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This study investigates the pulse compression technique to improve the performance of magneto‐acousto‐electrical tomography (MAET) with magnetic field measurements through numerical studies. Emphasizing the effects of specific coil configuration on MAET measurements, the study conducts evaluations using a linear phased array (LPA) transducer and numerical breast models with tumor inclusion. It provides feasibility and a detailed comparative analysis of various excitations, including linear frequency modulated (LFM), Barker code, and Golay code excitations in MAET. To simulate experimental conditions, additive White Gaussian noise is added to the MAET signal detected by the receiver coils. The results obtained from the LPA steering angle at 0° and the reconstructed B‐mode MAET images using the pulse compression technique lead to improvements compared with conventional single‐cycle excitation. The computed mean signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) improvements for LFM, Barker code, and Golay code excitations in B‐mode MAET images for 10,000 iterations are 7.42, 8.36, and 8.44 dB, respectively, compared with single‐cycle excitation. Similarly, the mean contrast‐to‐noise ratio (CNR) improvements for these excitations in B‐mode MAET images are 1.43, 1.63, and 1.9 dB, respectively. The results demonstrate that Golay code is superior in CNR and image quality metrics, while Golay and Barker codes have comparable SNR and outperform LFM. The research shows that the coil configuration significantly impacts tumor detection. With Golay code excitation, detecting a tumor as small as 5 mm × 2 mm at a depth of 33 mm with an SNR of 6.38 dB is possible, achieving an axial resolution of 2 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast and high-quality ultrasound imaging allows to increase the effectiveness of detecting tissue changes at the initial stage of disease. The aim of the study was to assess the quality of ultrasound imaging using mutually orthogonal, complementary Golay coded sequences (MOCGCS). Two 16-bits MOCGCS sets were implemented in the Verasonics Vantage™ scanner. Echoes from a perfect reflector, a custom-made nylon wire phantom, a tissue-mimicking phantom, and in-vivo scans of abdominal aorta and common carotid artery were recorded. Three parameters of the detected MOCGCS echoes: signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), side-lobe level (SLL), and axial resolution were evaluated and compared to the same parameters of the echoes recorded using standard complementary Golay sequences (CGS) and a short, one sine cycle pulse. The results revealed that MOCGCS transmission maintained comparable echo quality metrics (SNR, SLL, and axial resolution) compared to CGS and short pulses. Notably, both MOCGCS and CGS offered similar SNR improvements (5 dB–9 dB) in comparison to the short pulse for wires placed at depths up to 8 cm. Analysis of axial resolution, estimated at the full width at half maximum level, revealed near-identical values for all transmitted signals (0.17 µs for MOCGCS, 0.16 µs for CGS, and 0.18 µs for short pulse). MOCGCS implementation in ultrasound imaging offers the potential to significantly reduce image reconstruction time while maintaining image quality comparable to CGS sequences. In the experimental study we have shown that MOCGCS offers advantages over conventional CGS by enabling two times faster data acquisition and image reconstruction without compromising image quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Originating in the early 20th century, ultrasonic testing has found increasingly extensive applications in medicine, industry, and materials science. Achieving both a high signal-to-noise ratio and high efficiency is crucial in ultrasonic testing. The former means an increase in imaging clarity as well as the detection depth, while the latter facilitates a faster refresh of the image. It is difficult to balance these two indicators with a conventional short pulse to excite the probe, so in general handling methods, these two factors have a trade-off. To solve the above problems, coded excitation (CE) can increase the pulse duration and offers great potential to improve the signal-to-noise ratio with equivalent or even higher efficiency. In this paper, we first review the fundamentals of CE, including signal modulation, signal transmission, signal reception, pulse compression, and optimization methods. Then, we introduce the application of CE in different areas of ultrasonic testing, with a focus on industrial bulk wave single-probe detection, industrial guided wave detection, industrial bulk wave phased array detection, and medical phased array imaging. Finally, we point out the advantages as well as a few future directions of CE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Originating in the early 20th century, ultrasonic testing has found increasingly extensive applications in medicine, industry, and materials science. Achieving both a high signal-to-noise ratio and high efficiency is crucial in ultrasonic testing. The former means an increase in imaging clarity as well as the detection depth, while the latter facilitates a faster refresh of the image. It is difficult to balance these two indicators with a conventional short pulse to excite the probe, so in general handling methods, these two factors have a trade-off. To solve the above problems, coded excitation (CE) can increase the pulse duration and offers great potential to improve the signal-to-noise ratio with equivalent or even higher efficiency. In this paper, we first review the fundamentals of CE, including signal modulation, signal transmission, signal reception, pulse compression, and optimization methods. Then, we introduce the application of CE in different areas of ultrasonic testing, with a focus on industrial bulk wave single-probe detection, industrial guided wave detection, industrial bulk wave phased array detection, and medical phased array imaging. Finally, we point out the advantages as well as a few future directions of CE.

