Beam steering is the process of electronically changing the direction of the ultrasound beam by adjusting the timing of electrical signals sent to the individual elements in a transducer array. By activating elements with slightly different timing delays, the resulting wavefront is angled to one side rather than going straight ahead. This technology is fundamental to how phased array transducers create a wide, sector-shaped image from a small footprint on the body, and it also enables color Doppler and spectral Doppler to be angled for optimal blood flow detection. Beam steering is also used in linear array transducers to optimize the Doppler angle when evaluating blood vessels that run parallel to the skin surface.
Sonography Term