Linear and nonlinear characterization of microbubbles and tissue using the Nakagami statistical model

Contrary to the B-mode image which is influenced by the system settings and user operations, the Nakagami parametric image is only based on the backscattered statistics of the ultrasonic signals in a local phantom. Such an imaging principle allows the Nakagami image to quantify the local scatterer concentrations in the phantom and to extract the backscattering information from the regions of the weakest echoes that may be lost in the conventional B-mode image. Results show that the tissue and microbubbles characterization is more sensitive in the 2nd harmonic mode when a logarithmic transform is used. These results would be useful for improving the ultrasound image quality and contrast detection in nonlinear mode.