Pub Date : 2021-11-01Epub Date: 2021-09-01DOI: 10.1177/01617346211042526
Jianing Xi, Jiangang Chen, Zhao Wang, Dean Ta, Bing Lu, Xuedong Deng, Xuelong Li, Qinghua Huang
Large scale early scanning of fetuses via ultrasound imaging is widely used to alleviate the morbidity or mortality caused by congenital anomalies in fetal hearts and lungs. To reduce the intensive cost during manual recognition of organ regions, many automatic segmentation methods have been proposed. However, the existing methods still encounter multi-scale problem at a larger range of receptive fields of organs in images, resolution problem of segmentation mask, and interference problem of task-irrelevant features, obscuring the attainment of accurate segmentations. To achieve semantic segmentation with functions of (1) extracting multi-scale features from images, (2) compensating information of high resolution, and (3) eliminating the task-irrelevant features, we propose a multi-scale model with skip connection framework and attention mechanism integrated. The multi-scale feature extraction modules are incorporated with additive attention gate units for irrelevant feature elimination, through a U-Net framework with skip connections for information compensation. The performance of fetal heart and lung segmentation indicates the superiority of our method over the existing deep learning based approaches. Our method also shows competitive performance stability during the task of semantic segmentations, showing a promising contribution on ultrasound based prognosis of congenital anomaly in the early intervention, and alleviating the negative effects caused by congenital anomaly.
{"title":"Simultaneous Segmentation of Fetal Hearts and Lungs for Medical Ultrasound Images via an Efficient Multi-scale Model Integrated With Attention Mechanism.","authors":"Jianing Xi, Jiangang Chen, Zhao Wang, Dean Ta, Bing Lu, Xuedong Deng, Xuelong Li, Qinghua Huang","doi":"10.1177/01617346211042526","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01617346211042526","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Large scale early scanning of fetuses via ultrasound imaging is widely used to alleviate the morbidity or mortality caused by congenital anomalies in fetal hearts and lungs. To reduce the intensive cost during manual recognition of organ regions, many automatic segmentation methods have been proposed. However, the existing methods still encounter multi-scale problem at a larger range of receptive fields of organs in images, resolution problem of segmentation mask, and interference problem of task-irrelevant features, obscuring the attainment of accurate segmentations. To achieve semantic segmentation with functions of (1) extracting multi-scale features from images, (2) compensating information of high resolution, and (3) eliminating the task-irrelevant features, we propose a multi-scale model with skip connection framework and attention mechanism integrated. The multi-scale feature extraction modules are incorporated with additive attention gate units for irrelevant feature elimination, through a U-Net framework with skip connections for information compensation. The performance of fetal heart and lung segmentation indicates the superiority of our method over the existing deep learning based approaches. Our method also shows competitive performance stability during the task of semantic segmentations, showing a promising contribution on ultrasound based prognosis of congenital anomaly in the early intervention, and alleviating the negative effects caused by congenital anomaly.</p>","PeriodicalId":49401,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonic Imaging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39375447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-11-01Epub Date: 2021-09-13DOI: 10.1177/01617346211046314
Scott Anjewierden, Oussama M Wazni, D Geoffrey Vince, Mohamed Kanj, Walid Saliba, Russell J Fedewa
Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a common treatment of atrial fibrillation. However, current treatment is associated with a greater than 20% recurrence rate, in part due to inadequate monitoring of tissue viability during ablation. Spectral parameters, in particular cyclic variation of integrated backscatter (CVIB), have shown promise as early indicators of myocardial recovery from ischemia. Our aim was to demonstrate the use of spectral parameters to differentiate atrial myocardium before and after radiofrequency ablation. An AcuNav 10 F catheter was used to collect radiofrequency signals from the posterior wall of the left atrium of patients before and immediately after RFA for AF. The normalized power spectrum was obtained and three spectral parameters (integrated backscatter [IB], slope, and intercept) were extracted across two continuous heart cycles. Parameters were gated for ventricular end-diastole and compared before and after ablation. Additionally, the cyclic variation of each of these three parameters was generated as an average of the variation across the two recorded heart cycles. Data from 14 patients before and after ablation demonstrated a significant difference in the magnitude of the cyclic variation of integrated backscatter (9.0 vs. 6.0 dB, p < .001) and cyclic variation of the intercept (14.0 vs. 11.5 dB, p = .04). No significant difference was noted in the magnitude of the cyclic variation of the slope. Among spectral parameters gated for end-diastole, significant differences were noted in the slope (−4.39 vs. −3.73 dB/MHz, p = .002) and intercept (16.8 vs. 11.9 dB, p = .002). No significant difference was noted in the integrated backscatter. Spectral parameters are able to differentiate atrial myocardium before and immediately following ablation and may be useful in monitoring atrial ablations.
