Method for improved ultrasonic detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10018712-B2
Application number	US-22769707-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 25, 2007
Priority date	May 26, 2006
Publication date	Jul 10, 2018
Grant date	Jul 10, 2018

Abstract

This invention relates to a method of analyzing an ultrasound signal. The method comprises obtaining a time series of sequential data frames associated with an ultrasound signal reflected from and/or backscattered from a fixed location of a material under investigation, each data frame comprising a plurality of samples of the ultrasound signal, and subjecting to an analysis a sequence of one or more samples of the ultrasound signal, or a sequence of at least one parameter derived from one or more samples of the ultrasound signal, wherein a result of the analysis is related to one or properties or characteristics of the material. In one embodiment the method may be used for detecting, diagnosing, and/or assessing cancer and/or abnormalities in biological tissue.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for determining one or more physical properties of a material, comprising:
(I) obtaining a plurality of ultrasound data frames sequentially in time;
wherein the plurality of ultrasound data frames is generated from an ultrasound signal received by one ultrasound transducer that is in one fixed relationship relative to the material and the ultrasound transducer is not subjected to intentional movement relative to the material;
wherein each ultrasound data frame of the plurality of ultrasound data frames comprises a plurality of samples of the ultrasound signal reflected from and/or backscattered from the material;
(II) selecting, from one ultrasound data frame of the plurality of ultrasound data frames, one or more samples of the ultrasound signal, wherein each sample is a scalar value corresponding to amplitude of the ultrasound signal at one position in the material;
(III) selecting, from a second ultrasound data frame of the plurality of ultrasound data frames, one or more samples of the ultrasound signal, wherein each sample is a scalar value corresponding to amplitude of the ultrasound signal at the same position as each of the one or more samples in (II);
(IV) repeating (III) to generate a time series of scalar values from a temporal sequence of the scalar values of the ultrasound signal;
(Va) inputting the time series of scalar values to a classifier trained with data relating to known physical properties of one or more materials, wherein an output of the classifier is related to the temporal sequence of the time series of scalar values; or
(Vb) subjecting the time series of scalar values to a discrete Fourier transform or a discrete wavelet transform to extract a plurality of spectral parameters, and inputting at least a portion of the plurality of spectral parameters to a classifier trained with data relating to known physical properties of one or more materials;
(VI) outputting a result of the classifier;
wherein the result of the classifier is indicative of one or more physical properties of the material.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ultrasound signal is selected from an A-mode, B-mode, M-mode, or 3-D ultrasound signal.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the result of the classifier is indicative of the physical property of the material being normal or abnormal.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the result of the classifier is a probability map or a probability score.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the result of the classifier is indicative of severity of the abnormality in the material.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the result of the classifier describes the presence of the abnormality in the material.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the material is biological tissue.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the biological tissue is human biological tissue.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the material is biological tissue and the abnormality in the biological tissue is cancer.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the cancer is associated with at least one of female genital tract (ovary, fallopian tube, uterus, cervix and vagina), male genital tract (prostate and testis), urinary tract (kidney, ureter and prostate gland), mediastinum and heart, gastrointestinal tract (small and large intestines, liver, pancreas, gallbladder and biliary system), breast, skin, nervous system, endocrine organs (thyroid gland, adrenal gland), head and neck region, lymph nodes, soft tissue, respiratory system (including lung), and combinations thereof.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the cancer is prostate cancer.

12. The method of claim 6 , wherein the material is biological tissue and the abnormality in the biological tissue is selected from benign tumour, infection, abscess, necrosis, infarct, and combinations thereof.

13. Programmed media for use with a computer, comprising:
a computer program stored on non-transitory storage media compatible with the computer, the computer program containing instructions to direct the computer to perform the following steps:
(I) obtain a plurality of ultrasound data frames sequentially in time;
wherein the plurality of ultrasound data frames is generated from an ultrasound signal received by one ultrasound transducer that is in one fixed relationship relative to the material and the ultrasound transducer is not subjected to intentional movement relative to the material;
wherein each ultrasound data frame of the plurality of ultrasound data frames comprises a plurality of samples of the ultrasound signal reflected from and/or backscattered from the material;
(II) select, from one ultrasound data frame of the plurality of ultrasound data frames, one or more samples of the ultrasound signal, wherein each sample is a scalar value corresponding to amplitude of the ultrasound signal at one position in the material;
(III) select, from a second ultrasound data frame of the plurality of ultrasound data frames, one or more samples of the ultrasound signal, wherein each sample is a scalar value corresponding to amplitude of the ultrasound signal at the same position as each of the one or more samples in (II);
(IV) repeat (III) to generate a time series of scalar values from a temporal sequence of the scalar values of the ultrasound signal;
(Va) input the time series of scalar values to a classifier trained with data relating to known physical properties of one or more materials, wherein an output of the classifier is related to the temporal sequence of the time series of scalar values; or
(Vb) subject the time series of scalar values to a discrete Fourier transform or a discrete wavelet transform to extract a plurality of spectral parameters, and input at least a portion of the plurality of spectral parameters to a classifier trained with data relating to known physical properties of one or more materials;
(VI) output a result of the classifier;
wherein the result of the classifier is indicative of one or more physical properties of the material.

14. The programmed media of claim 13 , wherein the computer program further directs the computer to:
update the data relating to known physical properties of one or more materials by accepting further data relating to known physical properties of the material, or complementary data from subsequent analysis conducted on the material; and
training the classifier according to the updated data relating to known physical properties of the material.

15. A system for determining one or more physical properties of a material, comprising:
a computer;
the programmed media of claim 13 ; and
an ultrasound device for generating an ultrasound signal from the material.

Assignees

• Moradi Mehdi
• Abolmaesumi Purang
• Mousavi Parvin
• Sauerbrei Eric
• Siemens Robert
• Isotalo Phillip
• Univ Kingston

Inventors

• Moradi Mehdi
• Abolmaesumi Purang
• Mousavi Parvin
• Sauerbrei Eric
• Siemens Robert
• Isotalo Phillip

Classifications

• G01S7/52036 Primary

  using analysis of echo signal for target characterisation · CPC title

• A61B8/0833

  involving detecting or locating foreign bodies or organic structures · CPC title

• G01S15/8977

  using special techniques for image reconstruction, e.g. FFT, geometrical transformations, spatial deconvolution, time deconvolution · CPC title