Medical Imaging
Parametric Ultrasound Imaging by Using Angular Compounding to Reduce Statistical Variability
WARF: P02385US
Inventors: James Zagzebski, Tomy Varghese, Anthony Gerig
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) is seeking commercial partners interested in developing a method of significantly reducing the statistical variability inherent in parametric ultrasound imaging.
Overview
Ultrasound scanners transmit an ultrasonic signal into a patient and then receive and analyze an echo signal from the patient’s tissue. In conventional gray scale imaging, the most widely used mode, only the echo signal’s amplitude is extracted and analyzed.
Parametric ultrasound imaging, on the other hand, extracts additional echo signal frequency and/or phase information, and processes it to reveal tissue microstructure and disease properties not seen with conventional ultrasound imaging. Parametric measurements, however, exhibit significant statistical variability. To reduce variability, measurements from several tissue locations must be averaged, compromising spatial resolution and limiting the practical value of this technique.
Parametric ultrasound imaging, on the other hand, extracts additional echo signal frequency and/or phase information, and processes it to reveal tissue microstructure and disease properties not seen with conventional ultrasound imaging. Parametric measurements, however, exhibit significant statistical variability. To reduce variability, measurements from several tissue locations must be averaged, compromising spatial resolution and limiting the practical value of this technique.
The Invention
UW-Madison researchers have developed a method of significantly reducing the statistical variability inherent in parametric ultrasound imaging by employing a multiple angle (angular compounding) acquisition strategy that has recently become available on ultrasound scanners. Rather than sweeping parallel or quasi-parallel beams over a scanned region as in traditional ultrasound, this technique interrogates a scanned volume with beams traveling at various directions from the scanner transducer’s surface. Multiple echo signals at various angles are then acquired from the same tissue volume. These statistically independent measurements are then averaged to provide the parametric measurement of interest.
Applications
- Parametric ultrasound imaging
Key Benefits
- Controls measurement variability and increases spatial resolution in parametric ultrasound imaging
- Promises to make parametric image quality competitive with that of conventional approaches
- Can be implemented without fundamental modifications to existing ultrasound instruments
Additional Information
For More Information About the Inventors
Tech Fields
For current licensing status, please contact Jeanine Burmania at [javascript protected email address] or 608-960-9846