Patent Description:
Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging is widely used in interventional cardiology as a diagnostic tool for assessing a diseased vessel, such as an artery, within the human body to determine the need for treatment, to guide the intervention, and/or to assess its effectiveness. An IVUS device includes one or more ultrasound transducers arranged at a distal end of an elongate member. The elongate member is passed into the vessel thereby guiding the transducers to the area to be imaged. Once in place, the transducers emit ultrasonic energy in order to create an image of the vessel of interest. Ultrasonic waves are partially reflected by discontinuities arising from tissue structures (such as the various layers of the vessel wall), red blood cells, and other features of interest. Echoes from the reflected waves are received by the transducers and passed along to an IVUS imaging system. The imaging system processes the received ultrasound echoes to produce a cross-sectional image of the vessel where the device is placed.

There are two general types of IVUS devices in use today: rotational and solid-state (also known as synthetic aperture phased array). For a typical rotational IVUS device, a single ultrasound transducer element is located at the tip of a flexible driveshaft that spins inside a plastic sheath inserted into the vessel of interest. In side-looking rotational devices, the transducer element is oriented such that the ultrasound beam propagates generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the device. In forward-looking rotational devices, the transducer element is pitched towards the distal tip so that the ultrasound beam propagates more towards the tip, in some devices, being emitted parallel to the longitudinal centerline. The fluid-filled sheath protects the vessel tissue from the spinning transducer and driveshaft while permitting ultrasound signals to propagate from the transducer into the tissue and back. As the driveshaft rotates, the transducer is periodically excited with a high voltage pulse to emit a short burst of ultrasound. The same transducer then listens for the returning echoes reflected from various tissue structures. The IVUS imaging system assembles a two dimensional display of the tissue, vessel, heart structure, etc. from a sequence of pulse/acquisition cycles occurring during a single revolution of the transducer.

In contrast, solid-state IVUS devices utilize a scanner assembly that includes an array of ultrasound transducers connected to a set of transducer controllers. In side-looking and some forward-looking IVUS devices, the transducers are distributed around the circumference of the device. In other forward-looking IVUS devices, the transducers are a linear array arranged at the distal tip and pitched so that the ultrasound beam propagates closer to parallel with the longitudinal centerline. The transducer controllers select transducer sets for transmitting an ultrasound pulse and for receiving the echo signal. By stepping through a sequence of transmit-receive sets, the solid-state IVUS system can synthesize the effect of a mechanically scanned transducer element but without moving parts. Since there is no rotating mechanical element, the transducer array can be placed in direct contact with the blood and vessel tissue with minimal risk of vessel trauma. Furthermore, because there is no rotating element, the interface is simplified. The solid-state scanner can be wired directly to the imaging system with a simple electrical cable and a standard detachable electrical connector.

Owing to a variety of acoustic and device characteristics, both rotational and solid-state technologies are prone to artifacts and distortions that affect the resulting image. For example, ringdown artifacts are commonly observed in an image at a region near the surface of a transducer. Ringdown artifacts can hide or obscure views of tissues, and thus may cause mis-measurement or mis-interpretation. Ringdown artifacts occur because the same transducer both transmits and receives ultrasonic waves. To generate an ultrasonic wave, an electrical pulse is applied to an ultrasonic crystal transducer such as a PZT. The electrical pulse causes the transducer to oscillate. After generating the desired ultrasonic wave, the transducer continues to oscillate for a period of time until the oscillation dampens out. The oscillation generates a transient signal, which is referred to as a ringdown signal. The transmitted ultrasonic wave is partially reflected by the tissues, generating echoes. The echoes can return to the transducer before the oscillation dampens out. The oscillation can corrupt the echoes received by the transducer, resulting in ringdown artifacts. In a phased array device, transducers are mechanically coupled to each other. When one of the transducers in the array is excited by an electrical pulse, the oscillation of the excited transducer can cause the mechanically coupled transducers in the array to oscillate. Thus, ringdown artifacts in a phased array device can be caused by all transducers in the device.

<CIT> discloses a method for reducing electronic artifacts in ultrasound images of anatomical tissue. At least two calibration signals are received from imaging ultrasound waves that have been reflected from different regions in anatomical tissue. A correction signal is derived from the calibration signals. The correction signal is subtracted from a signal to derive a corrected signal. An image generated from the corrected signal is then displayed. The correction signal is derived using weighted averaging and is updated upon receipt of additional signals. The correction signal is initialized to zero periodically, in response to a change in the system, or at the direction of the operator.

<CIT> discloses a method for segmenting intravascular images, includes acquiring a series of digitized images acquired from inside a vessel, each image comprising a plurality of intensities corresponding to a two-dimensional grid of pixels, providing a precomputed set of shapes for modeling contours of vessel wall boundaries, wherein a contour is expressed as a sum of a mean shape and an inner product of shape modes and shape weights, initializing a boundary contour for one of said set of images, initializing shape weights by projecting a contour into said shape modes, updating shape weights from differential equations of shape weights, and computing a contour by summing mean shape and inner product of shape modes and updated shape weights.

