Verification of effect of interference between multiple scatterers on the evaluation of backscattering coefficient

Abstract

Backscattering coefficient (BSC) analysis methods for biological tissues have been clinically applied, but they are based on the theory of a homogeneous scattering medium. In this paper, the effect of spatial correlation of waves between scatterers on the backscattering properties of inhomogeneous mediums containing two types of scattering sources with different acoustic properties was investigated. In the echo data of a phantoms containing two types of scatterers acquired by multiple sensors, the power and frequency dependence of the BSC were different from theoretical calculations due to the interference effects of each scatterer. The effect of interference between the two types of scatterers was confirmed to be particularly strong for echoes acquired by the sensor at high intensity and high frequency, or for higher number densities of strong scatterers.