Transrectal ultrasound imaging using plane-wave, fan-beam and wide-beam ultrasound: Phantom results

摘要

Plane-wave, fan-beam and wide-beam ultrasound can transmit higher ultrasound energy compared to synthetic-aperture ultrasound, leading to improved signal-to-noise ratios in ultrasound reflection/scattering signals. This is particularly useful for transrectal ultrasound imaging using end-firing transrectal ultrasound probes. We conduct a phantom study to evaluate the capabilities of plane-wave, fan-beam and wide-beam ultrasound for prostate imaging. The penetration depth decreases from plane-wave to fan-beam to wide-beam ultrasound, with increasing imaging areas. We use a transrectal ultrasound prototype consisting of a 256-channel Verasonics Vantage system and a GE intracavitary curved linear array to form plane-wave, fan-beam and wide-beam ultrasound. Our imaging results of a tissue-mimicking prostate phantom show that wide-beam ultrasound produces the best imaging among the three different beams of ultrasound when using the same number of ultrasound incident angles.