Abstract
Ultrasound with harmonics has emerged as an exceptional alternative to competitively low resolution fundamental ultrasound imaging. The use of second harmonic is already a trend now but higher harmonics are also being seen as even better option due to its improved resolution. The resolution improved with frequency but achieves penetration of reduced energy. The cumulative addition of higher harmonics during propagation yields higher harmonics giving better resolution with adequate penetration. This paper summarizes the progress of such similar decade old harmonic ultrasound imaging technique i.e., superharmonic imaging (SHI) geared towards medical field. It comprises of harmonics higher than second harmonic preferably up to 5th harmonic. We conclude that SHI can be an advanced ultrasound imaging with comprehensive high resolution and adequate penetration depth on sole and coded modes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Whittingham, T., Tissue harmonic imaging. Eur. Radiol. 9(3):S323–S326, 1999.
Ward, B., Baker, A. C., and Humphrey, V. F., Nonlinear propagation applied to the improvement of resolution in diagnostic medical ultrasound. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 101(1):143–154, 1997.
Starritt, H. C., Duck, F. A., Hawkins, A. J., and Humphrey, V. F., The development of harmonic distortion in pulsed finite-amplitude ultrasound passing through liver. Phys. Med. Biol. 31(12):1401–1409, 1986.
Starritt, H., Perkins, M., Duck, F., and Humphrey, V., Evidence for ultrasonic finite-amplitude distortion in muscle using medical equipment. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 77(1):302–306, 1985.
Muir, T. G., Nonlinear effects in acoustic imaging. Acoust. Imaging 9:93–109, 1980.
Duck, F. A., Nonlinear acoustics in diagnostic ultrasound. Ultrasound Med. Biol. 28(1):1–18, 2002.
Averkiou, M., Tissue harmonic imaging. Ultrasonics Symposium, 2000 IEEE, 2, 1563-1572, 2000.
Shen, C., and Li, P., Harmonic leakage and image quality degradation in tissue harmonic imaging. IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control 48(3):728–736, 2001.
Bouakaz, A., Frigstad, S., ten Cate, F. J., and de Jong, N., Super harmonic imaging: A new imaging technique for improved contrast detection. Ultrasound Med. Biol. 28(1):59–68, 2002.
Bouakaz, A., and de Jong, N., Native tissue imaging at superharmonic frequencies. IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control 50(5):496–506, 2003.
Bouakaz, A., Krenning, B. J., Vletter, W. B., ten Cate, F. J., and Jong, N. D., Contrast superharmonic imaging: A feasibility study. Ultrasound Med. Biol. 29(4):547–553, 2003.
Ma, Q., Zhang, D., Gong, X., and Ma, Y., Investigation of superharmonic sound propagation and imaging in biological tissues in vitro. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 119(4):2518–2523, 2006.
van Neer, P. L. M. J., Danilouchkine, M. G., Verweij, M. D., Demi, L., Voormolen, M. M., van der Steen, A. F. W., and de Jong, N., Comparison of fundamental, second harmonic, and superharmonic imaging: A simulation study. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 130(5):3148–3157, 2011.
Londhe, N. D., and Anand, R. S., Investigation of ultrasonic shock wave propagation and superharmonic field generation in human soft tissues. Int. J. Math. Model. Numer. Optimisation 1(4):316–329, 2010.
Ma, J., Martin, K. H., Li, Y., Dayton, P. A., Shung, K. K., Zhou, Q., and Jiang, X., Design factors of intravascular dual frequency transducers for super-harmonic contrast imaging and acoustic angiography. Phys. Med. Biol. 60(9):3441–3457, 2015.
Bouakaz, A., Ten Cate, F. J., and de Jong, N., A new ultrasonic transducer for improved contrast nonlinear imaging. Phys. Med. Biol. 49(16):3515–3525, 2004.
