Complete Complementary Coded Excitation Scheme for SNR Improvement of 2D Sparse Array Ultrasound Imaging

• Published in: IEEE transactions on biomedical engineering Vol. 71; no. 3; pp. 1043 - 1055
• Main Authors: Tamraoui, Mohamed, Liebgott, Herve, Roux, Emmanuel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States IEEE 01.03.2024; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE); Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: 3D ultrasound; Acoustics; Algorithms; Apertures; Arrays; Beam steering; Code Division Multiple Access; Codes; Complete complementary codes; Computer Science; Cross correlation; Engineering Sciences; Excitation; Image quality; Image resolution; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Medical Imaging; Phantoms; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; Signal to noise ratio; Sound; Sparse arrays; Sparse matrices; Three-dimensional displays; Ultrasonic imaging; Ultrasonography - methods; Ultrasound; Signal-to-noise ratio; Complete complementary codes; Sparse arrays; 3D ultrasound
• ISSN: 0018-9294; 1558-2531; 1558-2531
• DOI: 10.1109/TBME.2023.3325657

Driving the numerous elements of 2D matrix arrays for 3D ultrasound imaging is very challenging in terms of cable size, wiring and data rate. The sparse array approach tackles this problem by optimally distributing a reduced number of elements over a 2D aperture while preserving a decent image quality and beam steering capabilities. Unfortunately, reducing the number of elements significantly reduces the active probe footprint reducing as a consequence the sensitivity and at the end the signal-to-noise ratio. Here we propose a new coded excitation scheme based on complete complementary codes to increase the signal-to-noise ratio in 3D ultrasound imaging with sparse arrays. These codes are known for their ideal auto-correlation and cross-correlation properties and have been widely used in Code-Division Multiple Access systems (CDMA). An algorithm for generating such codes is presented as well as the adopted imaging sequence. The proposed method has been compared in simulations to other coded excitation schemes and showed significant increase in the signal-to-noise ratio of sparse arrays with no correlation artifacts and no frame rate reduction. The gain in signal-to-noise ratio compared to the case where no coded excitation is used was around <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">{\mathbf{\text{41.28}\,dB}}</tex-math></inline-formula> and the contrast was also improved by <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">{\mathbf{\text{29}\,dB}}</tex-math></inline-formula> while the resolution was unchanged.