The limited amount of data in the healthcare domain and the necessity of training samples for increased performance of deep learning models is a recurrent challenge,especially in medical imaging.Newborn Solutions aims...The limited amount of data in the healthcare domain and the necessity of training samples for increased performance of deep learning models is a recurrent challenge,especially in medical imaging.Newborn Solutions aims to enhance its non-invasive white blood cell counting device,Neosonics,by creating synthetic in vitro ultrasound images to facilitate a more efficient image generation process.This study addresses the data scarcity issue by designing and evaluating a continuous scalar conditional Generative Adversarial Network(GAN)to augment in vitro peritoneal dialysis ultrasound images,increasing both the volume and variability of training samples.The developed GAN architecture incorporates novel design features:varying kernel sizes in the generator’s transposed convolutional layers and a latent intermediate space,projecting noise and condition values for enhanced image resolution and specificity.The experimental results show that the GAN successfully generated diverse images of high visual quality,closely resembling real ultrasound samples.While visual results were promising,the use of GAN-based data augmentation did not consistently improve the performance of an image regressor in distinguishing features specific to varied white blood cell concentrations.Ultimately,while this continuous scalar conditional GAN model made strides in generating realistic images,further work is needed to achieve consistent gains in regression tasks,aiming for robust model generalization.展开更多
Objective:To explore the diagnostic value of ultrasound imaging for breast nodules of breast imaging-reporting and data system(BI-RADS)category 3 and above.Methods:From June 2021 to July 2022,163 patients with breast ...Objective:To explore the diagnostic value of ultrasound imaging for breast nodules of breast imaging-reporting and data system(BI-RADS)category 3 and above.Methods:From June 2021 to July 2022,163 patients with breast nodules of BI-RADS 3 or above were selected as the research subjects.After pathological diagnosis,24 cases were malignant breast nodules of BI-RADS 3 or above,while 139 cases were benign breast nodules of BI-RADS 3 or above.The diagnosis rate of malignant and benign breast nodules of BI-RADS 3 or above,including 95%CI,was observed and analyzed.Results:The malignant and benign detection rates of conventional ultrasound were 88.63%and 75.00%,respectively,and the malignant and benign detection rates of ultrasound imaging were 93.18%and 87.50%,respectively,with 95%CIs greater than 0.7.Conclusion:Ultrasound imaging can help improve the diagnostic accuracy of benign and malignant breast nodules of BI-RADS 3 and above and reduce the misdiagnosis rate.展开更多
Breast cancer detection heavily relies on medical imaging, particularly ultrasound, for early diagnosis and effectivetreatment. This research addresses the challenges associated with computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) of ...Breast cancer detection heavily relies on medical imaging, particularly ultrasound, for early diagnosis and effectivetreatment. This research addresses the challenges associated with computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) of breastcancer fromultrasound images. The primary challenge is accurately distinguishing between malignant and benigntumors, complicated by factors such as speckle noise, variable image quality, and the need for precise segmentationand classification. The main objective of the research paper is to develop an advanced methodology for breastultrasound image classification, focusing on speckle noise reduction, precise segmentation, feature extraction, andmachine learning-based classification. A unique approach is introduced that combines Enhanced Speckle ReducedAnisotropic Diffusion (SRAD) filters for speckle noise reduction, U-NET-based segmentation, Genetic Algorithm(GA)-based feature selection, and Random Forest and Bagging Tree classifiers, resulting in a novel and efficientmodel. To test and validate the hybrid model, rigorous experimentations were performed and results state thatthe proposed hybrid model achieved accuracy rate of 99.9%, outperforming other existing techniques, and alsosignificantly reducing computational time. This enhanced accuracy, along with improved sensitivity and specificity,makes the proposed hybrid model a valuable addition to CAD systems in breast cancer diagnosis, ultimatelyenhancing diagnostic accuracy in clinical applications.展开更多
Cracks, especially small cracks are di cult to be detected in oil and gas transportation pipelines buried underground or covered with layers of material by using the traditional ultrasonic inspection techniques. There...Cracks, especially small cracks are di cult to be detected in oil and gas transportation pipelines buried underground or covered with layers of material by using the traditional ultrasonic inspection techniques. Therefore, a new com?posite ultrasonic transducer array with three acoustic beam incidence modes is developed. The space model of the array is also established to obtain the defect reflection point location. And the crack ultrasound image is thus formed through a series of small cubical elements expanded around the point locations by using the projection of binariza?tion values extracted from the received ultrasonic echo signals. Laboratory experiments are performed on a pipeline sample with di erent types of cracks to verify the e ectiveness and performance of the proposed technique. From the image, the presence of small cracks can be clearly observed, in addition to the sizes and orientations of the cracks. The proposed technique can not only inspect common flaws, but also detect cracks with various orientations, which is helpful for defect evaluation in pipeline testing.展开更多
