초록 ▼

A region of interest (ROI) of a patient's body is repeatedly scanned using an ultrasound transducer array. Data sets representing an image property, such as intensity, from portions of the ROI are used to calculate a representation of the displacement profile within the ROI at different stress level

A region of interest (ROI) of a patient's body is repeatedly scanned using an ultrasound transducer array. Data sets representing an image property, such as intensity, from portions of the ROI are used to calculate a representation of the displacement profile within the ROI at different stress levels. From the displacement profile, a function of strain is also preferably calculated. According to one aspect of the invention, a data set representing an estimate of the elasticity profile within the ROI is color-coded and is displayed along with a B-mode display in a single, overlaid display. According to another aspect of the preferred embodiment of the invention, the display of elasticity is adaptively persisted as a function of, for example, a measure of image quality. The invention also provides an on-screen guide that indicates to a user a measure of quality of each of a series of estimated displacement data sets.

대표청구항 ▼

1. An ultrasonic imaging method comprising the following steps: repeatedly scanning a region of interest (ROI) of a body with an ultrasound transducer and thereby acquiring a first and a second set of intensity values, each intensity value representing an imaging property of a respective portion

1. An ultrasonic imaging method comprising the following steps: repeatedly scanning a region of interest (ROI) of a body with an ultrasound transducer and thereby acquiring a first and a second set of intensity values, each intensity value representing an imaging property of a respective portion of the ROI; generating a gray-scale representation of the first set of intensity values; calculating an elasticity data set of elasticity values as a function of differences between corresponding intensity values in the first and second sets of intensity values; generating a color representation of the elasticity data set by color-coding the elasticity values; simultaneously displaying the gray-scale representation and the color representation as a single, overlaid display. 2. A method as in claim 1, further comprising the following steps: generating the overlaid display as a linear combination of the gray-scale representation and the color representation; and adjusting a display visibility of the gray-scale representation and the color representation, respectively, as a first and second function of a transmission coefficient. 3. A method as in claim 2, in which the transmission coefficient is user-adjustable. 4. A method as in claim 2, in which the step of generating the overlaid display comprises computing the linear combination according to: Ioverlay=(1-α)*Igray+α*CE]