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1

3D Synthetic Aperture Imaging Method in Spectrum Domain for Low-Cost Portable Ultrasound Systems

Tasinkiewicz Jurij

Archives of Acoustics

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2023

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Vol. 48, No. 4

559--572

EN

Portable, hand-held ultrasound devices capable of 3D imaging in real time are the next generation of the medical imaging apparatus adapted not only for professional medical stuff but for a wide group of less advanced users. Limited power supply capacity and the relatively small number of channels used for the ultrasound data acquisition are the most important limitations that should be taken into account when designing such devices and when developing the corresponding image reconstruction algorithms. The aim of this study was to develop a new 3D ultrasound imaging method which would take into account the above-mentioned features of the new generation of ultrasonic devices – low-cost portable general access scanners. It was based on the synthetic transmit aperture (STA) method combined with the Fourier spectrum domain (SD) acoustic data processing. The STA using a limited number of elements in transmit and receive modes for ultrasound data acquisition allowed both aforementioned constraints to be obeyed simultaneously. Moreover, the computational speed of the fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm utilized for the ultrasound image synthesis in the spectrum domain makes the proposed method to be more competitive compared to the conventional time domain (TD) STA method based on the delay-and-sum (DAS) technique, especially in the case of 3D imaging in real time mode. Performance of the proposed method was verified using numerical 3D acoustic data simulated in the Field II program for MATLAB and using experimental data from the custom design 3D scattering phantom collected by means of the Verasonics Vantage 256™ research ultrasound system equipped with the dedicated 1024-element 2D matrix transducer. The method proposed in this paper was about 80 times faster than its counterpart based on the time domain synthetic transmit aperture (TD-STA) approach in the numerical example of a single 3D ultrasound image synthesized from 4 partial images each containing 64 × 64 × 512 pixels. It was also shown that the acceleration of the image reconstruction was achieved at the cost of a slight deterioration in the image quality assessed by the contrast and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR).

2

Mutually Orthogonal Golay Complementary Sequences in Medical Ultrasound Diagnostics. Experimental Study

Trots Ihor, Żołek Norbert, Tasinkevych Yuriy, Wójcik Janusz

Archives of Acoustics

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2022

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Vol. 47, No. 3

399--405

EN

The objective of this paper is an experimental study of the most crucial parameters of the received acoustic signals (e.g. signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), side-lobes level (SLL), axial resolution) obtained as a result of simultaneous emission of mutually orthogonal Golay complementary sequences (MOGCS) to demonstrate their feasibility of being used in ultrasound diagnostics. Application of the MOGCS in ultrasound measurements allows the image reconstruction time to be shortened without decreasing the resulting quality of reconstructed images in comparison with regular complementary Golay coded sequences (CGCS). In this paper two sets of 16-bits long MOGCS were implemented in the Verasonics Vantage™ (Verasonics Inc., Kirkland, WA, USA) scanner. Ultrasound data were generated using a perfect reflector, a custom-made nylon wire phantom and tissue mimicking phantom. Parameters of the detected MOGCS echoes like SNR, SLL and axial resolution were determined and compared to that of the standard CGCS and the short two-sine cycles pulse. It was evidenced that applying MOGCS did not compromise the parameters of the separated and compressed echoes in comparison to the other types of transmitted signal – the CGCS and the short pulse. Concretely, both the MOGCS and CGCS yield similar SNR increase in comparison to the short pulse. Almost similar values of the axial resolution estimated at the full width at the half maximum level for all types of the transmitted signals were also obtained. At the same time, using the MOGCS the data acquisition speed can be increased twice in comparison with the CGCS signal.

3

Optimization of Short-Lag Spatial Coherence Imaging Method

Domaradzki Jakub, Lewandowski Marcin, Żołek Norbert, Lewandowski Marcin

Archives of Acoustics

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2019

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Vol. 44, No. 4

669--679

EN

The computing performance optimization of the Short-Lag Spatial Coherence (SLSC) method applied to ultrasound data processing is presented. The method is based on the theory that signals from adjacent receivers are correlated, drawing on a simplified conclusion of the van Cittert-Zernike theorem. It has been proven that it can be successfully used in ultrasound data reconstruction with despeckling. Former works have shown that the SLSC method in its original form has two main drawbacks: time-consuming processing and low contrast in the area near the transceivers. In this study, we introduce a method that allows to overcome both of these drawbacks. The presented approach removes the dependency on distance (the “lag” parameter value) between signals used to calculate correlations. The approach has been tested by comparing results obtained with the original SLSC algorithm on data acquired from tissue phantoms. The modified method proposed here leads to constant complexity, thus execution time is independent of the lag parameter value, instead of the linear complexity. The presented approach increases computation speed over 10 times in comparison to the base SLSC algorithm for a typical lag parameter value. The approach also improves the output image quality in shallow areas and does not decrease quality in deeper areas.