The objective of this paper is an experimental study of the most crucial parameters of the received acoustic signals (e.g. signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), side-lobes level (SLL), axial resolution) obtained as a result of simultaneous emission of mutually orthogonal Golay complementary sequences (MOGCS) to demonstrate their feasibility of being used in ultrasound diagnostics. Application of the MOGCS in ultrasound measurements allows the image reconstruction time to be shortened without decreasing the resulting quality of reconstructed images in comparison with regular complementary Golay coded sequences (CGCS). In this paper two sets of 16-bits long MOGCS were implemented in the Verasonics Vantage TM (Verasonics Inc., Kirkland, WA, USA) scanner. Ultrasound data were generated using a perfect reflector, a custom-made nylon wire phantom and tissue mimicking phantom. Parameters of the detected MOGCS echoes like SNR, SLL and axial resolution were determined and compared to that of the standard CGCS and the short two-sine cycles pulse. It was evidenced that applying MOGCS did not compromise the parameters of the separated and compressed echoes in comparison to the other types of transmitted signal – the CGCS and the short pulse. Concretely, both the MOGCS and CGCS yield similar SNR increase in comparison to the short pulse. Almost similar values of the axial resolution estimated at the full width at the half maximum level for all types of the transmitted signals were also obtained. At the same time, using the MOGCS the data acquisition speed can be increased twice in comparison with the CGCS signal.

Recent advances in electronics miniaturization have led to the development of low-power, low-cost, point-of-care ultrasound scanners. Low-cost systems employing simple bi-level pulse generation devices need only utilize binary phase modulated coded excitations to significantly improve sensitivity; however the performance of complementary codes in the presence of nonlinear harmonic distortion has not been thoroughly investigated. Through simulation, it was found that nonlinear propagation media with little attenuative properties can significantly deteriorate the Peak Sidelobe Level (PSL) performance of complementary Golay coded pulse compression, resulting in PSL levels of −62 dB using nonlinear acoustics theory contrasted with −198 dB in the linear case. Simulations of 96 complementary pairs revealed that some pairs are more robust to sidelobe degradation from nonlinear harmonic distortion than others, up to a maximum PSL difference of 17 dB between the best and worst performing codes. It is recommended that users consider the effects of nonlinear harmonic distortion when implementing binary phase modulated complementary Golay coded excitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulse compression based excitation signals have been shown to improve signal quality in many active ranging applications without negatively impacting range resolution. Most prior work into using pulse compression presents the technique as if matched filtering is necessary to successfully achieve signal compression. Matched filtering against modulated excitation signals does result in useful information compression, however, it also suppresses information outside of the bandwidth of the transmission signal. This can distort or remove useful information in some applications, such as ultrasonic guided wave inspections, making the processing step unsuitable. In this paper, we show that when pulse compression with coded excitation is employed, a second filtering option is available for compressing the modulated information. The second option, which we have termed the sequence filter, utilises sequence elements as the template against which the filtering of coded excitation measurements is undertaken, thereby allowing compression to be achieved independent of received signal frequency content. We verify that sequence filtering successfully produces signal compression in two experimental ultrasound non-destructive testing applications where frequency modulated pulse compression was unsuitable. With both sequence filtering and matched filtering, we show signal-to-noise ratio gains in excess of 20 dB from using pulse compression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magneto–acoustic signals reflect the electrical properties of tissues, which is meaningful for the diagnosis of tumors, bleeding and other diseases. The low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the magneto–acoustic signals limits the image quality of the magneto–acoustic imaging. A chirp coded excitation signal processing method for magneto–acoustic imaging is proposed in this paper. The SNR of magneto–acoustic signal is improved. In this paper, magneto–acoustic signals under different pulse widths chirp coded excitation are studied by simulation and experimental measurement. The SNRs of the magneto–acoustic signals are increased by 7.5, 16.3, 42.2, and 90.1 times under 10, 20, 50 and 100 μ s chirp excitation, respectively, for the beef and copper ring sample. At the same time, the processing time was significantly shortened to 1.2% of the average method under the single pulse excitation. The chirp coded method is of great significance to improve the SNR of magneto–acoustic signals, image quality and imaging efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is an experimental study of the most crucial parameters of the received acoustic signals (e.g. signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), side-lobes level (SLL), axial resolution) obtained as a result of simultaneous emission of mutually orthogonal Golay complementary sequences (MOGCS) to demonstrate their feasibility of being used in ultrasound diagnostics. Application of the MOGCS in ultrasound measurements allows the image reconstruction time to be shortened without decreasing the resulting quality of reconstructed images in comparison with regular complementary Golay coded sequences (CGCS). In this paper two sets of 16-bits long MOGCS were implemented in the Verasonics Vantage™ (Verasonics Inc., Kirkland, WA, USA) scanner. Ultrasound data were generated using a perfect reflector, a custom-made nylon wire phantom and tissue mimicking phantom. Parameters of the detected MOGCS echoes like SNR, SLL and axial resolution were determined and compared to that of the standard CGCS and the short two-sine cycles pulse. It was evidenced that applying MOGCS did not compromise the parameters of the separated and compressed echoes in comparison to the other types of transmitted signal - the CGCS and the short pulse. Concretely, both the MOGCS and CGCS yield similar SNR increase in comparison to the short pulse. Almost similar values of the axial resolution estimated at the full width at the half maximum level for all types of the transmitted signals were also obtained. At the same time, using the MOGCS the data acquisition speed can be increased twice in comparison with the CGCS signal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cross-correlation function (CCF) is an established technique to calculate time-of-flight for ultrasonic signals. However, the quality of the CCF depends on the shape of the input signals. In many use cases, the CCF can exhibit secondary maxima in the same order of magnitude as the main maximum, making its interpretation less robust against external disturbances. This paper describes an approach to optimize ultrasonic signals for time-of-flight measurements through coded excitation sequences. The main challenge for applying coded excitation sequences to ultrasonic signals is the influence of the piezoelectric transducer on the outgoing signal. Thus, a simulation model to describe the transfer function of an experimental setup was developed and validated with common code sequences such as pseudo noise sequences (PN), Barker codes and chirp signals. Based on this model an automated optimization of ultrasonic echoes was conducted with random generated sequences, resulting in a decrease in the secondary positive maximum of the CCF to 56.6%. Based on these results, further empiric optimization leveraging the nonlinear regime of the piezoelectric transducer resulted in an even lower secondary positive maximum of the CCF with a height of 25% of the first maximum. Experiments were conducted on different samples to show that the findings hold true for small variations in the experimental setup; however, further work is necessary to develop transfer functions and simulations able to include a wider parameter space, such as varying transducer types or part geometry.

