This study investigates shear wave phase map reconstruction using a limited number of color flow images (CFIs) acquired with a color Doppler ultrasound imaging instrument. We propose an efficient reconstruction method to considerably reduce the number of CFIs required for reconstruction and compare this method with Fourier analysis-based color Doppler shear wave imaging. The proposed method uses a two-step phase reconstruction process, including an initial phase map derived from four CFIs using an advanced iterative algorithm of optical interferometry. The second step reduces phase artifacts in the initial phase map using an iterative correction procedure that cycles between the Fourier and inverse Fourier domains while imposing directional filtering and total variation regularization. We demonstrate the efficacy of this method using synthetic and experimental data of a breast phantom and human breast tissue. Our results show that the proposed method maintains image quality and reduces the number of CFIs required to four; previous methods have required at least 32 CFIs to achieve equivalent image quality. The proposed method is applicable to real-time shear wave elastography using a continuous shear wave produced by a mechanical vibrator.
Ultrasonic attenuation is one of the primary parameters of interest in Quantitative Ultrasound (QUS). Non-invasive monitoring of tissue attenuation can provide valuable diagnostic and prognostic information to the physician. The Reference Phantom Method (RPM) was introduced as a way of mitigating some of the system-related effects and biases to facilitate clinical QUS applications. In this paper, under the assumption of diffuse scattering, a probabilistic model of the backscattered signal spectrum is used to derive a theoretical lower bound on the estimation variance of the attenuation coefficient using the Spectral-Difference RPM. The theoretical lower bound is compared to simulated and experimental attenuation estimation statistics in tissue-mimicking (TM) phantoms. Estimation standard deviation (STD) of the sample attenuation in a region of interest (ROI) of the TM phantom is measured for various combinations of processing parameters, including Radio-Frequency (RF) data block length (i.e., window length) from 3 to 17 mm, RF data block width from 10 to 100 A-lines, and number of RF data blocks per attenuation estimation ROI from 3 to 10. In addition to the Spectral-Difference RPM, local attenuation estimation for simulated and experimental data sets was also performed using a modified implementation of the Spectral Fit Method (SFM). Estimation statistics of the SFM are compared to theoretical variance predictions from the literature.1 Measured STD curves are observed to lie above the theoretical lower bound curves, thus experimentally verifying the validity of the derived bounds. This theoretical framework benefits tissue characterization efforts by isolating processing parameter ranges that could provide required precision levels in estimation of the ultrasonic attenuation coefficient using Spectral Difference methods.
Ultrasound elastography is an imaging modality that has been used to diagnose tumors of the breast, thyroid, and prostate. Both axial strain elastography and axial shear strain elastography (ASSE) have shown significant potentials to differentiate between benign and malignant tumors. Elevated interstitial fluid pressure (IFP) is a characteristic of many malignant tumors and a major barrier in targeted drug delivery therapies. This parameter, however, has not received significant attention in ultrasound elastography and, in general, in most diagnostic imaging modalities yet. In this paper, we investigate the effect of an underlying IFP contrast on ultrasound axial strain and axial shear strain imaging using finite element analysis. Our results show that an underlying contrast in IFP creates a new contrast mechanism in both the axial strain and axial shear strain elastographic images. This information may be important for a better interpretation of elastographic images of tumors.
Malignant renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a diverse set of diseases, which are independently difficult to characterize using conventional MRI and CT protocols due to low temporal resolution to study perfusion characteristics. Because different disease subtypes have different prognoses and involve varying treatment regimens, the ability to determine RCC subtype non-invasively is a clinical need. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has been assessed as a tool to characterize kidney lesions based on qualitative and quantitative assessment of perfusion patterns, and we hypothesize that this technique might help differentiate disease subtypes. Twelve patients with RCC confirmed pathologically were imaged using contrast-enhanced ultrasound. Time intensity curves were generated and analyzed quantitatively using 10 characteristic metrics. Results showed that peak intensity (p = 0.001) and time-to-80% on wash-out (p = 0.004) provided significant differences between clear cell, papillary, and chromophobe RCC subtypes. These results suggest that CEUS may be a feasible test for characterizing RCC subtypes.
