Depth-of-field enhancement in Filtered-Delay Multiply and Sum beamformed images using Synthetic Aperture Focusing

The Synthetic Aperture Focusing (SAF) technique makes it possible to achieve a higher and more uniform quality of ultrasound images throughout depth, as if both transmit and receive dynamic focusing were applied. In this work we combine a particular implementation of SAF, called Synthetic Transmit Aperture (STA) technique, in which a single element in turn transmits and all the array elements receive the ultrasound wave, with the Filtered-Delay Multiply and Sum (F-DMAS) non-linear beamforming algorithm that we presented in a previous paper. We show that using F-DMAS, which is based on a measure of backscattered signal spatial correlation, B-mode images have a higher contrast resolution but suffer from a loss of brightness away from the transmit focus, when a classical scan with receive-only dynamic focusing is performed. On the other hand, when synthetic transmit focusing is achieved by implementing STA, such a loss is compensated for and a higher depth of field is obtained, as signal coherence improves. A drawback of SAF/STA however is the reduced signal-to-noise ratio, due to single-element transmission; in the paper we also analyze how this influences F-DMAS images. Finally, a preliminary investigation on the use of the classical monostatic SAF technique with F-DMAS beamforming is also carried out to evaluate its potential performances. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.