Tissue motion analysis medical diagnostic ultrasound system and method

Abstract

Accurate tissue motion systems and methods are provided. Motion of the ultrasound transducer is accounted for in estimates at tissue motion. Correcting for transducer motion better isolates localized tissue contractions or expansions, such as motion of the myocardial muscle or fibers. Accurate motion estimation is also provided by determining an angle of motion from the ultrasound data. The angle of motion is used to adjust velocity estimates, providing two-dimensional velocity vectors (i.e. motion estimates comprising motion in at least two dimensions). Movement of tissue is determined by correlating speckle or a feature represented by two different sets of ultrasound data obtained at different times. Additional aspects include tracking the location of a tissue of interest. A characteristic of strain, such as the strain rate or strain, is calculated for the tracked tissue of interest. Ultrasound data associated with different positions relative to the transducer are selected as a function of the tracking and used to determine the characteristic of strain. Motion estimates corrected for transducer motion may also be used to determine a strain or strain rate. In yet another aspect, motion estimates are generated with data from an intra-cardiac transducer array. The characteristic of strain is determined from the motion estimates. Other aspects discussed above may be used with an intra-cardiac transducer array, providing accurate motion analysis based on imaging from within the heart.