Viscoelasticity Imaging (VEI) has been proposed to measure relaxation time constants for characterization of in vivo breast lesions. In this technique, an external compression force on the tissue being imaged is maintained for a fixed period of time to induce strain creep. A sequence of ultrasound echo signals is then utilized to generate time-resolved strain measurements. Relaxation time constants can be obtained by fitting local time-resolved strain measurements to a viscoelastic tissue model (e.g., a modified Kevin-Voigt model). In this study, our primary objective is to quantitatively evaluate the contrast transfer efficiency (CTE) of VEI, which contains useful information regarding image interpretations. Using an open-source simulator for virtual breast quasi-static elastography (VBQE), we conducted a case study of contrast transfer efficiency of VEI. In multiple three-dimensional (3D) numerical breast phantoms containing various degrees of heterogeneity, finite element (FE) simulations in conjunction with quasi-linear viscoelastic constitutive tissue models were performed to mimic data acquisition of VEI under freehand scanning. Our results suggested that there were losses in CTE, and the losses could be as high as –18 dB. FE results also qualitatively corroborated clinical observations, for example, artifacts around tissue interfaces.
This work is presented with the objective to assess quantitatively the impact of modified anisotropic diffusion–based enhancement method of Mittal et al. in computer-aided classification of focal liver lesions. This assessment was made before and after enhancement of clinically acquired ultrasound images with the comparison of (a) discrimination capability of radiologically important texture contrast feature using box plot and p-value statistics and (b) test results of designed computer-aided classification schemes to detect/classify focal liver tissues using receiver operating characteristic curves. The results reveal that the application of enhancement method on clinically acquired ultrasound image may effectively improve the confidence of clinicians/radiologists in computer-aided diagnostic solutions to detect and classify focal liver lesions.
Fatty liver disease is progressive and may not cause any symptoms at early stages. This disease is potentially fatal and can cause liver cancer in severe stages. Therefore, diagnosing and staging fatty liver disease in early stages is necessary. In this paper, a novel method is presented to classify normal and fatty liver, as well as discriminate three stages of fatty liver in ultrasound images. This study is performed with 129 subjects including 28 normal, 47 steatosis, 42 fibrosis, and 12 cirrhosis images. The proposed approach uses back-scan conversion of ultrasound sector images and is based on a hierarchical classification. The proposed algorithm is performed in two parts. The first part selects the optimum regions of interest from the focal zone of the back-scan–converted ultrasound images. In the second part, discrimination between normal and fatty liver is performed and then steatosis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis are classified in a hierarchical basis. The wavelet packet transform and gray-level co-occurrence matrix are used to obtain a number of statistical features. A support vector machine classifier is used to discriminate between normal and fatty liver, and stage fatty cases. The results of the proposed scheme clearly illustrate the efficiency of this system with overall accuracy of 94.91% and also specificity of more than 90%.
Diffuse liver diseases, such as hepatitis, fatty liver, and cirrhosis, are becoming a leading cause of fatality and disability all over the world. Early detection and diagnosis of these diseases is extremely important to save lives and improve effectiveness of treatment. Ultrasound imaging, a noninvasive diagnostic technique, is the most commonly used modality for examining liver abnormalities. However, the accuracy of ultrasound-based diagnosis depends highly on expertise of radiologists. Computer-aided diagnosis systems based on ultrasound imaging assist in fast diagnosis, provide a reliable "second opinion" for experts, and act as an effective tool to measure response of treatment on patients undergoing clinical trials. In this review, we first describe appearance of liver abnormalities in ultrasound images and state the practical issues encountered in characterization of diffuse liver diseases that can be addressed by software algorithms. We then discuss computer-aided diagnosis in general with features and classifiers relevant to diffuse liver diseases. In later sections of this paper, we review the published studies and describe the key findings of those studies. A concise tabular summary comparing image database, features extraction, feature selection, and classification algorithms presented in the published studies is also exhibited. Finally, we conclude with a summary of key findings and directions for further improvements in the areas of accuracy and objectiveness of computer-aided diagnosis.
