title: Ultrasonographic texture analysis of parenchymatous organs by the four-neighborhood-pixels algorithm: clinical experiment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The parenchyma of organs such as liver, thyroid, and mammary gland during climacterium have common ultrasonographic textural features, which together form what we call small-dot-structure texture. To study this texture we designed the 4-neighborhood-pixels algorithm, an ultrasonographic texture analysis algorithm. The objective of this study was to confirm whether the 4-neighborhood-pixels algorithm can reflect the features of small-dot-structure texture.
  
  
  METHODS
  A changed small-dot-structure texture and 3 other textures were compared with the normal small-dot-structure texture in 4 groups, and a histogram algorithm was used for contrast with the 4-neighborhood-pixels algorithm.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 4-neighborhood-pixels algorithm could reflect all the textural differences, but the histogram algorithm could reflect only some of them.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The 4-neighborhood-pixels algorithm is a good algorithm for analyzing ultrasonographic small-dot-structure texture. Not only can it reflect changes in the small-dot-structure texture, but it can also differentiate between small-dot-structure and non-small-dot-structure textures.
authors.affiliation: Ultrasonic Examination Department, Changhai Hospital, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Qian
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D002648:Child; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006044:Goiter, Nodular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D016217:Ultrasonography, Mammary