Adaptive contrast imaging: transmit frequency optimization

Abstract

Introduction: Since the introduction of ultrasound (US) contrast imaging, the imaging systems use a fixed emitting frequency. However it is known that the insonified medium is time-varying and therefore an adapted time-varying excitation is expected. We suggest an adaptive imaging technique which selects the optimal transmit frequency that maximizes the acoustic contrast. Two algorithms have been proposed to find an US excitation for which the frequency was optimal with microbubbles.Methods and Materials: Simulations were carried out for encapsulated microbubbles of 2 microns by considering the modified Rayleigh-Plesset equation for 2 MHz transmit frequency and for various pressure levels (20 kPa up to 420kPa). In vitro experiments were carried out using a transducer operating at 2 MHz and using a programmable waveform generator. Contrast agent was then injected into a small container filled with water.Results and discussions: We show through simulations and in vitro experiments that our adaptive imaging technique gives: 1) in case of simulations, a gain of acoustic contrast which can reach 9 dB compared to the traditional technique without optimization and 2) for in vitro experiments, a gain which can reach 18 dB. There is a non negligible discrepancy between simulations and experiments. These differences are certainly due to the fact that our simulations do not take into account the diffraction and nonlinear propagation effects. Further optimizations are underway.