A Quantitative Approach to Speckle Reduction via Frequency Compounding

Coherent speckle is a source of image noise in ultrasonic B-mode imaging. The use of multiple imaging frequencies has been suggested as a technique for speckle contrast reduction. This technique involves the averaging of images whose speckle patterns have been modified by a change in the spectrum of the transmitted or received acoustical pulse. We have measured the rate of this speckle pattern change in ultrasonic images as a function of the change in center frequency of the transmitted acoustical pulse. This data is used to quantitatively describe the trade-off of resolution loss versus speckle reduction encountered when frequency compounding is employed and to derive the optimal method of frequency compounding. These results are then used as a basis for describing the overall advisability of frequency compounding in ultrasonic imaging systems. Our analysis indicates that simple frequency compounding is counterproductive in improving image quality.

[1]  R. F. Wagner,et al.  Statistics of Speckle in Ultrasound B-Scans , 1983, IEEE Transactions on Sonics and Ultrasonics.

[2]  J C Bamber,et al.  Adaptive filtering for reduction of speckle in ultrasonic pulse-echo images. , 1986, Ultrasonics.

[3]  C. Burckhardt.  Speckle in ultrasound B-mode scans , 1978, IEEE Transactions on Sonics and Ultrasonics.

[4]  O. V. von Ramm,et al.  Frequency compounding for speckle contrast reduction in phased array images. , 1982, Ultrasonic imaging.

[5]  O T von Ramm,et al.  Compound scanning with a phased array. , 1982, Ultrasonic imaging.

[6]  Olaf T. von Ramm,et al.  Compound Scanning with a Phased Array , 1982 .

[7]  F L Thurstone,et al.  Cardiac Imaging Using a Phased Array Ultrasound System: I. System Design , 1976, Circulation.

[8]  R. F. Wagner,et al.  Fundamental correlation lengths of coherent speckle in medical ultrasonic images , 1988, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control.

[9]  H Lopez,et al.  Frequency independent ultrasound contrast-detail analysis. , 1985, Ultrasound in medicine & biology.

[10]  B. D. Guenther,et al.  Speckle noise in displays , 1976 .

[11]  S.W. Smith,et al.  Speckle Pattern Correlation with Lateral Aperture Translation: Experimental Results and Implications for Spatial Compounding , 1986, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control.

[12]  H E Melton,et al.  A-mode speckle reduction with compound frequencies and compound bandwidths. , 1984, Ultrasonic imaging.

[13]  R. F. Wagner,et al.  Low Contrast Detectability and Contrast/Detail Analysis in Medical Ultrasound , 1983, IEEE Transactions on Sonics and Ultrasonics.

[14]  C. R. Christensen,et al.  Effects of speckle on resolution , 1976 .

[15]  Dennis L. Parker,et al.  Analysis of B-Scan Speckle Reduction by Resolution Limited Filtering , 1982 .

[16]  O. T. von Ramm,et al.  Speckle Reduction In Medical Ultrasound Via Spatial Compounding , 1986, Other Conferences.