Ultrasound imaging has become an effective imaging system in medicine. The ultrasound images are generally created in two-dimensional format; however three dimensional images offer better observation and interpretation. To create three-dimensional images, special transducers with two dimensional arrays should be used. These transducers consist of piezoelectric elements arranged in two dimensions. Since the construction of such two dimensional transducers are complex, simulation of these transducers is an appropriate way to analyse and optimize their beam pattern for a particular application. In this study, we first derived all the equations related to the construction of beam pattern of the transducers and then simulated them using Matlab. User-friendly software has been developed to enable user to alter the key parameters of the beam pattern such as beam width, side lobes, grating lobes and to find the optimized beam pattern for a particular application. The optimization is based on element sizes, element spacing, apodization and excitation pulses. The result of the beam pattern optimization can be shown graphically and analyzed efficiently. This study can be used as an appropriate tool for the design of one dimensional and two dimensional array transducers.     «

Ultrasound imaging has become an effective imaging system in medicine. The ultrasound images are generally created in two-dimensional format; however three dimensional images offer better observation and interpretation. To create three-dimensional images, special transducers with two dimensional arrays should be used. These transducers consist of piezoelectric elements arranged in two dimensions. Since the construction of such two dimensional transducers are complex, simulation of these transdu...     »