射频消融(RFA)是房颤的常用治疗方法。然而,目前的治疗与超过20%的复发率相关,部分原因是消融过程中对组织活力的监测不足。光谱参数,特别是循环变化的综合后向散射(CVIB),已显示出希望从缺血心肌恢复的早期指标。我们的目的是证明使用频谱参数来区分射频消融前后的心房心肌。采用AcuNav 10f导管采集AF射频消融前后患者左心房后壁射频信号,获得归一化功率谱,提取连续两个心脏周期的三个频谱参数(integrated backscatter [IB]、斜率和截距)。对消融前后心室舒张末期参数进行门控。此外,这三个参数的周期变化是作为两个记录的心脏周期变化的平均值生成的。来自14例患者消融前后的数据显示,综合后向散射循环变化幅度有显著差异(9.0 dB vs. 6.0 dB, p p = 0.04)。在坡度的循环变化幅度上没有显著差异。在舒张末期的频谱参数中,斜率(-4.39 vs. -3.73 dB/MHz, p = 0.002)和截距(16.8 vs. 11.9 dB, p = 0.002)存在显著差异。综合后向散射无显著差异。频谱参数能够区分消融前和消融后的心房心肌,可能对监测心房消融有用。
{"title":"Cyclic Variation of Spectral Parameters for the Differentiation of Atrial Myocardium Before and Immediately Following Radiofrequency Ablation.","authors":"Scott Anjewierden, Oussama M Wazni, D Geoffrey Vince, Mohamed Kanj, Walid Saliba, Russell J Fedewa","doi":"10.1177/01617346211046314","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01617346211046314","url":null,"abstract":"Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a common treatment of atrial fibrillation. However, current treatment is associated with a greater than 20% recurrence rate, in part due to inadequate monitoring of tissue viability during ablation. Spectral parameters, in particular cyclic variation of integrated backscatter (CVIB), have shown promise as early indicators of myocardial recovery from ischemia. Our aim was to demonstrate the use of spectral parameters to differentiate atrial myocardium before and after radiofrequency ablation. An AcuNav 10 F catheter was used to collect radiofrequency signals from the posterior wall of the left atrium of patients before and immediately after RFA for AF. The normalized power spectrum was obtained and three spectral parameters (integrated backscatter [IB], slope, and intercept) were extracted across two continuous heart cycles. Parameters were gated for ventricular end-diastole and compared before and after ablation. Additionally, the cyclic variation of each of these three parameters was generated as an average of the variation across the two recorded heart cycles. Data from 14 patients before and after ablation demonstrated a significant difference in the magnitude of the cyclic variation of integrated backscatter (9.0 vs. 6.0 dB, p < .001) and cyclic variation of the intercept (14.0 vs. 11.5 dB, p = .04). No significant difference was noted in the magnitude of the cyclic variation of the slope. Among spectral parameters gated for end-diastole, significant differences were noted in the slope (−4.39 vs. −3.73 dB/MHz, p = .002) and intercept (16.8 vs. 11.9 dB, p = .002). No significant difference was noted in the integrated backscatter. Spectral parameters are able to differentiate atrial myocardium before and immediately following ablation and may be useful in monitoring atrial ablations.","PeriodicalId":49401,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonic Imaging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39407627","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-11-01Epub Date: 2021-07-08DOI: 10.1177/01617346211029656
Rebeca Mirón Mombiela, Jelena Vucetic, Paloma Monllor, Jenny S Cárdenas-Herrán, Paloma Taltavull de La Paz, Consuelo Borrás
To determine the relationship between muscle echo intensity (EI) and fractal dimension (FD), and the diagnostic performance of both ultrasound parameters for the identification of frailty phenotype. A retrospective interpretation of ultrasound scans from a previous cohort (November 2014-February 2015) was performed. The sample included healthy participants <60 years old, and participants ≥60 divided into robust, pre-frail, and frail groups according to Fried frailty criteria. A region of interest of the rectus femoris from the ultrasound scan was segmented, and histogram function was applied to obtain EI. For fractal analysis, images were processed using two-dimensional box-counting techniques to calculate FD. Statistical analyses were performed with diagnostic performance tests. A total of 102 participants (mean age 63 ± 16, 57 men) were evaluated. Muscle fractal dimension correlated with EI (r = .38, p < .01) and showed different pattern in the scatter plots when participants were grouped