Elastography using harmonic ultrasonic imaging: a feasibility study.
Tissue Harmonic Imaging (THI) is a relatively new modality that has had a significant impact in the ultrasound field. In the recent past, imaging the mechanical properties of tissues using elastography has also gained great interest. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of combining these two state-of-the-art ultrasound-imaging modalities. The performance of elastograms obtained using harmonic ultrasonic signals is studied with simulations and compared to the performance of conventional elastograms using standard statistical methods. Experiments are used as a proof of the technical feasibility of generating tissue-harmonic elastograms using experimental harmonic signals. The results of our simulation study indicate that all image quality factors considered in this study (elastographic signal-to-noise ratio, elastographic contrast-to-noise ratio and spatial resolution) may be improved when using harmonic ultrasonic signals, provided that the ultrasound system is characterized by high bandwidth, high sampling frequency and large lateral sampling. Preliminary experimental results suggest that it is technically feasible to generate experimental elastograms using harmonic signals, provided that the sonographic signal-to-noise ratio of the pre- and postcompression harmonic frames is sufficiently high to guarantee reliable values of correlation.
Desai
Raghavendra Reddy
RR
Texas A&M University, Dwight Look College of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College Station, TX, USA.
Krouskop
Thomas A
TA
Righetti
Raffaella
R
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D015233:Models, Statistical; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013552:Swine; D014465:Ultrasonics