Ultrasound imaging apparatus

An ultrasound imaging apparatus comprising:

• first and second ultrasound transducer means, each having not more than N (where N is a positive integer) transducer elements;
• third ultrasound transducer means, each having not more than 2N transducer elements;
• first and second connnecting means, each having N terminals, said terminals of each respective connecting means being connected to corresponding transducer elements of each of said first and second transducer means;
• third connecting means having 2N terminals, said terminals being connected to respective transducer elements of the third ultrasound transducer means;
• N-channel transmitting and receiving means having N-channel input/output signal lines for generating a signal to drive said ultrasound elements of said first, second, and third ultrasound transducer means in accordance with a predetermined scanning scheme, and for processing signals detected by said transducer elements of said first, second, and third transducer means to obtain a display image signal;
• switching means, disposed between said signal lines of said N-channel transmitting and receiving means and said first, second, and third connecting means, for selectively connecting a predetermined number of said signal lines of said N-channel transmitting and receiving means to said 2N terminals of said third connecting means;
• and
• a display responsive to ultrasound image signals from said transmitting and receiving means for displaying an ultrasound image.