Methods and apparatuses for measuring tissue stiffness changes using ultrasound elasticity imaging
AssigneesUniversity of Pittsburgh—Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education, The Regents of the University of Michigan
InventorsKang Kim, Jingping Xu, Jonathan M Rubin
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Abstract
A method of evaluating tissue stiffness of a target area includes positioning an ultrasound elasticity imaging apparatus adjacent a surface of an area of tissue where the target area is located and applying a dynamic range of force to the tissue. A plurality of ultrasound beams can be directed at the tissue and a plurality of ultrasound echoes can be acquired from the strained tissue in the target area to calculate an amount of developed strain within the target area.
Claims8
A method of using an insert to normalize measurements of tissue obtained by an ultrasound transducer, the method comprising:
- coupling an insert to an external surface of the ultrasound transducer;
- directing a plurality of ultrasound beams through the insert and into an area of tissue;
- acquiring a plurality of ultrasound echoes from the tissue and the insert to obtain tissue-based echo data and insert-based echo data;
- differentiating between the tissue-based echo data and the insert-based echo data;
- and
- normalizing a measurement of strain based on the tissue-based echo data obtained from the ultrasound echoes reflected by the insert from the plurality of ultrasound beams,
- wherein the insert-based echo data comprises speckle tracking data calculated from the ultrasound echoes reflected by the insert.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.