An Integrated System for Super-Harmonic Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Imaging: Design and Intravascular Phantom Imaging Study

摘要

Objective:Super-harmonic contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging, also called acoustic angiography, has previously been used for imaging of microvasculature. This approach excites microbubble contrast agents near their resonance frequency and receives echoes at non-overlapping super-harmonic bandwidths. No integrated system currently exists could fully support this application. To fulfill this need, an integrated dual-channel transmit/receive system for super-harmonic imaging was designed, built and characterized experimentally.