Volumetric Estimation of the Backscatter Coefficient With a Matrix Probe

Abstract

Evaluation of the backscatter coefficient (BSC) from soft tissues has many applications for medical diagnosis. However, electronic noise and spatial variations often affect BSC estimation, requiring spatial averaging inside a region of interest (ROI) that reduces spatial resolution compared to the B-mode images. This study explores 3D BSC estimation using a matrix probes to address this trade-off by allowing narrower ROIs without losing robustness. A comparison study between a 1024-element matrix probe (V8) and two linear probes (L12-5, L22-8) was made on homogeneous agar-based phantoms with Orgasol particles (5, 10, and $20~\mu $ m). BSC was computed using the reference phantom method, and robustness was assessed via the BSC standard deviation across ROIs. Results showed that, despite the lower B-mode resolution and longer correlation length between A-lines, volumetric estimation with a matrix probe offered comparable accuracy while enhancing robustness and resolution in the BSC map compared to the standard 2D estimation. These results could be beneficial for the analysis of complex heterogeneous media.