A system for acquiring an ultrasound signal comprises a signal processing unit adapted for acquiring a received ultrasound signal from an ultrasound transducer having a plurality of elements. The system is adapted to receive ultrasound signals having a frequency of at least 20 megahertz (MHz) with a transducer having a field of view of at least 5.0 millimeters (mm) at a frame rate of at least 20 frames per second (fps). The signal processing can further produce an ultrasound image from the acquired ultrasound signal. The transducer can be a linear array transducer, a phased array transducer, a two-dimensional (2-D) array transducer, or a curved array transducer.