Potential of microbubbles for use as point targets in phase aberration correction

Bubbles can be produced by vaporization of perfluorocarbon droplets of a few /spl mu/m diameter. These bubbles can reach over 100 /spl mu/m in diameter and their backscatter is calculated to be well more than 10 dB above that of several organ tissues. At appropriate sizes, small acoustic amplitudes, and diagnostic frequencies (2-15 MHz), bubbles can be approximated by the nonrigid sphere-scattering solution employed here. This paper concerns the bubble size and its implications on the backscatter amplitude and the phase error introduced in diagnostic ultrasound when assuming that the bubble acts as a point target for phase aberration correction.