TY - JOUR
T1 - Software-based Processing for Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Imaging using Pulse-Inversion Spectral Deconvolution
AU - Khairalseed, Mawia
AU - Oezdemir, Ipek
AU - Li, Junjie
AU - Hoyt, Kenneth
N1 - Funding Information:
ACKNOLWEDGEMENTS This research was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants R01DK126833 and R01EB025841 and award RP180670 from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) to establish the Small Animal Imaging Facility at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 IEEE.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - A software-based processing approach for contrast-enhanced ultrasound (US) imaging is presented. Termed pulse-inversion spectral convolution (PISD), the main motivation here was to further evaluate the performance of this contrast-enhanced US imaging technique using a series of experimental studies. The PISD-based contrast-enhanced US approach is founded on a class of Gaussian derivative functions (GDFs). Two types of PISD pulses (one GDF and convolution of three GDF pulses) can be used to form two new inverted pulse sequences. These pulses are then used to filter backscattered US data for isolation of the nonlinear MB signal component. An US system (Vantage 256, Verasonics Inc) with a L11-4v linear array transducer was programmed and used for PISD-based contrast-enhanced US imaging. The receive data from all channels was shaped using a wide beamforming technique. In vitro US images were collected from a flow phantom perfused with a MB contrast agent using PISD and traditional pulse-inversion US (nonlinear, NL) for comparison. Further, role of the transmit aperture size (\{TX}=32 or 64) was also evaluated using a US pulse frequency of 6.25 MHz and a low mechanical index of 0.2. Contrast enhancement was measured using a contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). Preliminary in vivo data was acquired from the hindlimb (femoral artery) of healthy rats after receiving a bolus injection of MBs. Overall, widebeam contrast-enhanced US imaging using the larger aperture size of 64 elements yielded improved CNR values. Using this widebeam US imaging approach, both in vitro and in vivo results demonstrated that the PISD-based contrast-enhanced US technique produced images with improved contrast compared to the more traditional B-mode and NL US imaging strategies.
AB - A software-based processing approach for contrast-enhanced ultrasound (US) imaging is presented. Termed pulse-inversion spectral convolution (PISD), the main motivation here was to further evaluate the performance of this contrast-enhanced US imaging technique using a series of experimental studies. The PISD-based contrast-enhanced US approach is founded on a class of Gaussian derivative functions (GDFs). Two types of PISD pulses (one GDF and convolution of three GDF pulses) can be used to form two new inverted pulse sequences. These pulses are then used to filter backscattered US data for isolation of the nonlinear MB signal component. An US system (Vantage 256, Verasonics Inc) with a L11-4v linear array transducer was programmed and used for PISD-based contrast-enhanced US imaging. The receive data from all channels was shaped using a wide beamforming technique. In vitro US images were collected from a flow phantom perfused with a MB contrast agent using PISD and traditional pulse-inversion US (nonlinear, NL) for comparison. Further, role of the transmit aperture size (\{TX}=32 or 64) was also evaluated using a US pulse frequency of 6.25 MHz and a low mechanical index of 0.2. Contrast enhancement was measured using a contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). Preliminary in vivo data was acquired from the hindlimb (femoral artery) of healthy rats after receiving a bolus injection of MBs. Overall, widebeam contrast-enhanced US imaging using the larger aperture size of 64 elements yielded improved CNR values. Using this widebeam US imaging approach, both in vitro and in vivo results demonstrated that the PISD-based contrast-enhanced US technique produced images with improved contrast compared to the more traditional B-mode and NL US imaging strategies.
KW - contrast agents
KW - contrast-enhanced ultrasound
KW - microbubbles
KW - nonlinear imaging
KW - ultrasound
KW - vascular imaging
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U2 - 10.1109/IUS52206.2021.9593454
DO - 10.1109/IUS52206.2021.9593454
M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:85122900432
SN - 1948-5719
JO - IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, IUS
JF - IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, IUS
T2 - 2021 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, IUS 2021
Y2 - 11 September 2011 through 16 September 2011
ER -