QUANTIFICATION OF TISSUE STRAIN IN ULTRASONIC ELASTOGRAPHY IMAGES

摘要

An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system acquires a sequence of elastography images (elastograms) with a probe as the probe is used to vary the pressure and compress a region of interest of an anatomic mass within the body. A region of interest is identified in one of the images of the acquired sequence of elastograms. The mean change in strain from one image frame to the next within the region of interest is computed over the interval that the region of interest is variably compressed, e.g., from a starting minimum level of pressure to a final maximum level. This intermediate result is used to produce the strain rate. Total or cumulative strain is then calculated over the compression interval to produce a curve or profile of the total strain in the ROI. The final level of the total strain curve or profile is a measure of the stiffness of the tissue of the ROI.