UNIFORM VOLUMETRIC SCANNING ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING SYSTEM

An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system and method are described for more uniformly scanning a volumetric region for 3D ultrasonic imaging. An image plane of steered scanning beams is rotated about an axis extending through the volumetric region with beams in the vicinity of the axis more widely separated than beams more remotely located from the axis. The nonuniform spacing of the scanning beams results in relatively less disparate sampling densities across the scanned volumetric region. The inventive method may be performed with both 1D and 2D array transducers.