4

Zastosowanie metody pełnej akwizycji macierzy do wizualizacji wad w technice UT Phased-Array

Lewandowski M., Walczak M., Steifer T.

Przegląd Spawalnictwa

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2016

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R. 88, nr 10

43--45

PL

Ultradźwiękowe systemy Phased-Array pozwalają na różne tryby skanowania i wizualizacji wad oraz zapewniają wyższą jakość inspekcji niż tradycyjne systemy jednokanałowe. Kolejnym krokiem w rozwoju tych systemów będzie metoda akwizycji pełnej macierzy oraz zaawansowane algorytmy rekonstrukcji obrazów. W artykule przedstawiono zasady działania tych technik oraz wymagania jakie stawiają one przed systemami akwizycji i przetwarzania sygnałów. Zaprezentowano także badawczy system Uniwersalnej Platformy Ultradźwiękowej, który został opracowany specjalnie do testowania i praktycznego wdrażania tych metod. Platforma posłużyła do badań i porównania dwóch metod rekonstrukcji przy wykorzystaniu akwizycji pełnej macierzy – metody STA (Synthetic Transmit Aperture) i metody PWI (Plane Wave Imaging).

EN

Ultrasound Phased-Array systems allow the implementation of various modes of flaw scanning and visualization, as well as provide a higher inspection quality than traditional single-channel systems. Full matrix capture and advanced image reconstruction algorithms will surely constitute the next step in the developing of these systems. The paper describes the principle of how these techniques work, and the requirements which acquisition and signal-processing systems consequently face. Also presented in the paper is the Versatile Ultrasound Research Platform, which has been developed specifically for the testing and practical implementation of these methods. The platform has already served as a tool in the testing and comparison of two reconstruction methods that employ full matrix acquisition - the STA (Synthetic Transmit Aperture) and PWI (Plane Wave Imaging) method.

5

Mutually Orthogonal Golay Complementary Sequences in Synthetic Aperture Imaging Systems

Trots I.

Archives of Acoustics

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2015

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Vol. 40, No. 2

283--289

EN

The main objective of this study is to improve the ultrasound image by employing a new algorithm based on transducer array element beam pattern correction implemented in the synthetic transmit aperture (STA) method combined with emission of mutually orthogonal complementary Golay sequences. Orthogonal Golay sequences can be transmitted and received by different transducer elements simultaneously, thereby decreasing the time of image reconstruction, which plays an important role in medical diagnostic imaging. The paper presents the preliminary results of computer simulation of the synthetic aperture method combined with the orthogonal Golay sequences in a linear transducer array. The transmission of long waveforms characterized by a particular autocorrelation function allows to increase the total energy of the transmitted signal without increasing the peak pressure. It can also improve the signal-to-noise ratio and increase the visualization depth maintaining the ultrasound image resolution. In the work, the 128-element linear transducer array with a 0.3 mm pitch excited by 8-bits Golay coded sequences as well as one cycle at nominal frequencies of 4 MHz were used. The comparison of 2D ultrasound images of the phantoms is presented to demonstrate the benefits of a coded transmission. The image reconstruction was performed using the synthetic STA algorithm with transmit and receive signals correction based on a single element directivity function.

6

Ultrasonic Synthetic Apertures: Review

Nowicki A., Gambin B.

Archives of Acoustics

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2014

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Vol. 39, No. 4

427--438

EN

In the paper the concept of synthetic aperture used for high resolution/high frame rate ultrasonic imaging is reviewed. The synthetic aperture technique allows building extended “virtual” apertures, synthesized from smaller real aperture resulting in improved lateral resolution along full penetration depth without sacrificing the frame rate. Especially, four methods, synthetic aperture focusing (SAF), multi-element synthetic aperture focusing (M-SAF), synthetic receive aperture (SRA) and synthetic transmit aperture (STA) are addressed. The effective aperture function, describing two-way, far field radiation is a useful tool in beam pattern analysis. Some basic notations, which are used to calculate the effective aperture are introduced in Appendix.

7

Spatial and Frequency Compounding in Application to Attenuation Estimation in Tissue

Klimonda Z., Litniewski J., Karwat P., Nowicki A.

