High frame rate compounding for nonlinear B/A parameter ultrasound imaging in echo mode — simulation results

The nonlinearity B/A parameter is an important parameter influencing the distortion of ultrasound waves in tissue. B/A has different values for normal and pathological media and can be used for tissue characterization. The extended comparative method (ECM) allows estimating the B/A parameter in echo mode configuration but presents some limitations. The limitations are the concentration of energy due to transmission focusing and the poor resolution in distinguishing areas with different B/A. This paper proposes to improve the estimation of B/A with the ECM approach using a high frame rate imaging approach based on plane wave transmission. The simulation results show that good performance in B/A estimation can be obtained through the analysis of the corresponding pressure field. Promising results are also achieved through the direct estimation of B/A from the B-Mode echo-mode images.