Super resolution (SR) imaging is currently conducted using fragile ultrasound contrast agents. This precludes using the full acoustic pressure range, and the distribution of bubbles has to be sparse for them to be isolated for SR imaging. Images have to be acquired over minutes to accumulate enough positions for visualizing the vasculature. A new method for SUper Resolution imaging using the Erythrocytes (SURE) as targets is introduced, which makes it possible to maximize the emitted pressure for good signal-to-noise ratios. The abundant number of erythrocyte targets make acquisition fast, and the SURE images can be acquired in seconds. A Verasonics Vantage 256 scanner was used in combination with a GE L8-18iD linear array probe operated at 10 MHz for a wavelength of 150 μm. A 12 emissions synthetic aperture ultrasound sequence was employed to scan the kidney of a Sprague-Dawley rat for 24 seconds to visualize its vasculature. An ex vivo micro-CT image using the contrast agent Microfil was also acquired at a voxel size of 22.6 μm for validating the SURE images. The SURE image revealed vessels with a size down to 29 μm, five times smaller than the ultrasound wavelength, and the dense grid of vessels in the full kidney was reliably shown for scan times between 1 to 24 seconds. Visually the SURE images revealed the same vasculature as the micro-CT images. SURE images are acquired in seconds rather than minutes without contrast injection for easy clinical use, and they can be measured at full regulatory levels for pressure, intensity, and probe temperature.
KEYWORDS: Ultrasonography, Super resolution, Image fusion, Discrete wavelet transforms, Visualization, Target acquisition, Data acquisition, Particles, Image enhancement, Medical imaging, Biomedical ultrasonography, Ultrasound real time imaging, Ultrasonics, Medical image processing
One of the integral parts of super-resolution ultrasound imaging (SRI) is particle tracking. This paper presents tracking for a new approach for SUper Resolution ultrasound imaging using Erythrocytes (SURE), which uses the erythrocytes as the target instead of fragile microbubbles. The acquisition of the SURE data can be accomplished in seconds due to the abundance of erythrocytes as targets. The nearest-neighbor (NN) algorithm was used to track erythrocytes. The erythrocyte targets were tracked to create SURE intensity map by three NN trackers with a constraint on the maximum velocities of 20, 40, 80 mm/s. By combining the outputs of three trackers, and inserting them into one map, and also using an image fusion method based on discrete wavelet transform for fusion the intensity maps, it was demonstrated that the combination of trajectories from different velocities and fusion of intensity maps carried more information from all the maps.
KEYWORDS: Ultrasonography, Kidney, Filtering (signal processing), In vivo imaging, Visualization, Super resolution, Super resolution microscopy, Detection and tracking algorithms
Microbubble (MB) tracking is an integral part of super-resolution ultrasound imaging by providing sharper images and enabling velocity estimation. Tracking the MBs from the last to the first frame can generate different trajectories than tracking from the first to the last frame, when the next positions of a track depends on its previous positions, e.g., in Kalman-based methods. Our hypothesis is that tracking in a forward-backward manner can increase the overall tracking performance. In simulations, MB positions with a parabolic flow profile were generated inside two tubes. Three different tracking methods, including nearest-neighbor, Kalman, and hierarchical Kalman, were investigated. Using the proposed forward-backward strategy, all estimated velocity profiles for all trackers were improved and were closer to the actual velocity profiles with an improvement between 28% to 40% in the relative standard deviation (RSD) of the velocity values over 10 cross-sections of the tubes. A Sprague Dawley rat kidney was scanned for 10 minutes using a BK5000 scanner and X18L5s transducer, which is a linear array probe with 150 elements. The tracking results from the in vivo experiments showed that the combined image of the forward and backward tracks had 35% additional unique track positions. It showed a clear visual enhancement in the super-resolved velocity map. Overall, the improvement in visual aspects and velocity estimates suggest forward-backward strategy as an upgrade for Kalman-based trackers.
A delay-and-sum beamformer implementation for 3D imaging with row-column arrays is presented. It is written entirely in the MATLAB programming language for flexible use and fast modifications for research use, and all parts can run on either the CPU or GPU. Dynamic apodization with row-column arrays is presented and is supported in both transmit and receive. Delay calculations are simplified compared to previous beamformers, and 3D delay and apodization calculations are reduced to 2D problems for faster calculations. The performance is evaluated on an Intel Xeon E5-2630 v4 CPU with 64 GB RAM and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti GPU with 11 GB RAM. A 192+192 array is simulated to image a volume of 96-by-96-by-45 wavelengths sampled at 0.3 wavelength in the axial direction and 0.5 wavelength in the lateral and elevation directions giving 5.53 million sample points. A single-element synthetic aperture sequence with 192 emissions is used. The 192 volumes are beamformed in approximately 1 hour on the CPU and 5 minutes on the GPU corresponding to a speed-up of up to 12.2 times. For a smaller beamforming problem consisting of the three center planes in the volume, a speed-up of 4.6 times is found from 109 to 24 seconds. The GPU utilization is around 5.0% of the possible floating point calculations indicating a trade-off between the easy programming approach and high performance.
