Ultrasonic Nakagami images can complement conventional B-mode images for scatterer characterization. White noise in anechoic areas leads to artifacts that affect the Nakagami image to characterize tissues. Artifact removal requires rejection of the white noise without deforming the backscattered waveform. This study proposes a noise-assisted correlation algorithm (NCA) and carries out simulations, phantom experiments, and clinical measurements to validate its feasibility and practicality. The simulation results show that the NCA can reject white noise in an anechoic area without any deformation of the backscattered waveforms. The results obtained from phantoms and tissues further demonstrate that the proposed NCA can suppress a Nakagami image artifact without changing the texture of the Nakagami image of the scattering background. The NCA is an essential algorithm to construct artifact-free Nakagami image for correctly reflecting scatterer properties of biological tissues.
- Noise-Assisted Correlation Algorithm for Suppressing Noise-Induced Artifacts in Ultrasonic Nakagami Images
- Po-Hsiang Tsui - Chang Gung UniversityChih-Kuang Yeh - Natl Tsing Hua Univ, Dept Biomed Engn & Environm Sci, Hsinchu 30013, TaiwanChih-Chung Huang - Fu Jen Catholic University
- IEEE
- 9
- National Science Council of the Republic of China (Taiwan): NSC100-2628-E-182-003-MY2, NSC99-2218-E-182-009 Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taiwan
Manuscript received July 26, 2011; revised November 7, 2011; accepted November 20, 2011. Date of publication December 1, 2011; date of current version May 4, 2012. This work was supported by the National Science Council of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under Grant NSC100-2628-E-182-003-MY2 and Grant NSC99-2218-E-182-009.The authors would like to thank Prof. P. C. Li (Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan) for providing the breast phantom and Dr. B. H. Lee (Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taiwan) for supporting the clinical experiments.
- Journal article
- 01/05/2012
- IEEE transactions on information technology in biomedicine, Vol.16(3), pp.314-322
- English