TYPING AND IMAGING OF BIOLOGICAL AND NON-BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS USING QUANTITATIVE ULTRASOUND

• US 20160238568A1
• Filed: 02/18/2015
• Published: 08/18/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2015
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Riverside Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Riverside Research Institute
• Inventors: Feleppa, Ernest J., Mamou, Jonathan
• Application Number:
  US14/624,769
• Publication Number:
  US 20160238568A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/08 Detecting organic movements or changes, e.g. tumours, cysts, swellings A61B8/02 - A61B8/06 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/14 Echo-tomography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/5223 for extracting a diagnostic or physiological parameter from medical diagnostic data for algorithms to analyse biomedical images G06T7/0012
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/5292 using additional data, e.g. patient information, image labeling, acquisition parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/02466 Biological material, e.g. blood
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/044 Internal reflections (echoes), e.g. on walls or defects
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/0654 Imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/4472 Mathematical theories or simulation
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/46 by spectral analysis, e.g. Fourier analysis or wavelet analysis spectral signal processing per se G06F17/14
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment

Abstract

An ultrasonic material-evaluation or classification method using spectral and envelope-statistics variables from backscattered ultrasound echo signals combined with global variables. This classification method can be applied to any organ or tissue among biological materials and any non-biological material that produces backscattered signals as a result of microscopic internal inhomogeneities such as a crystalline structure.

Claims

1. A method of classifying non-biological material comprising:

acquiring ultrasound, pulse-echo, backscattered RF signals from the non-biological material being evaluated;

computing spectral-variable values from said RF echo signals;

computing estimates of scatterer properties (such as effective scatterer size, or acoustic concentration) from said spectral-variable values;

computing additional variable values of the envelope statistics of said RF signals in terms of defined statistical models;

inputting said spectral-variable values, said scatterer-property-estimate values, and said envelope-statistics variable values into a classifier;

assigning a classifier-score value to each of a plurality of variable values, wherein each said classifier-score value for each variable-value combination indicates the relative likelihood of a given material property.

2. The method of claim 1 in which an optional global variable is inputted into said classifier.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said statistical variables are computed using a Nakagami distribution model.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said statistical variables are computed using a homodyned-K distribution model.

6. The method of claim 1 in which an optional global variable is inputted into said classifier.

5. A method of classifying biological tissue comprising:

acquiring ultrasound, pulse-echo, backscattered, RF echo signals from the biological material being evaluated;

computing spectral-variable values from said RF echo signals;

computing additional variable values of the envelope statistics of said RF signals in terms of defined statistical models;

inputting said spectral-variable values, and said envelope-statistics-variable values into a classifier;

assigning a classifier-score value to each of a plurality of classifier variables, wherein each said property value for each assigned variable indicates the likelihood of a given material property.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein said statistical variables are extracted using a Nakagami distribution model.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein said statistical variables are extracted using a homodyned-K distribution model.

9. A method of classifying material comprising:

acquiring ultrasound, pulse-echo, backscattered, RF echo signals from the material being evaluated;

computing spectral-variable values from said RF echo signals;

computing estimates of scatterer properties (such as effective scatterer size, or acoustic concentration) from said spectral-variable values;

inputting global-variable values, said spectral-variable values, and said scatterer-property-estimate values into a classifier;

assigning a classifier-score value to each of a plurality classifier variables wherein each said property value for each assigned variable indicates the relative likelihood of a given material property.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said statistical variables are extracted using a Nakagami distribution model.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein said statistical variables are extracted using a homodyned-K distribution model.

12. The method of claim 9 in which an optional global variable is inputted into said classifier.