Ultrasonic testing is an established method of non-destructive evaluation. The increasing complexity of material systems requires an extension of conventional methods. In related fields such as radar and medical ultrasound, signal optimisation and coded stimulation are successfully used and offer great potential for optimising state-of-the-art measurements and extending applications. In our work, we highlight the difference between using a coded sequence to stimulate an ultrasonic testing system and the actual performance of the digital code to motivate the exploration of inverse stimulation. In order to study inverse stimulation, a custom-built ultrasonic system was designed. As a first step, the transfer function was obtained by testing pulse and chirp stimulation. In the next step, inverse stimulation was performed based on the linear transfer function to engineer the ultrasonic echoes to have shapes similar to the target code. Finally, the auto-correlation function of the ultrasonic echoes resulting from the inverse stimulation is compared with the function of the original code sequence and the agreement of the recorded ultrasonic echo with the spectrally limited code sequence. With this work we propose an integrated, low-voltage, fully linear ultrasonic testing system where the recording of a linear transfer function allows echo engineering even for a binary coded excitation sequence. We have demonstrated that inverse stimulation enables the generation of binary ultrasonic echoes with performance equal to the digital code. • Single measurement transfer function acquisition for linear ultrasonic testing systems • Accurate prediction of coded excitation ultrasonic echoes • Inverse stimulation of a binary ultrasonic echoes equals the digital code performance • A 5 V only testing system can be built, covering small space and reducing material cost [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a new set of near orthogonal codes which we call Hadamard Aperiodic Interval (HAPI) codes and demonstrate their utility for parallel multi-transmitter synthetic aperture imaging. The codes are tri-state and sparse. Locations of non-zero bits are based on marks in a sequence of aperiodic intervals, also known as a Golomb ruler. The values of non-zero bits are selected from Hadamard sequences that are mutually orthogonal. This ensures that cross-correlation sidelobe magnitudes between differing codes are bounded by unity while the autocorrelation approaches a delta function with mainlobe-to-sidelobe levels scaling with the number of non-zero bits. We use simulations to demonstrate the potential of the codes for synthetic aperture imaging. A multiplicity of transmitter elements is used to transmit codes simultaneously, with a different code for each element. Echo signals are received from a multiplicity of transducer elements in parallel. Channel data from each receiver element are cross-correlated with respective HAPI codes to estimate the transmit–receive signature associated with each transmitter–receiver pair while minimizing crosstalk. This estimate of the full transmit–receive synthetic aperture dataset is then used to form high-quality images demonstrating image quality and signal-to-noise ratio improvements over multiple flash angle imaging and synthetic aperture imaging methods for linear arrays. We also demonstrate simulated full volume synthetic aperture imaging with random sparse arrays, possible with one extended HAPI code-set transmit event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a broken rail detection system based on ultrasonic guided waves (UGW), the multimodal and dispersion characteristics of UGW degrade signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and range resolution. To improve the SNR of the received signals and range resolution, the coded excitation based on Kasami sequences is presented in this work. Utilizing a PSpice model of piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers, as well as conducting field tests based on the pitch–catch mechanism, it is shown that encoded UGW signals can increase the SNRG (the gain of SNR) by 6.29 dB. The main lobe width of the coded excitation is mainly determined by the number of carrier cycles and the carrier waveform, and the size of the side lobes is mainly determined by the number of coding bits. To quickly identify the corresponding transmissions at the receivers, a peak detection algorithm is shown. It is based on bandpass filter, triangle filter and Hilbert transform. Its accuracy and effectiveness are validated by using some field tests under different distances. It can be concluded that the shown adaptive peak algorithm has strong robustness and immunity to noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a low-power hardware architecture that facilitates the simultaneous transmission and reception of ultrasonic signals when using coded excitations for ultrasonic measurements. With this architecture, long pseudo-periodic coded excitations, which have previously been unsuitable for pulse-echo measurements, can be used to produce high Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) results without an increase in signal dead-zone and without introducing filter artefacts within a set measurement window. We show that a low-power system (± 2 V peak excitation amplitude without receiver amplification) utilising such coded excitations can achieve the same level of performance as a conventional high-power system (− 200 V peak excitation amplitude with 15 dB receiver amplification) by producing 45 dB SNR measurements whilst maintaining a high Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF) of ≥ 0.5 kHz. The use of pseudo-periodic sequences to produce quasi-orthogonal sequence families is then demonstrated to allow an arbitrary number of acquisition channels to be used simultaneously with complete crosstalk removal within a set measurement window. Therefore, the work presented here can open the door for the development of simplified low-power multi-channel acquisition systems without sacrificing system performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a new set of near orthogonal codes which we call Hadamard Aperiodic Interval (HAPI) codes and demonstrate their utility for parallel multi-transmitter synthetic aperture imaging. The codes are tri-state and sparse. Locations of non-zero bits are based on marks in a sequence of aperiodic intervals, also known as a Golomb ruler. The values of non-zero bits are selected from Hadamard sequences that are mutually orthogonal. This ensures that cross-correlation sidelobe magnitudes between differing codes are bounded by unity while the autocorrelation approaches a delta function with mainlobe-to-sidelobe levels scaling with the number of non-zero bits. We use simulations to demonstrate the potential of the codes for synthetic aperture imaging. A multiplicity of transmitter elements is used to transmit codes simultaneously, with a different code for each element. Echo signals are received from a multiplicity of transducer elements in parallel. Channel data from each receiver element are cross-correlated with respective HAPI codes to estimate the transmit–receive signature associated with each transmitter–receiver pair while minimizing crosstalk. This estimate of the full transmit–receive synthetic aperture dataset is then used to form high-quality images demonstrating image quality and signal-to-noise ratio improvements over multiple flash angle imaging and synthetic aperture imaging methods for linear arrays. We also demonstrate simulated full volume synthetic aperture imaging with random sparse arrays, possible with one extended HAPI code-set transmit event.

