Rectangular sparse array with equal transmit-receive element counts for 3D ultrasound imaging.

Area of Science:

• Ultrasound imaging
• Array signal processing
• Medical imaging technology

Background:

• Two-dimensional (2-D) arrays offer dynamic focusing and steering for 3-D volumetric ultrasound imaging.
• High element counts in 2-D arrays pose cost and system complexity challenges.
• Existing sparse array designs often result in unequal transmit and receive element counts, necessitating custom systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a new deterministic sparse array design method for 2-D ultrasound arrays.
• To enable designs with an equal number of active elements for both transmit and receive arrays.
• To overcome the limitations of custom system requirements in ultrasound imaging.

Main Methods:

• Developed a deterministic sparse array design based on orthogonal 1-D sparse patterns applied to the x- and y-axes.
• Applied one 1-D pattern to the x-axis and another to the y-axis for the transmit array.
• Reversed the application of these 1-D patterns for the receive array to achieve equal element counts.

Main Results:

• Successfully designed two sparse arrays with equal transmit and receive element counts using the new method.
• The designed arrays were based on 64x64 and 64x32 footprints.
• Performance was evaluated through simulations and compared against previous methods and fully sampled arrays.

Conclusions:

• The proposed deterministic design method effectively produces 2-D sparse arrays with matched element counts.
• This approach simplifies ultrasound system design by eliminating the need for customized channel configurations.
• The method holds promise for cost-effective and efficient volumetric ultrasound imaging.