Effects of Signal Saturation on QUS Parameter Estimates Based on High-Frequency-Ultrasound Signals Acquired From Isolated Cancerous Lymph Nodes

Choosing an appropriate dynamic range (DR) for acquiring radio frequency (RF) data from a high-frequency-ultrasound (HFU) system is challenging because signals can vary greatly in amplitude as a result of focusing and attenuation effects. In addition, quantitative ultrasound (QUS) results are altere...

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Veröffentlicht in:IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control Jg. 64; H. 10; S. 1501 - 1513
Hauptverfasser: Tamura, Kazuki, Mamou, Jonathan, Coron, Alain, Yoshida, Kenji, Feleppa, Ernest J., Yamaguchi, Tadashi
Format: Journal Article
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: United States IEEE 01.10.2017
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
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ISSN:0885-3010, 1525-8955, 1525-8955
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Zusammenfassung:Choosing an appropriate dynamic range (DR) for acquiring radio frequency (RF) data from a high-frequency-ultrasound (HFU) system is challenging because signals can vary greatly in amplitude as a result of focusing and attenuation effects. In addition, quantitative ultrasound (QUS) results are altered by saturated data. In this paper, the effects of saturation on QUS estimates of effective scatterer diameter (ESD) and effective acoustic concentration (EAC) were quantified using simulated and experimental RF data. Experimental data were acquired from 69 dissected human lymph nodes using a single-element transducer with a 26-MHz center frequency. Artificially saturated signals (xc) were produced by thresholding the original unsaturated RF echo signals. Saturation severity was expressed using a quantity called saturate-signal-to-noise ratio (SSNR). Results indicated that saturation has little effect on ESD estimates. However, EAC estimates decreased significantly with decreasing SSNR. An EAC correction algorithm exploiting a linear relationship between EAC values over a range of SSNR values and l1-norm of xc (i.e., the sum of absolute values of the true RF echo signal) is developed. The maximal errors in EAC estimates resulting from saturation were -8.05, -3.59, and -0.93 dB/mm 3 with the RF echo signals thresholded to keep 5, 6, and 7-bit from the original 8-bit DR, respectively. The EAC correction algorithm reduced maximal errors to -3.71, -0.89, and -0.26 dB/mm 3 when signals were thresholded at 5, 6, and 7-bit, respectively.
Bibliographie:ObjectType-Article-1
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ISSN:0885-3010
1525-8955
1525-8955
DOI:10.1109/TUFFC.2017.2737360