Chirp coded excitation is an effective method to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and penetration depth of high-frequency endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) imaging. In coded excitation, pulse compression is applied to compress the elongated coded signals into a short pulse, which determines the final imaging performance, including spatial resolution and SNR. However, with the current pulse compression methods, it is hard to get high performance in the peak sidelobe level (PSL), image contrast, and axial resolution at the same time. To solve this problem, in this article, a new method named compressed pulse weighting method (CPWM) was proposed based on the combination of two kinds of pulse compression signals. A brief theoretical derivation proved the feasibility of method. The proposed method was evaluated by the simulation and phantom experiments. Compared with traditional method, the results showed that the proposed adaptive weighting method can provide increases of 32.42% in the penetration depth, 9.48 dB in the SNR, 5.60 dB in the contrast ratio (CR), 5.46 in the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and 0.13 mm in the axial imaging resolution for 12-MHz EUS. Therefore, this method can effectively improve the ultrasound penetration depth and imaging quality, which made it have good potential for high-frequency ultrasound imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the problem of high sidelobe in ultrasonic imaging algorithms induced by LFM signal coding, a new method of PDChirp-Golay coding based on amplitude weighting is proposed. This method predistorts linear frequency modulation(LFM) signals, thus compensating the influence of ultrasonic probe on the emission signal, which makes the bandwidth of the echo signal increase, improves the axial resolution, and eliminates the Fresnel corrugation of the emission signal amplitude frequency characteristics at the same time, realizing sidelobe suppression. Then, the predistorted LFM signal is used to modulate Golay code. The range sidelobe level of Golay code is zero in theory, which makes the sidelobe further suppressed. The simulation results show that, compared with the single predistorted LFM signal and Golay code Golay code modulated by the predistorted Chirp signal improves the axial resolution and contrast and has a good anti-noise performance, which provides a theoretical basis for the realization of high-quality ultrasonic imaging system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrasonic guided wave testing is an essential technique in non-destructive testing for structural integrity of oil and gas pipelines. This technique, based on the pulse-echo method, is often used for the long-range detection of pipelines at any location. However, guided waves suffer from high attenuation when they propagate in attenuative material structures and multiple wave modes due to the excitation, which reduces the power of echo signals and induces corruption caused by coherent noise. In this paper, a developed hybrid coded excitation method that uses the convolution of a Barker code and Golay code pair is proposed and applied for an ultrasonic guided wave testing system to excite the torsional guided wave mode T(0,1) in a steel pipe. The proposed method combines the advantages of these two coding methods and increases the flexibility of code lengths. The performance is evaluated by signal to noise ratio and peak sidelobe level of the processed signal. Both theoretical simulations and experiments have investigated using the proposed codes composed of Barker codes and Golay code pairs of different lengths and combinations. The experimental results show the significant improvement of the signal to noise ratio and the peak sidelobe level due to the proposed hybrid code usage for the excitation of guided waves. The values are further improved to around 32 dB and around −24 dB, respectively. Overall, the proposed hybrid coded method for improving the echo SNR can benefit from guided wave testing to reduce coherent and random noise levels and many other potential applications.

