TY - GEN
T1 - In Vivo Real Time Volumetric Synthetic Aperture Ultrasound Imaging
AU - Bouzari, Hamed
AU - Rasmussen, Morten Fischer
AU - Brandt, Andreas Hjelm
AU - Stuart, Matthias Bo
AU - Nikolov, Svetoslav
AU - Jensen, Jørgen Arendt
N1 - Copyright 2015 Society of Photo Optical Instrumentation Engineers. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic electronic or print reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Synthetic aperture (SA) imaging can be used to achieve real-time volumetric ultrasound imaging using 2-D
array transducers. The sensitivity of SA imaging is improved by maximizing the acoustic output, but one must
consider the limitations of an ultrasound system, both technical and biological. This paper investigates the in
vivo applicability and sensitivity of volumetric SA imaging. Utilizing the transmit events to generate a set of
virtual point sources, a frame rate of 25 Hz for a 90° x 90° field-of-view was achieved. Data were obtained using a
3.5 MHz 32 x 32 elements 2-D phased array transducer connected to the experimental scanner (SARUS). Proper
scaling is applied to the excitation signal such that intensity levels are in compliance with the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration regulations for in vivo ultrasound imaging. The measured Mechanical Index and spatial-peak-
temporal-average intensity for parallel beamforming (PB) are 0.83 and 377.5mW/cm2, and for SA are 0.48 and
329.5mW/cm2. A human kidney was volumetrically imaged with SA and PB techniques simultaneously. Two
radiologists for evaluation of the volumetric SA were consulted by means of a questionnaire on the level of details
perceivable in the beamformed images. The comparison was against PB based on the in vivo data. The feedback
from the domain experts indicates that volumetric SA images internal body structures with a better contrast
resolution compared to PB at all positions in the entire imaged volume. Furthermore, the autocovariance of a
homogeneous area in the in vivo SA data, had 23.5% smaller width at the half of its maximum value compared
to PB.
AB - Synthetic aperture (SA) imaging can be used to achieve real-time volumetric ultrasound imaging using 2-D
array transducers. The sensitivity of SA imaging is improved by maximizing the acoustic output, but one must
consider the limitations of an ultrasound system, both technical and biological. This paper investigates the in
vivo applicability and sensitivity of volumetric SA imaging. Utilizing the transmit events to generate a set of
virtual point sources, a frame rate of 25 Hz for a 90° x 90° field-of-view was achieved. Data were obtained using a
3.5 MHz 32 x 32 elements 2-D phased array transducer connected to the experimental scanner (SARUS). Proper
scaling is applied to the excitation signal such that intensity levels are in compliance with the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration regulations for in vivo ultrasound imaging. The measured Mechanical Index and spatial-peak-
temporal-average intensity for parallel beamforming (PB) are 0.83 and 377.5mW/cm2, and for SA are 0.48 and
329.5mW/cm2. A human kidney was volumetrically imaged with SA and PB techniques simultaneously. Two
radiologists for evaluation of the volumetric SA were consulted by means of a questionnaire on the level of details
perceivable in the beamformed images. The comparison was against PB based on the in vivo data. The feedback
from the domain experts indicates that volumetric SA images internal body structures with a better contrast
resolution compared to PB at all positions in the entire imaged volume. Furthermore, the autocovariance of a
homogeneous area in the in vivo SA data, had 23.5% smaller width at the half of its maximum value compared
to PB.
KW - Real-time volumetric ultrasound imaging
KW - 2-D phased array transducer
KW - Synthetic aperture (SA)
U2 - 10.1117/12.2081631
DO - 10.1117/12.2081631
M3 - Article in proceedings
VL - 9419
T3 - Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering
BT - Proceedings of SPIE
A2 - Bosch, Johan G.
A2 - Duric, Neb
PB - SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering
T2 - SPIE Medical Imaging 2015
Y2 - 21 February 2015 through 26 February 2015
ER -