SPECKLE AND NOISE REDUCTION IN ULTRASOUND IMAGES

摘要

An ultrasound imaging system includes features to reduce speckle and time gain compression noise. A handheld ultrasound system may include beam forming electronics and digital waveform generators to generate the transmitted pulses with fine grained apodization to improve coherence and reduce speckle. Speckle filtering may be included in the ultrasound system. Features to reduce quantization noise and improve the time gain compression response may be provided.

主权项

1. A method of improving image quality in a handheld ultrasound imaging system including piezoelectric transducer having an array of piezoelectric crystals, comprising:
generating transmitted ultrasound pulses including generating high voltage pulses within the handheld ultrasound system in a firing sequence selected to drive the array of piezoelectric transducer crystals with fine grained spatial and temporal apodization selected to reduce transmitted beam decoherence; receiving and processing reflected ultrasound pulses in the handheld ultrasound imaging system, including performing time gain compression (TGC) within the handheld ultrasound system for reflected ultrasound signals received by the array of piezoelectric transducer crystals; and outputting an ultrasound image stream from the handheld ultrasound system.