Multi-Channel Pre-Beamformed Data Acquisition System for Research on Advanced Ultrasound Imaging Methods

被引:62
作者
Cheung, Chris C. P. [1 ]
Yu, Alfred C. H. [2 ,3 ]
Salimi, Nazila [1 ]
Yiu, Billy Y. S. [2 ]
Tsang, Ivan K. H. [2 ]
Kerby, Benjamin
Azar, Reza Zahiri [1 ]
Dickie, Kris
机构
[1] Ultrasonix Med Corp, Dept Res & Dev, Richmond, BC, Canada
[2] Univ Hong Kong, Med Engn Program, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, Peoples R China
[3] Univ Hong Kong, Dept Elect & Elect Engn, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, Peoples R China
关键词
REAL-TIME; RESEARCH INTERFACE; TRANSIENT ELASTOGRAPHY; SCANNER; CAPABILITIES; EQUIPMENT;
D O I
10.1109/TUFFC.2012.2184
中图分类号
O42 [声学];
学科分类号
070206 ; 082403 ;
摘要
The lack of open access to the pre-beamformed data of an ultrasound scanner has limited the research of novel imaging methods to a few privileged laboratories. To address this need, we have developed a pre-beamformed data acquisition (DAQ) system that can collect data over 128 array elements in parallel from the Ultrasonix series of research-purpose ultrasound scanners. Our DAQ system comprises three system-level blocks: 1) a connector board that interfaces with the array probe and the scanner through a probe connector port; 2) a main board that triggers DAQ and controls data transfer to a computer; and 3) four receiver boards that are each responsible for acquiring 32 channels of digitized raw data and storing them to the on-board memory. This system can acquire pre-beamformed data with 12-bit resolution when using a 40-MHz sampling rate. It houses a 16 GB RAM buffer that is sufficient to store 128 channels of pre-beamformed data for 8000 to 25 000 transmit firings, depending on imaging depth; corresponding to nearly a 2-s period in typical imaging setups. Following the acquisition, the data can be transferred through a USB 2.0 link to a computer for offline processing and analysis. To evaluate the feasibility of using the DAQ system for advanced imaging research, two proof-of-concept investigations have been conducted on beamforming and plane-wave B-flow imaging. Results show that adaptive beamforming algorithms such as the minimum variance approach can generate sharper images of a wire cross-section whose diameter is equal to the imaging wavelength (150 mu m in our example). Also, plane-wave B-flow imaging can provide more consistent visualization of blood speckle movement given the higher temporal resolution of this imaging approach (2500 fps in our example).
引用
收藏
页码:243 / 253
页数:11
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