3-DIMENSIONAL IMAGING USING A FREQUENCY-DOMAIN SYNTHETIC APERTURE FOCUSING TECHNIQUE

A frequency domain method for implementing the synthetic aperture focusing technique is developed and demonstrated using computer simulation. As presented, the method is well suited to reconstructing ultrasonic reflectivity over a volumetric region of space using measurements made over an adjacent two-dimensional (2-D) aperture. Extensive use is made of both one- and two-dimensional Fourier transformations to perform the required temporal and spatial correlation required by the technique, making the method well suited to general purpose computing hardware. Results are presented demonstrating both the lateral and axial resolution achieved by the method. The effect of limiting the reconstruction bandwidth is also demonstrated.