Advanced Beamforming Algorithms for Transthoracic Ultrasound Imaging

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of deaths globally (17.9m each year according to WHO) of which the most common manifestation, IHD, remains the prominent cause. IHD accounts for similar mortality rates, 17% and 18%, of all deaths in men and women respectively stable Ischaemic Heart Disease (IHD).

Transthoracic ultrasound imaging of the heart is performed through the chest wall. The presence of rib bones results in a narrow viewing window through which the heart, a large moving target, can be imaged, resulting in suboptimal imaging the detailed anatomy of structures such as the Left Main Coronary Artery (LMCA) due to the posterior chest location.

This project aims to develop biomedical signal processing techniques specially optimised to image these small, deep structures based on a combination of state-of-the-art 2D matrix transducers, microbubble contrast agents and optimised application specific imaging regimes and signal processing chains.