Hardware implementation for receive beamforming and transverse elasticity imaging

A hardware implementation is presented for receive beamforming of raw data collected from a commercial ultrasound scanner. The hardware is built with programmable components, FPGA and microcontroller, implemented in a standalone board configurable from a PC and connected to the ultrasound scanner. An application to receive data beamforming for the transverse component estimation in elasticity imaging is presented. Results show that the mean standard deviation of the transverse estimate is equal to 0.03 times the lateral wavelength. It can be compared to a mean standard deviation of the axial estimate of 0.02 time the axial wavelength. Results emphasize the interest of receive data beamforming for providing lateral RF signals applied to elasticity imaging.