Display pixel based focusing using multi-order sampling for medical ultrasound imaging

Display pixel based focusing (DPBF) can improve spatial resolution and contrast in medical ultrasound imaging. However, it suffers from increased computational complexity compared to conventional beamforming techniques. Presented is a new DPBF method using multiorder sampling (DPBF-MOS) to reduce computational complexity. From simulation, the proposed fifth-order DPBF-MOS method shows negligible degradation of image quality in envelope detection (RMSE < 0.0015) while significantly reducing the computational complexity over current DPBF techniques (> sixfold). Similar results were obtained with in vivo data acquired from a human thyroid using a commercial ultrasound machine. These results indicate that the proposed method could provide comparable resolution and contrast to current DPBF techniques with reduced computational complexity.