Attenuation estimation by repeatedly solving the forward scattering problem

Reverberation clutter signal suppression in ultrasound attenuation estimation using wavelet-based robust principal component analysis

Objective. Ultrasound attenuation coefficient estimation (ACE) has diagnostic potential for clinical applications such as quantifying fat content in the liver. Previously, we have proposed a system-independent ACE technique based on spectral normalization of different frequencies, called the reference frequency method (RFM). This technique does not require a well-calibrated reference phantom for normalization. However, this method may be vulnerable to severe reverberation clutter introduced by the body wall. The clutter superimposed on liver echoes may bias the estimation. Approach. We proposed to use robust principal component analysis, combined with wavelet-based sparsity promotion, to suppress the severe reverberation clutters. The capability to mitigate the reverberation clutters was validated through phantom and in vivo studies. Main Results. In the phantom studies with added reverberation clutters, higher normalized cross-correlation and smaller mean absolute errors were attained as compared to RFM results without the proposed method, demonstrating the capability to reconstruct tissue signals from reverberations. In a pilot patient study, the correlation between ACE and proton density fat fraction (PDFF), a measurement of liver fat by MRI as a reference standard, was investigated. The proposed method showed an improvement of the correlation (coefficient of determination, R = 0.82) as compared with the counterpart without the proposed method (R = 0.69). Significance: The proposed method showed the feasibility of suppressing the reverberation clutters, providing an important basis for the development of a robust ACE with large reverberation clutters.

Fast linear least-squares method for ultrasound attenuation and backscatter estimation

The ultrasonic attenuation and backscatter coefficients of tissues are relevant acoustic parameters due to their wide range of clinical applications. In this paper, a linear least-squares method for the estimation of these coefficients in a homogeneous region of interest based on pulse-echo measurements is proposed. The method efficiently fits an ultrasound backscattered signal model to the measurements in both the frequency and depth dimension simultaneously at a low computational cost. It is demonstrated that the inclusion of depth information has a positive effect particularly on the accuracy of the estimated attenuation. The sensitivity of the attenuation and backscatter coefficients' estimates to several predefined parameters such as the window length, window overlap and usable bandwidth of the spectrum is also studied. Comparison of the proposed method with a benchmark approach based on dynamic programming highlights better performance of our method in estimating these coefficients, both in terms of accuracy and computation time. Further analysis of the computation time as a function of the predefined parameters indicates our method's potential to be used in real-time clinical settings.

Estimating the ultrasound attenuation coefficient using complementary Golay codes

Accurate evaluation of ultrasonic wave attenuation is important in many medical applications of ultrasound. The aim of this work is to present a thorough analysis of the effectiveness of using complementary Golay coded sequences (CGCS) during the evaluation of ultrasound attenuation in tissue-like materials, especially at greater depths or at high attenuation. In order to compare the results of the attenuation measurement with the use of CGCS transmission and a short two sine cycles pulse, ultrasound backscattered from medium with predefined attenuation of 0.3, 0.7 and 2 dB/[MHz × cm] were simulated. Also for the same transmission signals, measurements of ultrasound echoes scattered in the tissue phantom with an attenuation of 0.5 dB/[MHz × cm] were performed. In the case of numerically simulated data, for the CGCS excitation, the maximum depth for which the attenuation was correctly determined increased from 55 mm to 80 mm for the 0.7 dB/[MHz × cm] phantom and from 20 mm to 50 mm for the 2 dB/[MHz × cm] phantom compared to excitation of the transducer with a short two sine cycles pulse. When the measurement data obtained using the tissue phantom was used to estimate the attenuation coefficient, the relative error was determined to be 6% and 16% for the depths of 10 mm and 40 mm for the short two sine cycles pulse excitation, respectively. Corresponding values for CGCS excitation and considered depths were 2% and 4%. The use of CGSC sequence during attenuation measurements increases measurement accuracy and can improve medical diagnostic techniques.