• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.503-513
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• 1999

A general expression for the beam patterns of various synthetic aperture(SA) techniques was derived based on a unified SA model. This model was used to analyze and compare the performance of existing SA methods. Based on the theoretical studies, we propose a new synthetic aperture technique that is best suitable for the linear-scan imaging. The proposed method enables dynamic tow-way focusing in real imaging so that the B-mode image resolution can be greatly improved. Compared to the conventional focusing technique, the focused beam pattern by the proposed shows the mainlobe width reduced by half and comparable sidelobe levels. Computer simulation results demonstrated the validity of the theoretical analysis and the proposed SA method.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.419-430
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• 2002

In this paper. we propose an efficient method for implementing hi-directional pixel-based focusing(BiPBF) based on a sparse array imaging technique. The proposed method can improve spatial resolution and frame rate of ultrasound imaging with reduced hardware complexity by synthesizing transmit apertures with a small number of sparsely distributed subapertures. As the distance between adjacent subapertures increases, however. the image resolution tends to decrease due to the elevation of grating lobes. Such grating lobes can be eliminated in conventional synthetic aperture imaging techniques. On the contrary, grating lobes arisen from employing sparse synthetic transmit apertures can not be eliminated, which has been shown analytically in this paper. We also propose the condition and method for suppressing the grating lobes below -40dB, which is generally required in practical imaging. by placing the transmit focal depth at a near depth and properly selecting the subaperture distance in Proportion to receive aperture size. The results of both the Phantom and in vivo experiments show that the proposed method implements two-wav dynamic focusing using a smaller number of subapertures, resulting in reduced system complexity and increased frame rate.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.403-414
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• 2004

In the accompanying paper, we proposed a real. time volumetric imaging method using a cross array based on receive dynamic focusing and synthetic aperture focusing along lateral and elevational directions, respetively. But synthetic aperture methods using spherical waves are subject to beam spreading with increasing depth due to the wave diffraction phenomenon. Moreover, since the proposed method uses only one element for each transmission, it has a limited transmit power. To overcome these limitations, we propose a new real. time volumetric imaging method using cross arrays based on synthetic aperture technique with linear wave fronts. In the proposed method, linear wave fronts having different angles on the horizontal plane is transmitted successively from all transmit array elements. On receive, by employing the conventional dynamic focusing and synthetic aperture methods along lateral and elevational directions, respectively, ultrasound waves can be focused effectively at all imaging points. Mathematical analysis and computer simulation results show that the proposed method can provide uniform elevational resolution over a large depth of field. Especially, since the new method can construct a volume image with a limited number of transmit receive events using a full transmit aperture, it is suitable for real-time 3D imaging with high transmit power and volume rate.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.87-99
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• 2002

This paper describes a method for overcoming the motion artifacts inherent in synthetic aperture(SA) imaging. based on the investigation results as to the influence of a target motion on synthetic aperture techniques. This method uses a region-based motion compensation approach in which only the axial motion is estimated and compensated for a given region of interest(ROI) under the assumption that the whole ROI moves uniformly The estimated axial motion is calculated with a crosscorrelation(CC) method at the Point where the focused signal has the maximum energy within the ROI. We also presents a method for estimating the axial motion using the autocorrelation(AC) method that is widely used to estimate average Doppler frequency Both computer simulations and in vivo experiments show that the proposed methods can improve greatly the spatial resolution and SNR of ultrasound imaging by implementing the SA techniques for two-way dynamic focusing without motion artifacts. In addition the AC-barred motion compensation method provides almost the same results as the CC-based one, but with a dramatically reduced computational complexity.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.391-401
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• 2004

3D imaging systems using 2D phased arrays have a large number of active channels, compelling to use a very expensive and bulky beamforming hardware, and suffer from low volume rate because, in principle, at least one ultrasound transmit-receive event is necessary to construct each scanline. A high speed 3D imaging method using a cross array proposed previously to solve the above limitations can implement fast scanning and dynamic focusing in the lateral direction but suffer from low resolution except at the fixed transmit focusing along the elevational direction. To overcome these limitations, we propose a new real-time volumetric imaging method using a cross array based on the synthetic aperture technique. In the proposed method, ultrasound wave is transmitted successively using each elements of an 1D transmit array transducer, one at a time, which is placed along the elevational direction and for each firing, the returning pulse echoes are received using all elements of an 1D receive array transducer placed along the lateral direction. On receive, by employing the conventional dynamic focusing and synthetic aperture method along lateral and elevational directions, respectively, ultrasound waves can be focused effectively at all imaging points. In addition, in the proposed method, a volume of interest consisting of any required number of slice images, can be constructed with the same number of transmit-receive steps as the total number of transmit array elements. Computer simulation results show that the proposed method can provide the same and greatly improved resolutions in the lateral and elevational directions, respectively, compared with the 3D imaging method using a cross array based on the conventional fixed focusing. In the accompanying paper, we will also propose a new real-time 3D imaging method using a cross array for improving transmit power and elevational spatial resolution, which uses linear wave fronts on transmit.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.521-537
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• 2000