Ma, J., Jiang, X., Martin, K. H., Dayton, P. A., Li, Y., Zhou, Q., Dual frequency transducers for intravascular ultrasound super-harmonic imaging and acoustic angiography. Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS), 2014 I.E. International, 675-678 (3-6 Sept. 2014).
Danilouchkine, M. G., van Neer, P. L. M. J., Matte, G. M., Voormolen, M. M., Verweij, M. D. and de Jong, N., Superharmonic imaging based on chirps. IEEE Ultrasonics Symp. 2195-2198, 2010.
Londhe, N. D., and Anand, R. S., Coded Tissue Superharmonic Imaging: An analytical study. J. Med. Ultrasound 20(2):101–108, 2012.
Londhe, N. D., and Anand, R. S., Numerical Investigation of Superharmonic Imaging Using Chirp Excitation. J. Med. Ultrasound 19(3):81–86, 2011.
Hossack, J. A., Mauchamp, P., and Ratsimandresy, L., A high bandwidth transducer optimized for harmonic imaging. In: Proc. IEEE Ultrason. Symp. 2, 1021–1024, 2000.
Akiyama, I., Saito, S., and Ohya, A., Development of an ultra-broadband ultrasonic imaging system: Prototype mechanical sector device. J. Med. Ultrasound 33(2):71–76, 2006.
Ferin, G., Legros, M., Felix, N., Notard, C., and Ratsimandresy, L., 3F-6 Ultra-wide bandwidth array for new imaging modalities. In: Proc. IEEE Ultrasonic Symp. New York, NY, 204–207, 2007.
Zhou, S., Reynolds, P., and Hossack, J. A., Improving the performance of capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducers using modified membrane and support structures. In: Proc. IEEE Ultrasonic Symp. Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 4,1925–1928, 2005.
van Neer, P. L. M. J., Matte, G., Danilouchkine, M. G., Prins, C., van den Adel, F., and de Jong, N., Super-harmonic imaging: development of an interleaved phased-array transducer. IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control 57(2):455–468, 2010.
Forsberg, F., Shi, W., Jadidian, B., and Winder, A., Design and acoustic characterization of a multi-frequency harmonic array for nonlinear contrast imaging. Ultrasonics Symposium, 2001 IEEE, 2, 1721-1724, 2001
Forsberg, F., Shi, W., Jadidian, B., and Winder, A., Multi-frequency harmonic arrays: Initial experience with a novel transducer concept for nonlinear contrast imaging. Ultrasonics 43(2):79–85, 2004.
van Neer, P. L. M. J., Danilouchkine, M. G., Matte, G. M., van der Steen, A. F. W., and de Jong, N., Dual-pulse frequency compounded superharmonic imaging. IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control 58(11):2316–2324, 2011.
Masoy, S. E., Standal, O., Nasholm, P., and Johansen, T. F., SURF imaging: In vivo demonstration of an ultrasound contrast agent detection technique. IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control 55(5):1112–1121, 2008.
Ma, Q., Ma, Y., Gong, X., and Zhang, D., Improvement of tissue harmonic imaging using the pulse-inversion technique. Ultrasound Med. Biol. 31(7):889–894, 2005.
Verweij, M. D., Demi, L., van Neer, P. L. M. J., Danilouchkine, M. G., de Jong, N., and van Dongen, K. W. A., A dual pulse technique for improving the point spread function of superharmonic imaging systems. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 129(4):2611, 2011.
Danilouchkine, M. G., van Neer, P. L. M. J., Verweij, M. D., Matte, G. M., Vletter, W. B., van der Steen, A. F. W., and de Jong, N., Single pulse frequency compounding protocol for superharmonic imaging. Phys. Med. Biol. 58(14):4791–4805, 2013.
Londhe, N. D., and Anand, R. S., Numerical investigation of non–linear propagation of amplitude–modulated ultrasound pulses in human soft tissues and superharmonic beam optimization. Int. J. Biomed. Eng. Technol. 8(1):82–98, 2012.