Quasi-static ultrasound elastography is an emerging diagnostic imaging modality for determining the stiffness of pathologically changed soft tissues, which do not show significant differences in acoustic impedance for B-mode imaging. Although some methods were applied to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNRe) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNRe) of the constructed elastogram, nonuniform strain distribution at the internal boundary of a hard inclusion, even with the uniform displacement on the surface, is an inherent mechanical effect and results in distortion at the detected lesion boundary. To overcome such stress concentrations, a new elastographic modality was proposed, where the elastograms from different angles throughout 360° were compounded. The strain field and subsequent ultrasound images were calculated using the finite element method (FEM) and Field II, respectively, from which the elastograms were constructed. The performance of complete angular compound elastography with varied interval angles, lesion sizes, and ratios of Young’s moduli of the lesion to the background was simulated and compared with that of conventional axial strain elastography. It is found that viewing the lesion from only about 10 angles (interval of 36°) would significantly improve the image quality of elastogram (increasing SNRe by at least 13% and CNRe by at least 5.8 dB), reduce the lesion distortion in the lateral direction, and enhance the sensitivity, resolution, and accuracy of lesion detection. A preliminary phantom study showed similar improvements. Altogether, complete angular compound elastography improves the elastogram quality and reduces the mechanical effects in lesion detection.
Transverse oscillation (TO) is a real-time ultrasound vector flow method implemented on a commercial scanner. The TO setup was examined on a flowrig with constant and pulsatile flow. Subsequently, 25 patients undergoing cardiac bypass surgery were scanned intraoperatively with TO on the ascending aorta and compared to transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and pulmonary artery catheter thermodilution (PACTD). On the flowrig, TO had a precision of 5.5%, 9.4% and 14.7%, a percentage error of 18.2%, 14.6% and 40.7%, and a mean bias of 0.4 cm/s, 36.8 ml/min and 32.4 ml/min for velocity and flow rate (constant and pulsatile) estimation. The correlation coefficients for all flowrig evaluations were 0.99 indicating systematic bias. After bias correction, the percentage error was reduced to 11.5%, 12.6% and 15.9% for velocity and flow rate (constant and pulsatile) estimation. In the in vivo setup, TO, TEE, and PACTD had a precision of 21.9%, 13.7%, and 12.0%. TO compared with TEE and PACTD had a mean bias of 12.6 cm/s and –0.08 l/min, and a percentage error of 23.4%, and 36.7%, respectively. The percentage error was reduced to 22.9% for the TEE comparison, but increased to 43.8% for the PACTD comparison, after correction for the systematic bias found in the flowrig. TO is a reliable and precise method for velocity and flow rate estimation on a flowrig. However, TO with the present setup, is not interchangeable with PACTD for cardiac volume flow estimation, but is a reliable and precise angle-independent ultrasound alternative for velocity estimation of cardiac flow.
Imaging plaque microvasculature with contrast-enhanced intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) could help clinicians evaluate atherosclerosis and guide therapeutic interventions. In this study, we evaluated the performance of chirp-coded ultraharmonic imaging using a modified IVUS system (iLab™, Boston Scientific/Scimed) equipped with clinically available peripheral and coronary imaging catheters. Flow phantoms perfused with a phospholipid-encapsulated contrast agent were visualized using ultraharmonic imaging at 12 MHz and 30 MHz transmit frequencies. Flow channels with diameters as small as 0.8 mm and 0.5 mm were visualized using the peripheral and coronary imaging catheters. Radio-frequency signals were acquired at standard IVUS rotation speed, which resulted in a frame rate of 30 frames/s. Contrast-to-tissue ratios up to 17.9 ± 1.11 dB and 10.7 ± 2.85 dB were attained by chirp-coded ultraharmonic imaging at 12 MHz and 30 MHz transmit frequencies, respectively. These results demonstrate the feasibility of performing ultraharmonic imaging at standard frame rates with clinically available IVUS catheters using chirp-coded excitation.
Acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) Surveillance of Subcutaneous Hemorrhage (ASSH) has been previously demonstrated to differentiate bleeding phenotype and responses to therapy in dogs and humans, but to date, the method has lacked experimental validation. This work explores experimental validation of ASSH in a poroelastic tissue-mimic and in vivo in dogs. The experimental design exploits calibrated flow rates and infusion durations of evaporated milk in tofu or heparinized autologous blood in dogs. The validation approach enables controlled comparisons of ASSH-derived bleeding rate (BR) and time to hemostasis (TTH) metrics. In tissue-mimicking experiments, halving the calibrated flow rate yielded ASSH-derived BRs that decreased by 44% to 48%. Furthermore, for calibrated flow durations of 5.0 minutes and 7.0 minutes, average ASSH-derived TTH was 5.2 minutes and 7.0 minutes, respectively, with ASSH predicting the correct TTH in 78% of trials. In dogs undergoing calibrated autologous blood infusion, ASSH measured a 3-minute increase in TTH, corresponding to the same increase in the calibrated flow duration. For a measured 5% decrease in autologous infusion flow rate, ASSH detected a 7% decrease in BR. These tissue-mimicking and in vivo preclinical experimental validation studies suggest the ASSH BR and TTH measures reflect bleeding dynamics.
Earliest detection and diagnosis of breast cancer reduces mortality rate of patients by increasing the treatment options. A novel method for the segmentation of breast ultrasound images is proposed in this work. The proposed method utilizes undecimated discrete wavelet transform to perform multiresolution analysis of the input ultrasound image. As the resolution level increases, although the effect of noise reduces, the details of the image also dilute. The appropriate resolution level, which contains essential details of the tumor, is automatically selected through mean structural similarity. The feature vector for each pixel is constructed by sampling intra-resolution and inter-resolution data of the image. The dimensionality of feature vectors is reduced by using principal components analysis. The reduced set of feature vectors is segmented into two disjoint clusters using spatial regularized fuzzy c-means algorithm. The proposed algorithm is evaluated by using four validation metrics on a breast ultrasound database of 150 images including 90 benign and 60 malignant cases. The algorithm produced significantly better segmentation results (Dice coef = 0.8595, boundary displacement error = 9.796, dvi = 1.744, and global consistency error = 0.1835) than the other three state of the art methods.
Accurate description of myocardial deformation in the left ventricle is a three-dimensional problem, requiring three normal strain components along its natural axis, that is, longitudinal, radial, and circumferential strains. Although longitudinal strains are best estimated from long-axis views, radial and circumferential strains are best depicted in short-axis views. An algorithm that utilizes a polar grid for short-axis views previously developed in our laboratory for a Lagrangian description of tissue deformation is utilized for radial and circumferential displacement and strain estimation. Deformation of the myocardial wall, utilizing numerical simulations with ANSYS, and a finite-element analysis–based canine heart model were adapted as the input to a frequency-domain ultrasound simulation program to generate radiofrequency echo signals. Clinical in vivo data were also acquired from a healthy volunteer. Local displacements estimated along and perpendicular to the ultrasound beam propagation direction are then transformed into radial and circumferential displacements and strains using the polar grid based on a pre-determined centroid location. Lagrangian strain variations demonstrate good agreement with the ideal strain when compared with Eulerian results. Lagrangian radial and circumferential strain estimation results are also demonstrated for experimental data on a healthy volunteer. Lagrangian radial and circumferential strain tracking provide accurate results with the assistance of the polar grid, as demonstrated using both numerical simulations and in vivo study.
