The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers (전기학회논문지)

The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers (대한전기학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Time-domain Estimation Algorithm for Ultrasonic Attenuation using Narrow-filtered Signals

협대역 초음파 신호를 이용한 시간 영역에서의 감쇠 지수 예측

  • Shim, Jaeyoon (Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Kwangwoon University) ;
  • Hur, Don (Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Kwangwoon University) ;
  • Kim, Hyungsuk (Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Kwangwoon University)
  • Received : 2016.03.11
  • Accepted : 2016.10.11
  • Published : 2016.11.01
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

The VSA(Video Signal Analysis) method is the time-domain approach for estimating ultrasonic attenuation which utilizes the envelop signals from backscattered rf signals. The echogenicity of backscattered ultrasonic signals, however, from deeper depths are distorted when the broadband transmit pulse is used and it degrades the estimation accuracy of attenuation coefficients. We propose the modified VSA method using adaptive bandpass filters according to the centroid shift of echo signals as a pulse propagates. The technique of dual-reference diffraction compensation is also proposed to minimize the estimation errors because the difference of attenuation properties between the reference and sample aggravates the estimation accuracy when the differences are accumulated in deeper depth. The proposed techniques minimize the distortion of relative echogenicity and maximize the signal-to-noise ratio at the given depth. Simulation results for numerical tissue-mimicking phantoms show that the Rectangular-shaped filter with the appropriate center frequency exhibits the best estimation performance and the technique of the dual-reference diffraction compensation dramatically improves accuracy for the region after the beam focus.

Keywords

References

  1. U. Techavipoo, T. Varghese, Q. Chen, T. A. Stiles, J. A. Zagzebski, G. R. Frank, "Temperature dependence of ultrasonic propagation speed and attenuation in excised canine liver tissue measured using transmitted and reflected pulses," Journal of Acoustical Society of America, vol. 115, no. 6, pp. 2859-2865, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1738453
  2. Y. Levy, Y. Agnon, H. Azhari, "Measurement of speed of sound dispersion in soft tissues using a double frequency continuous wave method," Ultrasound Med. Biol, vol. 32, no. 7, pp. 1065-1071, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2006.04.003
  3. K. A. Wear, T. A. Stiles, G. R. Frank, E. L. Madsen, F. Cheng, E. J. Feleppa, C. S. Hall, B. S. Kim, P. Lee, W. D. O'Brien Jr, M. L. Oelze, B. I. Raju, K. K. Shung, T. A. Wilson, J. R. Yuan, "Interlaboratory comparison of ultrasonic backscatter coefficient measurements from 2 to 9 MHz," J. Ultrasound Med., vol. 24, no. 9, pp. 1235-1250, 2005. https://doi.org/10.7863/jum.2005.24.9.1235
  4. S. L. Bridal, C. Fournier, A. Coron, I. Leguerney, P. Laugier, "Ultrasonic backscatter and attenuation (11-27 MHz) variation with collagen fiber distribution in ex vivo human dermis," Ultrason. Imaging, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 23-40, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1177/016173460602800103
  5. G. Treece, R. Prager, and A. Gee, "Ultrasound attenuation measurement in the presence of scatterer variation for reduction of shadowing and enhancement," IEEE Trans. UFFC, vol. 52, no. 12, pp. 2346-2360, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1109/TUFFC.2005.1563279
  6. S. W. Flax, N. J. Pelc, G. H. Glover, F. D. Gutmann, and M. McLachlan, "Spectral characterization and attenuation measurements in ultrasound," Ultrason. Imaging, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 95-116, 1983. https://doi.org/10.1177/016173468300500201
  7. M. Fink, F. Hottier, and J. F. Cardoso, "Ultrasonic signal processing for in vivo attenuation measurement: short time Fourier analysis," Ultrason. Imaging, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 117-135, 1983.
  8. H. Kim and T. Varghese, "Attenuation Estimation using Spectral Cross-Correlation," IEEE Trans. Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control, vol. 54, pp. 510-519, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1109/TUFFC.2007.274
  9. L. X. Yao, J. A. Zagzebski, and E. L. Madsen, "Backscatter coefficient measurements using a reference phantom to extract depth-dependent instrumentation factors," Ultrason. Imaging, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 58-70, 1990. https://doi.org/10.1177/016173469001200105
  10. C. Kasai, K. Namekawa, A. Koyano, R. Omoto, "Real-time two-dimensional blood flow imaging using an autocorrelation technique," IEEE Trans. Sonics and Ultrasonics, vol. 32, pp. 458-464, 1985. https://doi.org/10.1109/T-SU.1985.31615
  11. H. S. Jang, T. K. Song, and S. B. Park, "Ultrasound attenuation estimation in soft tissue using the entropy difference of pulsed echoes between two adjacent envelope segments," Ultrason. Imaging, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 248-264, 1988. https://doi.org/10.1177/016173468801000402
  12. B. S. Knipp, J. A. Zagzebski, T. A. Wilson, F. Dong, E. L. Madsen, "Attenuation and backscatter estimation using video signal analysis applied to B-mode images," Ultrason. Imaging, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 221-233, 1997. https://doi.org/10.1177/016173469701900305
  13. H. Kim, J. A. Zagzebski, and T. Varghese, "Estimation of Ultrasound Attenuation from Broadband Echo-Signals Using Bandpass Filtering," IEEE Trans. Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, vol. 55, no. 5, 2008.
  14. S. Heo, J. Yi, H. Kim, "Estimation of Medical Ultrasound Attenuation using Adaptive Bandpass Filters," Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea, vol. 47, no. 5, 2010.
  15. R. Kuc, "Bounds on estimating the acoustic attenuation of small tissue regions from reflected ultrasound," Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 73, no. 7, pp. 1159-1168, 1985. https://doi.org/10.1109/PROC.1985.13264
  16. K. A. Wear, B. S. Garra, and T. J. Hall, "Measurements of ultrasonic backscatter coefficients in human liver and kidney in vivo," Journal of Acoustical Society of America, vol. 98, pp. 1852-1857, 1995. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.413372
  17. R. F. Wagner, S. W. Smith, J. M. Sandrick, and H. Lopez, "Statistics of speckle in ultrasound B-scans," IEEE Trans. Sonics Ultrason., vol. 30, pp. 156-163, 1983. https://doi.org/10.1109/T-SU.1983.31404
  18. Y. Li and J. A. Zagzebski, "A frequency domain model for generating B-mode images with array transducers," IEEE Trans. Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 690-699, 1999. https://doi.org/10.1109/58.764855