CPS: Medium: Collaborative Research: Human-on-the-Loop Control for Smart Ultrasound Imaging

由于运营成本低和患者安全，与计算机断层扫描 (CT) 扫描或磁共振成像 (MRI) 等类似技术相比，超声被广泛认为是最佳的医学成像形式之一。尽管如此，不同专家对同一患者进行成像所获得的图像质量可能存在很大差异，这可能会影响成功的诊断和患者治疗。这个问题在患者中变得更加明显。因此，为了减少这种变异性，该项目将开发非被动的、基于实时超声波束控制和适应的成像技术，同时促进操作员专业知识的最佳利用，以获得信息最丰富的图像。与仅手动控制的现有系统相比，这种新型主动超声系统将提供显着的性能提升，其中接受过不同培训水平的专家用户与智能超声设备进行交互，以改善医学成像并促进诊断。该项目还将在对癌症或肝纤维化等许多医疗状况进行准确、安全和具有成本效益的诊断方面产生重大社会影响。例如，使用此类系统进行乳腺癌诊断将显着减少不必要的活检数量，目前仅在美国每年的费用就超过 10 亿美元。同时，该技术还可以实现依赖于不同形式的超声波的各种其他成像应用，例如使用多普勒超声波绘制心室图或识别结构中材料的机械特性以进行故障预测。具体而言，该项目的目标是开发主动超声波系统，利用用户专业知识来完善控制过程，而自主弹性（或粘弹性）绘图可提高图像质量，并允许操作员最好地利用他们的技能进行优化和诊断。该项目的研究产品包括：（i）超声弹性成像数据融合技术； (ii) 交互式超声弹性成像方法； (iii) 安全高效的设备实施框架。该超声系统将在基于合适的实验室模型和现有超声设备实时控制的试验台上进行验证。研究人员将重点关注这种新颖范例的独特方面，与现有方法相比，包括：（1）新的主动、用户机器成像技术改进了组织机械性能的表征； (2) 将算法和用户界面系统地转移到嵌入式计算机，以便设备安全执行。这需要克服与粘弹性成像测绘和人体回路超声控制集成相关的智力挑战，以及从计算力学、控制和估计以及嵌入式系统设计中得出的新理论结果的综合。该项目还具有广泛的教育和外展部分，包括专注于安全关键型医疗网络物理系统设计的课程开发，这些系统表现出高度动态的系统行为和工厂不确定性、人机交互以及实时实施的需求。该项目的外展部分还将提高大学预科学生对研究和工程职业的潜力和吸引力的认识。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Due to low operating cost and patient safety, ultrasound is widely accepted as one of the best forms of medical imaging compared to similar technologies, such as Computer Tomography (CT) scans or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Still, there can be large variability in image quality obtained by different experts imaging the same patient, which can affect successful diagnosis and patient treatment. This problem becomes even more pronounced across patients. Consequently, to decrease this variability this project will develop imaging techniques that are not passive but are based on real-time ultrasound beam control and adaptation, while facilitating best use of operator expertise to obtain the most informative images. Such new active ultrasound systems, where expert users with varying levels of training interact with a smart ultrasound device to improve medical imaging and facilitate diagnosis, will provide significant performance gains compared to present systems that are only manually controlled. This project will also have a significant societal impact in accurate, safe, and cost-effective diagnosis of many medical conditions, such as cancers or liver fibrosis. For instance, the use of such systems for breast cancer diagnosis will significantly reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies, which currently cost more than $1 billion annually in the US alone. At the same time this technology can enable a variety of other imaging applications that rely on different forms of ultrasound, such as mapping of the heart chambers using Doppler ultrasound or identifying the mechanical properties of materials in structures for failure prognosis.Specifically, the goal of this project is the development of an active ultrasound system where user expertise is employed to refine the control process, while autonomous elasticity (or viscoelasticity) mapping improves image quality and allows human operator to best use their skills for both optimization and diagnosis. The project's research products include: (i) data fusion techniques for ultrasound elastography; (ii) methods for interactive ultrasound elastography; and (iii) framework for safe and efficient device implementation. The ultrasound system will be validated on a test-bed based on suitable laboratory phantoms and real-time control of existing ultrasound devices. Investigators will focus on the unique aspects of this novel paradigm that, compared to existing methods, include: (1) new active, user-machine, imaging techniques improving on the characterization of the mechanical properties of tissue; and (2) the systematic transition of algorithms and user interfaces to embedded computers for safe execution by the device. This requires overcoming intellectual challenges related to the integration of visco-elastography mapping and human-on-the-loop ultrasound control, as well as synthesis of new theoretical results drawing from computational mechanics, controls and estimation, and embedded systems design. The project also has extensive education and outreach components, including curriculum development focused on design of safety-critical medical cyber-physical systems that exhibit highly dynamical system behaviors and plant uncertainty, human interactions, and the need for real-time implementation. The outreach component of this project will also improve the pre-college students' awareness of the potential and attractiveness of a research and engineering career.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.