by non-frail (control + robust) and frail (pre-frail + frail). The diagnostic accuracy for EI to categorize frailty was of 0.69 (95%CI: 0.59-0.78, p = .001), with high intra-rater (ICC: 0.98, 95%CI: 0.98-0.99); p < .001) and inter-rater (ICC: 0.89, 95%CI: 0.75-0.95; p < .001) reliability and low measurement error for both parameters (EI: -0.18, LOA95%: -10.8 to 10.5; FD: 0.00, LOA95%: -0.09 to 0.10) in arbitrary units. The ROC curve combining both parameters was not better than EI alone (p = .18). Muscle FD correlated with EI and showed different patterns according to frailty phenotype, with EI outperforming FD as a possible diagnostic tool for frailty.
探讨肌肉回声强度(EI)与分形维数(FD)之间的关系,以及两种超声参数对虚弱表型鉴别的诊断价值。对先前队列(2014年11月- 2015年2月)的超声扫描结果进行回顾性分析。样本包括健康参与者r =。38, p p = .001),具有较高的内比值(ICC: 0.98, 95%CI: 0.98-0.99);p p p = .18)。肌肉FD与EI相关,并根据虚弱表型表现出不同的模式,EI优于FD作为虚弱的可能诊断工具。
{"title":"Diagnostic Performance of Muscle Echo Intensity and Fractal Dimension for the Detection of Frailty Phenotype.","authors":"Rebeca Mirón Mombiela, Jelena Vucetic, Paloma Monllor, Jenny S Cárdenas-Herrán, Paloma Taltavull de La Paz, Consuelo Borrás","doi":"10.1177/01617346211029656","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01617346211029656","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>To determine the relationship between muscle echo intensity (EI) and fractal dimension (FD), and the diagnostic performance of both ultrasound parameters for the identification of frailty phenotype. A retrospective interpretation of ultrasound scans from a previous cohort (November 2014-February 2015) was performed. The sample included healthy participants <60 years old, and participants ≥60 divided into robust, pre-frail, and frail groups according to Fried frailty criteria. A region of interest of the rectus femoris from the ultrasound scan was segmented, and histogram function was applied to obtain EI. For fractal analysis, images were processed using two-dimensional box-counting techniques to calculate FD. Statistical analyses were performed with diagnostic performance tests. A total of 102 participants (mean age 63 ± 16, 57 men) were evaluated. Muscle fractal dimension correlated with EI (<i>r</i> = .38, <i>p</i> < .01) and showed different pattern in the scatter plots when participants were grouped by non-frail (control + robust) and frail (pre-frail + frail). The diagnostic accuracy for EI to categorize frailty was of 0.69 (95%CI: 0.59-0.78, <i>p</i> = .001), with high intra-rater (ICC: 0.98, 95%CI: 0.98-0.99); <i>p</i> < .001) and inter-rater (ICC: 0.89, 95%CI: 0.75-0.95; <i>p</i> < .001) reliability and low measurement error for both parameters (EI: -0.18, LOA95%: -10.8 to 10.5; FD: 0.00, LOA95%: -0.09 to 0.10) in arbitrary units. The ROC curve combining both parameters was not better than EI alone (<i>p</i> = .18). Muscle FD correlated with EI and showed different patterns according to frailty phenotype, with EI outperforming FD as a possible diagnostic tool for frailty.</p>","PeriodicalId":49401,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonic Imaging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/01617346211029656","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39164708","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-01Epub Date: 2021-06-28DOI: 10.1177/01617346211025267
Agata Wijata, Jacek Andrzejewski, Bartłomiej Pyciński
Needle visualization in the ultrasound image is essential to successfully perform the ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy. Automatic needle detection can significantly reduce the procedure time, false-negative rate, and highly improve the diagnosis. In this paper, we present a CNN-based, fully automatic method for detection of core needle in 2D ultrasound images. Adaptive moment estimation optimizer is proposed as CNN architecture. Radon transform is applied to locate the needle. The network's model was trained and tested on the total of 619 2D images from 91 cases of breast cancer. The model has achieved an average weighted intersection over union (the weighted Jaccard Index) of 0.986, F1 Score of 0.768, and angle RMSE of 3.73°. The obtained results exceed the other solutions by at least 0.27 and 7° in case of F1 score and angle RMSE, respectively. Finally, the needle is detected in a single frame averagely in 21.6 ms on a modern PC.
