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Improving the quality of ultrasound images acquired using a therapeutic transducer.

Authors :
Shin, Eui-Ji
Park, Sunghun
Kang, Sungwoo
Kim, Jinwoo
Chang, Jin Ho
Source :
Ultrasonics. Sep2023, Vol. 134, pN.PAG-N.PAG. 1p.
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

• 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]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
0041624X
Volume :
134
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Ultrasonics
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
169751508
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultras.2023.107063