Which part of the sonographic instrument is responsible for Apodization, beam steering, focusing, and aperture control?

• A. Memory
• B. Pulser
• C. Receiver
• D. Beam former

Answer: (D)

Shaping how the ultrasound beam is produced across the transducer array is beamforming. The device that coordinates timing and amplitude for every element to create the desired beam is the beam former. It implements apodization by weighting each element’s excitation to reduce unwanted sidelobes, steers the beam by applying progressive time delays across the elements so the beam points in the chosen direction, and focuses by using delays that cause waves from all elements to converge at a focal point. It also controls the aperture by turning elements on or off (dynamic aperture) to adjust the beam’s width and penetration. The pulser supplies the electrical energy to excite the elements, while the receiver handles the echoed signals after reception, and memory stores the data.