Vingmed Sound A/s

Bjo Slashedrn Olstad

Kjell Kristoffersen

Lars ANGke Brodin

A method for extracting anatomical M-Mode displays of tissue velocity information along arbitrary curved polygons that can track curved organs such as myocard is described. The generated images can display the temporal velocity variations in a curved organ such as myocard in a single view. Time delays between events can be measured from these images. Furthermore, the invention describes how the time delay of characteristic events in temporal velocity evolutions and information derived from these velocity evolutions can be integrated into spatial time delay images that show the spatial propagation of the selected phenomenon. The characteristic events include switch in velocity direction, peak velocity, peak acceleration and similar aspects of tissue thickening. These characteristic events will be almost angle independent even if the tissue velocity is estimated with a Doppler technique along the propagation direction of the ultrasound beam. The invention further describes how the information extracted in a curved anatomical M-Mode can be utilized to estimate the phase of the regional wall motion in cardiac studies. It is also described how the phase of the regional wall motion can be estimated for all points in the imaged spatial region and displayed as a spatial map of the regional wall motion phase.

Analysis and measurement of temporal tissue velocity information

A method for motion encoding of tissue structures in ultrasonic imaging for investigation of living bodies, comprising the steps of obtaining 2D or volumetric data sets (4) by ultrasonic measurements covering a selected region within a living body, localizing at least one tissue structure within said selected region, measuring the movement of said at least one tissue structure within said selected region by correlating said selected region between at least two instants of time, computing from said data sets with respect to said at least one tissue structure a local motion characteristic estimate, and visualizing said at least one structure as well as said motion characteristic estimate.

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Ranheim, Norway

Bjo Slashedrn Olstad