A system and method for reconstructing ultrasound images provides improvements in image quality by using and digitally processing the acquired data along a plurality of dimensions. The echo signal reflected off different features in the object is reconstructed into images by solving a regularized linear system of equations that involves the geometry of the imaging transducer and of the image field-of-view. Processing can be performed ahead of time to create reconstruction matrices that can be reused indefinitely for a given transducer and field-of-view. The present invention can include a temporal encoding and decoding scheme, which includes changes in the direction of propagation and/or focusing characteris-tics of the transmitted ultrasound field from one time frame to the next, to provide improved discrimination between desired object features and artifacts.
