12 research outputs found
Prototype of a low-cost 3D breast ultrasound imaging system
This work describes a setup of the new
acquisition system for 3D ultrasound images (i.e. B-mode) for
breast tomography. Since premature and precise breast
lesions diagnoses turn out in treatment more efficient and save
lives, we are looking for a more precise, less painful exams and
dose reduction for the patient. Therefore, a low cost scanner
mechanism was built aiming to accommodate breasts under
water while patient is laid down on a bed in which a robotic
arm guides the ultrasound probe to acquire 2D images. Then
3D image is reconstructed using the 2D images due to render
the mammary volume searching for lesions. The low cost
scanner was built using a regular ultrasound machine, linear
probe and major controls made by an Arduino Uno. We
compared the acquired phantom images with gold standard
images for mammary tissues diagnostics, i.e. Computerized
Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Images. This study
was evaluated using a paraffin-gel and mineral oil control
phantom. Results show that the provided module is convicting
enough to be used in local hospital as the next step of this
study
Ultrasound image based human gallbladder 3D modelling along with volume and stress level assessment
Purpose:
Three-dimensional (3D) gallbladder (GB) geometrical models are essential to GB motor function evaluation and
GB wall biomechanical property identification by employing finite element analysis (FEA) in GB disease diagnosis with
ultrasound systems. Methods for establishing such 3D geometrical models based on static two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound
images scanned along the long-axis/sagittal and short-axis/transverse cross-sections in routine GB disease diagnosis at the
beginning of emptying phase have not been documented in the literature so far.
Methods:
Based on two custom MATLAB codes composed, two images were segmented manually to secure two sets of the
scattered points for the long- and short-axis GB cross-section edges; and the points were best fitted with a piecewise cubic
spline function, and the short-axis cross-section edges were lofted along the long-axis to yield a 3D geometrical model, then
GB volume of the model was figured out. The model was read into SolidWorks for real surface generation and involved in
ABAQUS for FEA.
Results:
3D geometrical models of seven typical GB samples were established. Their GB volumes are with 15.5% and − 4.4%
mean errors in comparison with those estimated with the ellipsoid model and sum-of-cylinders method but can be correlated
to the latter very well. The maximum first principal in-plane stress in the 3D models is higher than in the ellipsoid model
by a factor of 1.76.
Conclusions: A numerical method was put forward here to create 3D GB geometrical models and can be applied to GB disease
diagnosis and GB shape analysis with principal component method potentially in the future
Micromachined Scanning Devices for 3D Acoustic Imaging
Acoustic imaging (including ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging) refers to a class of imaging methods that use high-frequency sound (ultrasound) waves to generate contrast images for the interrogated media. It provides 3D spatial distribution of structural, mechanical, and even compositional properties in different materials. To conduct 3D ultrasound imaging, 2D ultrasound transducer arrays followed by multi-channel high-frequency data acquisition (DAQ) systems are frequently used. However, as the quantity and density of the transducer elements and also the DAQ channels increase, the acoustic imaging system becomes complex, bulky, expensive, and also power consuming. This situation is especially true for 3D imaging systems, where a 2D transducer array with hundreds or even thousands of elements could be involved.
To address this issue, the objective of this research is to achieve new micromachined scanning devices to enable fast and versatile 2D ultrasound signal acquisition for 3D image reconstruction without involving complex physical transducer arrays and DAQ electronics. The new micromachined scanning devices studied in this research include 1) a water-immersible scanning mirror microsystem, 2) a micromechanical scanning transducer, and 3) a multi-layer linear transducer array. Especially, the water-immersible scanning mirror microsystem is capable of scanning focused ultrasound beam (from a single-element transducer) in two dimensions for 3D high-resolution acoustic microscopy. The micromechanical scanning transducer is capable of sending and receiving ultrasound signal from a single-element transducer to a 2D array of locations for 3D acoustic tomography. The multi-layer linear transducer array allows a unique electronic scanning scheme to simulate the functioning of a much larger 2D transducer array for 3D acoustic tomography. The design, fabrication and testing of the above three devices have been successfully accomplished and their applications in 3D acoustic microscopy and tomography have been demonstrated
Micromachined Scanning Devices for 3D Acoustic Imaging
Acoustic imaging (including ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging) refers to a class of imaging methods that use high-frequency sound (ultrasound) waves to generate contrast images for the interrogated media. It provides 3D spatial distribution of structural, mechanical, and even compositional properties in different materials. To conduct 3D ultrasound imaging, 2D ultrasound transducer arrays followed by multi-channel high-frequency data acquisition (DAQ) systems are frequently used. However, as the quantity and density of the transducer elements and also the DAQ channels increase, the acoustic imaging system becomes complex, bulky, expensive, and also power consuming. This situation is especially true for 3D imaging systems, where a 2D transducer array with hundreds or even thousands of elements could be involved.
