Multiplexing Post-Filter of Inter-Frame Correlation Minimum Variance for Ultrasound Imaging

Minimum variance (MV) beamformer is widely studied in ultrasound imaging due to its high resolution. However, its inadequacy in algorithm complexity and contrast limits its practical application. In this paper, by constructing a covariance matrix and optimizing the covariance matrix with cross-correlation variables, we designed a multiplexing post-filter of the transmit inter-frame correlation minimum variance algorithm (ICMVMPF) to improve the image contrast and complex. The experiments of cyst phantom indicates that the average resolution of ICMVMPF can improved 50.23% than that of DAS, and the contrast of ICMVMPF can increased 15.19dB and 13.4dB than that of delay-and-sum (DAS) and MV in the depth of 67mm. The adult cardiac imaging demonstrates that the proposed ICMVMPF has better contrast and clearer heart valve architecture compared with the traditional DAS beamformer.