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

由于操作成本低和患者安全，与计算机断层扫描(CT)或磁共振成像(MRI)等类似技术相比，超声被广泛认为是最好的医学成像形式之一。尽管如此，不同专家为同一患者成像所获得的图像质量可能存在很大的差异，这可能会影响成功的诊断和患者的治疗。这个问题在患者中变得更加明显。因此，为了减少这种可变性，该项目将开发成像技术，这些技术不是被动的，而是基于实时超声束控制和适应，同时促进最佳地利用操作员的专业知识来获得信息最丰富的图像。这种新的主动超声系统，其中具有不同培训水平的专家用户与智能超声设备交互，以改善医学成像并促进诊断，与目前仅由人工控制的系统相比，将提供显著的性能提升。该项目还将在许多医疗疾病的准确、安全和经济有效的诊断方面产生重大的社会影响，例如癌症或肝纤维化。例如，使用这种系统诊断乳腺癌将显著减少不必要的活检数量，目前仅在美国每年就花费超过10亿美元。同时，这项技术可以实现各种其他依赖于不同形式的超声的成像应用，例如使用多普勒超声绘制心腔的地图或识别结构中材料的机械属性以进行故障预测。具体地说，该项目的目标是开发一种主动超声系统，其中利用用户的专业知识来改进控制过程，而自主弹性(或粘弹性)映射改善图像质量，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)超声弹性成像的数据融合技术；(Ii)交互式超声弹性成像的方法；以及(Iii)安全和高效设备实施的框架。超声系统将在试验台上基于合适的实验室模体和对现有超声设备的实时控制进行验证。研究人员将把重点放在这种新范例的独特方面，与现有方法相比，它包括：(1)新的主动、用户-机器、成像技术，改进了组织机械特性的表征；以及(2)算法和用户界面向嵌入式计算机的系统过渡，以通过该设备安全地执行。这需要克服与粘弹性成像测绘和人在环超声控制的集成相关的智力挑战，以及综合来自计算力学、控制和评估以及嵌入式系统设计的新理论结果。该项目还包括广泛的教育和外联部分，包括侧重于设计高度动态的系统行为和植物不确定性、人与人的互动以及实时实施需要的安全关键医疗网络物理系统的课程开发。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优势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.