{"title":"An Automatic Biopsy Needle Detection and Segmentation on Ultrasound Images Using a Convolutional Neural Network.","authors":"Agata Wijata, Jacek Andrzejewski, Bartłomiej Pyciński","doi":"10.1177/01617346211025267","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01617346211025267","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Needle visualization in the ultrasound image is essential to successfully perform the ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy. Automatic needle detection can significantly reduce the procedure time, false-negative rate, and highly improve the diagnosis. In this paper, we present a CNN-based, fully automatic method for detection of core needle in 2D ultrasound images. Adaptive moment estimation optimizer is proposed as CNN architecture. Radon transform is applied to locate the needle. The network's model was trained and tested on the total of 619 2D images from 91 cases of breast cancer. The model has achieved an average weighted intersection over union (the weighted Jaccard Index) of 0.986, F1 Score of 0.768, and angle RMSE of 3.73°. The obtained results exceed the other solutions by at least 0.27 and 7° in case of F1 score and angle RMSE, respectively. Finally, the needle is detected in a single frame averagely in 21.6 ms on a modern PC.</p>","PeriodicalId":49401,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonic Imaging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/01617346211025267","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39116294","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-01Epub Date: 2021-07-08DOI: 10.1177/01617346211029542
Tommaso Vincenzo Bartolotta, Alessia Angela Maria Orlando, Maria Ilenia Schillaci, Luigi Spatafora, Mariangela Di Marco, Domenica Matranga, Alberto Firenze, Alessandra Cirino, Raffaele Ienzi
To compare microvascular flow imaging (MVFI) to conventional Color-Doppler (CDI) and Power-Doppler (PDI) imaging in the detection of vascularity of Focal Breast Lesions (FBLs). A total of 180 solid FBLs (size: 3.5-45.2 mm) detected in 180 women (age: 21-87 years) were evaluated by means of CDI, PDI, and MVFI. Two blinded reviewers categorized lesion vascularity in absent or present, and vascularity pattern as (a) internal; (b) vessels in rim; (c) combined. The presence of a "penetrating vessel" was assessed separately. Differences in vascularization patterns (chi2 test) and intra- and inter-observer agreement (Fleiss method) were calculated. ROC analysis was performed to assess performance of each technique in differentiating benign from malignant lesions. About 103/180 (57.2%) FBLs were benign and 77/180 (42.8%) were malignant. A statistically significant (p < .001) increase in blood flow detection was observed for both readers with MVFI in comparison to either CDI or PDI. Benign FBLs showed mainly absence of vascularity (p= .02 and p= .01 for each reader, respectively), rim pattern (p < .001 for both readers) or combined pattern (p = .01 and p = .04). Malignant lesions showed a statistically significant higher prevalence of internal flow pattern (p < .001 for both readers). The prevalence of penetrating vessels was significantly higher with MVFI in comparison to either CDI or PDI (p < .001 for both readers) and in the malignant FBLs (p < .001). ROC analysis showed MVFI (AUC = 0.70, 95%CI = [0.64-0.77]) more accurate than CDI (AUC = 0.67, 95%CI = [0.60-0.74]) and PDI (AUC = 0.67, 95%CI = [0.60-0.74]) though not significantly (p = .5436). Sensitivity/Specificity values for MVFI, PDI, and CDI were 76.6%/64.1%, 59.7%/73.8% and 58.4%/74.8%, respectively. Inter-reader agreement with MVFI was always very good (k-score 0.85-0.96), whereas with CDI and PDI evaluation ranged from good to very good. No differences in intra-observer agreement were noted. MVFI showed a statistically significant increase in the detection of the vascularization of FBLs in comparison to Color and Power-Doppler.
