the abbreviated data records comprises echo data about a desired depth;
• an ultrasound beamformer connected via a communication channel to said receive circuitry adapted to create volumetric ultrasound data comprising a plurality of c-mode ultrasound images generated from the abbreviated data records corresponding to a plurality of target depths;
• at least one of a real-time display, storage subsystem, or communications channel for outputting or storing said volumetric ultrasound data.