Contrast resolution tissue equivalent ultrasound test object
AssigneeThe United States of America, as represented by the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services
InventorsHector Lopez, Stephen W. Smith
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Abstract
A contrast resolution tissue-equivalent ultrasound test phantom comprises a block of material having ultrasonic propagation characteristics similar to that of human or animal tissue. A plurality of contrast objects are embedded in the block, each having a different reflectivity. The contrast objects have at least one dimension wherein the size of the object in cross-section decreases so that periodic ultrasonic scans of all of the objects simultaneously produce successive displays of plural cross-sectional patterns, the pattern in each display having the same size but different contrasts whereas the pattern size changes for successive displays.
Claims8
A tissue-equivalent phantom for diagnostic ultrasound scanners, comprising:
- a block of material having a tissue-equivalent acoustic velocity characteristic;
- a plurality of contrast objects embedded into the block, each contrast object being made from a tissue-equivalent material and having a different reflectivity from the reflectivity from all others of said contrast objects, said contrast objects having at least one dimension along which its cross-sectional size varies.
The method of determining contrast and resolution with respect to object size of diagnostic ultrasound scanners, said method comprising the steps of:
- scanning, with an ultrasonic beam, a plurality of side-by-side contrast objects of different reflectivities embedded in a tissue-equivalent material, said scanning taking place simultaneously through similarly sized and shaped cross-sections in each contrast object;
- repeating said scanning step at different portions of said contrast objects having different sizes;
- and
- displaying the results of each scan in the form of the cross-sectional pattern of ultrasonic reflections received from each contrast object.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.