130 research outputs found
Lorentz Force Electrical Impedance Tomography
This article describes a method called Lorentz Force Electrical Impedance
Tomography. The electrical conductivity of biological tissues can be measured
through their sonication in a magnetic field: the vibration of the tissues
inside the field induces an electrical current by Lorentz force. This current,
detected by electrodes placed around the sample, is proportional to the
ultrasonic pressure, to the strength of the magnetic field and to the
electrical conductivity gradient along the acoustic axis. By focusing at
different places inside the sample, a map of the electrical conductivity
gradient can be established. In this study experiments were conducted on a
gelatin phantom and on a beef sample, successively placed in a 300 mT magnetic
field and sonicated with an ultrasonic transducer focused at 21 cm emitting 500
kHz bursts. Although all interfaces are not visible, in this exploratory study
a good correlation is observed between the electrical conductivity image and
the ultrasonic image. This method offers an alternative to detecting
pathologies invisible to standard ultrasonography
Acousto-electrical speckle pattern in Lorentz force electrical impedance tomography
Ultrasound speckle is a granular texture pattern appearing in ultrasound
imaging. It can be used to distinguish tissues and identify pathologies.
Lorentz force electrical impedance tomography is an ultrasound-based medical
imaging technique of the tissue electrical conductivity. It is based on the
application of an ultrasound wave in a medium placed in a magnetic field and on
the measurement of the induced electric current due to Lorentz force. Similarly
to ultrasound imaging, we hypothesized that a speckle could be observed with
Lorentz force electrical impedance tomography imaging. In this study, we first
assessed the theoretical similarity between the measured signals in Lorentz
force electrical impedance tomography and in ultrasound imaging modalities. We
then compared experimentally the signal measured in both methods using an
acoustic and electrical impedance interface. Finally, a bovine muscle sample
was imaged using the two methods. Similar speckle patterns were observed. This
indicates the existence of an "acousto-electrical speckle" in the Lorentz force
electrical impedance tomography with spatial characteristics driven by the
acoustic parameters but due to electrical impedance inhomogeneities instead of
acoustic ones as is the case of ultrasound imaging
Electromagnetic Hydrophone with Tomographic System for Absolute Velocity Field Mapping
The velocity and pressure of an ultrasonic wave can be measured by an
electromagnetic hydrophone made of a thin wire and a magnet. The ultrasonic
wave vibrates the wire inside a magnetic field, inducing an electrical current.
Previous articles reported poor spatial resolution of comparable hydrophones
along the axis of the wire. In this study, submillimetric spatial resolution
has been achieved by using a tomographic method. Moreover, a physical model is
presented for obtaining absolute measurements. A pressure differential of 8%
has been found between piezoelectric and electromagnetic hydrophone
measurements. These characteristics show this technique as an alternative to
standard hydrophones
Parallel integral projection transform for straight electrode localization in 3-D ultrasound images
In surgical practice, small metallic instruments are frequently used to perform various tasks inside the human body. We address the problem of their accurate localization in the tissue. Recent experiments using medical ultrasound have shown that this modality is suitable for real-time visualization of anatomical structures as well as the position of surgical instruments. We propose an image- processing algorithm that permits automatic estimation of the position of a line-segment-shaped object. This method was applied to the localization of a thin metallic electrode in biological tissue. We show that the electrode axis can be found through maximizing the parallel integral projection transform that is a form of the Radon transform. To accelerate this step, hierarchical mesh-grid algorithm is implemented. Once the axis position is known, localization of the electrode tip is performed. The method was tested on simulated images, on ultrasound images of a tissue mimicking phantom containing a metallic electrode, and on real ultrasound images from breast biopsy. The results indicate that the algorithm is robust with respect to variations in electrode position and speckle noise. Localization accuracy is of the order of hundreds of micrometers and is comparable to the ultrasound system axial resolution
Reduction of the Lamina Cribrosa Curvature After Trabeculectomy in Glaucoma
PURPOSE. To investigate whether the lamina cribrosa (LC) curvature is decreased after trabeculectomy. METHODS. Thirty-nine eyes of 39 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma who underwent trabeculectomy were included. Optic nerves were scanned by using enhanced-depth-imaging spectral-domain optical coherence tomography before and after trabeculectomy. The LC curvature was assessed by measuring the LC curvature index (LCCI) in seven horizontal Bscan images in each eye. RESULTS. The LCCI was significantly smaller at postoperative 6 months than at the preoperative level in all seven planes (all P < 0.001). Preoperative LCCI was associated with younger age at superior midperiphery, midhorizontal plane, inferior midperiphery (all P 0.005) and higher preoperative intraocular pressure (IOP) at superior and inferior midperiphery (both P ¼ 0.039). Younger age and larger preoperative LCCI were associated with a larger reduction of the LCCI at all three locations (P ¼ 0.003 and 0.031 at superior midperiphery, P ¼ 0.011 and 0.001 at midhorizontal plane, and P ¼ 0.014 and 0.005 at inferior midperiphery, respectively), whereas the percentage IOP lowering was associated at superior and inferior midperiphery (P ¼ 0.017 and 0.047, respectively). CONCLUSIONS. Lamina cribrosa curvature was reduced after trabeculectomy. This finding suggests that LC curvature may have value as a parameter relevant to optic nerve head biomechanics
A bulk modulus dependent linear model for acoustical imaging
Modeling the acoustical process of soft biological tissue imaging and understanding the consequences of the approximations required by. such modeling are key steps for accurately simulating ultrasonic scanning as well as estimating the scattering coefficient of the imaged matter. In this document, a linear solution to the inhomogeneous ultrasonic wave equation is proposed. The classical assumptions required for linearization are applied; however, no approximation is made in the mathematical development regarding density and speed of sound. This leads to an expression of the scattering term that establishes a correspondence between the signal measured by an ultrasound transducer and an intrinsic mechanical property of the imaged tissues. This expression shows that considering the scattering as a function of small variations in the density and speed of sound around their mean values along with classical assumptions in this domain is equivalent to associating the acoustical acquisition with a measure of the relative longitudinal bulk modulus. comparison of the model proposed to Jensen's earlier model shows that it is also appropriate to perform accurate simulations of the acoustical imaging process. (C) 2009 Acoustical Society of America. [DOI: 10.1121/1.3087427
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