Research on the Multi-Element Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique in Breast Ultrasound Imaging, Based on the Ring...

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Acoustics
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Ultrasonography (US) is a key clinical tool for breast cancer diagnosis.
• Traditional synthetic aperture focusing in US suffers from low imaging quality due to single element use.
• Multi-element synthetic aperture focusing (M-SAF) offers a potential solution to improve US imaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To optimize the sub-aperture size for M-SAF in breast US ring arrays.
• To enhance the imaging quality and diagnostic accuracy of breast ultrasonography.
• To provide a theoretical foundation for M-SAF implementation in ring arrays.

Main Methods:

• Derivation of formulas for internal sound pressure within a 200 mm diameter ring array.
• Simulation of 1024-element and 256-element ring arrays using COMSOL Multiphysics 5.6.
• Analysis of sound field beam, directivity, and spatial resolution using k-Wave toolbox.
• Experimental verification using nylon rope and breast models.

Main Results:

• Optimal sub-aperture size determined to be 16 elements for the 1024-element array based on simulations.
• Optimal sub-aperture size found to be 4 elements for the 256-element array through simulations and experiments.
• The 4-element sub-aperture size yielded the highest imaging quality, best spatial resolution, and high sound pressure amplitude and SNR.

Conclusions:

• The optimal sub-aperture size is crucial for maximizing M-SAF performance in breast US ring arrays.
• The findings validate the theoretical basis for applying M-SAF technology in ring arrays for improved breast imaging.
• This research contributes to advancing breast cancer detection through enhanced ultrasonography techniques.