Coded excitation (CE) has the ability to enhance image quality and penetration depth by improving the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Their usefulness has been extensively proven in the literature, however, there are very few publications that have discussed the practicality of using CEs, as they can increase the operating temperature of a transducer beyond the safety limits. In this paper, the potential for capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) to handle CEs is investigated and compared to a geometrically similar Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) probe. It is hypothesized that CMUTs are comparatively advantageous for CE and can generate CE signals more effectively while operating within the safety limits of temperature specified by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Simple chirp signals were used for excitation and the temperature of the transducer assembly was measured under two different test conditions following the IEC standards. The still air test showed that at the pulse repetition frequency of 4 kHz and a signal duration of 8 μ s , the PZT probe reached the safe limit of 27 °C within 3 min of acquisition, whereas the CMUT probe showed an increase of only 4–5 °C over 30 min of scan time. The phantom experiments showed that for the maximum temperature rise allowed at the object-transducer interface by the IEC, the gain in SNR possible for the CMUT probe was 13–14 dB and the increase in penetration depth was 30 mm, whereas no gain in SNR and penetration depth was achieved for the PZT probe. The peak mechanical index and the derated spatial peak temporal averaged intensity were found to be less than half the FDA limits for both probes in all cases, proving temperature to be the first limiting factor when using CE. Therefore, the CMUT has shown to be thermally more efficient than the PZT probe and a good candidate for CE imaging. • Coded excitation boosts SNR but risks probe overheating. • Safety standards are set out by international authorities for safe use of ultrasound. • CMUTs are generally known to be thermally more efficient then PZT transducers. • CMUTs maintain safe temperature levels for longer than PZT probes during scans. • CMUT probe gains SNR and penetration depth with coded excitation, unlike PZT probe at similar temperature rise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Enriches the theory and methodology of coded excitation. • A method of multivariate coded excitation is proposed to compensate for the shortcomings of traditional binary coding modulation. • The combination of a multivariate coding technology and ultrasonic wave guide improves the excitation energy of the system and helps to identify rail fracture damage. • Simulations and experiments verify the feasibility and superiority of multivariate coded excitation for monitoring rail fracture. Steel lay the basis of railroad train traffic. Rail fracture is the most serious injury to the rail, which should be monitored in time. The conventional mono-pulse exciting ultrasonic guide wave (UGW) has low energy, the conventional Barker code has limited coding sequence length and the orthogonal complementary Golay code has the problem of low monitoring efficiency. This study proposes multivariate coded excitation (MCE) to excite UGW to monitor rail fracture, and the feasibility of coding and decoding the method is theoretically derived and verified. Ideally, the MCE generated based on the 3-bit Barker code (B 3 : 1,1, −1) and 4-bit orthogonal complementary Golay code ( GA 4 : 1,1,1, −1; GB 4 : 1,1, −1,1) is calculated to have a main-lobe power level (MPL) gain of 8.1020 dB, which is significantly higher than the MPL of Barker and Golay codes. For the proposed method, finite element modeling simulation and experimental study are carried out respectively. Analyze and process the data, and calculate the gain of the difference in amplitude (DIA) between the amplitude of echo caused by rail fracture and the amplitude in the healthy rail. The gain of the DIA of the echoes in the MCE is above 50 dB (experimental data, the value of simulation data is 5 dB) under different degrees of rail fracture, while the gain of the DIA of the echoes caused by the other three excitation methods is below 40 dB (experimental data, the value of simulation data is 1 dB). Simulation and experimental results show that the MCE makes up for the shortcomings of the conventional Barker code and Golay code, improves the excitation energy of the monitoring system, and the high gain of the DIA of the echoes is more conducive to the identification of rail fracture damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Ultrasound transient elastography technology has found its place in elastography because it is safe and easy to operate. However, it’s application in deep tissue is limited. The aim of this study is to design an ultrasound transient elastography system with coded excitation to obtain greater detection depth. Methods The ultrasound transient elastography system requires tissue vibration to be strictly synchronous with ultrasound detection. Therefore, an ultrasound transient elastography system with coded excitation was designed. A central component of this transient elastography system was an arbitrary waveform generator with multi-channel signals output function. This arbitrary waveform generator was used to produce the tissue vibration signal, the ultrasound detection signal and the synchronous triggering signal of the radio frequency data acquisition system. The arbitrary waveform generator can produce different forms of vibration waveform to induce different shear wave propagation in the tissue. Moreover, it can achieve either traditional pulse-echo detection or a phase-modulated or a frequency-modulated coded excitation. A 7-chip Barker code and traditional pulse-echo detection were programmed on the designed ultrasound transient elastography system to detect the shear wave in the phantom excited by the mechanical vibrator. Then an elasticity QA phantom and sixteen in vitro rat livers were used for performance evaluation of the two detection pulses. Results The elasticity QA phantom’s results show that our system is effective, and the rat liver results show the detection depth can be increased more than 1 cm. In addition, the SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) is increased by 15 dB using the 7–chip Barker coded excitation. Conclusions Applying 7-chip Barker coded excitation technique to the ultrasound transient elastography can increase the detection depth and SNR. Using coded excitation technology to assess the human liver, especially in obese patients, may be a good choice.

