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Korta Martiartu N, Salemi Yolgunlu P, Frenz M, Jaeger M. Pulse-echo ultrasound attenuation tomography. Phys Med Biol 2024; 69:115016. [PMID: 38648803 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/ad41b2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2023] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
Objective.We present the first fully two-dimensional attenuation imaging technique developed for pulse-echo ultrasound systems. Unlike state-of-the-art techniques, which use line-by-line acquisitions, our method uses steered emissions to constrain attenuation values at each location with multiple crossing wave paths, essential to resolve the spatial variations of this tissue property.Approach.At every location, we compute normalized cross-correlations between the beamformed images that are obtained from emissions at different steering angles. We demonstrate that their log-amplitudes provide the changes between attenuation-induced amplitude losses undergone by the different incident waves. This allows us to formulate a linear tomographic problem, which we efficiently solve via a Tikhonov-regularized least-squares approach.Main results.The performance of our tomography technique is first validated in numerical examples and then experimentally demonstrated in custom-made tissue-mimicking phantoms with inclusions of varying size, echogenicity, and attenuation. We show that this technique is particularly good at resolving lateral variations in tissue attenuation and remains accurate in media with varying echogenicity.Significance.Based on a similar principle, this method can be easily combined with computed ultrasound tomography in echo mode for speed-of-sound imaging, paving the way towards a multi-modal ultrasound tomography framework characterizing multiple acoustic tissue properties simultaneously.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naiara Korta Martiartu
- Institute of Applied Physics, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Parisa Salemi Yolgunlu
- Institute of Applied Physics, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Martin Frenz
- Institute of Applied Physics, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Michael Jaeger
- Institute of Applied Physics, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
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Argueta-Lozano AK, Castañeda-Martinez L, Bass V, Mateos MJ, Castillo-López JP, Perez-Badillo MP, Aguilar-Cortazar LO, Porras-Reyes F, Sollozo-Dupont MI, Torres-Robles F, Márquez-Flores J, Villaseñor-Navarro Y, Esquivel-Sirvent R, Rosado-Mendez IM. Inter- and Intra-Operator Variability of Regularized Backscatter Quantitative Ultrasound for the Characterization of Breast Masses. JOURNAL OF ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE : OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE 2023; 42:2567-2582. [PMID: 37490582 DOI: 10.1002/jum.16292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 05/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/27/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Here we report on the intra- and inter-operator variability of the backscatter coefficient (BSC) estimated with a new low-variance quantitative ultrasound (QUS) approach applied to breast lesions in vivo. METHODS Radiofrequency (RF) echo signals were acquired from 29 BIRADS 4 and 5 breast lesions in 2 sequential cohorts following 2 imaging protocols: cohort 1) radial and antiradial views, and cohort 2) short- and long-axis views. Protocol 2 was implemented after retraining and discussion on how to improve reproducibility. Each patient was scanned by at least 2 of 3 radiologists; each performed 3 acquisitions with transducer and patient repositioning in between acquisitions. BSC was estimated using a low-variance QUS approach based on regularization. Intra- and inter-operator variability of the intra-lesion median BSC was evaluated with a multifactorial ANOVA test (P-values) and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). RESULTS Inter-operator variability was only significant in the first protocol (P < .007); ICCinter = .77 (95% CI .71-.82), indicating good inter-operator agreement. In the second protocol, the inter-operator variability was not significant (P > .05) and agreement was excellent (ICCinter = .92 [.89-.94]). In both protocols, the intra-operator variability was not significant. CONCLUSIONS Our findings demonstrate the need for standardizing image acquisition protocols for backscatter-based QUS to reduce inter-operator variability and ensure its successful translation to the characterization of suspicious breast masses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana K Argueta-Lozano
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, Mexico
| | | | - Vivian Bass
- Instituto de Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Maria-Julieta Mateos
- Graduate Program in Computer Science and Engineering, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, Mexico
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Fabian Torres-Robles
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Jorge Márquez-Flores
- Instituto de Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, Mexico
| | | | - Raul Esquivel-Sirvent
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Ivan M Rosado-Mendez
- Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
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Rosado-Mendez IM. Recent Advances in Attenuation Estimation. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2023; 1403:85-104. [PMID: 37495916 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-21987-0_6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
This chapter reviews some of the recent advances in the estimation of the local and the total attenuation, with an emphasis on reducing the bias and variance of the estimates. A special focus is put on describing the effect of power spectrum estimation on bias and variance, the introduction of regularization strategies, as well as on eliminating the need to use reference phantoms for compensating for system dependent effects.
