3-D spatial compounding using a row-column array.
2-D spatial compounding has long been investigated to reduce speckle in ultrasound images. To further reduce speckle, several 3-D spatial compounding studies using 1-D and 1.5 D arrays with mechanical translation and position tracking have been reported. However, the fixed elevational focus and mechanical translation can degrade image quality in elevation. Using 2-D arrays, a better elevational resolution can be achieved with electronic focusing. Furthermore, 2-D arrays can generate greater number of independent images than 1-D arrays and the need for mechanical scanning is eliminated. In this paper, we present our 3-D spatial compounding images of two gel-based contrast phantoms and one resolution phantom. These images were acquired using a prototype 4 cm x 4 cm ultrasonic row-column prototype 2-D array operating at 5 MHz. Compounding nine decorrelated volumes showed a speckle signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement of 2.68. The average improvement of the lesion contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was 2.45. However, using a smaller aperture to generate these volumes worsened the lateral resolution as predicted by theory.
Awad
Samer I
SI
University of Southern California, Viterbi School of Engineering, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1111, USA. sawad@usc.edu
Yen
Jesse T
JT
D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*