(1) Background: Multi-line transmit (MLT) beamforming has been proposed for fast cardiac ultrasound imaging. While crosstalk between MLT beams could induce artifacts, a Tukey (α = 0.5)-Tukey (α = 0.5) transmit-receive (TT-) apodization can largely—but not completely—suppress this crosstalk. Coded excitation has been proposed for crosstalk suppression, but only for synthetic aperture imaging and multi-focal imaging on linear/convex arrays. The aim of this study was to investigate its (added) value to suppress crosstalk among simultaneously transmitted multi-directional focused beams on a phased array; (2) Methods: One set of two orthogonal Golay codes, as well as one set of two orthogonal chirps, were applied on a two, four, and 6MTL imaging schemes individually. These coded schemes were investigated without and with TT-apodization by both simulation and experiments; and (3) Results: For a 2MLT scheme, without apodization the crosstalk was removed completely using Golay codes, whereas it was only slightly suppressed by chirps. For coded 4MLT and 6MLT schemes, without apodization crosstalk appeared as that of non-apodized 2MLT and 3MLT schemes. TT-apodization was required to suppress the remaining crosstalk. Furthermore, the coded MLT schemes showed better SNR and penetration compared to that of the non-coded ones. (4) Conclusions: The added value of orthogonal coded excitation on MLT crosstalk suppression remains limited, although it could maintain a better SNR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in the conservation of paintings grows year by year. Their periodic inspection is essential for their conservation over the time. Thermographic non-destructive inspection is one technique useful for paintings, but it is essential to be able to detect buried defects while minimising the level of thermal stimulus. This paper describes a pulse-compression infrared thermography technique whereby defect detection is optimized while minimising the rise in temperature. To accomplish this task, LED lamps driven by a coded waveform based on a linear frequency modulated chirp signal have been used on paintings on both a wooden panel and a canvas layer. These specimens contained artificially fabricated defects. Although the physical condition of each painting was different, the experimental results show that the proposed signal processing procedure is able to detect defects using a low temperature contrast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linear-chirp-Golay (LCG)-coded excitation combined with pulse compression is proposed in this paper to improve the time resolution and suppress sidelobe in ultrasonic testing. The LCG-coded excitation is binary complementary pair Golay signal with linear-chirp signal applied on every sub pulse. Compared with conventional excitation which is a common ultrasonic testing method using a brief narrow pulse as exciting signal, the performances of LCG-coded excitation, in terms of time resolution improvement and sidelobe suppression, are studied via numerical and experimental investigations. The numerical simulations are implemented using Matlab K-wave toolbox. It is seen from the simulation results that time resolution of LCG excitation is 35.5% higher and peak sidelobe level (PSL) is 57.6 dB lower than linear-chirp excitation with 2.4 MHz chirp bandwidth and 3 μs time duration. In the B-scan experiment, time resolution of LCG excitation is higher and PSL is lower than conventional brief pulse excitation and chirp excitation. In terms of time resolution, LCG-coded signal has better performance than chirp signal. Moreover, the impact of chirp bandwidth on LCG-coded signal is less than that on chirp signal. In addition, the sidelobe of LCG-coded signal is lower than that of chirp signal with pulse compression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Golay excitation can be utilized to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). However, its application in ultrasound Doppler detection is limited due to potential motion artifacts in conventional decoding process. In this study, the improved Golay decoding has been implemented in a commercial 40-MHz pre-clinical system and experimentally verified for its efficacy in color-flow imaging. Methods Based on the Doppler spectral difference of half pulse-repetition-frequency ( PRF ) between the main lobe and range side lobe components of Golay excitation, the slow-time decoding with a low-pass filter with cut-off frequency of PRF /4 can separate the desired main lobe from the side lobe interference. The Prospect ® system has been customized to generate the Golay transmit sequence in swept-scan mode and to perform the PRF /4 decoding for in-vivo evaluation of mouse blood flow. Results Results indicate that the PRF /4 decoding can effectively eliminate the range side lobe artifacts in phantom experiments for flow velocity not exceeding the limit of ± PRF /4 in Doppler frequency. For in-vivo imaging, the SNR improves by about 7 dB and the Doppler penetration increases from 13.5 mm to 14.2 mm in mouse kidney when the transmit is switched from un-coded to Golay excitation. In mouse abdominal aorta, the Golay transmit also increases the Doppler sensitivity. Conclusion Golay-encoded color-flow imaging has been established using the pre-clinical system to achieve SNR improvement in Doppler detection without suffering from the range side lobe artifacts. To guarantee the performance of PRF /4 decoding, the side lobe aliasing should be avoided by carefully selecting the PRF to the match the flow velocity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter analyses the influence of the transducer bandwidth on the compression and the axial resolution of an ultrasound image. The distortion of an electrical signal visible in the final image is a major problem in ultrasonography. To solve this problem, the bit length in Golay-complementary sequences was elongated, narrowing the fractional bandwidth of the coded sequences. Therefore, more energy of the burst signal could be transferred through the ultrasound transducer. The experimental results obtained for transmission of the complementary Golaycoded sequences with two different bit lengths--one-cycle and two-cycles--have been compared, and the efficiency of the pulse compression and its influence on the axial resolution for two fractional bandwidths have been discussed. The results are presented for two transducers having a fractional bandwidth of 25% and 80% and operating at a 6-MHz frequency. The results obtained show that the elongation of the Golay single bit length (doubled in our case) compensate for the limited transducer bandwidth. Twodimensional ultrasound images of a tissue-mimicking phantom are presented and demonstrate the benefits of the use of two-cycle bit length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Speed of sound (SoS) is an acoustic property that is highly sensitive to changes in tissues. SoS can be mapped non-invasively using ultrasonic through transmission wave tomography. This however, practically limits its clinical use to the breast. A pulse-echo-based method that has broader clinical use and that can reliably measure treatment-induced changes in SoS even under poor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is highly desirable. The aim of this study was to evaluate the implementation of coded excitations (CoEs) to improve pulse-echo monitoring of heat-induced changes in the SoS. In this study, a binary phase modulated Barker sequence and a linear frequency-modulated chirp were compared with a common Gaussian pulse transmission. The comparison was conducted using computer simulations, as well as transmissions in both agar-gelatin phantoms and ex vivo bovine liver. SoS changes were experimentally induced by heating the specimens with a therapeutic ultrasound system. The performance of each transmission signal was evaluated by correlating the relative echo shifts to the normalized SoS measured by through transmission. The computer simulations indicated that CoEs are beneficial at very low SNR. The Barker code performed better than both the chirp and Gaussian pulses, particularly at SNRs <10 dB (R2 = 0.81 ± 0.06, 0.68 ± 0.07 and 0.55 ± 0.08, respectively, at 0 dB). At high SNRs, the CoEs performed statistically on par with the Gaussian pulse. The experimental findings indicated that both Barker and chirp codes performed better than the Gaussian pulse on ex vivo liver (R2 = 0.80 ± 0.15, 0.79 ± 0.15 and 0.54 ± 0.17, respectively) and comparably on agar-gelatin phantoms. In conclusion, CoEs can be beneficial for assessing temperature-induced changes in the SoS using the pulse-echo method under poor SNR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ultrasound therapy requires real-time monitoring during treatment. • The use of focused ultrasound (FUS) transducers for the purpose is limited due to their inability to provide high quality of images. • The proposed coded excitation and Wiener deconvolution can enhance the resolution, SNR, and CNR of images acquired by FUS transducers. • The performance of the proposed method was confirmed by imaging experiments. To enhance the effectiveness and safety of focused ultrasound (FUS) therapy, ultrasound image-based guidance and treatment monitoring are crucial. However, the use of FUS transducers for both therapy and imaging is impractical due to their low spatial resolution, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). To address this issue, we propose a new method that significantly improve the quality of images obtained by a FUS transducer. The proposed method employs coded excitation to enhance SNR and Wiener deconvolution to solve the problem of low axial resolution resulting from the narrow spectral bandwidth of FUS transducers. Specifically, the method eliminates the impulse response of a FUS transducer from received ultrasound signals using Wiener deconvolution, and pulse compression is performed using a mismatched filter. Simulation and commercial phantom experiments confirmed that the proposed method significantly improves the quality of images acquired by the FUS transducer. The −6 dB axial resolution was improved 1.27 mm to 0.37 mm that was similar to the resolution achieved by the imaging transducer, i.e., 0.33 mm. SNR and CNR also increased from 16.5 dB and 0.69 to 29.1 dB and 3.03, respectively, that were also similar to those by the imaging transducer (27.8 dB and 3.16). Based on the results, we believe that the proposed method has great potential to enhance the clinical utility of FUS transducers in ultrasound image-guided therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrasonic Testing (UT) is one of the most important technologies in Non-Detective Testing (NDT) methods. Recently, Barker code and Golay code pairs as coded excitation signals have been applied in ultrasound imaging system with improved quality. However, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of existing UT system based on Barker code or Golay code can be influenced under high high attenuation materials or noisy conditions. In this paper, we apply the convolution of Barker and Golay codes as coded excitation signals for low voltage UT devices that combines the advantages of Barker code and Golay code together. There is no need to change the hardware of UT system in this method. The proposed method has been analyzed theoretically and then in extensive simulations. The experimental results demonstrated that the main lobe level of the code produced by convolution of Barker code and Golay code pairs is much higher than the simple pulse and the main lobe of the combined code is higher than the traditional Barker code, sidelobe is the same as the baker code that constitutes this combined code. So the peak sidelobe level (PSL) of the combined code is lower than the traditional Barker code. Equipped with this, UT devices can be applied in low voltage situations.

It has been reported that the frequency bandwidth of capacitive micro-machined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) is relatively broader than that of other ceramic-based conventional ultrasonic transducers. In this paper, a feasibility study for orthogonal chirp coded excitation to efficiently make use of the wide bandwidth characteristic of CMUT array is presented. The experimental result shows that the two orthogonal chirps mixed and simultaneously fired in CMUT array can be perfectly separated in decoding process of the received echo signal without sacrificing the frequency bandwidth each chirp. The experimental study also shows that frequency band-divided orthogonal chirps are successfully compressed to two short pulses having the −6 dB axial beam-width of 0.26- and 0.31-micro second for high frequency and low frequency chirp, respectively. B-mode image simulations are performed using Field II to estimate the improvement of image quality assuming that the orthogonal chirps designed for the experiments are used for simultaneous transmission multiple-zone focusing (STMF) technique. The simulation results show that the STMF technique used in CMUT array can improve the lateral resolution up to 77.1% and the contrast resolution up to 74.7%, respectively. It is shown that the penetration depth also increases by more than 3 cm.

(1) Background: Multi-line transmit (MLT) beamforming has been proposed for fast cardiac ultrasound imaging. While crosstalk between MLT beams could induce artifacts, a Tukey (α = 0.5)-Tukey (α = 0.5) transmit-receive (TT-) apodization can largely—but not completely—suppress this crosstalk. Coded excitation has been proposed for crosstalk suppression, but only for synthetic aperture imaging and multi-focal imaging on linear/convex arrays. The aim of this study was to investigate its (added) value to suppress crosstalk among simultaneously transmitted multi-directional focused beams on a phased array; (2) Methods: One set of two orthogonal Golay codes, as well as one set of two orthogonal chirps, were applied on a two, four, and 6MTL imaging schemes individually. These coded schemes were investigated without and with TT-apodization by both simulation and experiments; and (3) Results: For a 2MLT scheme, without apodization the crosstalk was removed completely using Golay codes, whereas it was only slightly suppressed by chirps. For coded 4MLT and 6MLT schemes, without apodization crosstalk appeared as that of non-apodized 2MLT and 3MLT schemes. TT-apodization was required to suppress the remaining crosstalk. Furthermore, the coded MLT schemes showed better SNR and penetration compared to that of the non-coded ones. (4) Conclusions: The added value of orthogonal coded excitation on MLT crosstalk suppression remains limited, although it could maintain a better SNR.

