Acceleration-based Kalman tracking for super-resolution ultrasound imaging in vivo
File(s)clean_file_for_Xplore.pdf.pdf (8.3 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Huang, Biao
Yan, Jipeng
Morris, Megan
Sinnett, Victoria
Somaiah, Navita
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Super-resolution ultrasound can image microvascular structure and flow at sub-wave-diffraction resolution based on localising and tracking microbubbles. Currently, tracking microbubbles accurately under limited imaging frame rates and high microbubble concentrations remains a challenge, especially under the effect of cardiac pulsatility and in highly curved vessels. In this study, an acceleration-incorporated microbubble motion model is introduced into a Kalman tracking framework. The tracking performance was evaluated using simulated microvasculature with different microbubble motion parameters, concentrations and acquisition frame rates, and in vivo human breast tumour ultrasound datasets. The simulation results show that the acceleration-based method outperformed the non-acceleration-based method at different levels of acceleration and acquisition frame rates and achieved significant improvement in true positive rate (up to 11.3%), false negative rate (up to 13.2%). The proposed method can also reduce errors in vasculature reconstruction via the acceleration-based nonlinear interpolation, compared with linear interpolation (up to 16.7 μm). The tracking results from temporally downsampled low frame rate in vivo datasets from human breast tumours show that the proposed method has better microbubble tracking performance than the baseline method, if using results from the initial high frame data as reference. Finally, the acceleration estimated from tracking results also provides a spatial speed gradient map that may contain extra valuable diagnostic information.
Date Issued
2023-12
Date Acceptance
2023-10-18
Citation
IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control, 2023, 70 (12), pp.1739-1748
ISSN
0885-3010
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Start Page
1739
End Page
1748
Journal / Book Title
IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control
Volume
70
Issue
12
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2023 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.
Identifier
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10292714
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2023-10-23