BACKGROUND For parturients with paroxysmal uterine contraction pain,rapid analgesia is needed.We used preprocedure ultrasound imaging combined with the palpation technique in epidural analgesia for labor,and evaluated...BACKGROUND For parturients with paroxysmal uterine contraction pain,rapid analgesia is needed.We used preprocedure ultrasound imaging combined with the palpation technique in epidural analgesia for labor,and evaluated the usefulness of this technique in epidural labor analgesia.AIM To evaluate the usefulness of preprocedure ultrasound imaging in epidural analgesia for labor.METHODS In this prospective randomized observational study,72 parturients were assigned to two groups(combined or palpation group).The target interspace of all parturients was first identified by the palpation technique.Then in the combined group,preprocedure ultrasound imaging was used before epidural puncture.In the palpation group,only the traditional anatomical landmarks technique(palpation technique)was performed.The primary outcome was total duration of the epidural procedure(for the ultrasound group,the duration of the preprocedure ultrasound imaging was included).The secondary outcomes were the number of skin punctures,the success rate at first needle pass,the number of needle passes,the depth from the skin to epidural space,and the complications of the procedure.RESULTS Total duration of the epidural procedure was similar between the two groups(406.5±92.15 s in the combined group and 380.03±128.2 s in the palpation group;P=0.318).A significant improvement was demonstrated for epidural puncture and catheterization in the combined group.The number of needle passes was 1.14 in the combined group and 1.72 in the palpation group(P=0.001).The number of skin puncture sites was 1.20 in the combined group and 1.25 in the palpation group(P=0.398).The success rate at first needle pass was 88.89%in the combined group and 66.67%in the palpation group(P=0.045).CONCLUSION This study demonstrated that the total duration of epidural procedures with preprocedure ultrasound imaging combined with the palpation technique was not longer than the traditional anatomical landmarks technique,which were performed by six experienced anesthesiologists in parturients with normal weights undergoing labor analgesia.展开更多
A new ultrasound contrast imaging technique was proposed for eliminating the harmonic components from the emission signal transmitted by the broadband ultrasonic system.Reversal phase-inversion pulse was used for the ...A new ultrasound contrast imaging technique was proposed for eliminating the harmonic components from the emission signal transmitted by the broadband ultrasonic system.Reversal phase-inversion pulse was used for the first time to separate the contrast harmonics from the harmonics in the emission signal to improve the detection of contrast micro-bubbles.Based on the nonlinear acoustic theory of finite-amplitude effects and the associated distortion of the propagating wave,the Bessel-Fubini series model was applied to describe the nonlinear propagation effects of the reversal phase-inversion pulse,and the Church's equation for zero-thickness encapsulation model was used to produce the scattering-pulse of the bubble.For harmonic imaging,the experiment was performed using a 64-element linear array,which was simulated by Field II.The results show that the harmonic components from the emission signal can be completely cancelled,and the harmonics generated by the nonlinear propagation of the wave through the tissue,can be reduced by 15-30 dB.Compared with the short pulse,the reversal phase-inversion pulse can improve the contrast and definition of the harmonic image significantly.展开更多
The repair of peripheral nerve injuries with autologous nerve remains the gold standard （Wang et al., 2005; Yao et al., 2010; Deal et al., 2012; Kriebel et al., 2014; Liu et al., 2014; Tamaki et al., 2014; Yu et al.,...The repair of peripheral nerve injuries with autologous nerve remains the gold standard （Wang et al., 2005; Yao et al., 2010; Deal et al., 2012; Kriebel et al., 2014; Liu et al., 2014; Tamaki et al., 2014; Yu et al., 2014; Zhu and Lou, 2014）. With advances in tissue engineering and biomaterials, tissue-engineered nerve conduits with various biomaterials and structures, such as collagen and chitosan nerve conduits, have already been used in the clinic as alternatives to autologous nerve in the repair of peripheral nerve injury （Wang et al., 2012; Svizenska et al., 2013; Eppenberger et al., 2014; Gu et al., 2014; Koudehi et al., 2014; MoyaDiaz et al., 2014; Novajra et al., 2014; Okamoto et al., 2014; Shea et al., 2014; Singh et al., 2014; Tamaki et al., 2014; Yu et al., 2014）. Therefore, new simple and effective methods展开更多
In order to find an easy and accurate procedure for diagnosis of diffuse goitre in children, we examined 50 patients with diffuse goitre using fine needle aspiration biopsy cytology, thyroid antibody detection, thyroi...In order to find an easy and accurate procedure for diagnosis of diffuse goitre in children, we examined 50 patients with diffuse goitre using fine needle aspiration biopsy cytology, thyroid antibody detection, thyroid hormone analysis and ultrasound imaging. In the meantime, 109 healthy children (control) were examined by ultrasound imaging. The results showed that thyroid imaging in health children was a smooth echo pattern with stronger homogenous echogram than surrounding muscle tissues. The patients with diffuse goitre showed an normally enlarged thyroid volume. In 22 (84. 6 %) of 26 children With chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, a varied patch hypoechogenicity was found, of whom 18 (81. 8 % ) had positive results of antibody testing. On the contrary, echo-pattern was normal in 17 (70. 8 %) of 24 patients with diffuse thyroid proliferation and only the remainder (7/24, 29. 1% ) had abnormal echo-pattern as well as elevated auto-antibody titers, of whom 2 were confirmed as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis by a repeat fine needle aspiration biopsy 1 year later. By using combined ultrasound imaging and antibody determination, 92 % of the cases with chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis could be diagnosed. Our study suggests that ultrasonic imaging is an easy, non-invasive, reproducible and effective procedure in the differen,tial diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis in children.展开更多
This paper presents a flexible and high speed digital scan converter (DSC) with the ability to handle high frequency ultrasound imaging in real-time. The characteristics in imaging system such as focus length of trans...This paper presents a flexible and high speed digital scan converter (DSC) with the ability to handle high frequency ultrasound imaging in real-time. The characteristics in imaging system such as focus length of transducer, the swing radius and sampling length etc. could be changed easily in compliance with the researcher's application based on this flexible digital scan converter. Linear interpolation is employed to achieve the coordinate transformations algorithm. Custom-built software is programmed to preliminarily handle the algorithm according to different ultrasound imaging applications. High performance FPGA will implement high speed interpolation calculation based on the preliminary data which are stored in the DDR2 SDRAM from the software. 64 bit 66 MHz PCI is employed to accomplish high speed data transmission. Experiment has shown that more than 500 frame rate could be achieved based on this high speed digital scan converter. The designed flexible and high speed digital scan converter could be used in current FPGA based high frequency ultrasound imaging system.展开更多