To address this issue, the objective of this research is to achieve new micromachined scanning devices to enable fast and versatile 2D ultrasound signal acquisition for 3D image reconstruction without involving complex physical transducer arrays and DAQ electronics. The new micromachined scanning devices studied in this research include 1) a water-immersible scanning mirror microsystem, 2) a micromechanical scanning transducer, and 3) a multi-layer linear transducer array. Especially, the water-immersible scanning mirror microsystem is capable of scanning focused ultrasound beam (from a single-element transducer) in two dimensions for 3D high-resolution acoustic microscopy. The micromechanical scanning transducer is capable of sending and receiving ultrasound signal from a single-element transducer to a 2D array of locations for 3D acoustic tomography. The multi-layer linear transducer array allows a unique electronic scanning scheme to simulate the functioning of a much larger 2D transducer array for 3D acoustic tomography. The design, fabrication and testing of the above three devices have been successfully accomplished and their applications in 3D acoustic microscopy and tomography have been demonstrated
超音波スペックルトラッキングによる高解像度血管イメージングの研究
Tohoku University梅村晋一郎課
Computer-assisted motion compensation and analysis of perfusion ultrasound data
Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Informatik, Diss., 2014von Sebastian Schäfe
Non-invasive ultrasound monitoring of regional carotid wall structure and deformation in atherosclerosis
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Harvard--Massachusetts Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences and Technology, 2001.Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-242).Atherosclerosis is characterized by local remodeling of arterial structure and distensibility. Developing lesions either progress gradually to compromise tissue perfusion or rupture suddenly to cause catastrophic myocardial infarction or stroke. Reliable measurement of changes in arterial structure and composition is required for assessment of disease progression. Non-invasive carotid ultrasound can image the heterogeneity of wall structure and distensibility caused by atherosclerosis. However, this capability has not been utilized for clinical monitoring because of speckle noise and other artifacts. Clinical measures focus instead on average wall thickness and diameter distension in the distal common carotid to reduce sensitivity to noise. The goal of our research was to develop an effective system for reliable regional structure and deformation measurements since these are more sensitive indicators of disease progression. We constructed a system for freehand ultrasound scanning based on custom software which simultaneously acquires real-time image sequences and 3D frame localization data from an electromagnetic spatial localizer. With finite element modeling, we evaluated candidate measures of regional wall deformation.(cont.) Finally, we developed a multi-step scheme for robust estimation of local wall structure and deformation. This new strategy is based on a directionally-sensitive segmentation functional and a motion-region-of-interest constrained optical flow algorithm. We validated this estimator with simulated images and clinical ultrasound data. The results show structure estimates that are accurate and precise, with inter- and intra-observer reproducibility surpassing existing methods. Estimates of wall velocity and deformation likewise show good overall accuracy and precision. We present results from a proof-of-principle evaluation conducted in a pilot study of normal subjects and clinical patients. For one example, we demonstrate the combination of 2D image processing with 3D frame localization for visualization of the carotid volume. With slice localization, estimates of carotid wall structure and deformation can be derived for all axial positions along the carotid artery. The elements developed here provide the tools necessary for reliable quantification of regional wall structure and composition changes which result from atherosclerosis.by Raymond C. Chan.Ph.D
Automated Analysis of 3D Stress Echocardiography
__Abstract__
The human circulatory system consists of the heart, blood, arteries, veins and
capillaries. The heart is the muscular organ which pumps the blood through the
human body (Fig. 1.1,1.2). Deoxygenated blood flows through the right atrium
into the right ventricle, which pumps the blood into the pulmonary arteries. The
blood is carried to the lungs, where it passes through a capillary network that
enables the release of carbon dioxide and the uptake of oxygen. Oxygenated
blood then returns to the heart via the pulmonary veins and flows from the left
atrium into the left ventricle. The left ventricle then pumps the blood through the
aorta, the major artery which supplies blood to the rest of the body [Drake et a!.,
2005; Guyton and Halt 1996]. Therefore, it is vital that the cardiovascular system
remains healthy. Disease of the cardiovascular system, if untreated, ultimately
leads to the failure of other organs and death
Post formation processing of cardiac ultrasound data for enhancing image quality and diagnostic value
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) constitute a leading cause of death, including premature
death, in the developed world. The early diagnosis and treatment of CVDs is therefore of
great importance. Modern imaging modalities enable the quantification and analysis of the
cardiovascular system and provide researchers and clinicians with valuable tools for the
diagnosis and treatment of CVDs. In particular, echocardiography offers a number of
advantages, compared to other imaging modalities, making it a prevalent tool for assessing
cardiac morphology and function. However, cardiac ultrasound images can suffer from a
range of artifacts reducing their image quality and diagnostic value. As a result, there is great
interest in the development of processing techniques that address such limitations.
