Imaging Local Scatterer Concentrations by the Nakagami Statistical Model
Resource
Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology 33 (4): 608-619
Journal
Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology
Journal Volume
33
Journal Issue
4
Pages
608-619
Date Issued
2007
Date
2007
Author(s)
Tsui, Po-Hsiang
Abstract
The ultrasonic B-mode image is an important clinical tool used to examine the internal structures of the biological tissue. Due to the fact that the conventional B-scans cannot fully reflect the nature of the tissue, some useful quantitative parameters have been applied to quantify the properties of the tissue. Among various possibilities, the Nakagami parameter was demonstrated to have an outstanding ability to detect the variation of the scatterer concentration. This study is aimed to develop a scatterer concentration image based on the Nakagami parameter map to assist in the B-mode image for tissue characterization. In particular, computer simulations are carried out to generate phantoms of different scatterer concentrations and echogenicity coefficients and their B-mode and Nakagami parametric images are compared to evaluate the performance of the Nakagami image in differentiating the properties of the scatterers. The simulated results show that the B-mode image would be affected by the system settings and user operations, whereas the Nakagami parametric image provides a comparatively consistent image result when different diagnosticians use different dynamic ranges and system gains. This is largely because the Nakagami image formation is only based on the backscattered statistics of the ultrasonic signals in local tissues. Such an imaging principle allows the Nakagami image to quantify the local scatterer concentrations in the tissue and to extract the backscattering information from the regions of the weaker echoes that may be lost in the B-mode image. These findings suggest that the Nakagami image can be combined with the use of the B-mode image simultaneously to visualize the tissue structures and the scatterer properties for a better medical diagnosis. (E-mail: mechang@gate.sinica.edu.tw). ? 2007 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.
Subjects
Nakagami distribution; Parametric image; Ultrasonic backscattering
SDGs
Other Subjects
Backscattering; Computer simulation; Concentration (process); Mathematical models; Parameter estimation; Tissue; Nakagami distribution; Parametric image; Ultrasonic backscattering; Image analysis; article; B scan; comparative study; computer simulation; image analysis; phantom; priority journal; radiation scattering; statistical model; tissue characterization; Computer Simulation; Humans; Models, Statistical; Phantoms, Imaging; Scattering, Radiation; Ultrasonography
Type
journal article
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