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Towards A Pixel-Level Reconfigurable Digital Beamforming Core for Ultrasound Imaging
G. Malamal,
Published in Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
2020
PMID: 32248124
Volume: 14
   
Issue: 3
Pages: 570 - 582
Abstract
Ultrasound (US) imaging systems typically employ a single beamforming scheme which is the delay and sum (DAS) beamforming due to its reduced complexity. However, DAS results in images with limited resolution and contrast. The limitations of DAS have been overcome by, delay multiply and sum (DMAS) beamforming, making it especially preferable in cases where finer image details are required in larger depth of scans for an accurate diagnosis. But, DMAS is confined to transducer frequencies where the generated harmonics also fall in the processable frequency range of the US system. However, if US systems could provide the flexibility to reconfigure beamforming considering the restrictions of each beamforming scheme, it is possible to select the best beamforming according to the clinical requirement and system constraints. This work is a fundamental step towards enabling reconfigurable beamforming for on-the-fly selection among the DAS and DMAS beamforming schemes, with low reconfiguration overhead, specifically for each imaging scenario to aid better diagnosis. Two novel architectures are proposed, that reconfigures between DAS and DMAS beamforming as a function of transducer's center frequency with minimum additional computational overhead. The implementation results of the proposed architectures on xc7z010clg400-1 FPGA are reported. The possibilities of pixel-level beamforming reconfigurability, where the different tissue regions are beamformed with either DAS or DMAS are also shown through simulations. © 2007-2012 IEEE.
About the journal
JournalData powered by TypesetIEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems
PublisherData powered by TypesetInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
ISSN19324545
Open AccessNo