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- 超声是许多筛查和诊断的首选工具，具有侵入性、实时和成本效益高的特点 在美国和世界各地使用的任务。袖珍护理点系统的激增 进一步推动了超声波在医疗保健各个领域的应用。然而，图像质量通常不足以满足 难以成像的患者的深层靶点。深度分辨率不足和明显的声学杂波(雾霾或 失真)导致非诊断结果和高召回率或转诊至其他成像方式，增加 医疗成本和将患者置于风险之中。 分辨率直接取决于换能器的大小，这受到手持探头的人体工程学的限制 以及系统复杂性(尤其是在护理点系统中)。大组织深度的靶点也需要更低的 成像频率，加剧了分辨率的下降。这个项目建立在以前的基础上 展示了扫描合成孔径(SSA)方法，以更好地成像深部目标。使用精确的知识 超声阵列的位置和方向，当它被快速扫过一个目标时，有效的阵列更大 则可以构建物理足迹以将横向分辨率提高数倍。 这项建议的重点是开发一个SSA技术的临床翻译平台。技术 要将SSA成像应用于各种体型和成像，需要实现徒手扫描 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 扫描仪，允许超声诊断员在没有机械约束的情况下进行徒手扫描。这一立场和 将超声数据与亚波长定位精度相结合，实现具有改进的图像 决议。成像系统将使用成像模体来表征，以评估在 深层目标的分辨率和可探测性。实验参数包括最大扫描速度和 使用该平台将确定扫描轨迹的范围和实际制导。这是一幅写意画 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 在几个护理领域。它还将作为基于阵列和图像的跟踪的测试平台，以 SSA映像提供的图像改进无需外部成本或复杂性即可访问 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.