Contrast enhancement of medical ultrasound imaging with reversal phase-inversion pulse technology

Abstract

A new ultrasound contrast imaging technique was proposed for eliminating the harmonic components from the emission signal transmitted by the broadband ultrasonic system. Reversal phase-inversion pulse was used for the first time to separate the contrast harmonics from the harmonics in the emission signal to improve the detection of contrast micro-bubbles. Based on the nonlinear acoustic theory of finite-amplitude effects and the associated distortion of the propagating wave, the Bessel-Fubini series model was applied to describe the nonlinear propagation effects of the reversal phase-inversion pulse, and the Church’s equation for zero-thickness encapsulation model was used to produce the scattering-pulse of the bubble. For harmonic imaging, the experiment was performed using a 64-element linear array, which was simulated by Field II. The results show that the harmonic components from the emission signal can be completely cancelled, and the harmonics generated by the nonlinear propagation of the wave through the tissue, can be reduced by 15–30 dB. Compared with the short pulse, the reversal phase-inversion pulse can improve the contrast and definition of the harmonic image significantly.

Keywords

reversal pulse / phase inversion / Church model / ultrasound imaging / contrast

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