Speckle SNR vs. Lateral Resolution in Ultrasound Imaging: What's the Tradeoff?

We have measured the rates of ultrasonic Emode speckle pattern changes as a function of changes in the imaging angle under a variety of experimental conditions. The results of these experiments were used to design an imaging system which optimizes speckle reduction for a given available aperture and our analysis indicates that such a system will improve the detectability of diffuse tumors. We have constructed such a system and conducted initial clinical trials of its performance.

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