Efficient synthetic aperture-based imaging from a circular array: experimental results on a catheter probe

Based on the constraints of intraluminal imaging, a synthetic aperture-based system has been proposed. In previous studies, the authors have demonstrated through extensive simulations that the image quality of such a system can be greatly improved using an optimal filtering approach. In this study, the optimal filtering method is tested using a 1.2 mm diameter, 20 MHz circular array appropriate for real-time cross sectional imaging of coronary arteries. Results obtained on resolution phantoms show that significant improvements in both spatial resolution and sidelobe level rejection can be obtained with filters derived specifically for this probe. In addition, images of human coronary arteries obtained in vitro demonstrate that spatial resolution can be significantly improved with optimal filtering. These results strongly suggest that high quality images of coronary anatomy can be obtained with synthetic aperture systems