title: A Delayed-Excitation Data Acquisition Method for High-Frequency Ultrasound Imaging.
abstract: High-frequency ultrasound imaging (at >20 MHz) has gained widespread attention due to its high spatial resolution being useful for basic cardiovascular and cancer research involving small animals. The sampling rate of the analog-to-digital converter in a high-frequency ultrasound system usually needs to be higher than 120 MHz in order to satisfy the Nyquist sampling-rate requirement. However, the sampling rate is typically within the range of 40-60 MHz in a traditional ultrasound system, and so we propose a delayed-excitation method for performing high-frequency ultrasound imaging with a traditional data acquisition scheme. In this method, the transmitted pulse is delayed by a certain time period so that the ultrasound echo data are aligned into high-sampling-rate slots. Wire and tissue-mimicking phantoms were imaged to evaluate the performance of the proposed method, whereas a porcine small-intestine specimen and an excised rabbit eyeball were used for in vitro imaging evaluations. The test results demonstrate that the proposed method allows high-frequency ultrasound imaging to be implemented using a traditional ultrasound sampling system.
authors.forename: Weibao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Jingjing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Yulong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Peitian
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.forename: Xingying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Mengdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Congzhi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Ge
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jihong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Hairong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005123:Eye / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011817:Rabbits; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013552:Swine; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods*