An ultrasound imaging system with pixel oriented processing is provided inwhich an acoustic signal is generated,echoes from the acoustic signal are received at a plurality of receivingelements to obtain echo signals that are then stored, a givenpixel is mapped into a region of the stored signals, the mapped region of thestored echo signals is organized into array for the givenpixel after which the array is processed to generate a signal response for thegiven pixel to obtain acoustic information for the givenpixel. The system can be implemented entirely on plug-in cards for acommercial PC motherboard. The system and method canbe implemented for pixel-oriented or voxel-oriented image processing anddisplay, eliminating intermediate data computations andenabling extensive use of software processing methods. Advantages includeimproved acquisition of signal dynamic range, flexibleacquisition modes for high frame rate 2D, 3D, and Doppler blood flow imaging.
