practical diagnostic ultrasound arrays invariably exhibit a degree of unwanted inter - element cross coupling or cross talk . this results in degraded beam performance that in turn results in degraded image resolution . current approaches to reducing inter element coupling may be costly and may make the transducer array fragile . there is a need to overcome the cross talk problem with minimal expense and impact on reliability . the approach taken here overcomes a substantial component of the cross talk with minimal expense . the approach is versatile and has applicability in both transmit and receive . the approach improves image resolution . this technique has particular applicability in the field of silicon substrate based mems transducers in which the continuous , low loss , silicon wafer substrate gives rise to significant unwanted cross talk .