Direct estimation of aberrating delays in pulse-echo imaging systems.

Nearfield fluctuations in wave propagation velocity and system timing errors are among the sources of focusing aberrations in pulse-echo imaging systems. For situations in which the source of these errors can be modeled by a stationary phase aberrator placed in front of the transmitter and receiver aperture, appropriate electronic delays might be applied to the signals associated with each array element in order to restore the system to focus. A method is described and evaluated for estimating the set of aberrating delays in a linear array utilizing data from a single two-dimensional scan. The underlying principle is analogous to that of phase closure used for one-way passive interferometry and readily generalizes to two-dimensional arrays. Although the following theory is developed in the context of acoustic imaging, the general approach is applicable to other pulse-echo systems, such as radar.