An
ultrasound imaging apparatus and method comprises a
transducer array, a positioning device for the array, a reflector, a
multiplexer, a
transmitter /
receiver, an image reconstruction and
signal processing apparatus, and a monitor. The
transducer array and the reflector are located on two sides of an object which are opposite to each other. Every channel of the
transducer array can independently transmit and receive
signal, and the reflector is used to reflect the transmitted
signal from any channel. Thus, the
system can collect the echoes from the reflector for all transmit / receive combinations, and then extract from the echoes the time-of-
flight data and the attenuation data necessary for estimating the sound velocities and the attenuation coefficients, respectively. When estimating the sound velocities and the attenuation coefficients of different tissues in an object, the B-mode image is applied to provide the segmentation information of the object in order to improve the
estimation accuracy. The invention can be used to obtain the
ultrasound B-mode image, the sound velocities, and the attenuation coefficients of an object, and can be extended to obtaining other parameters, such as
elastic modulus, with a single apparatus.