Nanodrugs capable of aggregating in the tumor microenvironment(TME)have demonstrated great efficiency in improving the therapeutic outcome.Among vari-ous approaches,the strategy utilizing electrostatic interaction as a...Nanodrugs capable of aggregating in the tumor microenvironment(TME)have demonstrated great efficiency in improving the therapeutic outcome.Among vari-ous approaches,the strategy utilizing electrostatic interaction as a driving force to achieve intratumor aggregation of nanodrugs has attracted great attention.However,the great difference between the two nanodrugs with varied physicochemical prop-erties makes their synchronous transport in blood circulation and equal-opportunity tumor uptake impossible,which significantly detracts from the beneficial effects of nanodrug aggregation inside tumors.We herein propose a new strategy to construct a pair of extremely similar nanodrugs,referred to as“twins-like nanodrugs(TLNs)”,which have identical physicochemical properties including the same morphology,size,and electroneutrality to render them the same blood circulation time and tumor entrance.The 1:1 mixture of TLNs(TLNs-Mix)intravenously injected into a mouse model efficiently accumulates in tumor sites and then transfers to oppositely charged nanodrugs for electrostatic interaction-driven coalescence via responding to matrix metalloproteinase-2(MMP-2)enriched in tumor.In addition to enhanced tumor retention,the thus-formed micron-sized aggregates show high echo intensity essen-tial for ultrasound imaging as well as ultrasound-triggered penetrative drug delivery.Owing to their distinctive features,the TLNs-Mix carrying sonosensitizer,immune adjuvant,and ultrasound contrast agent exert potent sonodynamic immunotherapy against hypovascular hepatoma,demonstrating their great potential in treating solid malignancies.展开更多
Thrombosis,secondary to rupture of unstable plaque,is a fatal risk factor for myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke.At present,more novel methods are needed for the diagnosis and treatment of vulnerable plaque.Her...Thrombosis,secondary to rupture of unstable plaque,is a fatal risk factor for myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke.At present,more novel methods are needed for the diagnosis and treatment of vulnerable plaque.Here,we report a hollow polydopamine/Zn(HPDA/Zn)ultrasound contrast agent.Through western-blot,Elisa,and other experiments,we found that in addition to having a good contrast-enhancement capability in ultrasound imaging in vitro and in vivo,HPDA/Zn also has the effect of reducing the expres-sion of CREB.CREB protein and its downstream-regulated proteins and factors are closely related to the stability of plaque.HPDA/Zn has the effect of reducing the expression of CREB protein,which leads to the decrease of expression of MMP-9,the regulatory pro-tein downstream of the CREB protein.In addition,it also reduces the secretion of inflammatory factors hs-CRP and IL-17A.Thus,HPDA/Zn can stabilize plaque by inhibiting CREB and reducing plaque vulnerable markers and inflammatory factors.In a word,HPDA/Zn is a kind of ultrasound contrast agent,which can stabilize plaques by inhibiting CREB protein.展开更多
High-resolution images of human brain are critical for monitoring the neurological conditions in a portable and safe manner.Sound speed mapping of brain tissues provides unique information for such a purpose.In additi...High-resolution images of human brain are critical for monitoring the neurological conditions in a portable and safe manner.Sound speed mapping of brain tissues provides unique information for such a purpose.In addition,it is particularly important for building digital human acoustic models,which form a reference for future ultrasound research.Conventional ultrasound modalities can hardly image the human brain at high spatial resolution inside the skull due to the strong impedance contrast between hard tissue and soft tissue.We carry out numerical experiments to demonstrate that the time-domain waveform inversion technique,originating from the geophysics community,is promising to deliver quantitative images of human brains within the skull at a sub-millimeter level by using ultra-sound signals.The successful implementation of such an approach to brain imaging requires the following items:signals of sub-megahertz frequencies transmitting across the inside of skull,an accurate numerical wave equation solver simulating the wave propagation,and well-designed inversion schemes to reconstruct the physical parameters of targeted model based on the optimization theory.Here we propose an innovative modality of multiscale deconvolutional waveform inversion that improves ultrasound imaging resolution,by evaluating the similarity between synthetic data and observed data through using limited length Wiener filter.We implement the proposed approach to iteratively update the parametric models of the human brain.The quantitative imaging method paves the way for building the accurate acoustic brain model to diagnose associated diseases,in a potentially more portable,more dynamic and safer way than magnetic resonance imaging and x-ray computed tomography.展开更多
In the present research,we describe a computer-aided detection(CAD)method aimed at automatic fetal head circumference(HC)measurement in 2D ultrasonography pictures during all trimesters of pregnancy.The HC might be ut...In the present research,we describe a computer-aided detection(CAD)method aimed at automatic fetal head circumference(HC)measurement in 2D ultrasonography pictures during all trimesters of pregnancy.The HC might be utilized toward determining gestational age and tracking fetal development.This automated approach is particularly valuable in low-resource settings where access to trained sonographers is limited.The CAD system is divided into two steps:to begin,Haar-like characteristics were extracted from ultrasound pictures in order to train a classifier using random forests to find the fetal skull.We identified the HC using dynamic programming,an elliptical fit,and a Hough transform.The computer-aided detection(CAD)program was well-trained on 999 pictures(HC18 challenge data source),and then verified on 335 photos from all trimesters in an independent test set.A skilled sonographer and an expert in medicine personally marked the test set.We used the crown-rump length(CRL)measurement to calculate the reference gestational age(GA).In the first,second,and third trimesters,the median difference between the standard GA and the GA calculated by the skilled sonographer stayed at 0.7±2.7,0.0±4.5,and 2.0±12.0 days,respectively.The regular duration variance between the baseline GA and the health investigator’s GA remained 1.5±3.0,1.9±5.0,and 4.0±14 a couple of days.The mean variance between the standard GA and the CAD system’s GA remained between 0.5 and 5.0,with an additional variation of 2.9 to 12.5 days.The outcomes reveal that the computer-aided detection(CAD)program outperforms an expert sonographer.When paired with the classifications reported in the literature,the provided system achieves results that are comparable or even better.We have assessed and scheduled this computerized approach for HC evaluation,which includes information from all trimesters of gestation.展开更多
Handheld ultrasound devices are known for their portability and affordability,making them widely utilized in underdeveloped areas and community healthcare for rapid diagnosis and early screening.However,the image qual...Handheld ultrasound devices are known for their portability and affordability,making them widely utilized in underdeveloped areas and community healthcare for rapid diagnosis and early screening.However,the image quality of handheld ultrasound devices is not always satisfactory due to the limited equipment size,which hinders accurate diagnoses by doctors.At the same time,paired ultrasound images are difficult to obtain from the clinic because imaging process is complicated.Therefore,we propose a modified cycle generative adversarial network(cycleGAN) for ultrasound image enhancement from multiple organs via unpaired pre-training.We introduce an ultrasound image pre-training method that does not require paired images,alleviating the requirement for large-scale paired datasets.We also propose an enhanced block with different structures in the pre-training and fine-tuning phases,which can help achieve the goals of different training phases.To improve the robustness of the model,we add Gaussian noise to the training images as data augmentation.Our approach is effective in obtaining the best quantitative evaluation results using a small number of parameters and less training costs to improve the quality of handheld ultrasound devices.展开更多
BACKGROUND Collision tumor are neoplasms,including two histologically distinct tumors that coexist in the same mass without histological admixture.The incidence of collision tumor is low and is rare clinically.AIM To ...BACKGROUND Collision tumor are neoplasms,including two histologically distinct tumors that coexist in the same mass without histological admixture.The incidence of collision tumor is low and is rare clinically.AIM To investigate ultrasound images and application of ovarian-adnexal reporting and data system(O-RADS)to evaluate the risk and pathological characteristics of ovarian collision tumor.METHODS This study retrospectively analyzed 17 cases of ovarian collision tumor diagnosed pathologically from January 2020 to December 2023.All clinical features,ultrasound images and histopathological features were collected and analyzed.The O-RADS score was used for classification.The O-RADS score was determined by two senior doctors in the gynecological ultrasound group.Lesions with O-RADS score of 1-3 were classified as benign tumors,and lesions with O-RADS score of 4 or 5 were classified as malignant tumors.RESULTS There were 17 collision tumors detected in 16 of 6274 patients who underwent gynecological surgery.The average age of 17 women with ovarian collision tumor was 36.7 years(range 20-68 years),in whom,one occurred bilaterally and the rest occurred unilaterally.The average tumor diameter was 10 cm,of which three were 2-5 cm,11 were 5-10 cm,and three were>10 cm.Five(29.4%)tumors with O-RADS score 3 were endometriotic cysts with fibroma/serous cystadenoma,and unilocular or multilocular cysts contained a small number of parenchymal components.Eleven(64.7%)tumors had an O-RADS score of 4,including two in category 4A,six in category 4B,and three in category 4C;all of which were multilocular cystic tumors with solid components or multiple papillary components.One(5.9%)tumor had an O-RADS score of 5.This case was a solid mass,and a small amount of pelvic effusion was detected under ultrasound.The pathology was high-grade serous cystic cancer combined with cystic mature teratoma.There were nine(52.9%)tumors with elevated serum carbohydrate antigen(CA)125 and two(11.8%)with elevated serum CA19-9.Histological and pathological results showed that epithelial-cell-derived tumors combined with other tumors were the most common,which was different from previous results.CONCLUSION The ultrasound images of ovarian collision tumor have certain specificity,but diagnosis by preoperative ultrasound is difficult.The combination of epithelial and mesenchymal cell tumors is one of the most common types of ovarian collision tumor.The O-RADS score of ovarian collision tumor is mostly≥4,which can sensitively detect malignant tumors.展开更多
Photodynamic therapy plays an important role in cancer treatment.In this work,methylene blue(MB)-embedded calcium carbonate nanorods(CaCO_3-MB NRs)have been synthesized for p H-responsive photodynamic therapy and ultr...Photodynamic therapy plays an important role in cancer treatment.In this work,methylene blue(MB)-embedded calcium carbonate nanorods(CaCO_3-MB NRs)have been synthesized for p H-responsive photodynamic therapy and ultrasound imaging.The morphology of CaCO_3-MB NRs can be controlled by modulating the concentration of Na_2CO_3 aqueous solution.The generation of effective reactive oxygen species(ROS)were confirmed by 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran(DPBF)probe.Both photodynamic therapy performance and echogenic performance of CaCO_3-MB NRs were investigated to confirm the feasibility of CaCO_3-MB nanohybrids for ultrasound image-guided photodynamic therapy.展开更多
Quadrature demodulation is used in medical ultrasound imaging to derive the envelope and instantaneous phase of the received radio-frequency(RF) signal.In quadrature demodulation,RF signal is multiplied with the sine ...Quadrature demodulation is used in medical ultrasound imaging to derive the envelope and instantaneous phase of the received radio-frequency(RF) signal.In quadrature demodulation,RF signal is multiplied with the sine and cosine wave reference signal and then low-pass filtered to produce the base-band complex signal,which has high computational complexity.In this paper,we propose an efficient quadrature demodulation method for B-mode and color flow imaging,in which the RF signal is demodulated by a pair of finite impulse response filters without mixing with the reference signal,to reduce the computational complexity.The proposed method was evaluated with simulation and in vivo experiments.From the simulation results,the proposed quadrature demodulation method produced similar normalized residual sum of squares(NRSS) and velocity profile compared with the conventional quadrature demodulation method.In the in vivo color flow imaging experiments,the time of the demodulation process was 5.66 ms and 3.36 ms,for the conventional method and the proposed method,respectively.These results indicated that the proposed method can maintain the performance of quadrature demodulation while reducing computational complexity.展开更多