目的:比较微血管血流显像(MVFI)与常规彩色多普勒(CDI)和功率多普勒(PDI)在乳腺局灶性病变(FBLs)血管性检测中的应用价值。通过CDI、PDI和MVFI对180例年龄21 ~ 87岁的女性共检测到180例实性FBLs(大小:3.5 ~ 45.2 mm)进行评估。两名盲法审稿人将病变血管分布分为无或存在,血管分布模式分为(a)内部;(b)边缘容器;(c)的总和。“穿透血管”的存在被单独评估。计算血管化模式的差异(chi2检验)和观察者内部和观察者之间的一致性(Fleiss法)。进行ROC分析以评估每种技术在区分良恶性病变方面的表现。103/180例(57.2%)为良性,77/180例(42.8%)为恶性。p =。和p =。每个阅读器分别为01),边缘图案(p p =。01和p = .04)。恶性病变内流型的患病率有统计学意义(p p p p = .5436)。MVFI、PDI和CDI的敏感性/特异性分别为76.6%/64.1%、59.7%/73.8%和58.4%/74.8%。与MVFI的读者间一致性总是非常好(k-评分0.85-0.96),而与CDI和PDI的评价范围从好到非常好。没有注意到观察员内部协议的差异。与彩色多普勒和功率多普勒相比,MVFI对FBLs血管化的检测有统计学意义的增加。
{"title":"Ultrasonographic Detection of Vascularity of Focal Breast Lesions: Microvascular Imaging Versus Conventional Color and Power Doppler Imaging.","authors":"Tommaso Vincenzo Bartolotta, Alessia Angela Maria Orlando, Maria Ilenia Schillaci, Luigi Spatafora, Mariangela Di Marco, Domenica Matranga, Alberto Firenze, Alessandra Cirino, Raffaele Ienzi","doi":"10.1177/01617346211029542","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01617346211029542","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>To compare microvascular flow imaging (MVFI) to conventional Color-Doppler (CDI) and Power-Doppler (PDI) imaging in the detection of vascularity of Focal Breast Lesions (FBLs). A total of 180 solid FBLs (size: 3.5-45.2 mm) detected in 180 women (age: 21-87 years) were evaluated by means of CDI, PDI, and MVFI. Two blinded reviewers categorized lesion vascularity in absent or present, and vascularity pattern as (a) internal; (b) vessels in rim; (c) combined. The presence of a \"penetrating vessel\" was assessed separately. Differences in vascularization patterns (chi<sup>2</sup> test) and intra- and inter-observer agreement (Fleiss method) were calculated. ROC analysis was performed to assess performance of each technique in differentiating benign from malignant lesions. About 103/180 (57.2%) FBLs were benign and 77/180 (42.8%) were malignant. A statistically significant (<i>p</i> < .001) increase in blood flow detection was observed for both readers with MVFI in comparison to either CDI or PDI. Benign FBLs showed mainly absence of vascularity (<i>p</i> <i>=</i> .02 and <i>p</i> <i>=</i> .01 for each reader, respectively), rim pattern (<i>p</i> < .001 for both readers) or combined pattern (<i>p</i> = .01 and <i>p</i> = .04). Malignant lesions showed a statistically significant higher prevalence of internal flow pattern (<i>p</i> < .001 for both readers). The prevalence of penetrating vessels was significantly higher with MVFI in comparison to either CDI or PDI (<i>p</i> < .001 for both readers) and in the malignant FBLs (<i>p</i> < .001). ROC analysis showed MVFI (AUC = 0.70, 95%CI = [0.64-0.77]) more accurate than CDI (AUC = 0.67, 95%CI = [0.60-0.74]) and PDI (AUC = 0.67, 95%CI = [0.60-0.74]) though not significantly (<i>p</i> = .5436). Sensitivity/Specificity values for MVFI, PDI, and CDI were 76.6%/64.1%, 59.7%/73.8% and 58.4%/74.8%, respectively. Inter-reader agreement with MVFI was always very good (<i>k</i>-score 0.85-0.96), whereas with CDI and PDI evaluation ranged from good to very good. No differences in intra-observer agreement were noted. MVFI showed a statistically significant increase in the detection of the vascularization of FBLs in comparison to Color and Power-Doppler.</p>","PeriodicalId":49401,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonic Imaging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/01617346211029542","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39163382","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-01Epub Date: 2021-07-08DOI: 10.1177/01617346211026350
Rehman Ali