Ultrasonic imaging is the most widely used modality among modern imaging device for medical diagnosis and the system performance has been improved dramatically since early 90's due to the rapid advances in DSP performance and VLSI technology that made it possible to employ more sophisticated algorithms. This paper describes "main stream" digital signal processing functions along with the associated implementation considerations in modern medical ultrasound imaging systems. Topics covered include signal processing methods for resolution improvement, ultrasound imaging system architectures, roles and necessity of the applications of DSP and VLSI technology in the development of the medical ultrasound imaging systems, and array signal processing techniques for ultrasound focusing.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.109-118
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• 2000

본 논문에서는 일반적인 초음파 의료 영상 시스템에서 제공되는 단면 영상의 화질을 현저히 향상시킬 수 있는 영향 개선 기법들을 제안하였다. 제안된 기법들은 현재 대부분의 초음파 영상 시스템에 적용되는 접속기법과는 달리 한 프레임에 해당하는 RF 수신 신호들을 저장하고 합성구경 기법에 기반해서 수신신호들을 처리함으로써, 초음파 영상의 화질을 결정하는 주요 성능 변수인 해상도, 신호 대 잡음비, 주사속도 등을 개선시킬 수 있다. 제안된 기법들을 검증하기 위하여 RF 수신신호들을 저장할 수 있는 실험 장치를 제작한 후 실제 실험을 통하여 성능 평가를 수행하였다. 실험 결과 기존 시스템에 비해서 매우 우수한 영상을 얻을 수 있었으며, 시편 및 인체 데이터 경우에 모두 동일한 효과가 나타남을 확인 할 수 있었다.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.321-330
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• 2001

In this paper, we propose a new synthetic aperture focusing scheme for improving the lateral resolution which is one of the most important factors determining the quality of ultrasound imaging. The proposed scheme enables full round-trip dynamic focusing with approximately limited property. This properties are obtained through transmitting plane waves of which the traveling angle varies with the receive subaperture position, as opposed to stepping the spherical wave source across an array in other synthetic aperture focusing schemes, and employing dynamic focusing in receive. In this paper, the properties of the proposed scheme is analyzed in which a hypothetical infinite line source is used to transmit the plane waves and verified through computer simulation results. Also, we show that the proposed scheme is realizable with an array transducer with a finite aperture size. In summary, it is shown through comparison between the field contours of the proposed scheme and the conventional scheme that the proposed scheme can improve greatly the lateral resolution of ultrasound imaging.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.237-245
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• 2007

GB-SAR (Ground-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar) system is an imaging radar that obtains high resolution 2-D image through a synthetic aperture effect from the accurate linear-motion control of antenna on the ground. The highly versatile system configurations and accurate repeatability of GB-SAR operation allow one to accurately monitor the stability of surface scatterers with millimeter accuracy by SAR interferometry. In this paper we introduce the development of a GB-SAR system and show the possibilities of SAR polarimetry and interferometry such as DInSAR, Cross-Track InSAR, Delta-f InSAR, and PSInSAR.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2007.03a
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• pp.134-137
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• 2007

GB-SAR (Ground-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar) 시스템은 지상에서 안테나의 정밀한 일축 제어를 통해 합성 구경(synthetic aperture) 효과를 얻어 높은 해상도의 영상을 얻는 레이더 스캐너(Radar Scanner) 의 일종이다. GB-SAR는 장기간에 걸쳐 안정 적으로 마이크로파 영상 및 위상을 얻을 수 있기 때문에，SAR간섭기법(interferometry)을 통하여 비교적 안정된 산란체의 시간에 따른 변위를 cm 혹은 mm 정밀도로 정량적으로 얻을 수 있으며, 또한 긴밀도(coherence)를 통해 산란체의 안정성을 정성적으로 추출해 낼 수 있다. 이 논문에서는 GB-SAR 시스템의 개발을 소개하고 여러 가지 영상 획득 모드를 통하여 얻어진 SAR 영상， DInSAR, Cross-Track InSAR, ${\triangle}k-InSAR$, PSInSAR, 및 SAR Polarimetry 등 GB-SAR 시스템의 다양한 응용 가능성을 간략하게 보였다.