Effective ultrasound data processing - A seismic exploration perspective -

Many similarities exist between the seismic exploration technique and diagnostic medical ultrasound. The data processing associated with seismic exploration typically involves the application of numerous advanced algorithms, many of which may be utilised effectively in ultrasound. This paper briefly reviews the seismic exploration technique and investigates application of some typical seismic processing algorithms to medical ultrasound data. In particular, ensemble averaging, time-variant spectral whitening, predictive deconvolution and image reconstruction algorithms are considered, and shown to be very effective in enhancing the ultrasound image.