Engineering Commons^™

Impact Of Local Attenuation Approximations When Estimating Correlation Length From Backscattered Ultrasound Echoes, Timothy A. Bigelow, William D. O'Brien

Timothy A. Bigelow

Estimating the characteristic correlation length of tissue microstructure from the backscattered power spectrum could improve the diagnostic capability of medical ultrasound. Previously, size estimates were obtained after compensating for source focusing, the frequency-dependent attenuation along the propagation path (total attenuation), and the frequency-dependent attenuation in the scattering region (local attenuation). In this study, the impact of approximations of the local attenuation on the scatterer size estimate was determined using computer simulations and theoretical analysis. The simulations used Gaussian impedance distributions with an effective radius of 25 μm randomly positioned in a homogeneous half-space sonified by a spherically focused source (f/1 …