Clutter reduction for ultrasound images and associated devices, systems, and methods

An ultrasound imaging system, comprising:

• a transducer array;
• and
• a processor configured for communication with the transducer array, wherein the processor is configured to:
• activate the transducer array to obtain a plurality of signals, wherein the plurality of signals comprises a first portion of signals associated with a first subaperture and a second portion of signals associated with a second subaperture;
• generate an image based on the plurality of signals;
• generate a grating lobe image layer based on a first relationship comprising the first portion of signals associated with the first subaperture and the second portion of signals associated with the second subaperture;
• generate a noise image layer based on a second relationship comprising the first portion of signals associated with the first subaperture and the second portion of signals associated with the second subaperture;
• generate a clutter reduction mask based on a third relationship comprising the grating lobe image layer and the noise image layer;
• apply the clutter reduction mask to the image to generate a masked image;
• and
• output the masked image to a display in communication with the processor,
• wherein the grating lobe image layer comprises an image layer formed of signals representative of a grating lobe artifact in the image and not signals representative of noise in the image,
• wherein the noise image layer comprises an image layer formed of signals representative of noise in the image and not signals representative of the grating lobe artifact in the image.