Improved Coherent Plane-Wave Compounding Using Sign Coherence Factor Weighting for Frequency-Domain Beamforming

Area of Science:

• Ultrasound imaging
• Medical imaging physics
• Signal processing

Background:

• High frame rate ultrasound imaging is crucial for real-time diagnostics.
• Traditional beamforming methods often face trade-offs between image quality and computational efficiency.
• Frequency-domain (FD) beamforming offers potential for faster ultrasound acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel modified sign coherence factor (SCF) weighting technique for FD beamforming in ultrasound plane-wave imaging.
• To enhance both image quality and frame rate while minimizing computational complexity.
• To evaluate the performance of the proposed FD-SCF method against conventional techniques.

Main Methods:

• Extraction of sign components from radiofrequency signals of aperture data prior to beamforming.
• Development of a modified SCF using the FD beamformed sign components.
• Application of the modified SCF weighting to the FD beamformed image.

Main Results:

• The proposed FD-SCF method significantly improved computational load compared to the classic delay-and-sum SCF.
• Image quality, including resolution and contrast, was maintained or improved.
• The method successfully balanced high image quality with a low computational load.

Conclusions:

• The modified SCF weighting is an effective strategy for optimizing FD beamforming in ultrasound plane-wave imaging.
• This technique offers a practical solution for achieving high frame rate ultrasound with superior image quality and reduced computational demands.
• The FD-SCF method presents a valuable advancement for clinical ultrasound applications.