[Local Intelligent Characteristic Enhancement for Ultrasound Imaging]

In the process of ultrasound imaging, optimizing the transmit sequence strategy, adaptive beamforming algorithms, and image post-processing can significantly improve spatial resolution and tissue contrast. However, the direct integration of these advanced techniques invariably escalates the consumption of computational resources, causing a significant performance degradation in real-time imaging. This creates a critical trade-off challenge between real-time performance and image quality in ultrasonic diagnosis. In order to solve this problem, in this study, we introduce an imaging method that selectively enhances regional image quality while preserving real-time capability. This method can comprehensively consider the needs of different imaging scenarios and design one or more signal processing links specifically in local areas, thereby achieving intelligent characteristic enhancement functions such as noise suppression and texture enhancement. The results of the phantom test show that the noise suppression function of HD Scope ⁺ has improved by an average of 59.05%, 0.63 dB, and 0.0207 in contrast ratio (CR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and generalized contrast-to-noise ratio (gCNR) indexes compared to those of conventional B-mode images. In addition, the texture enhancement function of the HD Scope ⁺ has increased the fullwidth at half-maximum (FWHM) index by a maximum of 77.12%. The diagnostic results of hemangioma and pancreatic cyst indicate that the HD Scope ⁺ can provide richer local image characteristics, which is helpful for improving the accuracy of ultrasound diagnosis.