Importance

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Abstract

An apparatus that allows the three-dimensional reconstruction of anatomic structures through the acquisition of two-dimensional echographic images produced by the real-time processing of signals reflected and/or scattered by said structures when these are hit by a beam of ultrasound generated, according to a predetermined scanning plane, by a piezoelectric transducer contained within an echographic probe. According to the invention, the scanning plane, in which the sector-scan transducer emits the beam of ultrasound, rotates through an angle of 180.degree., with intermediate angular increments having a predetermined amplitude and frequency, around the longitudinal axis of the probe, while the latter remains fixed relative to the examined anatomic structure, there being provided means for the actuation and the control of the rotation of the scanning plane. The rotation of the scanning plane with respect to the probe may be obtained either mechanically by means of a motor that rotates the transducer through a predetermined angle, said motor being also arranged to provide the scanning motion to the transducer itself, or electronically by using a transducer constituted by a matrix or array of piezoelectric elements and by selecting a vector of said elements rotating around the longitudinal axis of the probe.

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First Claim