Systems and methods for ultrasound attenuation coefficient estimation
US12204057B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 6, 2020 |
| Grant date | Jan 21, 2025 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 20, 2041 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N2291/02466
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Described here are systems and methods for improved ultrasound attenuation coefficient estimation (“ACE”) techniques. In one aspect, noise can be suppressed by using signal-to-noise ratio (“SNR”) as a quality control metric for restricting depth ranges for ACE. In this way, the proper depth range for each frequency component can be adaptively changed with sufficient SNR for ACE. In another aspect, elevation focusing normalization is used to reduce errors associated with diffraction effects when estimating attenuation coefficient. In another aspect, methods for suppressing noise in ACE techniques is provided. Noise can be suppressed based on a noise field computed from measurements obtained without ultrasound transmission, based on a unique combination of consecutive image frames, based on singular value decomposition (“SVD”) clutter filtering cutoff values, or combinations thereof.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.