TY - JOUR
T1 - Three-Dimensional Synthetic Aperture Focusing Using a Rocking Convex Array Transducer
AU - Andresen, Henrik
AU - Nikolov, Svetoslav
AU - Pedersen, Mads Møller
AU - Buckton, D.
AU - Jensen, Jørgen Arendt
N1 - Copyright: 2010 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Volumetric imaging can be performed using 1-D arrays in combination with mechanical motion. Outside the elevation focus of the array, the resolution and contrast quickly degrade compared with the lateral plane, because of the fixed transducer focus. This paper shows the feasibility of using synthetic aperture focusing for enhancing the elevation focus for a convex rocking array. The method uses a virtual source (VS) for defocused multi-element transmit, and another VS in the elevation focus point. This allows a direct time-of-flight to be calculated for a given 3-D point. To avoid artifacts and increase SNR at the elevation VS, a plane-wave VS approach has been implemented. Simulations and measurements using an experimental scanner with a convex rocking array show an average improvement in resolution of 26% and 33%, respectively. This improvement is also seen in in vivo measurements. An evaluation of how a change in transducer design will affect the resolution improvement shows a potential for using a modified transducer for 3-D imaging with improved elevation focusing and contrast.
AB - Volumetric imaging can be performed using 1-D arrays in combination with mechanical motion. Outside the elevation focus of the array, the resolution and contrast quickly degrade compared with the lateral plane, because of the fixed transducer focus. This paper shows the feasibility of using synthetic aperture focusing for enhancing the elevation focus for a convex rocking array. The method uses a virtual source (VS) for defocused multi-element transmit, and another VS in the elevation focus point. This allows a direct time-of-flight to be calculated for a given 3-D point. To avoid artifacts and increase SNR at the elevation VS, a plane-wave VS approach has been implemented. Simulations and measurements using an experimental scanner with a convex rocking array show an average improvement in resolution of 26% and 33%, respectively. This improvement is also seen in in vivo measurements. An evaluation of how a change in transducer design will affect the resolution improvement shows a potential for using a modified transducer for 3-D imaging with improved elevation focusing and contrast.
U2 - 10.1109/TUFFC.2010.1517
DO - 10.1109/TUFFC.2010.1517
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 20442016
SN - 0885-3010
VL - 57
SP - 1051
EP - 1063
JO - I E E E Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control
JF - I E E E Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control
IS - 5
ER -