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Khan MHR, Hasan MK. Attenuation estimation of soft tissue with reference-free minimization of system effects. Biomed Signal Process Control 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bspc.2019.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
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Guerrero QW, Fan L, Brunke S, Milkowski A, Rosado-Mendez IM, Hall TJ. Power Spectrum Consistency among Systems and Transducers. ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE & BIOLOGY 2018; 44:2358-2370. [PMID: 30093341 PMCID: PMC6511990 DOI: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2018.05.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2018] [Revised: 05/10/2018] [Accepted: 05/11/2018] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Use of the reference phantom method for computing acoustic attenuation and backscatter is widespread. However, clinical application of these methods has been limited by the need to acquire reference phantom data. We determined that the data acquired from 11 transducers of the same model and five clinical ultrasound systems of the same model produce equivalent estimates of reference phantom power spectra. We describe that the contribution to power spectral density variance among systems and transducers equals that from speckle variance with 59 uncorrelated echo signals. Thus, when the number of uncorrelated lines of data is small, speckle variance will dominate the power spectral density estimate variance introduced by different systems and transducers. These results suggest that, at least for this particular transducer and imaging system combination, one set of reference phantom calibration data is highly representative of the average among equivalent transducers and systems that are in good working order.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quinton W Guerrero
- Medical Physics Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Liexiang Fan
- Siemens Ultrasound Division, Issaquah, Washington, USA
| | - Shelby Brunke
- Siemens Ultrasound Division, Issaquah, Washington, USA
| | | | - Ivan M Rosado-Mendez
- Medical Physics Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Timothy J Hall
- Medical Physics Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
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Samimi K, White JK, Brace CL, Varghese T. Monitoring Microwave Ablation of Ex Vivo Bovine Liver Using Ultrasonic Attenuation Imaging. ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE & BIOLOGY 2017; 43:1441-1451. [PMID: 28454843 PMCID: PMC5450944 DOI: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2017.03.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2016] [Revised: 03/16/2017] [Accepted: 03/17/2017] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Thermal ablation of soft tissue changes the tissue microstructure and, consequently, induces changes in its acoustic properties. Although B-mode ultrasound provides high-resolution and high-frame-rate images of ablative therapeutic procedures, it is not particularly effective at delineating boundaries of ablated regions because of poor contrast in echogenicity between ablated and surrounding normal tissue. Quantitative ultrasound techniques can provide quantitative estimates of acoustic properties, such as backscatter and attenuation coefficients, and differentiate ablated and unablated regions more effectively, with the potential for monitoring minimally invasive thermal therapies. In this study, a previously introduced attenuation estimation method was used to create quantitative attenuation coefficient maps for 11 microwave ablation procedures performed on refrigerated ex vivo bovine liver. The attenuation images correlate well with the pathologic images of the ablated region. The mean attenuation coefficient for regions of interest drawn inside and outside the ablated zones were 0.9 (±0.2) and 0.45 (±0.15) dB/cm/MHz, respectively. These estimates agree with reported values in the literature and establish the usefulness of non-invasive attenuation imaging for monitoring therapeutic procedures in the liver.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kayvan Samimi
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
| | - James K White
- Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Christopher L Brace
- Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Tomy Varghese
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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