A new method has been developed for the automatic correction for atten
uation in ultrasonic pulse-echo imaging, By assuming that a specified
relationship holds between local attenuation and local backscatter thr
oughout each pulse-echo signal, a gain factor mag be calculated that m
ore appropriately compensates for attenuation at every depth, The rati
onale depends on the observation that, broadly speaking, materials tha
t backscatter strongly also attenuate strongly, The new method has bee
n evaluated by postprocessing clinical B-scans following video frame c
apture, The images formed demonstrated the success of the algorithm in
imaging homogeneous tissues at a constant grey level, irrespective of
variations in the attenuation of overlying tissue. For example, the f
etal lung was imaged uniformly irrespective of the presence of rib or
spine, and prostatic tissue was imaged uniformly through a partial bla
dder window. Spatial resolution and speckle patterns are retained, The
method is suitable for real-time application. (C) 1997 World Federati
on for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.