Multi Line Transmit Beamforming Combined With Adaptive Apodization.

Area of Science:

• Ultrasound imaging
• Medical diagnostics
• Biomedical engineering

Background:

• High frame rates are crucial for cardiac diagnostic imaging, enabling analysis of rapid cardiac events and quantitative measures like speckle tracking.
• Multi-line transmission (MLT) ultrasound increases frame rates by transmitting multiple beams simultaneously, but can cause crosstalk artifacts.
• Existing artifact reduction methods, like Tukey windowing, often degrade lateral resolution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate adaptive receive apodization for improved artifact rejection and spatial resolution in MLT cardiac imaging.
• To compare the performance of adaptive apodization against standard Tukey windowing and non-apodized single-line transmission (SLT).

Main Methods:

• An adaptive receive apodization strategy was developed and tested using a bank of apodization windows.
• The method was evaluated on experimental MLT datasets, including wire phantoms, tissue-mimicking phantoms, and in vivo cardiac data.
• Performance was assessed based on artifact rejection and spatial resolution metrics.

Main Results:

• Adaptive apodization significantly outperformed Tukey windowing alone in rejecting receive crosstalk artifacts.
• The proposed method achieved superior spatial resolution compared to non-apodized SLT, as validated by wire phantom measurements.
• The adaptive apodization technique is compatible with wider transmit beams used in multi-line acquisition.

Conclusions:

• Adaptive receive apodization offers a robust solution for mitigating crosstalk artifacts in MLT ultrasound.
• This approach enhances both artifact rejection and spatial resolution, leading to improved cardiac diagnostic imaging quality.
• The method provides a valuable advancement for high-frame-rate ultrasound applications in cardiology.