High-Accuracy Ultrasound Contrast Agent Detection Method for Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging Systems |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Graduate School of Information Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan;2. Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan;3. Department of Oral Diagnosis, Tohoku University Hospital, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan;4. Department of Oral Medicine and Surgery, Tohoku University Hospital, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan;5. School of Medicine, Iwate Medical University, Morioka, Iwate, Japan;1. Instituto de Biomedicina y Biotecnología de Cantabria (IBBTEC), CSIC—Universidad de Cantabria—SODERCAN., 39011 Santander, Spain;2. Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, 2780-156 Oeiras, Portugal;3. Dpto. de Anatomía y Biología Celular, Universidad de Cantabria, 39011 Santander, Spain;1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada;2. Department of Oncology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada;1. Institute of Physics, University of Sao Paulo, 05508-090 Sao Paulo/SP, Brazil;2. Radiological Physics and Advisory Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai 400 085, India;3. Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Ankara University, Beşevler 06100, Ankara, Turkey;4. Ex-DST Fellow, C/o Radiological Physics and Advisory Division;4. Radiation Safety Systems Division;1. Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Radiology, Clinicilor Street, No. 3-5, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania;2. Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Medical Informatics and Biostatistics, Louis Pasteur Street, No. 6, 400349 Cluj-Napoca, Romania;3. Cluj District University Emergency, Department of Radiology, Clinicilor Street, No. 3-5, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania;4. Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery, Cardinal Iuliu Hossu Street, No. 37, 400029 Cluj-Napoca, Romania |
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| Abstract: | An accurate method for detecting contrast agents using diagnostic ultrasound imaging systems is proposed. Contrast agents, such as microbubbles, passing through a blood vessel during ultrasound imaging are detected as blinking signals in the temporal axis, because their intensity value is constantly in motion. Ultrasound contrast agents are detected by evaluating the intensity variation of a pixel in the temporal axis. Conventional methods are based on simple subtraction of ultrasound images to detect ultrasound contrast agents. Even if the subject moves only slightly, a conventional detection method will introduce significant error. In contrast, the proposed technique employs spatiotemporal analysis of the pixel intensity variation over several frames. Experiments visualizing blood vessels in the mouse tail illustrated that the proposed method performs efficiently compared with conventional approaches. We also report that the new technique is useful for observing temporal changes in microvessel density in subiliac lymph nodes containing tumors. The results are compared with those of contrast-enhanced computed tomography. |
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| Keywords: | Ultrasound Ultrasound contrast agent Vessel density Medical image Computer-aided diagnosis |
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