Theoretical, Simulated, and Experimental Resolution Enhancement of a Transducer by Deconvolution of the Point Spread Function

Abstract

In developing a system for high-speed, high-resolution, large-area, ultrasonic scanning of steel rubber composite material, higher resolution was required of the imaging system than was possible given transducer constraints. Constraints on spot size were imposed by the operating conditions and design of the focusing hemispherical transducer (FHT) used. To enhance the resolution of the transducer, deconvolution of the acquired signal and the transducer’s point spread function (PSF) is performed. Specifically, for a transducer pair operated in through transmission conditions, the resolution of the receiver is enhanced by a deconvolution of the receiver’s PSF. This paper presents a theoretical review of this concept with results of numeric simulation and experiments showing resolution enhancement by deconvolution of an experimentally recovered PSF.