Backscatter coefficient measurements using a reference phantom to extract depth-dependent instrumentation factors.

In previous work, we demonstrated that accurate backscatter coefficient measurements are obtained with a data reduction method that explicitly accounts for experimental factors involved in recording echo data. An alternative, relative processing method for determining the backscatter coefficient and the attenuation coefficient is presented here. This method involves comparison of echo data from a sample with data recorded from a reference phantom whose backscatter and attenuation coefficients are known. A time domain processing technique is used to extract depth and frequency dependent signal ratios for the sample and the reference phantom. The attenuation coefficient and backscatter coefficient of the sample are found from these ratios. The method is tested using tissue-mimicking phantoms with known scattering and attenuation properties.