ABSTRACT
Ultrasound is one of the essential medical imaging modalities. The main advantage of ultrasound is its ability to penetrate tissues without the generation of harmful ionizing radiation. Therefore, it is not surprising that obstetric ultrasonography is the method of choice for prenatal care such as the monitoring of fetuses. Other benefits of using ultrasound technology include the availability of real-time results and portability of imaging units. 254On the other hand, ultrasound image quality may not be comparable to other modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography. In addition, it is difficult for ultrasound to penetrate bones or air, making the imaging of certain organs (e.g., the heart) a challenge. To overcome those challenges, researchers have been exploring various techniques to improve performance as well as to reduce the size of ultrasonic transducers in order to effectively perform in vivo imaging.
