Also called B-mode echography, B-mode sonography, 2D-mode, and sonogram.
B-mode ultrasound (Brightness-mode) is the display of a 2D-map of B-mode data, currently the most common form of ultrasound imaging.
The development from A-mode to B-mode is that the ultrasound signal is used to produce various points whose brightness depends on the amplitude instead of the spiking vertical movements in the A-mode. Sweeping a narrow ultrasound beam through the area being examined while transmitting pulses and detecting echoes along closely spaced scan lines produces B-scan images. The vertical position of each bright dot is determined by the time delay from pulse transmission to return of the echo, and the horizontal position by the location of the receiving transducer element.
To generate a rapid series of individual 2D images that show motion, the ultrasound beam is swept repeatedly. The returning sound pulses in B-mode have different shades of darkness depending on their intensities. The varying shades of gray reflect variations in the texture of internal organs. This form of display (solid areas appear white and fluid areas appear black) is also called gray scale.

Different types of displayed B-mode images are:
The probe movement can be performed manual (compound and static B-scanner) or automatic (real-time scanner).
The image reconstruction can be parallel or sector type.

See also B-Scan, 4B-Mode, and Harmonic B-Mode Imaging.

Beam steering is a method of steering the main lobe of a transducer to a certain direction. Array transducers have the ability to be steered as well as focused. Like focusing, the beam is directed by sequentially stimulation of each element. This feature creates the sector scan by rapidly steering the beam from left to right to give the two dimensional cross sectional image.

(CWD) Continuous wave (CW) Doppler is an ultrasound imaging mode, which records blood flow velocities along the length of the beam. Continuous wave Doppler uses different crystals to send and receive the signal. The transducer operating in continuous wave mode utilizes one half of the elements and is continuously sending sound waves of a single frequency while the other half is continuously receiving the reflected signals.
The advantages of a continuous wave transducer are a high sensitivity and no Nyquist limit. CW Doppler does not alias but has no depth precision and large gate. The beat frequency is the Doppler shift. CW Doppler echocardiography employs this technique to record the flow of blood through the cardiovascular system.

See also Cross Talk, Periorbital Doppler, and Mirror Artifact.

A curved or curvilinear array transducer is similar to a linear array except that the image created has a sector-type format. A curvilinear array gives a large footprint and near field with a wide sector. Usually, curved transducers are described by the radius of curvature in mm. The transducer elements control the characteristics and direction of the sound beam.
Curvilinear transducers have a wider field of view from the transducer face. Sector scanners are most useful for cardiac ultrasound examinations where the beam is directed between the ribs to image the heart.
Also called convex transducer.

(DAC) Part of the interface that converts digital numbers from the computer into analog (ordinary) voltages or currents. In ultrasound systems e.g., the high voltage transmit amplifiers that drive the transducers might be controlled by digital to analog converters (DACs) to shape the transmit pulses for better energy delivery to the transducer elements.