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Figure 1 (Left) Principle of the transesophageal real-time three-dimensional system. Three groups of 8 transducers each are mounted at an interval of 120° on a rotating cylinder. In axial direction, the groups are dislocated by one third of the transducer spacing relative to one another. Thus 24 sections can be recorded/rotation. The frame rate is defined by the number of rotations of the cylinder per second (maximum 20 Hz). (Right) Prototype of the transesophageal echocardiography probe.