Catheter-based intravascular imaging modalities are being developed to visualize pathologies in coronary arteries, such as high-risk vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques known as thin-cap fibroatheroma, to guide therapeutic strategy at preventing heart attacks. Mounting evidences have shown three distinctive histopathological features—the presence of a thin fibrous cap, a lipid-rich necrotic core, and numerous infiltrating macrophages—are key markers of increased vulnerability in atherosclerotic plaques. To visualize these changes, the majority of catheter-based imaging modalities used intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) as the technical foundation and integrated emerging intravascular imaging techniques to enhance the characterization of vulnerable plaques. However, no current imaging technology is the unequivocal "gold standard" for the diagnosis of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques. Each intravascular imaging technology possesses its own unique features that yield valuable information although encumbered by inherent limitations not seen in other modalities. In this context, the aim of this review is to discuss current scientific innovations, technical challenges, and prospective strategies in the development of IVUS-based multi-modality intravascular imaging systems aimed at assessing atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability.
We describe macro-indentation techniques for estimating the elastic modulus of soft hydrogels. Our study describes (a) conditions under which quasi-static indentation can validate dynamic shear-wave imaging estimates and (b) how each of these techniques uniquely biases modulus estimates as they couple to the sample geometry. Harmonic shear waves between 25 and 400 Hz were imaged using ultrasonic Doppler and optical coherence tomography methods to estimate shear dispersion. From the shear-wave speed of sound, average elastic moduli of homogeneous samples were estimated. These results are compared directly with macroscopic indentation measurements measured two ways. One set of measurements applied Hertzian theory to the loading phase of the force–displacement curves using samples treated to minimize surface adhesion forces. A second set of measurements applied Johnson–Kendall–Roberts theory to the unloading phase of the force–displacement curve when surface adhesions were significant. All measurements were made using gelatin hydrogel samples of different sizes and concentrations. Agreement within 5% among elastic modulus estimates was achieved for a range of experimental conditions. Consequently, a simple quasi-static indentation measurement using a common gel can provide elastic modulus measurements that help validate dynamic shear-wave imaging estimates.
The objective of this study was to examine the ultrasonography (US) and ultrasound elastography (USE) features of thyroid incidentalomas in a population exposed to iodine deficiency and to investigate whether baseline elasticity scores (ES) predicted changes in thyroid nodule US characteristics. We conducted a two-year follow-up pilot study of thyroid incidentalomas by US and USE. One sonographer performed the US and USE examination on the same apparatus at baseline and at follow-up. We evaluated 83 incidental thyroid nodules detected in a population study. The follow-up period saw no change in median thyroid nodule diameter (p = 0.18) or in the prevalence of thyroid nodule US characteristics (hypoechoic: p = 0.05; solid nodule: p = 1.00; microcalcifications: p = 0.55). Individual changes in thyroid nodule diameter (>20%) were seen in 23% (11% had decreased, and 12% had increased in diameter). Changes in ES were frequently observed; 37% changed from ES A + B to ES C + D, and 27% changed from ES C + D to ES A + B. In a multivariate logistic regression model, we found no association between baseline ES and individual changes in nodule size. In an area with mild iodine deficiency and a high prevalence of thyroid nodules, thyroid USE performed on thyroid incidentalomas did not predict individual changes in thyroid nodule size.
This work presents the experimental investigation of vibration maps of a linear array transducer with 192 piezoelements by means of a laser Doppler vibrometer at various manufacturing finishing steps in air and in water. Over the years, many researchers have investigated cross-coupling in fabricated prototypes but not in arrays at various manufacturing stages. Only the central element of the array was driven at its working frequency of 5 MHz. The experimental results showed that the contributions of cross-coupling depend on the elements of the acoustic stack: Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT), kerf, filler, matching layer, and lens. The oscillation amplitudes spanned from (6 ± 38%) nm to (110 ± 40%) nm when the energized element was tested in air and from (6 ± 57%) nm to (80 ± 67%) nm when measurements were obtained under water. The best inter-element isolation of –22 dB was measured in air after cutting the kerfs, whereas the poorest isolation was –2 dB under water with an acoustic lens (complete acoustic stack). The vibration pattern in water showed a higher standard deviation on the displacement measurements than the one obtained in air, due to the influence of acousto-optic interactions. The amount increased to 30% in water, as estimated by a comparison with the measurements in air. This work describes a valuable method for manufacturers to investigate the correspondence between the manufacturing process and the quantitative evaluations of the resulting effects.
