Patent ID: 11547389

Abstract:
Systems and methods for suppressing off-axis sidelobes and/or clutter, near-field reverberation clutter, and/or grating lobe contributions are disclosed. A dual apodization with median (DAM) filtering technique is disclosed. The dual apodization technique may include summing aligned channel data with apodization functions (406, 412, 414) with complementary apertures applied. Median values for a zero function (RF3) and the resulting signals (RF1, RF2) from the complementary apertures are determined to generate a median value signal (416, MVS). The median value signal is used to generate an ultrasound image with enhanced image contrast. A method of image smoothing of the ultrasound image with enhanced image contrast is also disclosed. The smoothed image may include low frequency components of the ultrasound image with enhanced image contrast and high frequency components of an original image.