Systems and methods for nonlinear elastography
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsK.M.K. Genghis Khan, Chandra Sekher Yerramalli
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Nonlinear elastography systems and methods are provided. The elastography system includes a data acquisition module, such as an imaging device, and associated system control circuitry. The data acquisition module is configured to acquire various data, such as displacement and/or force data, from a material. A nonlinear transfer function is applied to the acquired data to generate information about the material's stiffness. In one implementation, a map representative of the material's stiffness is generated.
Claims20
A method for elastography, the method comprising:
- applying a displacement to a surface of a volume of a material;
- measuring a resulting reactive force on the surface or within the volume of the material;
- generating a nonlinear transfer function based on a relationship between the applied displacement and measured resulting reactive force, wherein the nonlinear transfer function has a slope that decreases between a relatively low value of strain and a higher value of strain;
- and
- storing the nonlinear transfer function in a memory for use in an elastography procedure.
A system configured to determine mechanical properties of a material having regions of different stiffness, the system comprising:
- an imaging system configured to acquire displacement field data for a volume of the material;
- a circuit configured to access one or more nonlinear transfer functions, wherein the one or more nonlinear transfer functions have a generally downward concave shape;
- and
- a processor configured to apply at least one nonlinear transfer function to the acquired displacement field data to generate a modulus map that provides information about the regions of different stiffness within the volume of the material.
A method for determining mechanical properties of a material having regions of different stiffness, the method comprising:
- applying a force to a surface of a volume of the material to induce a displacement within the volume of the material;
- measuring the displacement within the volume of the material to generate a displacement field map;
- accessing one or more nonlinear transfer functions, wherein the one or more nonlinear transfer functions has a generally downward concave shape;
- and
- applying at least one nonlinear transfer function to the displacement field map to generate a modulus map providing information about the regions of different stiffness within the volume of the material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.