A Joint Delay-and-Sum and Fourier Beamforming Method for High Frame Rate Ultrasound Imaging

Frame rate is an important metric for ultrasound imaging systems, and high frame rates (HFR) benefit moving-target imaging. One common way to obtain HFR imaging is to transmit a plane wave. Delay-and-sum (DAS) beamformer is a conventional beamforming algorithm, which is simple and has been widely implemented in clinical application. Fourier beamforming is an alternative method for HFR imaging and has high levels of imaging efficiency, imaging speed, and good temporal dynamic characteristics. Nevertheless, the resolution and contrast performance of HFR imaging based on DAS or Fourier beamforming are insufficient due to the single plane wave transmission. To address this problem, a joint DAS and Fourier beamforming method is introduced in this study. The proposed method considers the different distributions of sidelobes in DAS imaging and Fourier imaging and combines the angular spectrum and DAS to reconstruct ultrasound images. The proposed method is evaluated on simulation and experimental phantom datasets to compare its performance with DAS and Fourier beamforming methods. Results demonstrate that the proposed method improves image effective dynamic range and resolution while also retaining a high frame rate of the ultrasound imaging systems. The proposed method improves the effective dynamic range along axial and lateral directions by 10 dB, compared to standard DAS and Fourier beamforming.