Systems and methods for beam enhancement
Beam enhancement through sidelobe reduction and/or mainlobe sharpening is shown. Embodiments utilize dynamic resolution, improved dynamic resolution, and/or enhanced dynamic resolution techniques to synthesize beams, such as ultrasonic beams used in ultrasonic imaging, having desired attributes. Embodiments simultaneously form a first sample beam and a second or auxiliary sample beam for every sample to synthesize enhanced scan beams. According to a dynamic resolution techniques herein a new beam may be formed from the sum of the two sample beams. A synthesized dynamic resolution beam of embodiments has reduced sidelobes with relatively little or no spread of the mainlobe. An enhanced dynamic resolution beam sharpening function can be applied to provide a further enhanced beam, such as to further narrow the mainlobe.
1. A method of operating an ultrasound system, the method comprising:
segmenting a beam signal into a mainlobe component and a sidelobe component:
independently processing at least one of the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component; and
recombining the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component as independently processed, wherein recombining the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component provides synthesizing of a beam having a desired shape and geometrical properties, and wherein the desired shape and geometrical properties of the synthesized beam comprise a sharper mainlobe than the segmented beam and a sidelobe adapted to provide a balance between mainlobe resolution and sidelobe level for improved image quality.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the independently processing at least one of the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component comprises weighting the at least one of the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component differently than the other one of the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the weighting the at least one of the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component differently comprises weighting the sidelobe component to have a lesser weighting than a weighting of the mainlobe component for the recombining.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the recombining the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component comprises combining a non-null sidelobe component with the mainlobe component.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the beam signal which is segmented into the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component is provided by a synthesized beam technique.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the synthesized beam technique comprises:
obtaining a first signal using a first sample beam having a first mainlobe and one or more sidelobe;
obtaining a second signal using a second sample beam having a second mainlobe and one or more sidelobe, wherein a shape of the first mainlobe is substantially different than a shape of the second mainlobe; and
synthesizing a beam to provide the beam signal using the first signal and the second signal and a weighting factor.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first sample beam comprises an unapodized beam and the second sample beam comprises an apodized beam.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first sample beam comprises a Sinc beam and the second sample beam comprises a cosine apodized beam.
9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising selecting the weighting factor to provide the synthesized beam having one or more reduced sidelobe as compared to the first and second sample beams.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the selecting the weighting factor further comprises selecting the weighting factor to provide an acceptable balance between the reduced sidelobe of the synthesized beam and increased mainlobe width as compared to the first sample beam.
11. A method of operating an ultrasound system, the method comprising:
segmenting a beam signal into a mainlobe component and a sidelobe component;
independently processing at least one of the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component:
recombining the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component as independently processed; and
repeating the segmenting, independently processing, and recombining for a plurality of cycles to optimize detail and contrast resolution in an image generated using signals from the recombined mainlobe and sidelobe components.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the recombining the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component provides synthesizing of a beam having a desired shape and geometrical properties.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of cycles comprise a plurality of look directions.
14. A method of operating an ultrasound system, the method comprising:
segmenting a beam signal into a mainlobe component and a sidelobe component;
applying a beam sharpening function to the mainlobe component, wherein the beam sharpening function comprises subtracting a weighted component of a sample beam signal from the mainlobe component; and
recombining the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component after application of the beam sharpening function to the mainlobe component.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the subtracting the weighted component of the sample beam signal comprises taking a minimum of the weighted component of the sample beam signal and the mainlobe.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the subtracting the weighted component of the sample beam signal comprises iteratively subtracting differently weighted sample beam components from the mainlobe component.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the weighted component of the sample beam comprises a weighted mainlobe component.
18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the sample beam comprises a signal provided by an apodized beam.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the apodized beam comprises an apodized cosine beam.
20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the recombining the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component comprises combining a non-null sidelobe component with the mainlobe component.
21. The method of claim 14 , wherein the beam signal which is segmented into the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component is provided by a synthesized beam technique.
22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the synthesized beam technique comprises:
segmenting a first beam signal into a mainlobe component and a sidelobe component;
independently processing at least one of the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component; and
recombining the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component as independently processed.
23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the independently processing at least one of the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component comprises weighting the at least one of the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component differently than the other one of the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component.
24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the weighting the at least one of the mainlobe component and the sidelobe component differently comprises weighting the sidelobe component to have a lesser weighting than a weighting of the mainlobe component for the recombining.
25. The method of claim 22 , wherein the synthesized beam technique comprises:
obtaining a first signal using a first sample beam having a first mainlobe and one or more sidelobe;
obtaining a second signal using a second sample beam having a second mainlobe and one or more sidelobe, wherein a shape of the first mainlobe is substantially different than a shape of the second mainlobe; and
synthesizing a beam to provide the beam signal using the first signal and the second signal and a weighting factor.
26. The method of claim 25 , wherein the first sample beam comprises an unapodized beam and the second sample beam comprises an apodized beam.
27. The method of claim 26 , wherein the first sample beam comprises a Sinc beam and the second sample beam comprises a cosine apodized beam.
28. The method of claim 25 , further comprising selecting the weighting factor to provide the synthesized beam having one or more reduced sidelobe as compared to the first and second sample beams.
29. The method of claim 28 , wherein the selecting the weighting factor further comprises selecting the weighting factor to provide an acceptable balance between the reduced sidelobe of the synthesized beam and increased mainlobe width as compared to the first sample beam.