Ultrasound pulse-echo imaging using the split-step Fourier propagator

Lianjie Huang; Youli Quan

doi:10.1117/12.709998

12 March 2007 Ultrasound pulse-echo imaging using the split-step Fourier propagator

Lianjie Huang, Youli Quan

Proceedings Volume 6513, Medical Imaging 2007: Ultrasonic Imaging and Signal Processing; 651305 (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.709998
Event: Medical Imaging, 2007, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

Ultrasonic reflection imaging has the potential to produce higher image resolution than transmission tomography, but imaging resolution and quality still need to be further improved for early cancer detection and diagnosis. We present an ultrasound reflection image reconstruction method using the split-step Fourier propagator. It is based on recursive inward continuation of ultrasonic wavefields in the frequency-space and frequency-wavenumber domains. The inward continuation within each extrapolation interval consists of two steps. In the first step, a phase-shift term is applied to the data in the frequency-wavenumber domain for propagation in a reference medium. The second step consists of applying another phase-shift term to data in the frequency-space domain to approximately compensate for ultrasonic scattering effects of heterogeneities within the breast. We use synthetic ultrasound pulse-echo data recorded around a ring for heterogeneous, computer-generated, numerical breast phantoms to study the imaging capability of the method. The phantoms are derived from an experimental breast phantom and a sound-speed tomography image of an in-vivo ultrasound breast data collected using a ring array. The heterogeneous sound-speed models used for pulse-echo imaging are obtained using a computationally effcient, first-arrival-time (time-of-flight) transmission tomography method. Our studies demonstrate that reflection image reconstruction using the split-step Fourier propagator with heterogeneous sound-speed models significantly improves image quality and resolution. We also numerically verify the spatial sampling criterion of wavefields for a ring transducer array.

Citation Download Citation

Lianjie Huang and Youli Quan "Ultrasound pulse-echo imaging using the split-step Fourier propagator", Proc. SPIE 6513, Medical Imaging 2007: Ultrasonic Imaging and Signal Processing, 651305 (12 March 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.709998

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