AUTOMATED ULTRASOUND SYSTEM FOR PERFORMING IMAGING STUDIES UTILIZING ULTRASOUND CONTRAST AGENTS

An ultrasound system that has transmit and receive circuitry that, pursuant to a plurality of image settings, transmits ultrasound signals into a patient, receives echoes from a patient and outputs a signal representative of the echo. Control circuitry is provided that sequentially adjusts the image settings so as to cause the transmit and receive circuitry to have a sequence of imaging configurations during an ultrasound imaging study. A memory may be provided that stores a plurality of state diagrams, each defining a sequence of imaging configurations for a particular imaging study, which are accessible by the control circuitry, wherein the control circuitry accesses a selected state diagram to conduct an imaging study. Such a system is particularly useful for imaging studies that utilize contrast agents.