The aim of our study was to determine the accuracy of a new three-dimensional (3D) endoluminal ultrasound probe in assessing the levator ani muscle and anal sphincter complex. A total of 85 patients who had undergone concurrent 3D endovaginal (EVUS) and 3D endoanal (EAUS) ultrasound with both the standard BK 2052 probe and the new high-definition BK 8838 probes were included. For EVUS volumes, the levator ani deficiency (LAD) scores were calculated for each probe. For the EAUS volumes, any defects in the external anal sphincter (EAS) and the internal anal sphincter (IAS) visualized with each probe were recorded. The 3D volumes were evaluated in a blinded fashion. Appropriate statistics were utilized to assess absolute agreements between each pair of imaging modalities. The mean age of the patient population was 59 years (SD ± 10.76), the mean body mass index (BMI) was 28.36 (SD ± 5.99), and the median parity was 2 (range 1, 7). In all, 93% of the patients were Caucasian, 31% had stage 0 or 1 prolapse, while 59% had stage 2 prolapse. The mean total LAD score obtained on EVUS with the standard and the new probes were 11.49 (SD ± 4.94) and 11.53 (SD ± 5.01), respectively, p = 0.3778. Among the 53 patients who had EAUS with both probes, exact agreement for visualization of EAS and IAS for the standard and the new probes was 83% and 98%, respectively. Both transducers can be used for endovaginal imaging of the levator ani muscles interchangeably. Both transducers can be used for endoanal imaging of anal sphincter complex interchangeably.
Acoustic form factors have been used to model the frequency dependence of acoustic scattering in phantoms and tissues. This work demonstrates that a broad range of scatterer sizes, individually well represented by Faran theory or a Gaussian form factor, is not accurately described by a single effective scatterer from either of these models. Contributions from a distribution of discrete scatterer sizes for two different form factor functions (Gaussian form factors and scattering functions from Faran’s theory) were calculated and linearly combined. Composite form factors created from Gaussian distributions of scatterer sizes centered at 50 µm with standard deviations of up to = 40 µm were fit to each scattering model between 2 and 12 MHz. Scatterer distributions were generated using one of two assumptions: the number density of the scatterer diameter distribution was Gaussian distributed, or the volume fraction of each scatterer diameter in the distribution was Gaussian distributed. Each simulated form factor was fit to a single-diameter form factor model for Gaussian and exponential form factors. The mean-squared error (MSE) between the composite simulated data and the best-fit single-diameter model was smaller with an exponential form factor model, compared with a Gaussian model, for distributions with standard deviations larger than 30% of the centroid value. In addition, exponential models were shown to have better ability to distinguish between Faran scattering model-based distributions with varying center diameters than the Gaussian form factor model. The evidence suggests that when little is known about the scattering medium, an exponential scattering model provides a better first approximation to the scattering correlation function for a broad distribution of spherically symmetric scatterers than when a Gaussian form factor model is assumed.
Computerized tumor segmentation on breast ultrasound (BUS) images remains a challenging task. In this paper, we proposed a new method for semi-automatic tumor segmentation on BUS images using Gaussian filtering, histogram equalization, mean shift, and graph cuts. The only interaction required was to select two diagonal points to determine a region of interest (ROI) on an input image. The ROI image was shrunken by a factor of 2 using bicubic interpolation to reduce computation time. The shrunken image was smoothed by a Gaussian filter and then contrast-enhanced by histogram equalization. Next, the enhanced image was filtered by pyramid mean shift to improve homogeneity. The object and background seeds for graph cuts were automatically generated on the filtered image. Using these seeds, the filtered image was then segmented by graph cuts into a binary image containing the object and background. Finally, the binary image was expanded by a factor of 2 using bicubic interpolation, and the expanded image was processed by morphological opening and closing to refine the tumor contour. The method was implemented with OpenCV 2.4.3 and Visual Studio 2010 and tested for 38 BUS images with benign tumors and 31 BUS images with malignant tumors from different ultrasound scanners. Experimental results showed that our method had a true positive rate (TP) of 91.7%, a false positive (FP) rate of 11.9%, and a similarity (SI) rate of 85.6%. The mean run time on Intel Core 2.66 GHz CPU and 4 GB RAM was 0.49 ± 0.36 s. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method may be useful in BUS image segmentation.
