Analysis of textural patterns in gray-scale ultrasonography is frequently the basis for clinical diagnosis. It has been found, however, that texture is shaped not only by tissue microstructure but by characteristics of the imaging system as well. This paper describes computer and analytic models which give insight into the role of the imager in texture formation. It is shown that spatial resolution and texture granularity are not simply related, and that axial and lateral texture are determined by unrelated phenomena. Experimental results are given which confirm the modeling.
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