Clutter Suppression in Echocardiography Using Short-Lag Spatial Coherence Imaging

描述(由申请人提供)：超声图像可视化不佳会导致检查时间增加、患者吞吐量减少、质量降低或诊断不明确，或将患者转至其他成像程序。替代成像方法通常会增加成本和/或使患者暴露在侵入性或潜在危险的成像过程中。在这一应用中，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)成像，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显示，这项技术在人类肝脏和心脏上取得了成功。我们建议建立实时SLSC成像系统，并在超声心动图的关键任务中对其进行分析。此外，我们建议建立描述这种成像技术的数学框架，并开发先进的SLSC成像方法。我们建议在负荷超声心动图中进行临床研究，以评估这种技术在显示难以成像的患者的心内膜边界方面的潜力。 公共卫生相关性：超声成像图像质量差不利于诊断患者的心脏问题。我们开发了一种新的成像方法，可以降低图像噪声。我们建议在人体研究中评估这些技术，以确定这种方法在存在噪声的情况下检测心壁的潜力。

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.