1. Experimental Implementation of a Pulse Compression Technique Using Coherent Plane-Wave Compounding
- Author
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Francois Varray, Denis Bujoreanu, Roberto Lavarello, Olivier Basset, Yanis Mehdi Benane, Christian Cachard, Anthony Novell, Jean-Michel Escoffre, Imagerie Ultrasonore, Centre de Recherche en Acquisition et Traitement de l'Image pour la Santé (CREATIS), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon (INSA Lyon), Université de Lyon-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL)-Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne (UJM)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL)-Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne (UJM)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Images et Modèles, Imagerie et cerveau (iBrain - Inserm U1253 - UNIV Tours ), Université de Tours (UT)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), cervenansky, frederic, Université Jean Monnet [Saint-Étienne] (UJM)-Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon (INSA Lyon), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Université de Lyon-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Université de Lyon-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Université Jean Monnet [Saint-Étienne] (UJM)-Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon (INSA Lyon), Université de Lyon-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Université de Lyon-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Université de Lyon-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), and Université de Tours-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)
- Subjects
Materials science ,Acoustics and Ultrasonics ,Image quality ,[INFO.INFO-TS] Computer Science [cs]/Signal and Image Processing ,Index Terms-Bandwidth enhancement ,plane-wave compounding ,Labex CELYA ,[INFO.INFO-IM] Computer Science [cs]/Medical Imaging ,02 engineering and technology ,01 natural sciences ,Imaging phantom ,Optics ,ultrafast ultrasonic imaging ,[INFO.INFO-TS]Computer Science [cs]/Signal and Image Processing ,Optical transfer function ,0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering ,Chirp ,categₛt2i ,[INFO.INFO-IM]Computer Science [cs]/Medical Imaging ,Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ,Animals ,Electrical and Electronic Engineering ,Instrumentation ,Image resolution ,spatial resolution ,[SPI.SIGNAL] Engineering Sciences [physics]/Signal and Image processing ,Ultrasonography ,business.industry ,Phantoms, Imaging ,020208 electrical & electronic engineering ,010401 analytical chemistry ,Bandwidth (signal processing) ,Wiener filter ,Gallbladder ,Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted ,reseauₙational ,pulse compression ,0104 chemical sciences ,chirp excitation ,Imagerie Ultrasonore ,Transducer ,Liver ,Pulse compression ,Rabbits ,business ,[SPI.SIGNAL]Engineering Sciences [physics]/Signal and Image processing - Abstract
International audience; The axial resolution of an ultrasound imaging system is inversely proportional to the bandwidth of the emitted signal. When conventional pulsing (CP) is used, the impulse response of the transducer and the excitation signal determine together the shape of the emitted pulse and its bandwidth. A way to increase the ultrasound image resolution is to increase the transducer's limited passband. The resolution enhancement compression (REC) is a coding technique that boosts the signal energy in the transition frequency bands, where the energy transduction of the ultrasound probe is less efficient. Consequently , image quality metrics including axial resolution, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) can be improved. In this paper, the objective is to combine REC with coherent plane-wave compounding (CPWC) in order to achieve better image quality at an ultrafast acquisition rate. Promising results are obtained from both wire and cyst phantoms using an excitation signal designed to provide a 54% increase in bandwidth over the one obtained with a broadband pulse excitation at −6 dB. The experimental bandwidth measured from the backscattered echoes was improved by 49% for the wire phantom, when using the CPWC-REC technique compared to CPWC-CP. Furthermore, the axial resolution as derived from the modulation transfer function of the envelope of the wire target was enhanced by 29%. The CNR and SNR were improved up to 9 and up to 4 dB, respectively, in the cyst phantom. These results reveal that CPWC-REC is able to achieve higher spatial resolution, compared to CPWC-CP, with better SNR and CNR. Moreover, experimental results show that an effective implementation on a research scanner of REC using plane-wave imaging is possible. Consistent in vivo acquisition results on rabbit are presented and discussed.
- Published
- 2018