Real-time sound speed correction using golden section search to enhance ultrasound imaging quality

Chong Ook Yoon; Changhan Yoon; Yangmo Yoo; Tai-Kyong Song; Jin Ho Chang

doi:10.1117/12.2007195

Translator Disclaimer

29 March 2013 Real-time sound speed correction using golden section search to enhance ultrasound imaging quality

Chong Ook Yoon, Changhan Yoon, Yangmo Yoo, Tai-Kyong Song, Jin Ho Chang

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8675, Medical Imaging 2013: Ultrasonic Imaging, Tomography, and Therapy; 86751L (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2007195
Event: SPIE Medical Imaging, 2013, Lake Buena Vista (Orlando Area), Florida, United States

Abstract

In medical ultrasound imaging, high-performance beamforming is important to enhance spatial and contrast resolutions. A modern receive dynamic beamfomer uses a constant sound speed that is typically assumed to 1540 m/s in generating receive focusing delays [1], [2]. However, this assumption leads to degradation of spatial and contrast resolutions particularly when imaging obese patients or breast since the sound speed is significantly lower than the assumed sound speed [3]; the true sound speed in the fatty tissue is around 1450 m/s. In our previous study, it was demonstrated that the modified nonlinear anisotropic diffusion is capable of determining an optimal sound speed and the proposed method is a useful tool to improve ultrasound image quality [4], [5]. In the previous study, however, we utilized at least 21 iterations to find an optimal sound speed, which may not be viable for real-time applications. In this paper, we demonstrates that the number of iterations can be dramatically reduced using the GSS(golden section search) method with a minimal error. To evaluate performances of the proposed method, in vitro experiments were conducted with a tissue mimicking phantom. To emulate a heterogeneous medium, the phantom was immersed in the water. From the experiments, the number of iterations was reduced from 21 to 7 with GSS method and the maximum error of the lateral resolution between direct and GSS was less than 1%. These results indicate that the proposed method can be implemented in real time to improve the image quality in the medical ultrasound imaging.

Citation Download Citation

Chong Ook Yoon, Changhan Yoon, Yangmo Yoo, Tai-Kyong Song, and Jin Ho Chang "Real-time sound speed correction using golden section search to enhance ultrasound imaging quality", Proc. SPIE 8675, Medical Imaging 2013: Ultrasonic Imaging, Tomography, and Therapy, 86751L (29 March 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2007195

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE