M-mode ultrasound imaging of arbitrary paths

A method of ultrasound imaging, comprising:

• transmitting ultrasound signals into a region of interest and receiving echoes of the transmitted ultrasound signals with an ultrasound probe;
• defining a first image window as a portion of the region of interest;
• identifying an M-mode path intersecting a feature visible in the first image window;
• displaying data representing the M-mode path on a common display with a B-mode image of the first image window;
• defining a second image window as a portion of the region of interest that is different than the first image window;
• and
• displaying the data representing the M-mode path on a common display with a B-mode image of the second image window.

A multi-aperture M-mode ultrasound imaging system, comprising:

• a transmitting transducer element configured to transmit an ultrasound signal into a region of interest including a structure of interest;
• a receiving transducer element separate from the transmitting transducer element, the receiving transducer element configured to receive echoes from the ultrasound signal;
• a controller configured to produce an image of the region of interest from the received echoes;
• an input mechanism configured to receive a user input defining a one-pixel-wide path through the structure of interest, where the path does not lie along a line that intersects the transmitting transducer element or the receiving transducer element;
• and
• a display configured to display the region of interest including the structure of interest, the display also configured to display a graph of a magnitude of pixels along the path over time.