Matte, G., Van Neer, P., Danilouchkine, M., Huijssen, J., Verweij, M., and De Jong, N., Optimization of a phased-array transducer for multiple harmonic imaging in medical applications: frequency and topology. IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control 58(3):533–546, 2011.
Ma, J., Martin, K. H., Dayton, P. A., and Xiaoning, J., A preliminary engineering design of intravascular dual-frequency transducers for contrast-enhanced acoustic angiography and molecular imaging. IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control 61(5):870–880, 2014.
Muir, T. G., and Carstensen, E. L., Prediction of nonlinear acoustic effects at biomedical frequencies and intensities. Ultrasound Med. Biol. 6(4):345–357, 1980.
Baker, A. C., Nonlinear pressure fields due to focused circular apertures. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 91(2):713–717, 1992.
Baker, A. C., Berg, A. M., and Tjotta, J. N., The nonlinear pressure field of plane, rectangular apertures: Experimental and theoretical results. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 97(6):3510–3517, 1997.
Baker, A. C., and Humphrey, V. F., Distortion and high frequency generation due to nonlinear propagation of short pulses from a plane circular piston. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 92(3):1699–1705, 1992.
Douglas Mast, T., Two- and three-dimensional simulations of ultrasonic propagation through human breast tissue. Acoust. Res. Lett. Online 3(2):53–58, 2002.
Douglas Mast, T., Hinkelman, L. M., Orr, M. J., Sparrow, V. W., and Waag, R. C., Simulation of ultrasonic pulse propagation through the abdominal wall. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 102(2):1177–1190, 1997.
Desser, T. S., Jeffrey, R. B., Lane, M. J., and Ralls, P. W., Pictorial essay: Tissue harmonic imaging: Utility in abdominal and pelvic sonography. J. Clin. Ultrasound 27(3):135–142, 1999.
Wallace, K. D., Holland, M. R., and Mille, J. G., Improved description of shock wave evolution in media with frequency power law dependent attenuation. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 109(5):2263–2265, 2001.
Szabo, T. L., Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging. Elsevier, Burlington, 2004.
Hamilton, M. F., and Blackstock, D. T., Nonlinear acoustics. Academic, San Diego, 1998.
Tavakkoli, J., Cathignol, D., Souchon, R., and Sapozhnikov, O. A., Modeling of pulsed finite-amplitude focused sound beams in time domain. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 104(4):2061–2072, 1998.
Yuldashev, P. V., and Khokhlova, V. A., Simulation of three-dimensional nonlinear fields of ultrasound therapeutic arrays. Acoust. Phys. 57(3):334–343, 2011.
Cohen, G., and Joly, P., Construction and Analysis of Fourth-Order Finite Difference Schemes for the Acoustic Wave Equation in Non-homogeneous Media. SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 33(4):1266–1302, 1996.
Huijssen, J., and Verweij, M. D., An Iterative Method for the Computation of Nonlinear Wide-Angle Pulsed Acoustic Fields of Medical Diagnostic Transducers. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 127(1):33–44, 2010.
Libertario, D., Verweij, M. D., and van Dongen, K. W. A., Modeling three-dimensional nonlinear acoustic wave fields in media with spatially varying coefficient of nonlinearity, attenuation and speed of sound. Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS), 2012 I.E. International. 519-522, 2012
Dirkse, B., finite element method applied to the one-dimensional westervelt equation. 2014.
Pasovic, M., Donilouchkine, M., van der Steen, A., Basset, O., de Jong, N., and Cachard, C. Extended angular spectrum method for calculation of higher harmonics. 10ème CongrèsFrançaisd’Acoustique. 2010.
Burgers, J. M., A mathematical model illustrating the theory of turbulence. Adv. Appl. Mech. 1:171–199, 1948.
Blackstock, D. T., Connection between the Fay and Fubini solutions for plane sound waves of finite amplitudes. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 39(6):1019–1026, 1966.
