Riverside Research Institute

Ernest Joseph Feleppa

Frederic Louis Lizzi

Jonathan Mamou

Sheikh Kaisar Alam

Marek Elbaum

Daniel Rohrbach

Tian Liu

An ultrasonic material-evaluation or classification method using spectral and envelope-statistics variables from backscattered ultrasound echo signals using an adaptive-bandwidth and combined with global variables. This classification method can be applied to any organ or tissue among biological materials and any non-biological material that produces backscattered signals as a result of microscopic internal in homogeneities such as a crystalline structure.

Typing and imaging of biological and non-biological materials using quantitative ultrasound

The present invention provides a method for detecting and locating brachytherapy seeds using Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA). The method exploits the presence of seed-specific repetitive echo signals in detecting seeds and determining their location. Radio frequency (rf) echo signals received from a scanned area of interest are converted to zero-mean envelope-detected signals and then processed using SSA to produce a spectral-power line (a P line). The P line indicates the relative likelihood of a seed being present. A colored P-mode image derived from a set of P lines is superimposed on a conventional ultrasound B-mode image to depict seed location.

Ultrasonic detection of brachytherapy seeds based on singular spectrum analysis

Methods are provided for enhancing the image of brachytherapy seeds implanted in tissue using a transrectal ultrasound apparatus. In a first arrangement the resonance of the seeds is determined and the seeds are insonified using acoustic signals having a resonance frequency of the seeds to cause the seeds to vibrate. The vibrating seeds have enhanced detection using a Doppler ultrasound device. In a second arrangement the acoustic signature of the seeds is determined and used to enhance the imaging of the seeds using a correlation function. In a third arrangement images are taken of the tissue and implanted seeds prior to and during the application of mechanical stress to the tissue. A correlation between the unstressed and stressed tissue can cause enhanced imaging of the seeds.

Ultrasonic method for visualizing brachytheraphy seeds

Improved methods of signal processing for generating estimates of tissue strain are presented. These techniques generally employ the frequency shifting of post-compression spectral data to determine a scaling factor which approximates the applied tissue strain. The scaling factor can be determined by finding the maximum correlation between the frequency shifted post-compression data to the pre-compression data and can also be determined by minimizing the variance of the ratio of such data. Correlation tracking and maximum correlation magnitude techniques for improving the results of elastography are also presented.

Methods for estimating tissue strain

Clinical data, ultrasonic radio frequency (RF) backscatter spectral data and histological results of corresponding biopsy sites are stored in a database and are used to train a classifier suitable for real-time tissue classification and imaging. In clinical use, clinical data and ultrasonic RF backscatter data are applied as input variables to the trained classifier which assigns a likelihood of cancer (LOC) score to each pixel location in an ultrasound image. The LOC scores are then categorized by ranges, which can be established by user selected threshold values, to apply different colors or grey scale values distinguishing varying levels of suspicion (LOS) to each pixel position in real-time. This classification and display technique is especially valuable for guiding a person performing a needle biopsy of the prostate.

Ultrasonic tissue-type classification and imaging methods and apparatus

Methods for improving the availability of information derived from signals received from an object irradiated with coherent pulses of any form of radiation that exhibits a wave nature are disclosed. A method for reducing speckle derives separate component noncoherent signals from the received signals, and combines these separate noncoherent signals to form improved composite noncoherent signals. Weighting and processing of component signals can be applied as a function of time, frequency, and signal amplitude to optimize speckle reduction in all or a critical part of the signal by compensating for the range and frequency dependence of attenuation and the frequency dependence of scattering phenomena. In a method for enhancing resolution, separate component coherent signals are derived from the received signals, weighted and processed, and combined to form improved composite coherent signals; then noncoherent signals are derived from the improved composite coherent signals. In both methods, signals can be processed either in the analog or digital domains or in hybrid analog/digital domains. The apparatus for performing each method also is disclosed.

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Rye, NY, United States of America

Ernest Joseph Feleppa