A Pseudo-Dynamic Delay Calculation Using Optimal Zone Segmentation for Ultra-Compact Ultrasound Imaging Systems

Abstract

The implementation of dynamic delay calculations (DDCs) is challenging for ultra-compact ultrasound imaging due to the enormous computation and power consumption requirements. Here, we present an efficient pseudo-DDC method based on optimal zone segmentation (PDC-Optimal), which significantly decreases these requirements relative to an unconstrained DDC method: reductions in flip-flops of 84.35% and in look-up tables of 94.19%, respectively. The reductions lead to an up to 94.53% lower dynamic power consumption and provide image quality comparable to the unconstrained DDC method. The proposed PDC-Optimal method also provides adaptive flexibility between beamforming accuracy and battery life using the delay error allowance, a user-definable parameter. A conventional pseudo-DDC method using uniform zone segmentation (PDC-Conv) presented substantial image degradation in the near imaging field when the same number of zone segments was used. Therefore, the PDC-Optimal method provides an efficient yet flexible DDC solution to improve the experiences for ultra-compact ultrasound imaging system users.

A Computationally Efficient Mean Sound Speed Estimation Method Based on an Evaluation of Focusing Quality for Medical Ultrasound Imaging

“…where R is a distance between the transducer center and the focal point, and c is the assumed sound speed in soft tissues (e.g., 1540 m/s) [21]. After applying receive focusing phase delay in Equation 1, all RF channel data are coherently aligned when the assumed fixed sound speed is equal to the actual sound speed in a propagation medium.…”

Fast Calculation of Acoustic Field Distribution for Ultrasonic Transducers Using Look-Up Table Method

“…The key element for acoustic energy emission is the ultrasonic transducer. Different shapes of ultrasonic transducers are designed to create different sound fields and are used in various applications, such as ultrasonic ranging [1,2] and ultrasound imaging [3]. The directivity of the acoustic field, the width of the beam and other indicators directly affect the accuracy of the instrument which is significant in ultrasound medicine [4] and acousto-optical devices [5][6][7].…”