UDC 534.2, 676.052.484
CORRECTION OF WAVEFRONT DISTORTIONS IN ULTRASOUND IMAGING
D. V. Leonov, PhD, Leading Researcher, Research and Practical Clinical Center for Diagnostics and Telemedicine Technologies of Moscow Health Care Department; Moscow Power Engineering Institute; Federal Research Center «Computer Science and Control» of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia;
orcid.org/0000-0003-0916-6552, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
O. V. Vlasova, Junior Researcher, Research and Practical Clinical Center for Diagnostics and Telemedicine Technologies of Moscow Health Care Department, Moscow, Russia;
orcid.org/0000-0003-3364-7364, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
T. V. Yakovleva, Ph.D., Dr. in physics and mathematical sciences, Chief Scientific Officer, Research and Practical Clinical Center for Diagnostics and Telemedicine Technologies of Moscow Health Care Department; Federal Research Center «Computer Science and Control» of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; orcid.org/0000-0003-2401-9825, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
O. V. Omelyanskaya, CAO of R&D, Research and Practical Clinical Center for Diagnostics and Telemedicine Technologies of Moscow Health Care Department, Moscow, Russia;
orcid.org/0000-0002-0245-4431, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Y. A. Vasilev, PhD in medical sciences, chief medical officer, Research and Practical Clinical Center for Diagnostics and Telemedicine Technologies of Moscow Health Care Department, Moscow, Russia; orcid.org/0000-0002-5283-5961, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Aberrations resulting from variations in the speed of sound as ultrasound waves traverse different tissue layers pose one of the most significant challenges in ultrasound diagnostics. These distortions can severely compromise image quality, particularly at elevated frequencies, as evidenced in examinations of breast or cerebral structures through the skull's bony encasement. Current aberration correction techniques frequently necessitate the presence of a highly echogenic source within the study area, thereby constraining their applicability. This study aims to illustrate a novel approach to aberration correction using head phantom with the help of developed methodology that relies on polynomial approximation of wavefront not requiring a source in the correction zone. The research employs a Sonomed-500 ultrasound device capable of capturing raw data during the preprocessing phase in aperture synthesis mode while assessing the phantom for transcranial ultrasound imaging. Experimental results obtained at carrier frequency of 2 MHz indicate that the proposed aberration correction method significantly enhances image quality when compared to pre-correction data. Specifically, a remarkable 37 % increase in peak intensity and 8 % reduction in the width of its angular distribution were observed. Therefore, the polynomial approximation based method for aberration correction demonstrates considerable potential for enhancing ultrasound diagnostic imaging, particularly in complex scenarios involving imaging through cranial bones.
Key words: : phase aberrations, beam focusing, phase correction, phantom, ultrasound imaging, aperture synthesis.