Validation of an automated dynamic phantom to assess the performance of ultrasound system

There are many different approaches to evaluate image quality of ultrasound systems. Usually these tests are carried out manually, they are very time consuming, the results are subjective and repeatability can be poor. As one proposed improvement, the resolution integral produces one single figure of merit for image quality. The work reported here is based on a novel approach for grey-scale testing, based on the resolution integral, which can produce non-subjective and repeatable results for each combination of imaging system and transducer array. A total of 21 systems have been tested with three different depth settings to demonstrate its capabilities.