Ultrasound angular scatter imaging: Beam forming method

Scatter directionality of incident ultrasound beam depends on scatter size relative to the wavelength. If they comparable then complex scattering pattern is expected. There are anatomic sites where structural variety could include this scenario like kidney tissue or muscle fibers. This paper introduces a novel approach to constructing angular scatter images. The approach is to break the echo data into groups based on the scattering angle and form an image for each group. This scatter angle could also be crossed with transmission angle generating two-dimensional array of angular scatter images. The computational approach resulted in a beam forming process that is similar and as fast as the conventional method. We have used this off-line beam former to reconstruct echo data collected from a clinical machine on animal tissue. The angular scatter images showed marked difference between the case where ultrasound plane is parallel to fiber tissue and the case where the plane was crossing the fibers. The promising results invite further clinical investigations.