<CIT> discloses an ultrasonic imaging method and apparatus in which a reference waveform which is substantially free of echoes is modified to be equal to a weighted sum of the reference waveform and filtered signals from the transducing elements which transmit the ultrasonic waves and receive the reflected echoes. The modified waveform is then subtracted from the transducer signals to remove ringdown signals and provide a displayed image which is substantially free of ringdown artifacts.

While existing ultrasound imaging systems have proved useful, there remains a need for improved systems and techniques for identifying and separating tissue structures from ringdown artifacts to provide high quality images.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a ringdown reduction system with tissue identification and ringdown reduction, which may be used in applications such as a solid-state intravascular ultrasound imaging system and rotational intravascular ultrasound imaging system. The ringdown reduction system identifies and separates tissue information from ringdown artifacts in imaging data through data masking and data selection. Accordingly, the ringdown reduction system can provide high-quality images.

In one embodiment, a method of reducing ringdown artifacts in an ultrasound imaging system is provided. The method includes obtaining a plurality of frames of samples including tissue information and a ringdown component; determining a reference frame based on the plurality of frames to approximate the ringdown component; subtracting the reference frame from a current frame of the plurality of frames to produce a difference frame; selecting between the current frame and the difference frame to obtain a ringdown-reduced frame to represent the tissue information; and forming an ultrasound image from the ringdown-reduced frame.

In some examples, the method further includes computing a threshold mask from the difference frame; applying the threshold mask to the reference frame to produce a masked reference frame; and applying the threshold mask to the current frame to produce a masked current frame, wherein the selecting includes performing a minimum selection between the masked current frame and the difference frame, and/or clipping magnitudes of the difference frame. In some examples, the computing the threshold mask includes determining whether a first absolute magnitude of the difference frame is less than a threshold; setting a mask value of the threshold mask to zero when the first absolute magnitude is less than the threshold; and setting the mask value to one when the first absolute magnitude is greater than or equal to the threshold. In some exmaples, the performing the minimum selection includes determining whether a second absolute magnitude of a first sample of the masked current frame is less than a third absolute magnitude of a second sample of the difference frame; selecting the first sample to produce a third sample in the ringdown-reduced frame when the second absolute magnitude is less than the third absolute magnitude; and selecting the second sample to produce the third sample in the ringdown-reduced frame when the third absolute magnitude is greater than or equal to the second absolute magnitude. In some embodiments, the method further include determining whether a second absolute magnitude of the masked current frame is greater than or equal to a third absolute magnitude of the masked reference frame; and setting a first sample of the ringdown-reduced frame to a value of zero when the second absolute magnitude is less than the third absolute magnitude, and/or reducing the fourth absolute magnitude by a third factor prior to determining whether the second absolute magnitude of the masked current frame is greater than or equal to the fourth absolute magnitude of the masked reference frame, and/or applying an A-line filter to the ringdown-reduced frame prior to forming the ultrasound image.

In some embodiments, the obtaining the plurality of frames includes receiving a complete frame of samples; and selecting a portion of the complete frame to obtain the current frame according to a ringdown depth. In some embodiments, the forming the ultrasound image includes multiplying the ringdown-reduced frame by a first tapering factor to produce a tapered ringdown-reduced frame; multiplying the complete frame by a second tapering factor to produce a tapered complete frame; forming a first portion of the ultrasound image corresponding to the ringdown depth by summing the tapered ringdown-reduced frame and a second portion of the tapered complete frame corresponding to the ringdown depth; and forming a remaining portion of the ultrasound image from the tapered complete frame.

In some examples, the method further includes assigning a lower significant bit of a first sample of the reference frame to a bit value of zero prior to subtracting the reference frame from the current frame. In some examples, the determining the reference frame includes multiplying the current frame by a first coefficient to produce a weighted current frame; multiplying a previous averaged frame by a second coefficient to produce a weighted previous averaged frame; updating the previous averaged frame to a current averaged frame by summing the weighted current frame and the weighted previous averaged frame; and assigning the current averaged frame to the reference frame. In some examples, the summing the weighted current frame and the weighted previous averaged frame produces a first frame, and wherein the updating the previous averaged frame to the current averaged frame includes subtracting the previous averaged frame from the first frame to produce a second frame; multiplying the second frame by a rate limit factor to produce a third frame; summing the third frame and the previous averaged frame to produce a fourth frame; determining whether a first sample in the second frame is greater than a snap threshold; updating a second sample of the current averaged frame with a third sample of the fourth frame when the first sample is greater the snap threshold; and updating the second sample with a fourth sample of the first frame when the first sample is less than or equal to the snap threshold. In some examples, the updating the previous averaged frame to the current averaged frame further includes scaling the third sample with a range taper factor prior to updating second sample of the current averaged frame with the third frame when the first sample is greater than the snap threshold; and scaling the fourth frame with the range taper factor prior to updating the current averaged frame with the fourth sample when the first sample is less than or equal to the snap threshold.

In one embodiment, an ultrasound image processing system includes an interface operable to receive a plurality of frames of samples including tissue information and a ringdown component; and a processing unit coupled to the interface and configured to determine a reference frame based on the plurality of frames to approximate the ringdown component; compute a difference frame based on a current frame of the plurality of frames and the reference frame; and select between the current frame and the difference frame to obtain a ringdown-reduced frame to represent the tissue information.

