A new algorithm for continuous time delay estimation using sampled data

In this paper we present a new time delay estimator that directly determines continuous time delay estimates from sampled data. The technique forms a spline-based piecewise continuous representation of the reference signal and then solves for the minimum of the sum squared error between the reference and the delayed signals to determine their relative time delay. The mathematical formulation of the proposed tracking algorithm makes it particularly well suited for application in tissue elasticity estimation, since it can easily include companding. We have performed a series of simulations using ultrasound data to test the performance of this algorithm and compare it to currently accepted delay estimators implementing a variety of sub-sample interpolation methods. Simulation results show that this algorithm significantly outperforms other algorithms in terms of jitter and bias over a broad range of conditions.