Optimizing synthetic aperture compound imaging

Spatial compound images are constructed from synthetic aperture data acquired using a linear phased-array transducer. Compound images of wires, tissue, and cysts are created using a method, which allows both transmit and receive compounding without any loss in temporal resolution. Similarly to conventional imaging, the speckle reduction achieved by spatial compounding comes at the cost of a reduced detail resolution and a compromise must be made. Using a performance indicator, which can be measured from an image of a phantom without cysts, it is demonstrated how a compromise can be made, which is optimal for lesion detection. Synthetic aperture data are acquired from unfocused emissions and 154 compound images are constructed by synthesizing different aperture configurations with more or less compounding, all maintaining a constant resolution across depth corresponding to an f-number of 2.0 for transmit and receive. The same configurations are used for scanning a phantom with cysts, and it is demonstrated how an improved cysts contrast follows from an aperture configuration, which gives a higher value for the performance measure extracted from the phantom without cysts. A correlation value R = 0.81 is observed with a p-value less than 0.0001. For the optimal compound image, the contrast is improved by 3 dB for a cyst at a depth of 50 mm compared to an image without compounding.