Investigations into Fourier beamforming for medical ultrasound imaging have largely been limited to plane-wave and single-element transmissions. The main aim of this work is to generalize Fourier beamforming to enable synthetic aperture imaging with arbitrary transmit sequences. When applied to focused transmit beams, the proposed approach yields a full-waveform-based alternative to virtual-source synthetic aperture, which has implications for both coherence imaging and sound speed estimation. When compared to virtual-source synthetic aperture and retrospective encoding for conventional ultrasound sequences (REFoCUS), the proposed imaging technique shows an 8.6 and 3.8 dB improvement in contrast over virtual source synthetic aperture and REFoCUS, respectively, and a 55% improvement in point target resolution over virtual source synthetic aperture. The proposed image reconstruction technique also demonstrates general imaging improvements in vivo, while avoiding limitations seen in prior techniques.
{"title":"Fourier-based Synthetic-aperture Imaging for Arbitrary Transmissions by Cross-correlation of Transmitted and Received Wave-fields.","authors":"Rehman Ali","doi":"10.1177/01617346211026350","DOIUrl":"10.1177/01617346211026350","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Investigations into Fourier beamforming for medical ultrasound imaging have largely been limited to plane-wave and single-element transmissions. The main aim of this work is to generalize Fourier beamforming to enable synthetic aperture imaging with arbitrary transmit sequences. When applied to focused transmit beams, the proposed approach yields a full-waveform-based alternative to virtual-source synthetic aperture, which has implications for both coherence imaging and sound speed estimation. When compared to virtual-source synthetic aperture and retrospective encoding for conventional ultrasound sequences (REFoCUS), the proposed imaging technique shows an 8.6 and 3.8 dB improvement in contrast over virtual source synthetic aperture and REFoCUS, respectively, and a 55% improvement in point target resolution over virtual source synthetic aperture. The proposed image reconstruction technique also demonstrates general imaging improvements in vivo, while avoiding limitations seen in prior techniques.</p>","PeriodicalId":49401,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonic Imaging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10895517/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39164709","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-01Epub Date: 2021-05-26DOI: 10.1177/01617346211018643
Minoru Aoyagi
The ultrasound phantoms used to educate medical students should not only closely mimic the ultrasound characteristics of human soft tissues but also be inexpensive and easy to manufacture. I have been studying handmade ultrasound phantoms and proposed an ultrasound phantom comprising calcium alginate hydrogel that met these requirements but caused a speckle pattern similar to that observed in ultrasound images of liver. In this study, I show that adding ethanol to the precursors used to fabricate the phantom reduces the speckle pattern. The ultrasound propagation velocity and attenuation coefficient of the phantom were 1561 ± 8 m/s and 0.54 ± 0.18 dB/cm/MHz, respectively (mean ± standard deviation), which are within the ranges of those in human soft tissues (1530-1600 m/s and 0.3-1.0 dB/cm/MHz, respectively). This phantom is easy to fabricate without special equipment, is inexpensive, and is suitable for elementary training on ultrasound diagnosis, operation of ultrasound-guided needles, and blind catheter insertion.