Archives of Acoustics

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2014

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Vol. 39, No. 4

519--527

EN

The soft tissue attenuation is an interesting parameter from medical point of view, because the value of attenuation coefficient is often related to the state of the tissue. Thus, the imaging of the attenuation coefficient distribution within the tissue could be a useful tool for ultrasonic medical diagnosis. The method of attenuation estimation based on tracking of the mean frequency changes in a backscattered signal is presented in this paper. The attenuation estimates are characterized by high variance due to stochastic character of the backscattered ultrasonic signal and some special methods must be added to data processing to improve the resulting images. The following paper presents the application of Spatial Compounding (SC), Frequency Compounding (FC) and the combination of both. The resulting parametric images are compared by means of root-mean-square errors. The results show that combined SC and FC techniques significantly improve the quality and accuracy of parametric images of attenuation distribution.

8

Optimization of the Multi-element Synthetic Transmit Aperture Method for Medical Ultrasound Imaging Applications

Tasinkevych Y., Trots I., Nowicki A., Lewandowski M.

Archives of Acoustics

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2012

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Vol. 37, No. 1

47-55

EN

The paper presents the optimization problem for the multi-element synthetic transmit aperture method (MSTA) in ultrasound imaging applications. The optimal choice of the transmit aperture size is made as a trade-off between the lateral resolution, penetration depth and the frame rate. Results of the analysis obtained by a developed optimization algorithm are presented. The maximum penetration depth and lateral resolution at given depths are chosen as optimization criteria. The results of numerical experiments carried out in MATLAB Ž using synthetic aperture data of point reflectors obtained by the FIELD II simulation program are presented. The visualization of experimental synthetic aperture data of a tissue mimicking phantom and in vitro measurements of the beef liver performed using the SonixTOUCH Research system are also shown.

9

A Short Range Synthetic Aperture Imaging Radar with Rotating Antenna

Ali F., Urban A., Vossiek M.

International Journal of Electronics and Telecommunications

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2011

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Vol. 57, No. 1

97-102

EN

The design of a short range synthetic aperture imaging radar is introduced in this paper. A radar hologram is acquired using a small omnidirectional antenna that is mounted on a rotating platform. After each turn of the platform a high resolution 360° 2D image is reconstructed; a rotating window function optimizes the reconstructed image function to get the best image focus for detecting both weak and strong scatterers. The rotating window function depends on the target direction and is executed for each image point and each target direction. The size of the synthetic aperture – and thus the lateral resolution of the imaging system – is determined by the diameter of the circular antenna trajectory. In contrast to common radar scanner concepts that utilize highly directional and thus bulky antennas, the proposed scanner concept has the advantage of using a small, lightweight omni-directional antenna. The developed radar system is much more compact and the scanning mechanics are significantly simplified. Furthermore, an omni-directional antenna offers very straightforward options for powering the radar on the rotation platform. Measurement results obtained with a 24 GHz FMCW short range radar sensor illustrate the performance of the proposed SAR imaging method.

10

Synthetic Aperture Technique Applied to Tissue Attenuation Imaging

Klimonda Z., Litniewski J., Nowicki A.

Archives of Acoustics

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2011

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Vol. 36, No. 4

927-935

EN

The attenuating properties of biological tissue are of great importance in ultrasonic medical imaging. Investigations performed in vitro and in vivo showed the cor- relation between pathological changes in the tissue and variation of the attenuation coefficient. In order to estimate the attenuation we have used the downshift of mean frequency (fm) of the interrogating ultrasonic pulse propagating in the medium. To determine the fm along the propagation path we have applied the fm estimator (I/Q algorithm adopted from the Doppler mean frequency estimation technique). The mean-frequency shift trend was calculated using Single Spectrum Analysis. Next, the trends were converted into attenuation coefficient distributions and finally the parametric images were computed. The RF data were collected in simulations and experiments applying the synthetic aperture (SA) transmit-receiving scheme. In measurements the ultrasonic scanner enabling a full control of the transmission and reception was used. The resolution and accuracy of the method was verified using tissue mimicking phantom with uniform echogenicity but varying attenuation coefficient.

11

Golay Coded Sequences in Synthetic Aperture Imaging Systems

Trots I., Tasinkevych Y., Nowicki A., Lewandowski M.

Archives of Acoustics

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2011

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Vol. 36, No. 4

913-926

EN

The paper presents the theoretical and experimental study of synthetic transmit aperture (STA) method combined with Golay coded transmission for medical ultrasound imaging applications. The transmission of long waveforms characterized by a particular autocorrelation function allows to increase the total energy of the transmitted signal without increasing the peak pressure. It can also improve signal- to-noise ratio and increase the visualization depth maintaining the ultrasound image resolution. In the work the 128-element linear transducer array with 0.3 mm pitch excited by the 8 and 16-bits Golay coded sequences as well as a one cycle at nominal frequencies 4 MHz were used. The comparison of 2D ultrasound images of the tissue mimicking phantoms is presented to demonstrate the benefits of coded transmission. The image reconstruction was performed using synthetic STA algorithm with transmit and receive signals correction based on a single element directivity function.

