A new system for real-time synthetic aperture ultrasonic imaging.
The authors devised a way to generate in real time a cross-sectional image of an object with uniformly high resolution based on the synthetic aperture focusing technique (SAFT). A computer simulation was conducted to study the effects of essential parameters on the resulting images. An imaging system was built that produces a cross-sectional image composed of an assembly of line images of depth direction, i.e. processed A-scan images, and displays a scroll picture on a CRT (cathode ray tube) with no interruption regardless of the object size. It takes only 3 ms from the start of transmission of the ultrasonic wave to the completion of a line image reconstruction, and the framed image on a CRT is updated at the TV rate of 1/30 s. Imaging experiments were conducted using the system, and its expected performance was demonstrated.
Ozaki
Y
Y
Central Res. Lab., Mitsubishi Electr. Corp., Hyogo.
Sumitani
H
H
Tomoda
T
T
Tanaka
M
M