Large elements and advanced beamformers for increased field of view in 2-D ultrasound matrix arrays

Three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound promises various medical applications for abdominal, obstetrics, and breast imaging. However, ultrasound matrix arrays have extremely high element counts limiting their field of view (FOV). Current reduced element count architectures, such as row-column arrays, diverging lenses, or sparse arrays, suffer from limited resolution and high side- and grating-lobe levels. This work seeks to demonstrate an increased FOV using a reduced element count array design. The approach is to increase the element size and use advanced beamformers to maintain image quality. The delay and sum (DAS), Null Subtraction Imaging (NSI), directional coherence factor (DCF), and Minimum Variance (MV) beamformers were compared. K-wave simulations of the 3D point-spread functions (PSF) of NSI, DCF, and MV display reduced side lobes and narrowed main lobes compared to DAS. Experiments were conducted using a multiplexed 1024-element matrix array on a Verasonics 256 system. Elements were electronically coupled to imitate a larger pitch and element size. Then, a virtual large aperture was created by using a positioning system to collect data in sections with the matrix array. Resolution and contrast was also assessed on a rabbit liver in vivo. Resolution was maintained using coupling numbers up to four, doubling the FOV while reducing the element count. The NSI and DCF beamformers demonstrated the best resolution performance in simulations, in a phantom with the virtual aperture, and in vivo on a rabbit liver. Our results demonstrate how larger matrix arrays could be constructed with larger elements, with spatial resolution maintained by advanced beamformers.