Synthetic Aperture (SA) imaging produces high-quality images and velocity estimates of both slow and fast flow at high frame rates. However, grating lobe artifacts can appear both in transmission and reception. These affect the image quality and the frame rate. Therefore optimization of parameters effecting the image quality of SA is of great importance, and this paper proposes an advanced procedure for optimizing the parameters essential for acquiring an optimal image quality, while generating high resolution SA images. Optimization of the image quality is mainly performed based on measures such as F-number, number of emissions and the aperture size. They are considered to be the most contributing acquisition factors in the quality of the high resolution images in SA. Therefore, the performance of image quality is quantified in terms of full-width at half maximum (FWHM) and the cystic resolution (CTR). The results of the study showed that SA imaging with only 32 emissions and maximum sweep angle of 22 degrees yields a very good image quality compared with using 256 emissions and the full aperture size. Therefore the number of emissions and the maximum sweep angle in the SA can be optimized to reach a reasonably good performance, and to increase the frame rate by lowering the required number of emissions. All the measurements are performed using the experimental SARUS scanner connected to a λ/2-pitch transducer. A wire phantom and a tissue mimicking phantom containing anechoic cysts are scanned using the optimized parameters for the transducer. Measurements coincide with simulations.
This paper presents an in-house developed 2-D capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) applied for 3-D blood flow estimation. The probe breaks with conventional transducers in two ways; first, the ultrasonic pressure field is generated from thousands of small vibrating micromachined cells, and second, elements are accessed by row and/or column indices. The 62+62 2-D row-column addressed prototype CMUT probe was used for vector flow estimation by transmitting focused ultrasound into a flow-rig with a fully developed parabolic flow. The beam-to-flow angle was 90°. The received data was beamformed and processed offline. A transverse oscillation (TO) velocity estimator was used to estimate the 3-D vector flow along a line originating from the center of the transducer. The estimated velocities in the lateral and axial direction were close to zero as expected. In the transverse direction a characteristic parabolic velocity profile was estimated with a peak velocity of 0.48 m/s ± 0.02 m/s in reference to the expected 0.54 m/s. The results presented are the first 3-D vector flow estimates obtained with a row-column CMUT probe, which demonstrates that the CMUT technology is feasible for 3-D flow estimation.
This work presents the first in vivo results of 2-D high frame rate vector velocity imaging for transthoracic cardiac imaging. Measurements are made on a healthy volunteer using the SARUS experimental ultrasound scanner connected to an intercostal phased-array probe. Two parasternal long-axis view (PLAX) are obtained, one centred at the aortic valve and another centred at the left ventricle. The acquisition sequence was composed of 3 diverging waves for high frame rate synthetic aperture flow imaging. For verification a phantom measurement is performed on a transverse straight 5 mm diameter vessel at a depth of 100 mm in a tissue-mimicking phantom. A flow pump produced a 2 ml/s constant flow with a peak velocity of 0.2 m/s. The average estimated flow angle in the ROI was 86.22° ± 6.66° with a true flow angle of 90°. A relative velocity bias of −39% with a standard deviation of 13% was found. In-vivo acquisitions show complex flow patterns in the heart. In the aortic valve view, blood is seen exiting the left ventricle cavity through the aortic valve into the aorta during the systolic phase of the cardiac cycle. In the left ventricle view, blood flow is seen entering the left ventricle cavity through the mitral valve and splitting in two ways when approximating the left ventricle wall. The work presents 2-D velocity estimates on the heart from a non-invasive transthoracic scan. The ability of the method detecting flow regardless of the beam angle could potentially reveal a more complete view of the flow patterns presented on the heart.
The synthetic aperture (SA) technique can be used for achieving real-time volumetric ultrasound imaging using 2-D row-column addressed transducers. This paper investigates SA volumetric imaging performance of an in-house prototyped 3 MHz λ/2-pitch 62+62 element piezoelectric 2-D row-column addressed transducer array. Utilizing single element transmit events, a volume rate of 90 Hz down to 14 cm deep is achieved. Data are obtained using the experimental ultrasound scanner SARUS with a 70 MHz sampling frequency and beamformed using a delay-and-sum (DAS) approach. A signal-to-noise ratio of up to 32 dB is measured on the beamformed images of a tissue mimicking phantom with attenuation of 0.5 dB cm-1 MHz-1, from the surface of the probe to the penetration depth of 300λ. Measured lateral resolution as Full-Width-at-Half-Maximum (FWHM) is between 4λ and 10λ for 18% to 65% of the penetration depth from the surface of the probe. The averaged contrast is 13 dB for the same range. The imaging performance assessment results may represent a reference guide for possible applications of such an array in different medical fields.
