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3-D Super-Resolution Ultrasound Imaging With a 2-D Sparse Array

2019; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; Volume: 67; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1109/tuffc.2019.2943646

2373-7840

Sevan Harput, Kirsten Christensen-Jeffries, Alessandro Ramalli, Jemma Brown, Jiaqi Zhu, Ge Zhang, Chee Hau Leow, Matthieu Toulemonde, Enrico Boni, Piero Tortoli, Robert J. Eckersley, Chris Dunsby, Meng‐Xing Tang,

Ultrasound and Hyperthermia Applications

High-frame-rate 3-D ultrasound imaging technology combined with super-resolution processing method can visualize 3-D microvascular structures by overcoming the diffraction-limited resolution in every spatial direction. However, 3-D super-resolution ultrasound imaging using a full 2-D array requires a system with a large number of independent channels, the design of which might be impractical due to the high cost, complexity, and volume of data produced. In this study, a 2-D sparse array was designed and fabricated with 512 elements chosen from a density-tapered 2-D spiral layout. High-frame-rate volumetric imaging was performed using two synchronized ULA-OP 256 research scanners. Volumetric images were constructed by coherently compounding nine-angle plane waves acquired at a pulse repetition frequency of 4500 Hz. Localization-based 3-D super-resolution images of two touching subwavelength tubes were generated from 6000 volumes acquired in 12 s. Finally, this work demonstrates the feasibility of 3-D super-resolution imaging and super-resolved velocity mapping using a customized 2-D sparse array transducer.