System and method for contrast enhanced ultrasound quantification imaging

A system for imaging blood vessels in a region of interest in a patient's body, comprising:

• a computing system;
• a data storage;
• a display;
• and
• an ultrasound transducer coupled to the computing system and the data storage;
• and
• wherein the computing system comprising:
• one or more processors, and one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media coupled to the one or more processors and having instructions stored thereon that are executable by the one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
• triggering the ultrasound transducer to emit ultrasound waves towards the region of interest;
• storing in the data storage, for each location of multiple locations in the region of interest, a time-dependent ultrasound signal reflected from the region of interest during a time period;
• determining, for the each location, an intensity threshold by multiplying a peak value with a percentage threshold, wherein the peak value is a maximum intensity of the time-dependent ultrasound signal during the time period, wherein the percentage threshold is same across the multiple locations, and wherein an intensity threshold of a first location of the multiple locations is different from an intensity threshold of a second location of the multiple locations;
• measuring, for the each location, a relative time instant that the time-dependent ultrasound signal reaches the intensity threshold;
• comparing a predetermined relative time instant with the measured relative time instant of the each location to determine one or more locations showing abnormality;
• resolving tissue boundaries or small blood vessels of vascular structures that are unresolvable by B-mode imaging;
• generating an image of the vascular structures on the display by color-coding a structural image of the region of interest based at least on the measured relative time instant of the each location, wherein the generated image of the vascular structures is a color-coded two-dimensional image that displays in different colors and at different time instants corresponding to different locations in the region of interest and shows boundaries of the blood vessels;
• and
• labelling the one or more locations showing abnormality on the generated image of the vascular structures.

A method of imaging blood vessels in a region of interest in a patient's body, comprising:

• administering to the patient an ultrasound contrast agent through vascular injection;
• emitting an ultrasound wave towards the region of interest;
• obtaining, for each location of multiple locations in the region of interest, a time-dependent ultrasound signal reflected from the region of interest during a time period;
• determining, for the each location, an intensity threshold by multiplying a peak value with a percentage threshold, wherein the peak value is a maximum intensity of the time-dependent ultrasound signal during the time period, wherein the percentage threshold is same across the multiple locations, and wherein an intensity threshold of a first location of the multiple locations is different from an intensity threshold of a second location of the multiple locations;
• measuring, for the each location, a relative time instant that the obtained time-dependent ultrasound signal reaches the intensity threshold;
• comparing a predetermined relative time instant with the measured relative time instant of the each location to determine one or more locations showing abnormality;
• resolving tissue boundaries or small blood vessels of vascular structures that are unresolvable by B-mode imaging;
• generating an image of the vascular structures by color-coding a structural image of the region of interest based at least on the measured relative time instant of the each location, wherein the generated image of the vascular structures is a color-coded two-dimensional image that displays in different colors and at different time instants corresponding to different locations in the region of interest and shows boundaries of the blood vessels;
• and
• labelling the one or more locations showing abnormality on the generated image of the vascular structures.