Optically tracked freehand swept synthetic aperture ultrasound

项目摘要 超声成像是产科、腹部和心脏护理等应用的关键工具。作为一个非- 超声是一种侵入性、实时和经济有效的方法，是许多筛查和诊断的首选工具。 在美国和世界各地使用的任务。便携式护理点系统的普及 将超声波的应用范围扩展到了医疗保健的各个领域。然而，图像质量通常不足以 难以成像患者的深部靶点。深度分辨率不足和明显的声学杂波（雾或 失真）导致非诊断结果和高召回率或转介到其他成像模式， 医疗费用，并将患者置于危险之中。 分辨率直接取决于传感器的尺寸，而传感器的尺寸又受到手持式探头的人体工程学的限制 以及系统复杂性（特别是在护理点系统中）。大组织深度的目标还需要更低的 成像频率，加剧了分辨率的下降。该项目建立在以前的 演示了扫描合成孔径（SSA）方法，以更好地成像深层目标。利用对 超声阵列在目标上快速扫过时的位置和方向， 则可以构造物理覆盖区以将横向分辨率提高几倍。 该提案的重点是开发一个平台，用于临床翻译SSA技术。技术 将SSA成像应用于多种体型和成像， 临床和护理点环境中的目标。光学跟踪系统将与超声波同步 超声扫描仪允许超声医师在没有机械约束的情况下执行徒手扫描。的位置和 超声数据将与亚波长位置精度相结合， 分辨率将使用成像体模表征成像系统，以评估以下方面的改进： 深目标的分辨率和可探测性。实验参数包括最大扫描速度和 将利用该平台确定扫描轨迹的范围以及实际指导。这个徒手 SSA系统将使未来能够评估提高分辨率对诊断任务的临床影响 在多个护理领域。它还将作为基于阵列和图像的跟踪的测试平台， SSA成像提供的图像改善，无需外部成本或复杂性， 追踪硬件

Project Summary Ultrasound imaging is a critical tool for applications such as obstetric, abdominal and cardiac care. As a non- invasive, real-time, and cost-effective method, ultrasound is the preferred tool for many screening and diagnostic tasks used across the United States and around the world. The proliferation of pocket-sized point of care systems has furthered ultrasound's reach into all areas of healthcare. However, image quality is often inadequate for deep targets in difficult-to-image patients. A lack of resolution at depth and significant acoustic clutter (haze or distortion) lead to non-diagnostic results and high rates of recall or referral to other imaging modalities, increasing healthcare costs and putting patients at risk. Resolution directly depends on the size of the transducer, which is limited by ergonomics of the handheld probe and by system complexity (especially in point of care systems). Targets at large tissue depths also require lower imaging frequencies, exacerbating the degradation of resolution. This project builds on the previously demonstrated swept synthetic aperture (SSA) method to better image deep targets. Using precise knowledge of the position and orientation of the ultrasound array as it is quickly swept over a target, an effective array larger than the physical footprint can be constructed to improve lateral resolution by several times. This proposal focuses on the development of a platform for clinical translation of the SSA technique. Technology that enables a freehand sweep is required to apply SSA imaging to a diversity of body shapes and imaging targets in clinical and point of care settings. An optical tracking system will by synchronized with the ultrasound scanner to allow a sonographer to perform a freehand sweep without mechanical constraints. The position and ultrasound data will be combined with sub-wavelength positional accuracy to achieve images with improved resolution. The imaging system will be characterized using imaging phantoms to assess improvements in resolution and detectability of deep targets. Experimental parameters including the maximum sweep speed and extent as well as practical guidance for the sweep trajectory will be determined using this platform. This freehand SSA system will enable future assessment of the clinical impact of improved resolution on diagnostic tasks across several areas of care. It will also serve as a test platform for array- and image-based tracking to make the image improvements afforded by SSA imaging accessible without the cost or complexity of the external tracking hardware.