ABSTRACT
In order to improve the resolution, contrast and frame rate of ultrasound imaging, it is necessary to design an adaptive beamforming method for plane wave ultrasound imaging. An optimized minimum variance algorithm that suits plane wave ultrasound imaging was proposed, based on the traditional minimum variance algorithm that combines with the subband beamforming as well as the forward-backward spatial smoothing method in the frequency domain. To verify the effectiveness of the improved algorithm, the matlab software was used. Simulation results showed that full width at half maximum and peak side-lobe level of Optimized MV, Conventional MV, DAS boxcar, and Linear scan methods were 0.08, 0.36, 0.92, 1.42 dB, and -41.1, - 37.3, -16.9, - 34.1 dB, respectively. The improved algorithm can significantly improve the image resolution and contrast, particularly applicable to plane wave ultrasound imaging, compared with the conventional minimum variance algorithm and traditional delay-and-sum method.