{"title":"Sodium Alginate Ultrasound Phantom for Medical Education.","authors":"Minoru Aoyagi","doi":"10.1177/01617346211018643","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01617346211018643","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The ultrasound phantoms used to educate medical students should not only closely mimic the ultrasound characteristics of human soft tissues but also be inexpensive and easy to manufacture. I have been studying handmade ultrasound phantoms and proposed an ultrasound phantom comprising calcium alginate hydrogel that met these requirements but caused a speckle pattern similar to that observed in ultrasound images of liver. In this study, I show that adding ethanol to the precursors used to fabricate the phantom reduces the speckle pattern. The ultrasound propagation velocity and attenuation coefficient of the phantom were 1561 ± 8 m/s and 0.54 ± 0.18 dB/cm/MHz, respectively (mean ± standard deviation), which are within the ranges of those in human soft tissues (1530-1600 m/s and 0.3-1.0 dB/cm/MHz, respectively). This phantom is easy to fabricate without special equipment, is inexpensive, and is suitable for elementary training on ultrasound diagnosis, operation of ultrasound-guided needles, and blind catheter insertion.</p>","PeriodicalId":49401,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonic Imaging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/01617346211018643","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39019798","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-01Epub Date: 2021-05-26DOI: 10.1177/01617346211017462
Barbara Stoelinga, Lynda Juffermans, Anniek Dooper, Marleen de Lange, Wouter Hehenkamp, Thierry Van den Bosch, Judith Huirne
Uterine disorders are often presented with overlapping symptoms. The microvasculature holds specific information important for diagnosing uterine disorders. Conventional sonography is an established diagnostic technique in gynecology, but is limited by its inability to image the microvasculature. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), is capable of imaging the microvasculature by means of intravascular contrast agents; that is, gas-filled microbubbles. We provide a literature overview on the use of CEUS in diagnosing myometrial and endometrial disorders, that is, fibroids, adenomyosis, leiomyosarcomas and endometrial carcinomas, as well as for monitoring and enhancing the effectiveness of minimally invasive therapies. A systematic literature search with quality assessment was performed until December 2020. In total 34 studies were included, published between 2007 and 2020.The results entail a description of contrast-enhancement patterns obtained from healthy tissue and from malignant and benign tissue; providing a first base for potential diagnostic differentiation in gynecology. In addition it is also possible to determine the degree of myometrial invasion in case of endometrial carcinoma using CEUS. The effectiveness of minimally invasive therapies for uterine disorders can safely and accurately be assessed with CEUS. In conclusion, the abovementioned applications of CEUS are promising and it is worth further exploring its full potential for gynecology by designing innovative and methodologically high-quality clinical studies.
