ULTRASOUND DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ESTIMATING TISSUE STIFFNESS

摘要

An ultrasound device and method for calculating an estimated tissue stiffness based on peak on-axis tissue displacement propagating along the axis of an acoustic radiation force (ARF) excitation region are disclosed. Embodiments estimate stiffness by measuring time-to-peak tissue displacement directly along the acoustic radiation force axis. Embodiments achieve a highly accurate tissue stiffness estimate with minimal stiffness estimation error via use of an ultrasound device having less hardware complexity and which results in reduced sequencing complexity.

主权项

1. An ultrasound device for calculating an estimated tissue stiffness based on peak on-axis tissue displacement propagating along the axis of an acoustic radiation force (ARF) excitation region, the device comprising:
a transducer that outputs acoustic radiation to induce ARF along the axis to displace the tissue; a receiver that receives, along the axis, acoustic radiation reflected by the displaced tissue and which is based on the ARF-induced tissue displacement, wherein the reflected acoustic radiation corresponds to a tissue response to the tissue displacement; and an analysis system comprising:
an adaptive displacement estimator that estimates the displacement of the tissue at a plurality of depths per each select location along the axis;a timing system that determines a time for the tissue to achieve peak displacement; anda stiffness estimator that determines the estimated stiffness of the tissue based on the time for the tissue to achieve the peak displacement.