Ultrasound elasticity imaging using Golay code

School of Software Engineering, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu, China

^a Corresponding author: penghui@cuit.edu.cn

Abstract

Ultrasound elasticity imaging is becoming a new diagnostic tool for clinicians to detect lesions or cancers in tissues. In this paper, Golay code is applied to elasticity imaging to improve its quality. Phase-zero algorithm is employed as the displacement estimator, and the amplitude modulation correction location estimate method is used as the location estimator. We compared the performance of Golay code and the conventional short pulse in simulation method. The simulation results demonstrate that Golay code can achieve higher elastographic signal-to-noise ratio (SNRe) than the short pulse in low echo signal-to-noise ratio (eSNR) conditions, because the eSNR gain with Golay code increases the accuracy of the displacement estimates. However, in high eSNR conditions, Golay code performs worse than the short pulse, because the range sidelobe level of Golay code will decrease the SNRe and the performance of Golay code depends mainly on its range sidelobe level in high eSNR conditions. Therefore, the optimal conditions for Goaly code to be used in elasticity imaging are the low eSNR, great depth or high attenuation conditions.