title: Ultrasound thermal mapping based on a hybrid method combining physical and statistical models.
abstract: Non-invasive temperature measurement of tissues deep inside the body has great potential for clinical applications, such as temperature monitoring during thermal therapy and early diagnosis of diseases. We developed a novel method for both temperature estimation and thermal mapping that uses ultrasound B-mode radiofrequency data. The proposed method is a hybrid that combines elements of physical and statistical models to achieve higher precision and resolution of temperature variations and distribution. We propose a dimensionless combined index (CI) that combines the echo shift differential and signal intensity difference with a weighting factor relative to the distance from the heat source. In vitro experiments verified that the combined index has a strong linear relationship with temperature variation and can be used to effectively estimate temperature with an average relative error <5%. This algorithm provides an alternative for imaging guidance-based techniques during thermal therapy and could easily be integrated into existing ultrasound systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil Engineering, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chung Li, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ben-Ting
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shieh
authors.forename: Chang-Wei
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Wen-Shiang
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Shing-Ru
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chuin-Shan
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008954:Models, Biological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013817:Thermography / Q000379:methods*; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Physical model; Statistical model; Temperature; Ultrasonic imaging