Ultrasonic systems and methods for contrast agent concentration measurement
AssigneeRiverside Research Institute
InventorsFrederic Louis Lizzi, Cheri Xiaoyu Deng
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The concentration and/or radii of a contrast agent in a fluid can be estimated by acquiring ultrasound spectral data, performing spectral analysis to generate a linear estimation of the power spectrum, and correlating at least one spectral parameter to a predetermined distribution function for the contrast agent. If the mean radius squared of particles is known, then the concentration of contrast agent particles can be calculated. If the concentration is constant, then relative variations in mean radius squared can be determined.
Claims6
A method of determining the concentration of a contrast agent in a fluid in a region comprising:
- acquiring radio frequency backscatter data from the region;
- extracting spectral parameters from the radio frequency backscatter data;
- and
- estimating a contrast agent concentration using at least one spectral parameter and a predetermined distribution function for the contrast agent.
A method of calculating the function C<r2>, where C is the concentration of contrast agent particles and <r2> is the mean of the radius squared of contrast agent particles in a region of a fluid, comprising:
- acquiring radio frequency (RF) backscatter data from the region;
- extracting at least one spectral parameter from the RF backscatter data;
- and
- estimating the function C<r2> using the spectral parameters.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.