A-mode ultrasound scan

An A-mode ultrasound scan plots the returning echo amplitude along one pulse-echo ultrasound beam. With assumed sound speed $c$, echo delay $\tau$ is converted to depth by $z=c\tau /2$; the factor two accounts for outward and return travel. Peaks mark reflecting interfaces along that line. ^[ref]

The horizontal coordinate is depth inferred from travel time, while the vertical coordinate is signal amplitude. An A-mode ultrasound scan therefore provides a one-dimensional depth profile rather than the spatial cross-section assembled by a B-mode ultrasound scan.