Acoustic-Field Beamforming-Based Generalized Coherence Factor for Handheld Ultrasound

Abstract

Handheld ultrasound devices have been widely used for diagnostic applications. The use of the acoustic-field beamforming (AFB) method has been proposed for handheld ultrasound to reduce electricity consumption and avoid battery and unwanted heat issues. However, the image quality, such as the contrast ratio and contrast-to-noise-ratio, are poorer with this technique than with the conventional delay-and-sum method. To address the problems associated with the worse image quality in AFB imaging, in this paper we propose the use of an AFB-based generalized coherence factor (GCF) technique, in which the GCF weighting developed for adaptive beamforming is extended to AFB. Simulation data, experimental results, and in vivo testing verified the efficacy of our proposed AFB-based GCF technique.

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“…The results discussed in the paper elucidate the perceived benefits to quality improvement and the scanning area obtained with the application of tilted and shifted probes, as well as the advantages of using a relatively simple convex probe that does not incorporate software beam steering instead of more advanced devices. Hu et al [9] proposed the use of the generalized coherence factor (GCF) technique, based on acoustic field beamforming (AFB), instead of the conventional delay-and-sum (DAS) method for handheld ultrasound; this was applied in order to reduce electricity consumption, and avoid battery and unwanted heat problems. The efficacy of the proposed method has been verified by the authors with simulation data, experimental results, and in vivo tests exhibiting an improved imaging quality.…”