Elliptical array design for 2D brain imaging based on full waveform inversion

Currently, the main techniques used to image the brain and obtain structural data are Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and X-ray Computed Tomography (CT). These techniques produce images with high spatial resolution, but there are limitations to their practical use, such as high cost, long time and large size. Ultrasound imaging can overcome the above problems and provide convenient and fast imaging, but traditional ultrasound reconstruction techniques cannot obtain images of the brain. The full waveform inversion technique, which originated from the field of geophysics, can effectively overcome the limitations of traditional ultrasound imaging by analyzing the full waveform information of ultrasound, and realize high-precision brain imaging. Current ultrasound arrays mostly use line array or ring configuration, this paper proposes elliptical ultrasound arrays and compares the transcranial imaging performance of line array, ring array and elliptical array through simulation. The experimental findings demonstrate that the elliptical array exhibits superior imaging capabilities compared to the line and ring arrays. These findings offer novel insights that could inform the development of portable brain imaging devices.