A NOVEL Multi-Transmit Beam Forming for Fast Cardiac Imaging Using Tukey apodization scheme

ABSTRACTHigh frame rate (HFR) echocardiography may be of

benefit for functional analysis of the heartHFR is obtained using multi-line acquisition (MLA)

which typically requires broadening of transmit beamsThe capacity of MLA to obtain high quality HFR

images remains limitedThe ultrasound advanced open plat-form, equipped

with a 2.0 MHz phased array, was programmed to interleave MLT and conventional single line transmit (SLT) beam forming

Using these two beam forming methods, images of phantoms and healthy volunteers were acquired and investigated both qualitatively and quantitatively

Existing SystemIsovolumetric contraction relaxation which

may contain diagnostic or prognostic information. Ultimately, the frame rate in ultrasound imaging is defined by the speed of sound in soft tissue in combination with the physical dimension of the organ to be visualized

For a given field-of-view, the frame rate can only be increased by lowering the number of transmit events per frame

DisadvantageTo this purpose parallel receive beam forming is

commonly employed in most of the (high-end) ultrasound scanners

To avoid typical block-like artifacts, this technique typically requires broadening the transmit beams when reconstructing a large number of MLA beams resulting in a degradation of the spatial resolution and the signal-to-noise ratio

A broadened transmit beam by definition spreads energy over a larger area making harmonic imaging difficult or even impossible

Proposed Systemsmultiple focused beams can be transmitted into

different directions simultaneouslyThe apodization scheme, an MLT system has the

potential to increase the frame rate without significantly compromising the spatial resolution or SNR

The simultaneous transmission of multiple focused beams, in fact, requires linearly combining the transmission patterns, each characterized by proper delays and amplitudes, corresponding to each of the desired beams. An independent arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) is thus needed for each active element of a phased array

Block Diagramultrasound advanced open platform Input

image

MLT beam forming

In vitro Recordings & In Vivo Recordings

Imaging Strategy Design

Output cardiac imaging

Software & HARDWAREHARDWARECore 2 Duo Processor and above2 GB RAM256 GB HDKeyboard & MouseSOFTWAREMicrosoft windows 7 aboveDotnet 2008