Title :
A hybrid displacement estimation method for ultrasonic elasticity imaging
Author :
Chen, Lujie ; Housden, R. James ; Treece, Graham M. ; Gee, Andrew H. ; Prager, Richard W.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Eng., Univ. of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
fDate :
4/1/2010 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Axial displacement estimation is fundamental to many freehand quasistatic ultrasonic strain imaging systems. In this paper, we present a novel estimation method that combines the strengths of quality-guided tracking, multi-level correlation, and phase-zero search to achieve high levels of accuracy and robustness. The paper includes a full description of the hybrid method, in vivo examples to illustrate the method??s clinical relevance, and finite element simulations to assess its accuracy. Quantitative and qualitative comparisons are made with leading single- and multi-level alternatives. In the in vivo examples, the hybrid method produces fewer obvious peak-hopping errors, and in simulation, the hybrid method is found to reduce displacement estimation errors by 5 to 50%. With typical clinical data, the hybrid method can generate more than 25 strain images per second on commercial hardware; this is comparable with the alternative approaches considered in this paper.
Keywords :
bioacoustics; biological tissues; biomechanics; biomedical ultrasonics; elasticity; ultrasonic imaging; axial displacement estimation; freehand quasistatic ultrasonic strain imaging system; hybrid displacement estimation method; multilevel correlation; phase-zero search; quality guided tracking; ultrasonic elasticity imaging; Capacitive sensors; Elasticity; Estimation error; Finite element methods; Hardware; Hybrid power systems; In vivo; Phase estimation; Robustness; Ultrasonic imaging; Algorithms; Elasticity Imaging Techniques; Finite Element Analysis; Regression Analysis; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; Transducers;
Journal_Title :
Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TUFFC.2010.1491