TY - GEN
T1 - Automated Hierarchical Time Gain Compensation for In Vivo Ultrasound Imaging
AU - Moshavegh, Ramin
AU - Hemmsen, Martin Christian
AU - Martins, Bo
AU - Brandt, Andreas Hjelm
AU - Lindskov Hansen, Kristoffer
AU - Nielsen, Michael Bachmann
AU - Jensen, Jørgen Arendt
N1 - Copyright 2015 Society of Photo Optical Instrumentation Engineers. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic electronic or print reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Time gain compensation (TGC) is essential to ensure the optimal image quality of the clinical ultrasound
scans. When large fluid collections are present within the scan plane, the attenuation distribution is changed
drastically and TGC compensation becomes challenging. This paper presents an automated hierarchical TGC
(AHTGC) algorithm that accurately adapts to the large attenuation variation between different types of tissues
and structures. The algorithm relies on estimates of tissue attenuation, scattering strength, and noise level to
gain a more quantitative understanding of the underlying tissue and the ultrasound signal strength. The proposed
algorithm was applied to a set of 44 in vivo abdominal movie sequences each containing 15 frames. Matching
pairs of in vivo sequences, unprocessed and processed with the proposed AHTGC were visualized side by side and
evaluated by two radiologists in terms of image quality. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to evaluate whether
radiologists preferred the processed sequences or the unprocessed data. The results indicate that the average
visual analogue scale (VAS) is positive ( p-value: 2.34 × 10−13) and estimated to be 1.01 (95% CI: 0.85; 1.16)
favoring the processed data with the proposed AHTGC algorithm.
AB - Time gain compensation (TGC) is essential to ensure the optimal image quality of the clinical ultrasound
scans. When large fluid collections are present within the scan plane, the attenuation distribution is changed
drastically and TGC compensation becomes challenging. This paper presents an automated hierarchical TGC
(AHTGC) algorithm that accurately adapts to the large attenuation variation between different types of tissues
and structures. The algorithm relies on estimates of tissue attenuation, scattering strength, and noise level to
gain a more quantitative understanding of the underlying tissue and the ultrasound signal strength. The proposed
algorithm was applied to a set of 44 in vivo abdominal movie sequences each containing 15 frames. Matching
pairs of in vivo sequences, unprocessed and processed with the proposed AHTGC were visualized side by side and
evaluated by two radiologists in terms of image quality. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to evaluate whether
radiologists preferred the processed sequences or the unprocessed data. The results indicate that the average
visual analogue scale (VAS) is positive ( p-value: 2.34 × 10−13) and estimated to be 1.01 (95% CI: 0.85; 1.16)
favoring the processed data with the proposed AHTGC algorithm.
KW - Time gain compensation
KW - Attenuation estimation
KW - Attenuation variation
KW - Signal-to-noise ratio
KW - Ultrasound imaging
U2 - 10.1117/12.2081619
DO - 10.1117/12.2081619
M3 - Article in proceedings
SN - 9781628415094
VL - 9419
T3 - Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering
BT - Proceedings of SPIE
A2 - Bosch, Johan G.
A2 - Duric, Neb
PB - SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering
T2 - SPIE Medical Imaging 2015
Y2 - 21 February 2015 through 26 February 2015
ER -