12

Multi-Element Synthetic Transmit Aperture in Medical Ultrasound Imaging

Trots I., Nowicki A., Lewandowski M., Tasinkevych Y.

Archives of Acoustics

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2010

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Vol. 35, No. 4

687-699

EN

Synthetic aperture (SA) technique is a novel approach to present day commercial systems and has previously not been used in medical ultrasound imaging. The basic idea of SA is to combine information acquired simultaneously from all directions over a number of emissions and to reconstruct the full image from these data. The paper presents the multi-element STA (MSTA) method for medical ultrasound imaging. The main difference with the STA approach is the use of a few elements in the transmit mode in contrast to a single element aperture. This allows increasing the system frame rate, decreasing the number of emissions, and provides the best compromise between the penetration depth and lateral resolution. Besides, a modified MSTA is proposed with a corresponding RF signal correction in the receive mode, which accounts for the element directivity property. In the experiments a 32-element linear transducer array with 0.48 mm interelement spacing and a burst pulse of 100 ns duration were used. Two elements wide transmission aperture was used to generate an ultrasound wave covering the full image region. The comparison of 2D ultrasound images of a tissue mimicking phantom obtained using the STA and MSTA methods is presented to demonstrate the benefits of the second one.

13

Synthetic Transmit Aperture in Ultrasound Imaging

Trots I., Nowicki A., Lewandowski M.

Archives of Acoustics

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2009

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Vol. 34, No. 4

685-695

EN

The paper describes the use of synthetic transmit aperture (STA) imaging in medical ultrasound. The synthetic aperture (SA) imaging is a novel approach to today’s commercial systems. In these systems the image is acquired sequentially one image line at a time that puts a strict limit on the frame rate and the possibility of acquiring a sufficient amount of data for high image quality. This limitation can be lifted by employing SA imaging where the data are acquired simultaneously from all directions over a number of emissions, and the full image can be reconstructed from those data. Due to the complete data set, it is possible to have full transmitting and receiving focusing at the entire image region to improve the contrast dynamic and spatial resolution. The paper describes the STA imaging with a single element transmitting and all elements receiving apertures. In experiments, 32-element linear transducer array with 0.48 mm inter-element spacing and a burst pulse of 100 ns duration were used. The single element transmission aperture was used to generate a spherical wave covering the full image region. The 2D ultrasound images of wire phantom are presented to demonstrate the benefits of SA imaging.

14

Laboratory setup for synthetic aperture ultrasound imaging

Trots I., Nowicki A., Lewandowski M.

Archives of Acoustics

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2008

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Vol. 33, No. 4

573-580

EN

The paper describes the synthetic transmit aperture (STA) imaging system with a single element transmitting and multi-element reception in medical ultrasound. Synthetic aperture method allows to achieve high electronic signal-to-noise ratio and good contrast resolution. A laboratory setup for acquisition of RF signals from linear transducer array was built. Simulated multichannel acquisition by multiplexing individual transducer was performed. In experiments 32-element linear transducer array with 0.48 mm inter-element spacing and a burst pulse with time duration 100 ns was used. Single element in the transducer transmitting aperture was used to generate a spherical wave covering the full image region. The echo signals were sampled independently by individual elements for each transmission. The comparison of 2D ultrasound images of wire phantom obtained using STA method and standard linear array scanning with commercial ultrasonograph is given. The results show excellent image resolution of the STA method and its robustness to refraction, attenuation and multiple reflection of ultrasound waves.

15

Real-time 3D ultrasound imaging using laser-induced breakdown

Yasumoro Y., Oshiro O., Chihara K., Doi M., Sugiura T., Kawada S.

Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering

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2002

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Vol. 22, no. 4

3-16

EN

In this paper, we propose a new framework of ultrasonic (US) three-dimensional (3D) imaging, introducing laser-induced breakdown (LIB) as an acoustic source. LIB is a phenomenon in which substances transformed to plasma by a pulsed laser beam. LIB explosively emits a variety of energies such as heat, light and sound that also includes pulsed ultrasound. Emitted US waves have suitable characteristics for instantenous US imaging in terms of low directivity to enable a wide view and sharply pulsed waves to enhance the resolution. Utilizing these characteristics, we attempt to apply the synthetic aperture method for frontal 3D imaging in a real-time process. Experimental results show that even sparsely arrayed sensors allow a wider frontal view than that can be achieved in the case using existing transducer devices.