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.

B-scan ultrasonography, or B-scan, is a diagnostic test, for example used in ophthalmology to produce a two-dimensional, cross-sectional view of the eye and the orbit. The presentation of the reflected pulses are displayed in rectangular coordinates, in which the travel time of an ultrasound pulse is represented as a shift along one axis, and the probe movement is represented as a shift along the other axis.

See also Ultrasound Imaging Procedures, A-Scan, C-Scan and D-Scan.

Brachytherapy is a radiation therapy in which radioactive material (radioisotopes) sealed in needles, seeds or wires is placed directly into or near a tumor. Brachytherapy uses ultrasound imaging to visualize the needles for accurate placement of the small seeds or pellets (capsules) directly into e.g., the prostate. Ultrasound imaging allows accurate planning, placement and implantation of the radiation sources. Implantation of the seeds is a minimally invasive procedure.
Radioactive seeds are inserted through the perineum skin (the area between the scrotum and the anus) into the prostate gland. With correct planning, the surgeon can implant the radiation sources for maximum benefits to effective cancer treatment.

See also EchoSeed™, Prostate Ultrasound, Thermotherapy, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, Urologic Ultrasound, Transurethral Sonography.

Ultrasound at the microbubble resonance frequency can cause bubble rupture at high acoustic power (mechanical index (MI) greater than 0.5). The result is a transient high-amplitude, broadband signal containing all frequencies, not only the harmonics. It will create a strong signal in B-mode or a short-lasting multicolored, mosaic-like effect in color Doppler sonography.
Several terms for this typical signal have been used, e.g. induced or stimulated acoustic emission, loss of correlation imaging and sono-scintigraphy.

(CDI) Color Doppler imaging depicts the mean frequency shifts of the Doppler signal. Color [colour, Brit.] Doppler imaging is a method for visualizing direction and velocity of movement, such as of blood flow within the cardiac chambers or blood vessels. The flow direction and velocity information gathered by Doppler ultrasonography is color coded onto a gray scale cross-sectional image. The sensitivity of Doppler ultrasound is increased in conjunction with the use of vascular contrast agents.
Direction and blood flow velocity are coded as colors and shades:
Red - flow coming nearer to the probe.
Blue - flow coming away of the probe.

See also Bi-directional Illumination, Color Map.