Evaluation of ultrasonic image quality by tissue second harmonic imaging using a computer generated phantom model

Abstract

Recently, harmonic imaging has been widely used for improving image quality in the field of ultrasonic diagnostic. In this research, the evaluation of the quality improvement of the ultrasonic B-mode images by tissue harmonic imaging was attempted by combining this technique with the numerical analysis method. The influence of the inhomogeneous intervening medium on the ultrasonic B-mode images was also considered. Also, the region of interest (ROI) on the B-mode images were compared with the surrounding region to quantify the contrast improvement based on the relative echo level. The image quality improvement of tissue harmonic imaging was also analyzed in consideration of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).