{"title":"Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Imaging of Uterine Disorders: A Systematic Review.","authors":"Barbara Stoelinga, Lynda Juffermans, Anniek Dooper, Marleen de Lange, Wouter Hehenkamp, Thierry Van den Bosch, Judith Huirne","doi":"10.1177/01617346211017462","DOIUrl":"10.1177/01617346211017462","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Uterine disorders are often presented with overlapping symptoms. The microvasculature holds specific information important for diagnosing uterine disorders. Conventional sonography is an established diagnostic technique in gynecology, but is limited by its inability to image the microvasculature. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), is capable of imaging the microvasculature by means of intravascular contrast agents; that is, gas-filled microbubbles. We provide a literature overview on the use of CEUS in diagnosing myometrial and endometrial disorders, that is, fibroids, adenomyosis, leiomyosarcomas and endometrial carcinomas, as well as for monitoring and enhancing the effectiveness of minimally invasive therapies. A systematic literature search with quality assessment was performed until December 2020. In total 34 studies were included, published between 2007 and 2020.The results entail a description of contrast-enhancement patterns obtained from healthy tissue and from malignant and benign tissue; providing a first base for potential diagnostic differentiation in gynecology. In addition it is also possible to determine the degree of myometrial invasion in case of endometrial carcinoma using CEUS. The effectiveness of minimally invasive therapies for uterine disorders can safely and accurately be assessed with CEUS. In conclusion, the abovementioned applications of CEUS are promising and it is worth further exploring its full potential for gynecology by designing innovative and methodologically high-quality clinical studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":49401,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonic Imaging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/01617346211017462","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39019799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-01Epub Date: 2021-05-06DOI: 10.1177/01617346211013473
Chang-Lin Hu, Guo-Zua Wu, Chih-Chi Chang, Meng-Lin Li
Portable ultrasound has been extensively used for diagnostic applications in health monitoring, emergency rooms, and ambulances. However, these handheld ultrasound systems may suffer from heat and battery issues attributed to the large power consumption of the transmitter. Additionally, the largest portion of the direct current (DC) power consumption can be attributed to the amplifier in the digital-to-analog converter (DAC) of the transmitter and to the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) of the receiver. Therefore, the number of transmit/receive channels in a portable ultrasound instrument is one of the crucial design factors regarding heat and battery related issues. To address these problems, we propose an acoustic-field beamforming (AFB) technique for low-power portable ultrasound systems with a single receive and five transmit channels. Finally, the simulation, experimental, and in vivo results verified the feasibility of this approach.
{"title":"Acoustic-Field Beamforming for Low-Power Portable Ultrasound.","authors":"Chang-Lin Hu, Guo-Zua Wu, Chih-Chi Chang, Meng-Lin Li","doi":"10.1177/01617346211013473","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01617346211013473","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Portable ultrasound has been extensively used for diagnostic applications in health monitoring, emergency rooms, and ambulances. However, these handheld ultrasound systems may suffer from heat and battery issues attributed to the large power consumption of the transmitter. Additionally, the largest portion of the direct current (DC) power consumption can be attributed to the amplifier in the digital-to-analog converter (DAC) of the transmitter and to the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) of the receiver. Therefore, the number of transmit/receive channels in a portable ultrasound instrument is one of the crucial design factors regarding heat and battery related issues. To address these problems, we propose an acoustic-field beamforming (AFB) technique for low-power portable ultrasound systems with a single receive and five transmit channels. Finally, the simulation, experimental, and in vivo results verified the feasibility of this approach.</p>","PeriodicalId":49401,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonic Imaging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/01617346211013473","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"38956895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-01DOI: 10.1177/01617346211031090
A. Samir, M. Alexander, S. Audière, C. Baiu, J. Bamber, T. Bigelow, P. Carson, A. Chauhan, S. Chen, Y. Chen, G. Cloutier, C. D. Korte, A. Engel, T. Erpelding, R. Esquivel-Sirvent, B. Fowlkes, J. Gao, J. Gay, Z. Hah, T. Hall, J. Henry, A. Lex, T. Liu, T. Lynch, Jonathan Mamou, R. Managuli, L. Mankowski-Gettle, S. McAleavy, G. McLauglin, A. Milkowski, K. Nam, G. Ng, N. Obuchowski, J. Ormachea, S. Ouhda, M. Robbin, B. Rogozinski, J. Rubin, L. Sandrin, A. Sanyal, P. Sidhu, K. Thomenius, M. Thornton, X. Wang, J. Zagzebski, R. Barr, G. Ferraioli, V. Kumar, A. Ozturk, A. Han, R. Lavarello, T. Tuthill, T. Pierce, S. Rosenzweig, D. Fetzer, T. Stiles, M. Wang, I. Rosado-Méndez