Abstract
The computing performance optimization of the Short-Lag Spatial Coherence (SLSC) method applied to ultrasound data processing is presented. The method is based on the theory that signals from adjacent receivers are correlated, drawing on a simplified conclusion of the van Cittert-Zernike theorem. It has been proven that it can be successfully used in ultrasound data reconstruction with despeckling. Former works have shown that the SLSC method in its original form has two main drawbacks: time-consuming processing and low contrast in the area near the transceivers. In this study, we introduce a method that allows to overcome both of these drawbacks. The presented approach removes the dependency on distance (the “lag” parameter value) between signals used to calculate correlations. The approach has been tested by comparing results obtained with the original SLSC algorithm on data acquired from tissue phantoms. The modified method proposed here leads to constant complexity, thus execution time is independent of the lag parameter value, instead of the linear complexity. The presented approach increases computation speed over 10 times in comparison to the base SLSC algorithm for a typical lag parameter value. The approach also improves the output image quality in shallow areas and does not decrease quality in deeper areas.Keywords:
short lag spatial coherence, synthetic aperture, algorithm optimization, parallel processingReferences
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4. Chen T.J. Chuang K.S., Wu J., Chen S.C., Hwang I.M., Jan M.L. (2003), A novel image quality index using Moran I statistics, Physics in Medicine and Biology, 48, 8, N131–N137, https://doi.org/10.1088/0031-9155/48/8/402
5. Dahl J.J., Lediju M.A., Trahey G.E. (2011), Methods, systems and apparatuses for van-Cittert Zernike imaging. US Patent 2013/0109971.
6. Gungor M.A., Karagoz I. (2015), The homogeneity map method for speckle reduction in diagnostic ultrasound images, Measurement, 68, 100–110, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2015.02.047
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13. Liu D.L., Waag R.C. (1995), About the application of the van Cittert-Zernike theorem in ultrasonic imaging, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control, 42, 4, pp. 590–601, https://doi.org/10.1109/58.393102
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21. Vanithamani R., Umamaheswari G. (2014), Speckle reduction in ultrasound images using neighshrink and bilateral filtering, Journal of Computer Science, 10, 4, 623–631, https://doi.org/10.3844/jcssp.2014.623.631
22. Verasonics (2019). Vantage – Research ultrasound, url: http://verasonics.com (accessed on March 7, 2019).
23. Walczak M., Lewandowski M., Zolek N. (2013), Optimization of real-time ultrasound PCIe data streaming and OpenCL processing for SAFT imaging, [in:] 2013 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), pp. 2064–2067, https://doi.org/10.1109/ultsym.2013.0527
24. Wang, Z., Bovik A.C., Sheikh H.R., Simoncelli E.P. (2004), Image quality assessment: from error visibility to structural similarity, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, 13, 4, 600–612, https://doi.org/10.1109/tip.2003.819861
