3-D Super-Resolution Ultrasound Imaging With a 2-D Sparse Array
- 2020-02-01.
/pmc/articles/PMC7614008/ /pubmed/31562080
High-frame-rate 3-D ultrasound imaging technology combined with super-resolution processing method can visualize 3-D microvascular structures by overcoming the diffraction-limited resolution in every spatial direction. However, 3-D super-resolution ultrasound imaging using a full 2-D array requires a system with a large number of independent channels, the design of which might be impractical due to the high cost, complexity, and volume of data produced. In this study, a 2-D sparse array was designed and fabricated with 512 elements chosen from a density-tapered 2-D spiral layout. High-frame-rate volumetric imaging was performed using two synchronized ULA-OP 256 research scanners. Volumetric images were constructed by coherently compounding nine-angle plane waves acquired at a pulse repetition frequency of 4500 Hz. Localization-based 3D super-resolution images of two touching subwavelength tubes were generated from 6000 volumes acquired in 12 s. Finally, this work demonstrates the feasibility of 3-D super resolution imaging and super-resolved velocity mapping using a customized 2-D sparse array transducer.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) International license.