This invention employs multiple
ultrasound pulse firings of either alternating phase and / or amplitude to detect nonlinear fundamental and
subharmonic signals from microbubble contrast agents within living tissue, at high frequencies (≧15 MHz), e.g., with a
linear array transducer. It can be shown that the contrast-to-tissue ratio (CTR) decreases with increasing
ultrasound frequency because of
nonlinear ultrasound propagation in tissue. However, using the
subharmonic signal in addition to the nonlinear fundamental
harmonic component, rather than the conventional second
harmonic used at lower frequencies, provides appreciable
signal strength to overcome the limitations of nonlinear tissue propagation. Additionally, the method provides for the ability to switch, at some desired frequency above 20 MHz, into a purely alternating
phase inversion acquisition, in combination with
bandpass filtering of the
subharmonic frequency band, minimizing the losses in CTR as the frequency increases. This maintains contrast sensitivity for more limited fields of view, as
penetration depth will be limited at higher frequencies. Thus, within the same micro-
ultrasound imaging
system, many applications of microbubble detection can be achieved with a wide range of frequencies that covers both resolution and sensitivity requirements.