Comparison of various photoacoustic imaging reconstruction algorithms under realistic scenarios: a simulation study

Abstract

Undoubtedly, photoacoustic tomography (PAT) is a promising technique unveiling physiological information in the biomedical imaging field. However, targeting optically/acoustically non-uniform biological tissues and receiving signals with finite aperture/band-limited ultrasonic transducers have been practical limitations that hinder the clinical application of PAT. This study closely analyzes the effects of four main limiting factors named limited view (LV), limited bandwidth (LB), lossy medium (LM), and heterogeneous medium (HM) and compared the adverse effects given from the four factors. First, radiofrequency (RF) data was generated assuming a realistic situation using k-Wave, a MATLAB-based wave propagation-simulating tool. A single 4 mm-sized circular target was used, and physical parameters of the detector array were designed referring to a commercial linear probe (GE9LD, General Electric). Supposing double-aperture, full-band signal reception from the lossless, homogeneous medium as a baseline, RF data were acquired under a successive accumulation of the limiting factors in order of LV, LB, LM, and HM. Second, the obtained RF datasets were reconstructed with 7 representative beamforming algorithms; delay and sum (DAS), delay multiply and sum, pth root DAS, minimum variance, filtered back-projection, frequency-domain reconstruction, and time reversal. Among obtained images, common graphical features for each limiting factor were specified. Lastly, we quantitatively assessed the similarity between the image and the actual target with peak signal-to-noise ratio and structural similarity as performance indices. As a result, the characteristic features from each limiting factor were commonly identified on the reconstructed image, and the performance indices sequentially degraded following the sequence of practical conditions. ? COPYRIGHT SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.