Patients with left main coronary artery (LMCA) atherosclerosis have a poor prognosis compared with lesions in the other coronaries. Because of the methodological problems. LMCA atherosclerotic lesions are not frequent...Patients with left main coronary artery (LMCA) atherosclerosis have a poor prognosis compared with lesions in the other coronaries. Because of the methodological problems. LMCA atherosclerotic lesions are not frequently detected by coronary angiography. The purpose of the study was to reveal the existence of LMCA disease in patients with normal coronary arteries by using intravascular ultrasound imaging. Ninety-seven patients with angiographically normal coronary arteries were examined with a 3.5 F or 4.8 F. 20 MHz intravascular ultrasound catheter. The vessel, lumen and plaque areas were determined and percent area and diameter stenosis were calculated. Plaque formation with or without calcific deposits identified by ultrasound accoustic shadowing were regarded as signs of atherosclerosis.展开更多
In synthetic transmit aperture medical ultrasound imaging field,a compressed sensing ultrasound imaging method based on the sparsity in frequency domain is presented in order to reduce huge amount of data and large nu...In synthetic transmit aperture medical ultrasound imaging field,a compressed sensing ultrasound imaging method based on the sparsity in frequency domain is presented in order to reduce huge amount of data and large numbers of receiving channels.First,the sparsity in frequency domain is verified.Then the echo signal is compressively sampled in time-spatial domain based on compressed sensing and the echo signal is reconstructed by solving an optimization problem.Finally the image is made by using the synthetic transmit aperture approach.The experiments based on point target and fetus target are used to verify the proposed method.The MSE,resolution and image quality of reconstructed image and those of original image are compared and analyzed.The results show that only 30%amount of data and 50%of receiving channels were used to implement ultrasound imaging without reducing the quality of image in experiment.The amount of data and the complexity of system are reduced greatly by the proposed method based on compressed sensing.展开更多
文摘The limited amount of data in the healthcare domain and the necessity of training samples for increased performance of deep learning models is a recurrent challenge,especially in medical imaging.Newborn Solutions aims to enhance its non-invasive white blood cell counting device,Neosonics,by creating synthetic in vitro ultrasound images to facilitate a more efficient image generation process.This study addresses the data scarcity issue by designing and evaluating a continuous scalar conditional Generative Adversarial Network(GAN)to augment in vitro peritoneal dialysis ultrasound images,increasing both the volume and variability of training samples.The developed GAN architecture incorporates novel design features:varying kernel sizes in the generator’s transposed convolutional layers and a latent intermediate space,projecting noise and condition values for enhanced image resolution and specificity.The experimental results show that the GAN successfully generated diverse images of high visual quality,closely resembling real ultrasound samples.While visual results were promising,the use of GAN-based data augmentation did not consistently improve the performance of an image regressor in distinguishing features specific to varied white blood cell concentrations.Ultimately,while this continuous scalar conditional GAN model made strides in generating realistic images,further work is needed to achieve consistent gains in regression tasks,aiming for robust model generalization.
文摘Objective:To explore the diagnostic value of ultrasound imaging for breast nodules of breast imaging-reporting and data system(BI-RADS)category 3 and above.Methods:From June 2021 to July 2022,163 patients with breast nodules of BI-RADS 3 or above were selected as the research subjects.After pathological diagnosis,24 cases were malignant breast nodules of BI-RADS 3 or above,while 139 cases were benign breast nodules of BI-RADS 3 or above.The diagnosis rate of malignant and benign breast nodules of BI-RADS 3 or above,including 95%CI,was observed and analyzed.Results:The malignant and benign detection rates of conventional ultrasound were 88.63%and 75.00%,respectively,and the malignant and benign detection rates of ultrasound imaging were 93.18%and 87.50%,respectively,with 95%CIs greater than 0.7.Conclusion:Ultrasound imaging can help improve the diagnostic accuracy of benign and malignant breast nodules of BI-RADS 3 and above and reduce the misdiagnosis rate.
基金funded through Researchers Supporting Project Number(RSPD2024R996)King Saud University,Riyadh,Saudi Arabia。
文摘Breast cancer detection heavily relies on medical imaging, particularly ultrasound, for early diagnosis and effectivetreatment. This research addresses the challenges associated with computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) of breastcancer fromultrasound images. The primary challenge is accurately distinguishing between malignant and benigntumors, complicated by factors such as speckle noise, variable image quality, and the need for precise segmentationand classification. The main objective of the research paper is to develop an advanced methodology for breastultrasound image classification, focusing on speckle noise reduction, precise segmentation, feature extraction, andmachine learning-based classification. A unique approach is introduced that combines Enhanced Speckle ReducedAnisotropic Diffusion (SRAD) filters for speckle noise reduction, U-NET-based segmentation, Genetic Algorithm(GA)-based feature selection, and Random Forest and Bagging Tree classifiers, resulting in a novel and efficientmodel. To test and validate the hybrid model, rigorous experimentations were performed and results state thatthe proposed hybrid model achieved accuracy rate of 99.9%, outperforming other existing techniques, and alsosignificantly reducing computational time. This enhanced accuracy, along with improved sensitivity and specificity,makes the proposed hybrid model a valuable addition to CAD systems in breast cancer diagnosis, ultimatelyenhancing diagnostic accuracy in clinical applications.
基金Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.51375217)
文摘Cracks, especially small cracks are di cult to be detected in oil and gas transportation pipelines buried underground or covered with layers of material by using the traditional ultrasonic inspection techniques. Therefore, a new com?posite ultrasonic transducer array with three acoustic beam incidence modes is developed. The space model of the array is also established to obtain the defect reflection point location. And the crack ultrasound image is thus formed through a series of small cubical elements expanded around the point locations by using the projection of binariza?tion values extracted from the received ultrasonic echo signals. Laboratory experiments are performed on a pipeline sample with di erent types of cracks to verify the e ectiveness and performance of the proposed technique. From the image, the presence of small cracks can be clearly observed, in addition to the sizes and orientations of the cracks. The proposed technique can not only inspect common flaws, but also detect cracks with various orientations, which is helpful for defect evaluation in pipeline testing.
