Abstract
Abstract
From its earliest appearance in the 1950s, ultrasound has received much continuous attention by the research community. In this review paper, the evolution of the field will be discussed throughout its various hardware and software implementations with the goal of establishing the state-of-the-art for the present. This supplies a convenient launching point to consider possible directions for future research. A useful tool for this assessment is an analysis of the focus areas of various disciplines at medical ultrasound conferences and their relative frequencies. The assumption behind this methodology is that each topic has received much attention from academic faculties, technical program committees, journal editorial boards, and grant review processes. This evaluation suggests that ultrasound beamformation is becoming increasingly based on computational methods more along the lines of computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. As part of the process, select traditional challenges are starting to be translated into clinical practice.