Modern imaging systems typically use single-carrier short pulses for transducer excitation. Coded signals together with pulse compression are successfully used in radar and communication to increase the amount of transmitted energy. Previous research verified significant improvement in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and imaging depth for ultrasound imaging with coded signals. Since pulse compression needs to be applied at each transducer element, the implementation of coded excitation (CE) in array imaging is computationally complex. Applying pulse compression on the beamformer output reduces the computational load but degrades both the axial and lateral point spread function, compromising image quality. In this paper, we present an approach for efficient implementation of pulse compression by integrating it into frequency domain beamforming. This method leads to significant reduction in the amount of computations without affecting axial resolution. The lateral resolution is dictated by the factor of savings in computational load. We verify the performance of our method on a Verasonics imaging system and compare the resulting images to time-domain processing. The computational savings are evaluated for a minimal sampling rate of four times the central frequency. We show that from 4- to 33-fold reduction is achieved as a function of the resulting lateral resolution, with no degradation of axial resolution. For an imaging system operating at a higher sampling rate, e.g., 10 times the central frequency, the savings can be as high as 77-fold. The efficient implementation makes CE a feasible approach in array imaging with the potential to enhance SNR as well as improve imaging depth and frame rate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Coded excitation was initially introduced to ultrasound imaging as a method for enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). However, this method was also shown to be helpful in conjunction with synthetic aperture transmission for high frame rate imaging. Recently, we introduced two families of mismatched coded excitations based on frequency modulation chirp and combined frequency modulation and Golay code. Here “mismatched” indicates that the coded excitations generate very small cross-correlations among themselves while each has a very strong autocorrelation. Employing weakly correlated coded excitations enables performing simultaneous insonifications from several elements of the ultrasonic transducer and receiving distinguishable responses to each code. In this work, we propose and experimentally demonstrate another set of mismatched correlated coded excitations based on Golay codes. The generated phase codes share identical duration and center frequency which results in similar SNR and image resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulse-compression infrared thermography is an emerging nondestructive testing and evaluation technique. An analysis of the main issues hampering the full exploitation of this technique is presented from both theoretical and experimental point of view and various strategies are introduced to overcome these problems and optimize the defect detection performance. A comparison between conventional pulse-compression thermography procedures and the proposed one is reported, using an LED modulated with a Barker sequence as coded excitation, and a carbon fibre composite benchmark sample containing artificial defects at different depths. The experimental results show that the suggested signal processing procedure assures a higher SNR and hence an improved defect detection capability. In addition, a time-analysis of such signals allows the correlation between the depth of defects and heat diffusion time to be more clearly identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magneto-acoustic-electric tomography (MAET) boasts high resolution in ultrasound imaging and high contrast in electrical impedance imaging, making it of significant research value in the fields of early tumor diagnosis and bioelectrical monitoring. In this study, a method was proposed that combined high conductivity liquid metal and maximum length sequence (M sequence) coded excitation to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. It was shown that, under rotational scanning, the liquid metal significantly improved the signal-to-noise ratio of the inter-tissue magneto-acoustic-electric signal and enhanced the quality of the reconstructed image. The signal-to-noise ratio of the signal was increased by 5.6, 11.1, 21.7, and 45.7 times under the excitation of 7-, 15-, 31-, and 63-bit M sequence code, respectively. The total usage time of 31-bit M sequence coded excitation imaging was shortened by 75.6% compared with single-pulse excitation when the same signal-to-noise ratio was improved. In conclusion, the imaging method combining liquid metal and M-sequence coding excitation has positive significance for improving MAET image quality.

Purpose: Accurate and efficient guidance of medical devices to procedural targets lies at the heart of interventional procedures. Ultrasound imaging is commonly used for device guidance, but determining the location of the device tip can be challenging. Various methods have been proposed to track medical devices during ultrasound-guided procedures, but widespread clinical adoption has remained elusive. With ultrasonic tracking, the location of a medical device is determined by ultrasonic communication between the ultrasound imaging probe and a transducer integrated into the medical device. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the transducer data is an important determinant of the depth in tissue at which tracking can be performed. In this paper, the authors present a new generation of ultrasonic tracking in which coded excitation is used to improve the SNR without spatial averaging. Methods: A fiber optic hydrophone was integrated into the cannula of a 20 gauge insertion needle. This transducer received transmissions from the ultrasound imaging probe, and the data were processed to obtain a tracking image of the needle tip. Excitation using Barker or Golay codes was performed to improve the SNR, and conventional bipolar excitation was performed for comparison. The performance of the coded excitation ultrasonic tracking system was evaluated in an in vivo ovine model with insertions to the brachial plexus and the uterine cavity. Results: Coded excitation significantly increased the SNRs of the tracking images, as compared with bipolar excitation. During an insertion to the brachial plexus, the SNR was increased by factors of 3.5 for Barker coding and 7.1 for Golay coding. During insertions into the uterine cavity, these factors ranged from 2.9 to 4.2 for Barker coding and 5.4 to 8.5 for Golay coding. The maximum SNR was 670, which was obtained with Golay coding during needle withdrawal from the brachial plexus. Range sidelobe artifacts were observed in tracking images obtained with Barker coded excitation, and they were visually absent with Golay coded excitation. The spatial tracking accuracy was unaffected by coded excitation. Conclusions: Coded excitation is a viable method for improving the SNR in ultrasonic tracking without compromising spatial accuracy. This method provided SNR increases that are consistent with theoretical expectations, even in the presence of physiological motion. With the ultrasonic tracking system in this study, the SNR increases will have direct clinical implications in a broad range of interventional procedures by improving visibility of medical devices at large depths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]