Quantifying the Visual Features of Ultrasound Image Texture with Back-Scan Conversion

• Main Authors: Chao-Wei Lai, 賴昭維
• Other Authors: Jenho Tsao
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/80093487983155981037

博士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 電機工程學研究所 === 96 === The visual features are important in clinically diagnosing liver diseases with ultrasound image texture. However, there is no consistent definition of these features. In this study, several textural features proposed by Amadasun are adopted for quantifying the visual features of ultrasound image texture. To cope with the distortion caused by the digital scan conversion (DSC) in ultrasound imaging, a back-scan conversion (BSC) algorithm is applied to homogenize the sampling format and sampling rate of ultrasound image texture before measuring these features. The effectiveness of this measure is investigated using 300 ROI’s of sponge and liver images. It is confirmed that BSC is an important preprocessing step in quantifying these features of ultrasound image texture. By this measure, the visual features may be quantified. The results show that the use of the features is dependent on what is looking for; that is, the distinction between tissue echotexture and fully developed speckles should emphasize on the “coarseness” of the echotexture, while the one between normal liver and cirrhosis should emphasize on the spatial intensity variation (busyness). This study shows a correlation between the tissue and the ultrasound echotexture.