USE OF ADAPTIVE BEAM FORMING IN CLINICAL ULTRASOUND

THE OVERALL GOAL OF THE PROJECT IS TO IMPROVE RESOLUTION WHEN USING LARGE-APERTURE, PHASED LINEAR ARRAYS IN CLINICAL ULTRASOUND. IN PARTICULAR, MEANS WILL BE DEVELOPED TO ELIMINATE BEAM-FORMING ERRORS CAUSED BY VARIATIONS OF SOUND VELOCITY IN THE ORGANS BEING IMAGED OR BY PHASE ERRORSIN THE SYSTEM HARDWARE ITSELF. IT IS BELIEVED THAT CURRENT CLINICAL INSTRUMENTS FAIL TO ACHIEVE THEIR POTENTIAL RESOLUTION DUE TO THESE SOUND SPEED VARIATIONS. THIS RESEARCH WILL EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF ADAPTIVE BEAM-FORMING TECHNIQUES TO CORRECT FOR THE RESULTING PHASE ERRORS. ALGORITHMS DERIVED FROM ADAPTIVE OPTICS WILL BE MODIFIED FOR USE IN MEDICAL ULTRASOUND. APPLICATION OF A SUCCESSFUL ALGORITHM TO COMMERCIAL INSTRUMENTS DURING PHASE II OF THE PROJECT SHOULD ESTABLISH A NEW PERFORMANCE LEVEL FOR IMAGE QUALITY. FURTHER, WITH THE USE OF THESE ALGORITHMS, TISSUE BEDS CURRENTLY INACCESSIBLE TO ULTRASOUND MAY BECOME NEW AREAS FOR ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSES. AN EXAMPLE OF THIS IS THE BRAIN, WHERE THE EXTREME SOUND VELOCITY IN THE SKULL REDUCES THE POTENTIAL FOR SUCCESSFUL BEAM FORMATION. THE POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANT. FOR SUCCESSFUL COMMERCIAL APPLICATION OF SUCH INSTRUMENTS IS