Clutter Suppression in Echocardiography Using Short-Lag Spatial Coherence Imaging

描述（由申请人提供）：超声图像的可视化不足导致检查时间增加，患者吞吐量降低，质量下降或诊断不确定，或患者转介到其他成像程序。替代成像方法通常会增加成本和/或使患者暴露于侵入性或潜在危险的成像程序中。在本应用中，我们提出了一种新的超声成像方法，称为短滞后空间相干成像（SLSC），它能够极大地抑制声杂波，显著提高超声成像质量。我们提供的初步数据表明，这项技术在人类肝脏和心脏中取得了成功。我们建议建立实时SLSC成像系统，并分析其在超声心动图中的关键任务。此外，我们建议建立数学框架来描述这种成像技术，并开发先进的SLSC成像方法。我们建议进行应激超声心动图的临床研究，以评估该技术在难以成像患者心内膜边界可视化方面的潜力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Inadequate visualization of ultrasonic images leads to increased exam time, decreased patient throughput, diminished quality or indeterminate diagnosis, or referral of the patient to other imaging procedures. Alternative imaging methods generally increase costs and/or expose the patient to invasive or potentially hazardous imaging procedures. In this application, we propose a new ultrasonic imaging method, called Short-Lag Spatial Coherence (SLSC) imaging, that demonstrates the ability to greatly suppress acoustical clutter and significantly improve ultrasonic imaging quality. We present preliminary data demonstrating the success of this technique in human livers and hearts. We propose to build real-time SLSC imaging systems and analyze them in key tasks in echocardiography. In addition, we propose to build the mathematical framework to describe this imaging technique and to develop advanced SLSC imaging methods. We propose clinical studies in stress echocardiography to evaluate the potential of this technique in visualizing endocardial borders in difficult-to-image patients. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Poor image quality in ultrasonic imaging is detrimental to diagnosing heart problems in patients. We have developed a new imaging method that reduces image noise. We propose to evaluate these techniques in human studies to determine the potential of this method in detecting the heart walls in the presence of noise.