Improvement of Microbubbles Localization Using Adaptive Beamforming in Super-Resolution Ultrasound Imaging

Super-Resolution Ultrasound Imaging (SRUI) based on Ultrasound Localization Microscopy (ULM) has been developed to achieve resolution beyond the diffraction limit. The use of adaptive beamformers in ultrasound super-resolution imaging can significantly reduce the localization error, especially in areas where the capillaries are close together or also where they become multi-branched. This allows us to better see the shape and structure of the capillaries in the final image. In this study, we were able to show that the use of adaptive beamformers reduces the error in the final image and improves the demonstration of the capillaries structure. Investigation of beamformers proved that the Eigenspace-Based Minimum Variance (EIB-MV) beamformer combined with Coherence Factor (CF) coefficient was more accurate than other beamformers in localization. According to the parameters examined, EIB-MV with CF coefficient, with Precision of 87.5% and F
1
score of 81.9%, performed better than the conventional method with a Precision of 79.5% and F
1
score of 70.1%. Also, in the study of the RMSE criterion, it was observed that the EIB-MV beamformer with a value of 11.4 µm performed better than the DAS beamformer with a value of 14.5 µm.