Noise reduction of tissue harmonic images using information of fundamental echo

Tissue Harmonic Imaging (THI) is used for obtaining high spatial resolution medical ultrasound images. THI has high range resolution because of its wide bandwidth compared with fundamental imaging. Additionally azimuth resolution of THI is also high. However, amplitude of harmonic components is smaller than that of a fundamental component. Additionally, frequency dependent attenuation is severe especially for harmonic components. These phenomena mean that THI is susceptible to noise. In this study, using fundamental components and intensity characteristics of harmonic components with respect to the distance from a sound source, we propose a method for improving the SNR of THI with keeping its high-resolution nature. We show the effectiveness of the proposed method through the simulations.