Analyzing Pulse Compression Performance and Image Quality Metrics of Different Excitations in MAET With Magnetic Field Measurements

Abstract

This study investigates the pulse compression technique to improve the performance of magneto‐acousto‐electrical tomography (MAET) with magnetic field measurements through numerical studies. Emphasizing the effects of specific coil configuration on MAET measurements, the study conducts evaluations using a linear phased array (LPA) transducer and numerical breast models with tumor inclusion. It provides feasibility and a detailed comparative analysis of various excitations, including linear frequency modulated (LFM), Barker code, and Golay code excitations in MAET. To simulate experimental conditions, additive White Gaussian noise is added to the MAET signal detected by the receiver coils. The results obtained from the LPA steering angle at 0° and the reconstructed B‐mode MAET images using the pulse compression technique lead to improvements compared with conventional single‐cycle excitation. The computed mean signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) improvements for LFM, Barker code, and Golay code excitations in B‐mode MAET images for 10,000 iterations are 7.42, 8.36, and 8.44 dB, respectively, compared with single‐cycle excitation. Similarly, the mean contrast‐to‐noise ratio (CNR) improvements for these excitations in B‐mode MAET images are 1.43, 1.63, and 1.9 dB, respectively. The results demonstrate that Golay code is superior in CNR and image quality metrics, while Golay and Barker codes have comparable SNR and outperform LFM. The research shows that the coil configuration significantly impacts tumor detection. With Golay code excitation, detecting a tumor as small as 5 mm × 2 mm at a depth of 33 mm with an SNR of 6.38 dB is possible, achieving an axial resolution of 2 mm.