Improved spatial resolution in a three-dimensional acoustic medical imaging system based on a hybrid method using a synthetic aperture technique

For an acoustic real-time three-dimensional (3-D) imaging system with high spatial resolution, we propose a system based on a hybrid method using a synthetic aperture technique. We can change the transmit point in this system; thus, the coherent integration of multiple receive signals from different transmit points improves spatial resolution using a synthetic aperture technique. In the case of a time resolution of 300 3-D images/s, the -3 dB lateral resolution of the proposed system is 1.30 ̂ in the x-z section and 117 ̃ in the y-z section for a 0.07m depth, where the lateral resolution is improved from 16 transmit and receive events. The number of elements can be reduced to about 1/7.5 of a dense two-dimensional (2-D) array of a digital beamforming imager having the same time and spatial resolution.