This thesis introduces and quantitatively evaluates four methods that enhance clinical cardiac
ultrasound data by utilising information which until now has been predominantly
disregarded. All methods introduced in this thesis utilise multiple partially uncorrelated
instances of a cardiac cycle in order to acquire the information required to suppress or
enhance certain image features. No filtering out of information is performed at any stage
throughout the processing. This constitutes the main differentiation to previous data
enhancement approaches which tend to filter out information based on some static or
adaptive selection criteria.
The first two image enhancement methods utilise spatial averaging of partially uncorrelated
data acquired through a single acoustic window. More precisely, Temporal Compounding
enhances cardiac ultrasound data by averaging partially uncorrelated instances of the imaged
structure acquired over a number of consecutive cardiac cycles. An extension to the notion of
spatial compounding of cardiac ultrasound data is 3D-to-2D Compounding, which presents a
novel image enhancement method by acquiring and compounding spatially adjacent (along
the elevation plane), partially uncorrelated, 2D slices of the heart extracted as a thin angular
sub-sector of a volumetric pyramid scan. Data enhancement introduced by both approaches
includes the substantial suppression of tissue speckle and cavity noise. Furthermore, by
averaging decorrelated instances of the same cardiac structure, both compounding methods
can enhance tissue structures, which are masked out by high levels of noise and shadowing,
increasing their corresponding tissue/cavity detectability.
The third novel data enhancement approach, referred as Dynamic Histogram Based Intensity
Mapping (DHBIM), investigates the temporal variations within image histograms of
consecutive frames in order to (i) identify any unutilised/underutilised intensity levels and
(ii) derive the tissue/cavity intensity threshold within the processed frame sequence.
Piecewise intensity mapping is then used to enhance cardiac ultrasound data. DHBIM
introduces cavity noise suppression, enhancement of tissue speckle information as well as
considerable increase in tissue/cavity contrast and detectability.
A data acquisition and analysis protocol for integrating the dynamic intensity mapping along
with spatial compounding methods is also investigated. The linear integration of DHBIM and
Temporal Compounding forms the fourth and final implemented method, which is also
quantitatively assessed. By taking advantage of the benefits and compensating for the
limitations of each individual method, the integrated method suppresses cavity noise and
tissue speckle while enhancing tissue/cavity contrast as well as the delineation of cardiac
tissue boundaries even when heavily corrupted by cardiac ultrasound artifacts.
Finally, a novel protocol for the quantitative assessment of the effect of each data
enhancement method on image quality and diagnostic value is employed. This enables the
quantitative evaluation of each method as well as the comparison between individual
methods using clinical data from 32 patients. Image quality is assessed using a range of
quantitative measures such as signal-to-noise ratio, tissue/cavity contrast and detectability
index. Diagnostic value is assessed through variations in the repeatability level of routine
clinical measurements performed on patient cardiac ultrasound scans by two experienced
echocardiographers. Commonly used clinical measures such as the wall thickness of the
Interventricular Septum (IVS) and the Left Ventricle Posterior Wall (LVPW) as well as the
cavity diameter of the Left Ventricle (LVID) and Left Atrium (LAD) are employed for
assessing diagnostic value
Characterising pattern asymmetry in pigmented skin lesions
Abstract. In clinical diagnosis of pigmented skin lesions asymmetric pigmentation is often indicative of
melanoma. This paper describes a method and measures for characterizing lesion symmetry. The estimate of
mirror symmetry is computed first for a number of axes at different degrees of rotation with respect to the
lesion centre. The statistics of these estimates are the used to assess the overall symmetry. The method is
applied to three different lesion representations showing the overall pigmentation, the pigmentation pattern,
and the pattern of dermal melanin. The best measure is a 100% sensitive and 96% specific indicator of
melanoma on a test set of 33 lesions, with a separate training set consisting of 66 lesions