文摘BACKGROUND For parturients with paroxysmal uterine contraction pain,rapid analgesia is needed.We used preprocedure ultrasound imaging combined with the palpation technique in epidural analgesia for labor,and evaluated the usefulness of this technique in epidural labor analgesia.AIM To evaluate the usefulness of preprocedure ultrasound imaging in epidural analgesia for labor.METHODS In this prospective randomized observational study,72 parturients were assigned to two groups(combined or palpation group).The target interspace of all parturients was first identified by the palpation technique.Then in the combined group,preprocedure ultrasound imaging was used before epidural puncture.In the palpation group,only the traditional anatomical landmarks technique(palpation technique)was performed.The primary outcome was total duration of the epidural procedure(for the ultrasound group,the duration of the preprocedure ultrasound imaging was included).The secondary outcomes were the number of skin punctures,the success rate at first needle pass,the number of needle passes,the depth from the skin to epidural space,and the complications of the procedure.RESULTS Total duration of the epidural procedure was similar between the two groups(406.5±92.15 s in the combined group and 380.03±128.2 s in the palpation group;P=0.318).A significant improvement was demonstrated for epidural puncture and catheterization in the combined group.The number of needle passes was 1.14 in the combined group and 1.72 in the palpation group(P=0.001).The number of skin puncture sites was 1.20 in the combined group and 1.25 in the palpation group(P=0.398).The success rate at first needle pass was 88.89%in the combined group and 66.67%in the palpation group(P=0.045).CONCLUSION This study demonstrated that the total duration of epidural procedures with preprocedure ultrasound imaging combined with the palpation technique was not longer than the traditional anatomical landmarks technique,which were performed by six experienced anesthesiologists in parturients with normal weights undergoing labor analgesia.
基金Project(20070533131) supported by the National Research Foundation for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of ChinaProject(50275150) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
文摘A new ultrasound contrast imaging technique was proposed for eliminating the harmonic components from the emission signal transmitted by the broadband ultrasonic system.Reversal phase-inversion pulse was used for the first time to separate the contrast harmonics from the harmonics in the emission signal to improve the detection of contrast micro-bubbles.Based on the nonlinear acoustic theory of finite-amplitude effects and the associated distortion of the propagating wave,the Bessel-Fubini series model was applied to describe the nonlinear propagation effects of the reversal phase-inversion pulse,and the Church's equation for zero-thickness encapsulation model was used to produce the scattering-pulse of the bubble.For harmonic imaging,the experiment was performed using a 64-element linear array,which was simulated by Field II.The results show that the harmonic components from the emission signal can be completely cancelled,and the harmonics generated by the nonlinear propagation of the wave through the tissue,can be reduced by 15-30 dB.Compared with the short pulse,the reversal phase-inversion pulse can improve the contrast and definition of the harmonic image significantly.
基金supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China,No.2012AA020502the National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.81171457 and 81371687the Priority of Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions
文摘The repair of peripheral nerve injuries with autologous nerve remains the gold standard （Wang et al., 2005; Yao et al., 2010; Deal et al., 2012; Kriebel et al., 2014; Liu et al., 2014; Tamaki et al., 2014; Yu et al., 2014; Zhu and Lou, 2014）. With advances in tissue engineering and biomaterials, tissue-engineered nerve conduits with various biomaterials and structures, such as collagen and chitosan nerve conduits, have already been used in the clinic as alternatives to autologous nerve in the repair of peripheral nerve injury （Wang et al., 2012; Svizenska et al., 2013; Eppenberger et al., 2014; Gu et al., 2014; Koudehi et al., 2014; MoyaDiaz et al., 2014; Novajra et al., 2014; Okamoto et al., 2014; Shea et al., 2014; Singh et al., 2014; Tamaki et al., 2014; Yu et al., 2014）. Therefore, new simple and effective methods
文摘In order to find an easy and accurate procedure for diagnosis of diffuse goitre in children, we examined 50 patients with diffuse goitre using fine needle aspiration biopsy cytology, thyroid antibody detection, thyroid hormone analysis and ultrasound imaging. In the meantime, 109 healthy children (control) were examined by ultrasound imaging. The results showed that thyroid imaging in health children was a smooth echo pattern with stronger homogenous echogram than surrounding muscle tissues. The patients with diffuse goitre showed an normally enlarged thyroid volume. In 22 (84. 6 %) of 26 children With chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, a varied patch hypoechogenicity was found, of whom 18 (81. 8 % ) had positive results of antibody testing. On the contrary, echo-pattern was normal in 17 (70. 8 %) of 24 patients with diffuse thyroid proliferation and only the remainder (7/24, 29. 1% ) had abnormal echo-pattern as well as elevated auto-antibody titers, of whom 2 were confirmed as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis by a repeat fine needle aspiration biopsy 1 year later. By using combined ultrasound imaging and antibody determination, 92 % of the cases with chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis could be diagnosed. Our study suggests that ultrasonic imaging is an easy, non-invasive, reproducible and effective procedure in the differen,tial diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis in children.
文摘This paper presents a flexible and high speed digital scan converter (DSC) with the ability to handle high frequency ultrasound imaging in real-time. The characteristics in imaging system such as focus length of transducer, the swing radius and sampling length etc. could be changed easily in compliance with the researcher's application based on this flexible digital scan converter. Linear interpolation is employed to achieve the coordinate transformations algorithm. Custom-built software is programmed to preliminarily handle the algorithm according to different ultrasound imaging applications. High performance FPGA will implement high speed interpolation calculation based on the preliminary data which are stored in the DDR2 SDRAM from the software. 64 bit 66 MHz PCI is employed to accomplish high speed data transmission. Experiment has shown that more than 500 frame rate could be achieved based on this high speed digital scan converter. The designed flexible and high speed digital scan converter could be used in current FPGA based high frequency ultrasound imaging system.
基金Key Areas Research and Development Program of Guangzhou,Grant/Award Number:202007020006National Natural Science Foundation of China,Grant/Award Numbers:51933011,31971296,52173125,82102194Natural Science Foundation of the Guangdong Province,Grant/Award Numbers:2021A1515111006,2023A1515011822。
文摘Nanodrugs capable of aggregating in the tumor microenvironment(TME)have demonstrated great efficiency in improving the therapeutic outcome.Among vari-ous approaches,the strategy utilizing electrostatic interaction as a driving force to achieve intratumor aggregation of nanodrugs has attracted great attention.However,the great difference between the two nanodrugs with varied physicochemical prop-erties makes their synchronous transport in blood circulation and equal-opportunity tumor uptake impossible,which significantly detracts from the beneficial effects of nanodrug aggregation inside tumors.We herein propose a new strategy to construct a pair of extremely similar nanodrugs,referred to as“twins-like nanodrugs(TLNs)”,which have identical physicochemical properties including the same morphology,size,and electroneutrality to render them the same blood circulation time and tumor entrance.The 1:1 mixture of TLNs(TLNs-Mix)intravenously injected into a mouse model efficiently accumulates in tumor sites and then transfers to oppositely charged nanodrugs for electrostatic interaction-driven coalescence via responding to matrix metalloproteinase-2(MMP-2)enriched in tumor.In addition to enhanced tumor retention,the thus-formed micron-sized aggregates show high echo intensity essen-tial for ultrasound imaging as well as ultrasound-triggered penetrative drug delivery.Owing to their distinctive features,the TLNs-Mix carrying sonosensitizer,immune adjuvant,and ultrasound contrast agent exert potent sonodynamic immunotherapy against hypovascular hepatoma,demonstrating their great potential in treating solid malignancies.
