Analysis of 2-d ultrasound cardiac strain imaging using joint probability density functions.

Ultrasound frame rates play a key role for accurate cardiac deformation tracking. Insufficient frame rates lead to an increase in signal de-correlation artifacts resulting in erroneous displacement and strain estimation. Joint probability density distributions generated from estimated axial strain a...

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Published in:Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology Vol. 40; no. 6; pp. 1118 - 1133
Main Authors: Ma, Chi, Varghese, Tomy
Format: research Journal Article
Published: Elsevier B.V. Jun2014
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jun2014
      vid: 40
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      pub: Elsevier B.V.
      place: New York, New York
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        103821597
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        10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2013.12.028
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        atl: Analysis of 2-d ultrasound cardiac strain imaging using joint probability density functions.
      aug:
        au:
          Ma, Chi
          Varghese, Tomy
        affil: Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
      sug:
        subj:
          Echocardiography Methods
          Ultrasonography
          Algorithms
          Animals
          Computer Simulation
          Dogs
          Finite Element Analysis
          Research Subjects
          Human
          Image Enhancement Methods
          Image Interpretation, Computer Assisted Methods
          Probability
          Reproducibility of Results
          Stress, Mechanical
      ab: Ultrasound frame rates play a key role for accurate cardiac deformation tracking. Insufficient frame rates lead to an increase in signal de-correlation artifacts resulting in erroneous displacement and strain estimation. Joint probability density distributions generated from estimated axial strain and its associated signal-to-noise ratio provide a useful approach to assess the minimum frame rate requirements. Previous reports have demonstrated that bi-modal distributions in the joint probability density indicate inaccurate strain estimation over a cardiac cycle. In this study, we utilize similar analysis to evaluate a 2-D multi-level displacement tracking and strain estimation algorithm for cardiac strain imaging. The effect of different frame rates, final kernel dimensions and a comparison of radio frequency and envelope based processing are evaluated using echo signals derived from a 3-D finite element cardiac model and five healthy volunteers. Cardiac simulation model analysis demonstrates that the minimum frame rates required to obtain accurate joint probability distributions for the signal-to-noise ratio and strain, for a final kernel dimension of 1 λ by 3 A-lines, was around 42 Hz for radio frequency signals. On the other hand, even a frame rate of 250 Hz with envelope signals did not replicate the ideal joint probability distribution. For the volunteer study, clinical data was acquired only at a 34 Hz frame rate, which appears to be sufficient for radio frequency analysis. We also show that an increase in the final kernel dimensions significantly affect the strain probability distribution and joint probability density function generated, with a smaller effect on the variation in the accumulated mean strain estimated over a cardiac cycle. Our results demonstrate that radio frequency frame rates currently achievable on clinical cardiac ultrasound systems are sufficient for accurate analysis of the strain probability distribution, when a multi-level 2-D algorithm and kernel dimensions on the order of 1 λ by 3 A-lines or smaller are utilized.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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