Eigenspace generalized sidelobe canceller combined with SNR dependent coherence factor for plane wave imaging

Abstract Background The eigenspace generalized sidelobe canceller (EGSC) beamformer combined with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) dependent coherence factor (CF) is suggested for coherent plane wave compounding (PW) imaging. Conventional CF based methods such as generalized CF and subarray CF can improve the image quality, however, they are not suitable for low SNR. On the other hand, the EGSC CF based approach can introduce improvements in image quality, however, in PW imaging is susceptible to suffer from degradation due to low SNR which leads to a poor image quality. To overcome this limitation, the SNR dependent CF method is suggested for application in such situations due to its ability to control the SNR levels. Methods The Field II and the Verasonics ultrasound imaging system with a L11-4v array transducer with a contrast resolution phantom were used to capture the plane wave sequences of simulation and experimental data, respectively. The performance evaluation using full width at half maximum (FWHM), contrast (CR and CNR) and the speckle statistics by using the signal to noise ratio (SNR) complemented by the Rayleigh distribution analysis was performed. In order to evaluate the performance of the $$\text {EGSC}_{3}$$ EGSC3 (the SNR CF) beamformer, the comparison is done with particular importance to other CF-based approaches such as $$\text {EGSC}_{1}$$ EGSC1 (the generalized CF) and, $$\text {EGSC}_{2}$$ EGSC2 (the subarray CF) respectively. Results Taking DAS as reference, $$\text {EGSC}_3$$ EGSC3 showed 30.3 and 39.5% of improvement for $$\text {CR(dB)}$$ CR(dB) and $$\text {CNR}$$ CNR , respectively, when using experimental data. The proposed method also slightly outperforms the $$\text {EGSC}_1$$ EGSC1 and $$\text {EGSC}_2$$ EGSC2 methods for $$\text {CR(dB)}$$ CR(dB) , $$\text {CNR}$$ CNR , and speckle statistics assessment. Conclusion The $$\text {EGSC}_3$$ EGSC3 is, therefore, suitable for CPWC by improving the spatial resolution and contrast while preserving the speckle pattern.