This article demonstrates the measurement of shear wave speed and shear speed dispersion of biomaterials using a chirp signal that launches waves over a range of frequencies. A biomaterial is vibrated by two vibration sources that generate shear waves inside the medium, which is scanned by an ultrasound imaging system. Doppler processing of the acquired signal produces an image of the square of vibration amplitude that shows repetitive constructive and destructive interference patterns called "crawling waves." With a chirp vibration signal, successive Doppler frames are generated from different source frequencies. Collected frames generate a distinctive pattern which is used to calculate the shear speed and shear speed dispersion. A special reciprocal chirp is designed such that the equi-phase lines of a motion slice image are straight lines. Detailed analysis is provided to generate a closed-form solution for calculating the shear wave speed and the dispersion. Also several phantoms and an ex vivo human liver sample are scanned and the estimation results are presented.
In this preliminary study, we compared two noninvasive techniques for imaging intratumoral physiological conditions to immunohistochemical staining in a murine breast cancer model. MDA-MB-231 tumors were implanted in the mammary pad of 11 nude rats. Ultrasound and photoacoustic (PA) scanning were performed using a Vevo 2100 scanner (Visualsonics, Toronto, Canada). Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) was used to create maximum intensity projections as a measure of tumor vascularity. PAs were used to determine total hemoglobin signal (HbT), oxygenation levels in detected blood (SO2 Avg), and oxygenation levels over the entire tumor area (SO2 Tot). Tumors were then stained for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2), and the platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule CD31. Correlations between findings were analyzed using Pearson’s coefficient. Significant correlation was observed between CEUS-derived vascularity measurements and both PA indicators of blood volume (r = 0.49 for HbT, r = 0.50 for SO2 Tot). Cox-2 showed significant negative correlation with SO2 Avg (r = –0.49, p = 0.020) and SO2 Tot (r = –0.43, p = 0.047), while CD31 showed significant negative correlation with CEUS-derived vascularity (r = –0.47, p = 0.036). However, no significant correlation was observed between VEGF expression and any imaging modality (p > 0.08). Photoacoustically derived HbT and SO2 Tot may be a good indicator of tumor fractional vascularity. While CEUS correlates with CD31 expression, photoacoustically derived SO2 Avg appears to be a better predictor of Cox-2 expression.
Several studies have investigated Nakagami imaging to complement the B-scan in tissue characterization. The noise-induced artifact and the parameter ambiguity effect can affect performance of Nakagami imaging in the detection of variations in scatterer concentration. This study combined multifocus image reconstruction and the noise-assisted correlation algorithm (NCA) into the algorithm of Nakagami imaging to suppress the artifacts. A single-element imaging system equipped with a 5 MHz transducer was used to perform the brightness/depth (B/D) scanning of agar phantoms with scatterer concentrations ranging from 2 to 32 scatterers/mm3. Experiments were also carried out on a mass with some strong point reflectors in a breast phantom using a commercial scanner with a 7.5 MHz linear array transducer operated at multifocus mode. The multifocus radiofrequency (RF) signals after the NCA process were used for Nakagami imaging. In the experiments on agar phantoms, an increasing scatterer concentration from 2 to 32 scatterers/mm3 led to backscattered statistics ranging from pre-Rayleigh to Rayleigh distributions, corresponding to the increase in the Nakagami parameter measured in the focal zone from 0.1 to 0.8. However, the artifacts in the far field resulted in the Nakagami parameters of various scatterer concentrations to be close to 1 (Rayleigh distribution), making Nakagami imaging difficult to characterize scatterers. In the same scatterer concentration range, multifocus Nakagami imaging with the NCA simultaneously suppressed two types of artifacts, making the Nakagami parameter increase from 0.1 to 0.8 in the focal zone and from 0.18 to 0.7 in the far field, respectively. In the breast phantom experiments, the backscattered statistics of the mass corresponded to a high degree of pre-Rayleigh distribution. The Nakagami parameter of the mass before and after artifact reduction was 0.7 and 0.37, respectively. The results demonstrated that the proposed method for artifact reduction allows a sensitive and effective scatterer characterization by Nakagami imaging.
