Ultrasound Scattering Anisotropy Visualization With Ultrasound Tomography

An ultrasound tomography (UST) system was used to image ultrasound scattering anisotropy in phantom experiments. This anisotropy was visualized as vector fields with arrows corresponding to the principal scattering angle of each pixel. UST with a ring-array system allows for a large range of transmit and receive angle combinations, producing real-time acquisition anisotropy maps unachievable with previous single element and linear array studies. Resolution was measured to be 138±48 μm, averaged over seven different placements within the transducer's field-of-view. Vector field images of iron filings aligned to a magnetic field were reconstructed and characterized for validation.