Acoustic diffraction-resistant adaptive profile technology (ADAPT) for elasticity imaging.

Acoustic beam shaping with high degrees of freedom is critical for applications such as ultrasound imaging, acoustic manipulation, and stimulation. However, the ability to fully control the acoustic pressure profile over its propagation path has not yet been achieved. Here, we demonstrate an acoustic diffraction-resistant adaptive profile technology (ADAPT) that can generate a propagation-invariant beam with an arbitrarily desired profile. By leveraging wave number modulation and beam multiplexing, we develop a general framework for creating a highly flexible acoustic beam with a linear array ultrasonic transducer. The designed acoustic beam can also maintain the beam profile in lossy material by compensating for attenuation. We show that shear wave elasticity imaging is an important modality that can benefit from ADAPT for evaluating tissue mechanical properties. Together, ADAPT overcomes the existing limitation of acoustic beam shaping and can be applied to various fields, such as medicine, biology, and material science.

A new method to combine contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging during live ultrasound of the breast using volume navigation technique: a study for evaluating feasibility, accuracy and reproducibility in healthy volunteers.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate feasibility, accuracy and reproducibility of combined US-MR of the breast using volume navigation technique. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Five healthy females underwent bilateral contrast-enhanced MR (CE-MR) of the breast in supine position, after positioning three couples of markers on the breast. After CE-MR data uploading in the ultrasound (US) database, manual co-registration was obtained during live US of the breast by means of an electromagnetic transmitter positioned near the subject under examination and two electromagnetic sensors were mounted on the transducer bracket. Transmitter and sensors were connected to a position-sensing unit embedded in the US equipment allowing to track probe position and orientation within the electromagnetic field. Live US image were co-registered to the previously loaded breast CE-MR volume by coupling markers. For each subject, two independent radiologists recorded the examination time and verified twice image alignment using five fixed checkpoints. Pair t Student test and Wilcoxon test were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: In all subjects US and CE-MR images were successfully combined. The examination time was 10±2 vs. 9±4 min, respectively (p=0.642; NS). A total of one hundred measurements of images misalignment were performed: the measurements recorded between the two operators were 0.42±0.32 cm and 0.58±0.41 cm (p=0.161; NS), and 0.50±0.32 cm and 0.56±0.52 cm (p=0.928; NS), respectively. DISCUSSION: In our preliminary experience, volume navigation technique appears to be a accurate and reproducible method to combine CE-MR image during unilateral US of the breast.

Real-time co-registration using novel ultrasound technology: ex vivo validation and in vivo applications.

OBJECTIVE: The study objective was to evaluate whether a novel global position system (GPS)-like position-sensing technology will enable accurate co-registration of images between imaging modalities. Co-registration of images obtained by different imaging modalities will allow for comparison and fusion between imaging modalities, and therefore has significant clinical and research implications. We compared ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) specimens using a novel position-sensing technology that uses an electromagnetic (EM) transmitter and sensors mounted on a US transducer. We then evaluated in vivo US-US and US-MRI co-registration. METHODS: Thirteen CEA specimens underwent 3.0 Tesla MRI, after which images were uploaded to a LOGIQ E9 3D (GE Healthcare, Wauwatosa, WI) US system and registered by identifying two to three common points. A similar method was used to evaluate US-MRI co-registration in patients with carotid atherosclerosis. For carotid intima-media thickness (C-IMT) measurements, 10 volunteers underwent bilateral carotid US scans co-registered to three-dimensional US maps created on the initial visit, with a repeat scan 2 days later. RESULTS: For the CEA specimens, there was a mean of 20 (standard error [SE] 2.0) frames per MRI slice. The mean frame difference, over 33 registration markers, between MRI and US scans for readers 1 and 2 was -2.82 ± 19.32 and 2.09 ± 14.68 (mean ± 95% CI) frames, respectively. The US-MRI intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for the first and second readers were 0.995 and 0.997, respectively. For patients with carotid atherosclerosis, the mean US frames per MRI slice (9 [SE 2.3]) was within range of that observed with CEA specimens. Inter-visit, intra-reader, and inter-reader reproducibility of C-IMT measurements were consistently high (side-averaged ICC >0.9). CONCLUSION: Accurate co-registration between US and other modalities is feasible with a GPS-like technology, which has significant clinical and research applicability.