KEYWORDS: Ultrasonography, In vivo imaging, Transducers, Synthetic aperture radar, Scanners, Imaging systems, Tissues, Acoustics, Temporal resolution, Signal to noise ratio
Synthetic aperture (SA) imaging can be used to achieve real-time volumetric ultrasound imaging using 2-D array transducers. The sensitivity of SA imaging is improved by maximizing the acoustic output, but one must consider the limitations of an ultrasound system, both technical and biological. This paper investigates the in vivo applicability and sensitivity of volumetric SA imaging. Utilizing the transmit events to generate a set of virtual point sources, a frame rate of 25 Hz for a 90° × 90° field-of-view was achieved. data were obtained using a 3.5 MHz 32 × 32 elements 2-D phased array transducer connected to the experimental scanner (SARUS). Proper scaling is applied to the excitation signal such that intensity levels are in compliance with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations for in vivo ultrasound imaging. The measured Mechanical Index and spatial-peak-temporal-average intensity for parallel beam-forming (PB) are 0.83 and 377.5mW/cm2, and for SA are 0.48 and 329.5mW/cm2. A human kidney was volumetrically imaged with SA and PB techniques simultaneously. Two radiologists for evaluation of the volumetric SA were consulted by means of a questionnaire on the level of details perceivable in the beam-formed images. The comparison was against PB based on the in vivo data. The feedback from the domain experts indicates that volumetric SA images internal body structures with a better contrast resolution compared to PB at all positions in the entire imaged volume. Furthermore, the autocovariance of a homogeneous area in the in vivo SA data, had 23.5% smaller width at the half of its maximum value compared to PB.
This paper presents a new beamforming method for real-time three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound imaging using a 2-D matrix transducer. To obtain images with sufficient resolution and contrast, several thousand elements are needed. The proposed method reduces the required channel count from the transducer to the main imaging system, by including electronics in the transducer handle. The reduction of element channel count is achieved using a sequential beamforming scheme. The beamforming scheme is a combination of a fixed focus beamformer in the transducer and a second dynamic focus beamformer in the main system. The real-time imaging capability is achieved using a synthetic aperture beamforming technique, utilizing the transmit events to generate a set of virtual elements that in combination can generate an image. The two core capabilities in combination is named Synthetic Aperture Sequential Beamforming (SASB). Simulations are performed to evaluate the image quality of the presented method in comparison to Parallel beamforming utilizing 16 receive beamformers. As indicators for image quality the detail resolution and Cystic resolution are determined for a set of scatterers at a depth of
90mm for elevation and azimuth angles from 0° to 25°. Simulations show that the acoustic performance of the Proposed method is less angle dependent than Parallel beamforming. The Cystic resolution is shown to be more than 50% improved, with a detail resolution on the same order as Parallel Beamforming.
FDA requires that intensity and safety parameters are measured for all imaging schemes for clinical imaging. This is often cumbersome, since the scan sequence has to broken apart, measurements conducted for the individually emitted beams, and the final intensity levels calculated by combining the intensities from the individual beams. This paper suggests a fast measurement scheme using the multi-line sampling capability of modern scanners and research systems. The hydrophone is connected to one sampling channel in the research system, and the intensity is measured for all imaging lines in one emission sequence. This makes it possible to map out the pressure field and hence intensity level for all imaging lines in a single measurement. The approach has several advantages: the scanner does not have to be re-programmed and can use the scan sequence without modification. The measurements are orders of magnitude faster (minutes rather than hours) and the final intensity level calculation can be made generic and reused for any kind of scan sequence by just knowing the number of imaging lines and the pulse repetition time. The scheme has been implemented on the Acoustic Intensity Measurement System AIMS III (Onda, Sunnyvale, California, USA). The research scanner SARUS is used for the experiments, where one of the channels is used for the hydrophone signal. A 3 MHz BK 8820e (BK Medical, Herlev, Denmark) convex array with 192 elements is used along with an Onda HFL-0400 hydrophone connected to a AH-2010 pre-amplifier (Onda Corporation, Sunnyvale, USA). A single emission sequence is employed for testing and calibrating the approach. The measurements using the AIMS III and SARUS systems after calibration agree within a relative standard deviation of 0.24%. A duplex B-mode and flow sequence is also investigated. The complex intensity map is measured and the time averaged spatial peak intensity is found. A single point measurement takes 3.43 seconds and the whole sequence can be characterized on the acoustical axis in around 6 minutes.
