Multi-angle compound imaging

Abstract

This paper reports on a scanning technique, denoted multi-angle compound imaging (MACI), using spatial compounding. The MACI method also contains elements of frequency compounding, as the transit frequency is lowered for the highest beam angles in order to reduce grating lobes. Compared to conventional B-mode imaging MACI offers better defined tissue boundaries and lower variance of the speckle pattern, resulting in an image with reduced random variations. Design and implementation of a compound imaging system is described, images of rubber tubes and porcine aorta are shown and effects on visualization are discussed. The speckle reduction is analyzed numerically and the results are found to be in excellent agreement with existing theory. An investigation of detectability of low-contrast lesions shows significant improvements compared to conventional imaging. Finally, possibilities for improving diagnosis of atherosclerotic diseases using MACI are discussed.