Tissue-mimicking phantoms that are currently available for routine biomedical applications may not be suitable for high-temperature experiments or calibration of thermal modalities. Therefore, design and fabrication of customized thermal phantoms with tailored properties are necessary for thermal therapy studies. A multitude of thermal phantoms have been developed in liquid, solid, and gel forms to simulate biological tissues in thermal therapy experiments. This article is an attempt to outline the various materials and techniques used to prepare thermal phantoms in the gel state. The relevant thermal, electrical, acoustic, and optical properties of these phantoms are presented in detail and the benefits and shortcomings of each type are discussed. This review could assist the researchers in the selection of appropriate phantom recipes for their in vitro study of thermal modalities and highlight the limitations of current phantom recipes that remain to be addressed in further studies.
We developed new forward-viewing matrix transducers consisting of double ring arrays of 118 total PZT elements integrated into catheters used to deploy medical interventional devices. Our goal is 3D ultrasound guidance of medical device implantation to reduce x-ray fluoroscopy exposure. The double ring arrays were fabricated on inner and outer custom polyimide flexible circuits with inter-element spacing of 0.20 mm and then wrapped around an 11 French (Fr) catheter to produce a 15 Fr catheter (outer diameter [O.D.]). We used a braided cabling technology to connect the elements to the Volumetrics Medical Imaging (VMI) real-time 3D ultrasound scanner. Transducer performance yielded an average –6 dB fractional bandwidth of 49% ± 11% centered at 4.4 MHz for 118 elements. Real-time 3D cardiac scans of the in vivo pig model yielded good image quality including en face views of the tricuspid valve and real-time 3D guidance of an endo-myocardial biopsy catheter introduced into the left ventricle.
The purpose of the limiter circuits used in the ultrasound imaging systems is to pass low-voltage echo signals generated by ultrasonic transducers while preventing high-voltage short pulses transmitted by pulsers from damaging front-end circuits. Resistor–diode–based limiters (a 50 resistor with a single cross-coupled diode pair) have been widely used in pulse-echo measurement and imaging system applications due to their low cost and simple architecture. However, resistor–diode–based limiters may not be suited for high-frequency ultrasound transducer applications since they produce large signal conduction losses at higher frequencies. Therefore, we propose a new limiter architecture utilizing power MOSFETs, which we call a power MOSFET–diode–based limiter. The performance of a power MOSFET–diode–based limiter was evaluated with respect to insertion loss (IL), total harmonic distortion (THD), and response time (RT). We compared these results with those of three other conventional limiter designs and showed that the power MOSFET–diode–based limiter offers the lowest IL (–1.33 dB) and fastest RT (0.10 µs) with the lowest suppressed output voltage (3.47 Vp-p) among all the limiters at 70 MHz. A pulse-echo test was performed to determine how the new limiter affected the sensitivity and bandwidth of the transducer. We found that the sensitivity and bandwidth of the transducer were 130% and 129% greater, respectively, when combined with the new power MOSFET–diode–based limiter versus the resistor–diode–based limiter. Therefore, these results demonstrate that the power MOSFET–diode–based limiter is capable of producing lower signal attenuation than the three conventional limiter designs at higher frequency operation.