In current ultrasound systems the dynamic range of detectable velocities is susceptible to the selected pulse repetition frequency, thus limiting the dynamic range of flow mapping. To establish the feasibility of extending the range of detectable velocities towards low velocity vessels, results are presented using synthetic aperture which increases the frame-to-frame signal correlation of the scatterer displacement while providing continuous data. In this paper, recursive synthetic aperture acquisition, directional beamforming, and cross-correlation are used to produce B-mode and vector velocity images. The emissions for the two imaging modes are interleaved 1-to-1 ratio, providing a high frame rate equal to the effective pulse repetition frequency of each imaging mode. The direction of the flow is estimated, and the velocity is then determined in that direction. This method works for all angles, including fully axial and transverse flows. The method is investigated using Field II simulations and data from the experimental ultrasound scanner SARUS, acquired from a circulating flow rig with a parabolic flow. A 7 MHz linear array transducer is used, and several pulse repetition frequencies are synthesized in a simulated flow phantom with linearly increasing velocity and in a dual-vessel phantom with laminar flow with peak velocities of 0.05 m/s and 0.5 m/s. The experimental measurements are made with laminar flow as in the simulations. For the simulated and experimental vessel with peak velocity of 0.05 m/s and flow angle of 75°, the relative bias is -0.29% and -3.19%, and the relative standard deviations are 2.39% and 5.75% respectively. For the simulated and experimental vessel with peak velocity of 0.5 m/s and flow angle of -90°, the relative biases are -4.30% and -7.37%, and the relative standard deviations are 1.59% and 6.12%, respectively. The presented method can improve the estimates by synthesizing a lower pulse repetition frequency, thereby increasing the dynamic range of the vector velocity imaging.
KEYWORDS: 3D image processing, 3D acquisition, Data acquisition, Visualization, 3D metrology, Ultrasonography, Transducers, Magnetic resonance imaging, Stereoscopy, Motion measurement
This paper presents 3D vector flow images obtained using the 3D Transverse Oscillation (TO) method. The method employs a 2D transducer and estimates the three velocity components simultaneously, which is important for visualizing complex flow patterns. Data are acquired using the experimental ultrasound scanner SARUS on a flow-rig system with steady flow. The vessel of the flow-rig is centered at a depth of 30 mm, and the flow has an expected 2D circular-symmetric parabolic profile with a peak velocity of 1 m/s. Ten frames of 3D vector flow images are acquired in a cross-sectional plane orthogonal to the center axis of the vessel, which coincides with the y-axis and the flow direction. Hence, only out-of-plane motion is expected. This motion cannot be measured by typical commercial scanners employing 1D arrays. Each frame consists of 16 flow lines steered from -15 to 15 degrees in steps of 2 degrees in the ZX-plane. For the center line, 3200 M-mode lines are acquired yielding 100 velocity profiles. At the center of the vessel, the mean and standard deviation of the estimated velocity vectors are (vx, vy, vz) = (-0.026, 95, 1.0)±(8.8, 6.2, 0.84) cm/s compared to the expected (0.0, 96, 0.0) cm/s. Relative to the velocity magnitude this yields standard deviations of (9.1, 6.4, 0.88) %, respectively. Volumetric flow rates were estimated for all ten frames yielding 57.9±2.0 mL/s in comparison with 56.2 mL/s measured by a commercial magnetic flow meter. One frame of the obtained 3D vector flow data is presented and visualized using three alternative approaches. Practically no in-plane motion (vx and vz) is measured, whereas the out-of-plane motion (vy) and the velocity magnitude exhibit the expected 2D circular-symmetric parabolic shape. It shown that the ultrasound method is suitable for real-time data acquisition as opposed to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The results demonstrate that the 3D TO method is capable of performing 3D vector flow imaging.
This paper presents a new design of a discrete time Delta-Sigma (ΔΣ) oversampled ultrasound beamformer which integrates individual channel apodization by means of variable feedback voltage in the Delta-Sigma analog to digital (A/D) converters. The output bit-width of each oversampled A/D converter remains the same as in an unmodified one. The outputs of all receiving channels are delayed and summed, and the resulting multi-bit sample stream is filtered and decimated to become an image line. The simplicity of this beamformer allows the production of high-channel-count or very compact beamformers suitable for 2-D arrays or compact portable scanners. The new design is evaluated using measured data from the research scanner SARUS and a BK-8811 192 element linear array transducer (BK Medical, Herlev, Denmark), insonifying a water-filled wire phantom containing four wires orthogonal to the image plane. The data are acquired using 12-bit flash A/D converters at a sampling rate of 70 MHz, and are then upsampled off-line to 560 MHz for input to the simulated ΔΣ beamformer. The latter generates a B-mode image which is compared to that produced by a digital beamformer that uses 10-bit A/D converters. The performance is evaluated by comparing the width of the wire images at half amplitude and the noise level of the images. The ΔΣ beamformer resolution has been found to be identical to that of the multi-bit A/D beamforming architecture, while the noise floor is elevated by approximately 6 dB.
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