3D ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus

A three-dimensional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising:

• a two-dimensional array type of ultrasonic probe;
• a transmitter/receiver circuit for allowing the ultrasonic probe to scan selectively a three-dimensional region within a human body under examination and a two-dimensional plane section within the three-dimensional region with ultrasound;
• a controller for controlling the transmitter/receiver circuit so that a plurality of two-dimensional plane sections are scanned within the three-dimensional region;
• an echo processor responsive to received signals from the transmitter/receiver circuit for producing two-dimensional ultrasonic image data for each of the plurality of two-dimensional plane sections;
• a 3D processor for combining the two-dimensional ultrasonic image data for the plurality of two-dimensional plane sections according to the positions of the respective two-dimensional plane sections within the three-dimensional region to produce composite two-dimensional ultrasonic image data;
• and
• a display unit for displaying the composite two-dimensional ultrasonic image data.

A three-dimensional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising:

• a two-dimensional array probe in which a plurality of ultrasonic transducer elements are arranged in the form of a two-dimensional array;
• driving means for causing the two-dimensional array probe to make intermittently a three-dimensional scan of an objective region and causing the two-dimensional array probe to make a two-dimensional scan at a frame rate higher than a volume rate of the tree-dimensional scan during the interval between each three-dimensional scan;
• and
• image producing means responsive to ultrasonic information obtained by the three-dimensional and two-dimensional scans for producing ultrasonic images.