基金This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.81871411,32011530115,31971292 and 32101153)the Science&Technology Bureau of Ningbo City(Nos.2020z094,2021z072)+2 种基金the Natural Science Foundation of Ningbo(No.202003N4295)the Zhejiang Medical and Health Research Project Foundation(No.2023KY1138)the Excellent Member of Youth Innovation Promotion Association FoundationofCAS(Y2021079).
文摘Thrombosis,secondary to rupture of unstable plaque,is a fatal risk factor for myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke.At present,more novel methods are needed for the diagnosis and treatment of vulnerable plaque.Here,we report a hollow polydopamine/Zn(HPDA/Zn)ultrasound contrast agent.Through western-blot,Elisa,and other experiments,we found that in addition to having a good contrast-enhancement capability in ultrasound imaging in vitro and in vivo,HPDA/Zn also has the effect of reducing the expres-sion of CREB.CREB protein and its downstream-regulated proteins and factors are closely related to the stability of plaque.HPDA/Zn has the effect of reducing the expression of CREB protein,which leads to the decrease of expression of MMP-9,the regulatory pro-tein downstream of the CREB protein.In addition,it also reduces the secretion of inflammatory factors hs-CRP and IL-17A.Thus,HPDA/Zn can stabilize plaque by inhibiting CREB and reducing plaque vulnerable markers and inflammatory factors.In a word,HPDA/Zn is a kind of ultrasound contrast agent,which can stabilize plaques by inhibiting CREB protein.
基金Project supported by the Goal-Oriented Project Independently Deployed by Institute of Acoustics,Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No.MBDX202113)。
文摘High-resolution images of human brain are critical for monitoring the neurological conditions in a portable and safe manner.Sound speed mapping of brain tissues provides unique information for such a purpose.In addition,it is particularly important for building digital human acoustic models,which form a reference for future ultrasound research.Conventional ultrasound modalities can hardly image the human brain at high spatial resolution inside the skull due to the strong impedance contrast between hard tissue and soft tissue.We carry out numerical experiments to demonstrate that the time-domain waveform inversion technique,originating from the geophysics community,is promising to deliver quantitative images of human brains within the skull at a sub-millimeter level by using ultra-sound signals.The successful implementation of such an approach to brain imaging requires the following items:signals of sub-megahertz frequencies transmitting across the inside of skull,an accurate numerical wave equation solver simulating the wave propagation,and well-designed inversion schemes to reconstruct the physical parameters of targeted model based on the optimization theory.Here we propose an innovative modality of multiscale deconvolutional waveform inversion that improves ultrasound imaging resolution,by evaluating the similarity between synthetic data and observed data through using limited length Wiener filter.We implement the proposed approach to iteratively update the parametric models of the human brain.The quantitative imaging method paves the way for building the accurate acoustic brain model to diagnose associated diseases,in a potentially more portable,more dynamic and safer way than magnetic resonance imaging and x-ray computed tomography.
文摘In the present research,we describe a computer-aided detection(CAD)method aimed at automatic fetal head circumference(HC)measurement in 2D ultrasonography pictures during all trimesters of pregnancy.The HC might be utilized toward determining gestational age and tracking fetal development.This automated approach is particularly valuable in low-resource settings where access to trained sonographers is limited.The CAD system is divided into two steps:to begin,Haar-like characteristics were extracted from ultrasound pictures in order to train a classifier using random forests to find the fetal skull.We identified the HC using dynamic programming,an elliptical fit,and a Hough transform.The computer-aided detection(CAD)program was well-trained on 999 pictures(HC18 challenge data source),and then verified on 335 photos from all trimesters in an independent test set.A skilled sonographer and an expert in medicine personally marked the test set.We used the crown-rump length(CRL)measurement to calculate the reference gestational age(GA).In the first,second,and third trimesters,the median difference between the standard GA and the GA calculated by the skilled sonographer stayed at 0.7±2.7,0.0±4.5,and 2.0±12.0 days,respectively.The regular duration variance between the baseline GA and the health investigator’s GA remained 1.5±3.0,1.9±5.0,and 4.0±14 a couple of days.The mean variance between the standard GA and the CAD system’s GA remained between 0.5 and 5.0,with an additional variation of 2.9 to 12.5 days.The outcomes reveal that the computer-aided detection(CAD)program outperforms an expert sonographer.When paired with the classifications reported in the literature,the provided system achieves results that are comparable or even better.We have assessed and scheduled this computerized approach for HC evaluation,which includes information from all trimesters of gestation.
文摘Handheld ultrasound devices are known for their portability and affordability,making them widely utilized in underdeveloped areas and community healthcare for rapid diagnosis and early screening.However,the image quality of handheld ultrasound devices is not always satisfactory due to the limited equipment size,which hinders accurate diagnoses by doctors.At the same time,paired ultrasound images are difficult to obtain from the clinic because imaging process is complicated.Therefore,we propose a modified cycle generative adversarial network(cycleGAN) for ultrasound image enhancement from multiple organs via unpaired pre-training.We introduce an ultrasound image pre-training method that does not require paired images,alleviating the requirement for large-scale paired datasets.We also propose an enhanced block with different structures in the pre-training and fine-tuning phases,which can help achieve the goals of different training phases.To improve the robustness of the model,we add Gaussian noise to the training images as data augmentation.Our approach is effective in obtaining the best quantitative evaluation results using a small number of parameters and less training costs to improve the quality of handheld ultrasound devices.
