Benefits of Adaptive Beamforming Methods for Contrast Enhanced High Frame-Rate Ultrasound

The use of high frame rate ultrasound is based on emitting unfocused pulses, which requires multiple angle image compounding to obtain satisfactory image contrast and signal to noise ratios. However, for fast moving targets, the assumptions underlying coherent compounding approaches are not valid. This is especially true when contrast agents are imaged. In this study, we demonstrate the feasibility of using minimum variance beamforming for improved image contrast, SNR and robustness to motion in contrast enhanced echocardiograph. The advantage of such method is being user independent and the robustness to steering vector errors. The preliminary in-vivo results show an increase of 10dB for the signal to interference noise ratio, compared to standard incoherent or coherent compounding. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that adaptive beamforming methods are a valuable tool for beamforming contrast sequences in the presence of fast flow.