VMARC: A general framework for ultrasound imaging enhancement

Plane wave imaging (PWI) is a cornerstone of ultrafast ultrasound imaging, but its application is often hindered by limitations in image quality due to the simultaneous transmission of unfocused plane waves. To address this challenge, we propose a novel framework, Virtual Multi-Angle Receive Compounding (VMARC), designed specifically to enhance image quality in single-plane wave imaging. By introducing virtual receive arrays and simulating multiple receive angles, VMARC enables coherent compounding of signals at the reception side, effectively improving lateral resolution, contrast ratio (CR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). Experiments on phantom and in vivo datasets demonstrate that VMARC achieves 1-2 dB improvements in CR and CNR for phantoms and approximately 3 dB in vivo, along with significant lateral resolution enhancements. The process's flexibility allows seamless integration with advanced beamforming techniques, establishing it as a general framework for optimizing single-plane wave imaging quality across a range of ultrasound applications.