Processing techniques for speckle reduction in medical ultrasound images

With the advent of the new generation of DSP (Digital Signal Processing) technology more sophisticated methods for speckle reduction, such as the phase acknowledging techniques, are now feasible on a real time basis. There are a number of advantageous features associated with these methods: correction processing is localised; overall image resolution is retained; performance is robust to noise; no specific statistical distribution is assumed; and all algorithmic parameters can be calculated from the A-line data (no subjective indices are required). Hence phase acknowledging techniques may have a useful role in future medical ultrasound systems. >