Tissue harmonic synthetic aperture ultrasound imaging.

Synthetic aperture sequential beamforming (SASB) and tissue harmonic imaging (THI) are combined to improve the image quality of medical ultrasound imaging. The technique is evaluated in a comparative study against dynamic receive focusing (DRF). The objective is to investigate if SASB combined with THI improves the image quality compared to DRF-THI. The major benefit of SASB is a reduced bandwidth between the probe and processing unit. A BK Medical 2202 Ultraview ultrasound scanner was used to acquire beamformed RF data for offline evaluation. The acquisition was made interleaved between methods, and data were recorded with and without pulse inversion for tissue harmonic imaging. Data were acquired using a Sound Technology 192 element convex array transducer from both a wire phantom and a tissue mimicking phantom to investigate spatial resolution and penetration. In vivo scans were also performed for a visual comparison. The spatial resolution for SASB-THI is on average 19% better than DRI-THI, and the investigation of penetration showed equally good signal-to-noise ratio. In vivo B-mode scans were made and compared. The comparison showed that SASB-THI reduces the artifact and noise interference and improves image contrast and spatial resolution.