Gated Transmit and Fresnel-Based Receive Beamforming With a Phased Array for Low-Cost Ultrasound Imaging.

Low-cost ultrasound imaging systems are desired for many applications outside of radiology and cardiology departments. By making ultrasound systems smaller and lower cost, the use of ultrasound has spread from these mainstays to other areas of the hospital such as emergency departments and critical care. To further miniaturize and reduce the cost of ultrasound systems, we have investigated novel Fresnel-based beamforming methods to reduce front-end hardware requirements.

Multi-Focus Beamforming for Thermal Strain Imaging Using a Single Ultrasound Linear Array Transducer.

Ultrasound-induced thermal strain imaging (TSI) has been used successfully to identify lipid- and water-based tissues in atherosclerotic plaques in some research settings. However, TSI faces several challenges to be realized in clinics. These challenges include motion artifacts and displacement tracking accuracy, as well as limited heating capability, which contributes to low thermal strain signal-to-noise ratio, and a limited field of view.

Improved Estimation of Ultrasound Thermal Strain Using Pulse Inversion Harmonic Imaging.

Thermal (temporal) strain imaging (TSI) is being developed to detect the lipid-rich core of atherosclerotic plaques and presence of fatty liver disease. However, the effects of ultrasonic clutter on TSI have not been considered. In this study, we evaluated whether pulse inversion harmonic imaging (PIHI) could be used to improve estimates of thermal (temporal) strain.

Harmonic imaging with fresnel beamforming in the presence of phase aberration.

Fresnel beamforming is a beamforming method with a delay profile similar in shape to a physical Fresnel lens. The advantage of Fresnel beamforming is the reduced channel count, which consists of four to eight transmit and two analog-to-digital receive channels. Fresnel beamforming was found to perform comparably to conventional delay-and-sum beamforming.

Development of oil-in-gelatin phantoms for viscoelasticity measurement in ultrasound shear wave elastography.

Because tissues consist of solid and fluid materials, their mechanical properties should be characterized in terms of both elasticity and viscosity. Although the elastic properties of tissue-mimicking phantoms have been extensively studied and well characterized in commercially available phantoms, their viscous properties have not been fully investigated. In this article, a set of 14 tissue-mimicking phantoms with different concentrations of gelatin and castor oil were fabricated and characterized in terms of acoustic and viscoelastic properties.

Performance improvement of Fresnel beamforming using dual apodization with cross-correlation.

Fresnel beamforming is a beamforming method that has a delay profile with a shape similar to a physical Fresnel lens. With 4 to 8 transmit channels, 2 receive channels, and a network of single-pole/single-throw switches, Fresnel beamforming can reduce the size, cost, and complexity of a beamformer. The performance of Fresnel beamforming is highly dependent on focal errors resulting from phase wraparound and quantization of its delay profile.

Fresnel-based beamforming for low-cost portable ultrasound.

In this paper, we propose a modified electronic Fresnel-based beamforming method for low-cost portable ultrasound systems. This method uses a unique combination of analog and digital beamforming methods. Two versions of Fresnel beamforming are presented in this paper: 4-phase (4 different time delays or phase shifts) and 8-phase (8 different time delays or phase shifts).