Rational Attenuation Compensation Via Adaptive Digital Filtering

Ultrasound in tissue exhibits attenuation that is both depth and frequency dependent. In conventional attenuation compensation approaches, attenuation of tissue is assumed to be independent or linearly dependent upon frequency although it has been shown that this assumption is not strictly valid. In this paper a more rational attenuation compensation approach, using adaptive digital filters, is reported. This approach takes into consideration the non-linear frequency dependence of attenuation. The effect of adaptive filtering on B-Mode resolution is illustrated.