Frequency-Dependent F-Number Increases the Contrast and the Spatial Resolution in Fast Pulse-Echo Ultrasound Imaging
Abstract
Fixed -numbers reduce grating lobe artifacts in fast pulse-echo ultrasound imaging. Such -numbers result in dynamic receive subapertures whose widths vary with the focal position. These subapertures, however, ignore useful low-frequency components in the excluded radio frequency (RF) signals and, thus, reduce the lateral resolution. Here, we propose a frequency-dependent -number to simultaneously suppress grating lobe artifacts and maintain the lateral resolution. This -number, at high frequencies, reduces the receive subaperture to remove spatially undersampled components of the RF signals and suppress grating lobes. The -number, at low frequencies, enlarges the receive subaperture to use the components of all RF signals and maintain the lateral resolution. Experiments validated the proposed -number and demonstrated improvements in the contrast and the widths of wire targets of up to 3.2 % and 12.8 %, respectively.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2111.04593,
title = {Frequency-Dependent F-Number Increases the Contrast and the Spatial Resolution in Fast Pulse-Echo Ultrasound Imaging},
author = {Martin F. Schiffner and Georg Schmitz},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2111.04593},
year = {2023}
}
Comments
5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table; corrected typo in Fig. 2 and legend of Fig. 3, removed mathematical expression from title, added journal reference