Lee, Y. S., and Hamilton, M. F., Time-domain modeling of pulsed finite amplitude sound beams. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 97(2):906–917, 1995.
Schiffner, M., Mleczko, M., Schmitz, G., Evaluation of an analytical solution to the Burgers equation based on Volterra series. Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS), 2009 I.E. International, 1-4(20-23 Sept. 2009).
Jensen, J. A., Fox, P. D., Wilhjelm, J., and Taylor, L. K., Simulation of non-linear ultrasound fields. In Proc. IEEE Ultrason. Symp., 2, 1733–1736, 2002.
Zemp, R. J., Tavakkoli, J., and Cobbold, R. S. C., Modeling of nonlinear ultrasound propagation in tissue from array transducers. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 113(1):139–152, 2003.
Rozanova-Pierrat, A., Mathematical analysis of Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov (KZK) equation. 2006.
Kuznetsov, V. P., Equations of nonlinear Acoustics. Sov. Phys. Acoust. 16(4):467–470, 1971.
Humphrey, V. F., Non- propagation for linear medical imaging. WCU 2003:73–80, 2003.
Tjotta, J. N., Tjotta, S., and Vefring, E. H., Effects of focusing on the nonlinear interaction between two collinear finite amplitude sound beams. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 89(3):1017–1027, 1991.
Soneson, J. E., A parametric study of error in the parabolic approximation of focused axisymmetric ultrasound beams. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 131(6):EL481–EL485, 2012.
Canney, M. S., Bailey, M. R., Crum, L. A., Khokhlova, V. A., and Sapozhnikov, O. A., Acoustic characterization of high intensity focused ultrasound fields: A combined measurement and modeling approach. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 124(4):2406–2420, 2008.
Londhe, N. D., and Anand, R. S., Numerical Parametric Study of Superharmonic Field Properties in Nonlinear Ultrasound Wave Propagation in Human Soft Tissues. Acta Acustica United Acustica 98(1):179–187, 2012.
Misaridis, T., and Jensen, J. A., Use of modulated excitation signals in medical ultrasound. Part I: Basic concepts and expected benefits. IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control 52(2):177–191, 2005.
Misaridis, T., and Jensen, J. A., Use of modulated excitation signals in medical ultrasound. Part II: Design and performance for medical imaging applications. IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control 52(2):192–207, 2005.
Song, J., Kim, S., Sohn, H., Song, T., and Yoo, Y. M., Coded excitation for ultrasound tissue harmonic imaging. Ultrasonics 50(6):613–619, 2010.
Misaridis, T., Ultrasound imaging using coded excitations. PhD Thesis, The Technical University of Denmark, 2001.
Doerry, A. W., Generating nonlinear FM chirp waveforms for radar. Sandia Report SAND2006-5856, Unlimited Release, 2006.
Xia, X.-y. et al., Robust minimun variance beamforming applied to ultrasound imaging in the presence of phase aberration. Piezoelectricity, Acoustic Waves, and Device Applications (SPAWDA), Symposium on. IEEE, 2014.
Avanji, S. A. I., Far, A. M., Asl, B. M., Investigation of the effects of transducer Parameters on adaptive MV beamformers in medical ultrasound applications. In: Electrical Engineering (ICEE), 21st Iranian Conference, pp. 1-6, 2013
Chen, J., Yiu, B., So, H. K. H., & Yu, A. C., Real-time GPU-based adaptive beamformer for high quality ultrasound imaging. In: Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS), IEEE International (pp. 474-477), 2011.
Qin, Y., Wang, Z., Ingram, P., Li, Q., and Witte, R. S., Optimizing frequency and pulse shape for ultrasound current source density imaging. IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control 59(10):2149–2155, 2012.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article is part of the Topical Collection on Transactional Processing Systems
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Londhe, N.D., Suri, J.S. Superharmonic Imaging for Medical Ultrasound: a Review. J Med Syst 40, 279 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-016-0635-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-016-0635-x