Fast adaptive beamforming through a cascade structure for ultrasound imaging.

Purpose: A major limiting factor for applying a minimum variance (MV) beamformer in medical ultrasound imaging is its high computational complexity. This paper introduces a new fast MV beamforming method with almost the same capabilities as the standard MV.

Methods: The fast beamformer is implemented using a cascade structure.

Twofold minimum variance beamforming for enhanced ultrasound imaging.

Purpose: To calculate the optimal weights of a minimum variance (MV) beamformer, the covariance matrix of the received data should be estimated. In ultrasound imaging, it is done through spatial smoothing. However, this technique reduces the effective aperture and consequently limits the attainable resolution.