A Shear Modulus Imager

描述（由申请人提供）：WinProbe公司提出研究实施超声成像的实时弹性成像方法，旨在优化研究平台中改善乳腺癌的诊断。弹性成像技术已经被深入研究了至少20年，但只有最小的商业产品已经实现。提供与换能器的RF数据流密切相关的足够计算能力以产生所需的复杂真实的时间计算的实际问题具有挑战性并且尚未完全实现。WinProbe提议将非常强大的计算超声系统引入该领域，并将几位杰出的弹性成像研究人员的工作转化为实用的成像模式。其中一些研究人员也被招募到这个项目的团队中。因此，建议将知识库推进到实用的临床方法和仪器。存在显著的先前研究，其报告了通过这些方法在回顾性计算中成功地区分癌性病变与正常组织。该项目的一个主要目标是研究声辐射力推动及其随后产生的剪切波的使用，结合手动施加预压载荷产生的实时静态弹性成像。将定量估计模量和模量相对于应变的变化率，并将结果实时绘制在实时B扫描图像的彩色叠加图中。将方法实例化到硬件中的演示作为第一阶段的里程碑。试验、评价、优化和体内研究拟用于II期。以下是第一阶段要执行的任务：  通过将测力传感器结合到传感器中进行传感器应力测量，以及用于操作员反馈和数据采集自动触发的相关软件程序，  实时静态弹性成像的算法实例，  声辐射力推算法实例化及建模与验证，  ARF-推的焦点处的剪切位移估计的算法实例，  通过跟踪剪切波传播估计模量的算法研究，  设计和构建模拟癌症病变和正常组织的不同模量的体模，以评估上述算法。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): WinProbe Corporation proposes research into implementing real-time elastography methods of ultrasonic imaging aimed at improving the diagnosis of breast cancer in an optimized Research Platform. Elastography has been the subject of intense research for at least twenty years yet only minimal commercial offerings have materialized. The practical issue of providing enough computational power intimately connected to the RF-data stream of the transducer, to produce the required complex real time calculations, has been challenging and not yet fully attained. WinProbe is proposing the introduction of a very powerful computational ultrasound system to this field and to convert the work of several eminent researchers of elastography to a practical imaging mode. Several of these researchers have also been enlisted in this project's team. It is thus proposed to advance the knowledge base through to a practical clinical method and instrument. Significant prior research exists that reports success in discriminating cancerous lesions from normal tissue by these methods in retrospective computations. One primary objective of this project is to investigate the use of Acoustic Radiation Force Pushes and their subsequently generated shear waves, in combination with real-time static elastography produced by manually applied pre-compression loads. The modulus and the rate of change of modulus with respect to strain will be quantitatively estimated, and the results mapped in real-time in color overlays of a live real-time B-Scan image. Demonstration of the methods instantiated into the hardware is presented as the milestones for Phase I. Testing, evaluation, optimizing and in vivo studies are proposed for Phase II. The following are tasks to be performed in Phase I:  Transducer stress measurement by incorporation of load cells into a transducer and the associated software program for operator feedback and automatic triggers for data acquisition,  Algorithm instantiation for real-time static elastography,  Algorithm instantiation for Acoustic Radiation Force Push with modeling and verification,  Algorithm instantiation for estimation of shear displacement at the focal point of the ARF-Push,  Algorithm investigation for modulus estimation by tracking shear wave propagation,  Design and construction of phantoms mimicking differing moduli of cancer lesions and normal tissue for the evaluation of the algorithms above.