Real-Time 2-D Coherent Multi-Transducer Ultrasound Imaging in Vivo

The field of view and resolution of ultrasound scanners are known to be limited by the probe aperture. Coherent multi-transducer ultrasound (CoMTUS) imaging has been proposed to create an extended aperture using multiple probes. Due to the computational load required to beamform and compound all the received data, the algorithm has been so far limited to offline operation. In this work, we present the first real-time CoMTUS implementation based on two ULA-OP 256 scanners connected to two 144-element linear arrays and a single personal computer. This imaging system was tested on a healthy volunteer at frame rates up to 20 Hz.