Ultrasonic Synthetic Aperture Imaging

Abstract

Currently available medical ultrasonic imaging systems are limited in some applications by their resolution. In particular: better resolution is needed to detect small lesions in the female breast. The apertures required to improve resolution can be obtained using large transducers at the expense of depth of field. Alternatively, synthetic aperture techniques offer the potential for achieving the necessary resolution without sacrificing depth of field. Advantages of synthetic aperture imaging are high focus, independent of depth, coupled with the absence of near field aberrations. The goal of this study is to develop a synthetic aperture ultrasonic imaging system specifically designed for breast scanning.