基金Supported by Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation Regional Joint Fund,No.2023JJ50050.
文摘BACKGROUND Collision tumor are neoplasms,including two histologically distinct tumors that coexist in the same mass without histological admixture.The incidence of collision tumor is low and is rare clinically.AIM To investigate ultrasound images and application of ovarian-adnexal reporting and data system(O-RADS)to evaluate the risk and pathological characteristics of ovarian collision tumor.METHODS This study retrospectively analyzed 17 cases of ovarian collision tumor diagnosed pathologically from January 2020 to December 2023.All clinical features,ultrasound images and histopathological features were collected and analyzed.The O-RADS score was used for classification.The O-RADS score was determined by two senior doctors in the gynecological ultrasound group.Lesions with O-RADS score of 1-3 were classified as benign tumors,and lesions with O-RADS score of 4 or 5 were classified as malignant tumors.RESULTS There were 17 collision tumors detected in 16 of 6274 patients who underwent gynecological surgery.The average age of 17 women with ovarian collision tumor was 36.7 years(range 20-68 years),in whom,one occurred bilaterally and the rest occurred unilaterally.The average tumor diameter was 10 cm,of which three were 2-5 cm,11 were 5-10 cm,and three were>10 cm.Five(29.4%)tumors with O-RADS score 3 were endometriotic cysts with fibroma/serous cystadenoma,and unilocular or multilocular cysts contained a small number of parenchymal components.Eleven(64.7%)tumors had an O-RADS score of 4,including two in category 4A,six in category 4B,and three in category 4C;all of which were multilocular cystic tumors with solid components or multiple papillary components.One(5.9%)tumor had an O-RADS score of 5.This case was a solid mass,and a small amount of pelvic effusion was detected under ultrasound.The pathology was high-grade serous cystic cancer combined with cystic mature teratoma.There were nine(52.9%)tumors with elevated serum carbohydrate antigen(CA)125 and two(11.8%)with elevated serum CA19-9.Histological and pathological results showed that epithelial-cell-derived tumors combined with other tumors were the most common,which was different from previous results.CONCLUSION The ultrasound images of ovarian collision tumor have certain specificity,but diagnosis by preoperative ultrasound is difficult.The combination of epithelial and mesenchymal cell tumors is one of the most common types of ovarian collision tumor.The O-RADS score of ovarian collision tumor is mostly≥4,which can sensitively detect malignant tumors.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFA0106100, 2016YFA0201501)National Natural Science Foundation of China (51325304, 51373017, 51473014, 51521062, 51773013)+1 种基金the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (BHYC1705A)Higher Education and High-quality and World-class Universities (PY201603)
文摘Photodynamic therapy plays an important role in cancer treatment.In this work,methylene blue(MB)-embedded calcium carbonate nanorods(CaCO_3-MB NRs)have been synthesized for p H-responsive photodynamic therapy and ultrasound imaging.The morphology of CaCO_3-MB NRs can be controlled by modulating the concentration of Na_2CO_3 aqueous solution.The generation of effective reactive oxygen species(ROS)were confirmed by 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran(DPBF)probe.Both photodynamic therapy performance and echogenic performance of CaCO_3-MB NRs were investigated to confirm the feasibility of CaCO_3-MB nanohybrids for ultrasound image-guided photodynamic therapy.
基金Project supported by the National Key Technology R&D Program of China(No.2011BAI12B02)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,China(Nos.2014FZA5019 and 2015FZA5019)
文摘Quadrature demodulation is used in medical ultrasound imaging to derive the envelope and instantaneous phase of the received radio-frequency(RF) signal.In quadrature demodulation,RF signal is multiplied with the sine and cosine wave reference signal and then low-pass filtered to produce the base-band complex signal,which has high computational complexity.In this paper,we propose an efficient quadrature demodulation method for B-mode and color flow imaging,in which the RF signal is demodulated by a pair of finite impulse response filters without mixing with the reference signal,to reduce the computational complexity.The proposed method was evaluated with simulation and in vivo experiments.From the simulation results,the proposed quadrature demodulation method produced similar normalized residual sum of squares(NRSS) and velocity profile compared with the conventional quadrature demodulation method.In the in vivo color flow imaging experiments,the time of the demodulation process was 5.66 ms and 3.36 ms,for the conventional method and the proposed method,respectively.These results indicated that the proposed method can maintain the performance of quadrature demodulation while reducing computational complexity.
文摘Patients with left main coronary artery (LMCA) atherosclerosis have a poor prognosis compared with lesions in the other coronaries. Because of the methodological problems. LMCA atherosclerotic lesions are not frequently detected by coronary angiography. The purpose of the study was to reveal the existence of LMCA disease in patients with normal coronary arteries by using intravascular ultrasound imaging. Ninety-seven patients with angiographically normal coronary arteries were examined with a 3.5 F or 4.8 F. 20 MHz intravascular ultrasound catheter. The vessel, lumen and plaque areas were determined and percent area and diameter stenosis were calculated. Plaque formation with or without calcific deposits identified by ultrasound accoustic shadowing were regarded as signs of atherosclerosis.
基金supported by Main Direction Program of Knowledge Innovation of Chinese Academy of Sciences(KGCX2-YW-915)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(11204346)
文摘In synthetic transmit aperture medical ultrasound imaging field,a compressed sensing ultrasound imaging method based on the sparsity in frequency domain is presented in order to reduce huge amount of data and large numbers of receiving channels.First,the sparsity in frequency domain is verified.Then the echo signal is compressively sampled in time-spatial domain based on compressed sensing and the echo signal is reconstructed by solving an optimization problem.Finally the image is made by using the synthetic transmit aperture approach.The experiments based on point target and fetus target are used to verify the proposed method.The MSE,resolution and image quality of reconstructed image and those of original image are compared and analyzed.The results show that only 30%amount of data and 50%of receiving channels were used to implement ultrasound imaging without reducing the quality of image in experiment.The amount of data and the complexity of system are reduced greatly by the proposed method based on compressed sensing.