In some examples, the processing unit is further configured to compute a threshold mask from the difference frame according to a threshold; apply the threshold mask to the reference frame to produce a masked reference frame; apply the threshold mask to the current frame to produce a masked current frame; and select between the current frame and the difference frame by performing a minimum selection between the masked current frame and the difference frame, and/or clip magnitudes of the difference frame, and/or determine whether a first absolute magnitude of the difference frame is less than the threshold; set a mask value of the threshold mask to a first value when the first absolute magnitude is less than the threshold; and set the mask value to a second value when the first absolute magnitude is greater than or equal to the threshold, and/or determine whether a second absolute magnitude of a first sample of the masked current frame is less than a third absolute magnitude of a second sample of the difference frame; select the first sample to produce a third sample in the ringdown-reduced frame when the second absolute magnitude is less than the third absolute magnitude; and select the second sample to produce the third sample in the ringdown-reduced frame when the third absolute magnitude is greater than or equal to the second absolute magnitude, and/or determine whether a second absolute magnitude of the masked current frame is greater than or equal to a third absolute magnitude of the masked reference frame; and set a first sample of the ringdown-reduced frame to a value of zero when the second absolute magnitude is less than the third absolute magnitude.

In some embodiments, the interface is further configured receive a complete frame, wherein the current frame is a portion within a ringdown depth of the complete frame, and wherein the processing unit is further configured to multiply the ringdown-reduced frame by a first tapering factor to produce a tapered ringdown-reduced frame; multiply the complete frame by a second tapering factor to produce a tapered complete frame; forming a first portion of an image corresponding to the ringdown depth by summing the tapered ringdown-reduced frame and a second portion of the tapered complete frame corresponding to the ringdown depth; and forming a remaining portion of an image from the tapered complete frame, and/or apply an A-line filter to the ringdown-reduced frame prior to multiplying the ringdown-reduced frame with the first tapering factor.

For example, while the IVUS system is described in terms of cardiovascular imaging, it is understood that it is not intended to be limited to this application. The system is equally well suited to any application requiring imaging within a confined cavity.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of an IVUS imaging system <NUM> according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The system <NUM> may include an IVUS device elongate member <NUM> such as a catheter, guide wire, or guide catheter, a patient interface module (PIM) <NUM>, an IVUS processing system <NUM>, such as a console and/or a computer, and a monitor <NUM>.

At a high level, an elongate member <NUM> is advanced into a vessel <NUM>. The distal-most end of the elongate member <NUM> includes a scanner assembly <NUM> with an array of ultrasound transducers <NUM> and associated control circuitry <NUM>. When the scanner assembly <NUM> is positioned near the area to be imaged, the ultrasound transducers are activated and ultrasonic energy is produced. A portion of the ultrasonic energy is reflected by the vessel <NUM> and the surrounding anatomy, and the ultrasound echo signals are received by the transducers <NUM>. Although the scanner assembly <NUM> is illustrated with the array of transducers <NUM>, the scanner assembly <NUM> may be alternatively configured to include a rotational transducer to achieve similar functionalities. The PIM <NUM> transfers the received echo signals to the IVUS processing system <NUM> where the ultrasound image (including the flow information) is reconstructed and displayed on the monitor <NUM>. The IVUS processing system <NUM> can include a processor and a memory. The IVUS system <NUM> can be operable to facilitate the features of the system <NUM> described herein. For example, the processor can execute computer readable instructions stored on the non-transitory tangible computer readable medium.

In various surgical settings, patient safety requirements mandate physical and electrical isolation of the patient. Thus, if complete electrical isolation is required, the system <NUM> may be divided into the PIM <NUM> and the IVUS processing system <NUM> with an optical, RF, or other non-conductive link for communication between the two. In less stringent environments, conductive communication links and/or power couplings may extend between the two. Moreover, in some embodiments, the PIM <NUM> and IVUS processing system <NUM> are collocated and/or part of the same system, unit, chassis, or module. The allocation of image processing tasks between the PIM <NUM> and the IVUS processing system <NUM> is merely arbitrary.

The system <NUM> may use any of a variety of ultrasonic imaging technologies. Accordingly, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the system <NUM> is a solid-state IVUS imaging system incorporating an array of piezoelectric transducers fabricated from lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) ceramic. In some embodiments, the system <NUM> incorporates capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs), or piezoelectric micromachined ultrasound transducers (PMUTs).

In some embodiments, the system <NUM> includes some features similar to traditional solid-state IVUS system, such as the EagleEye® catheter available from Volcano Corporation and those disclosed in <CIT>. For example, the elongate member <NUM> includes the ultrasound scanner assembly <NUM> at a distal end of the member <NUM>, which is coupled to the PIM <NUM> and the IVUS processing system <NUM> by a cable <NUM> extending along the longitudinal body of the member <NUM>. The cable <NUM> caries control signals, echo data, and power between the scanner assembly <NUM> and the remainder of the system <NUM>.

In an embodiment, the elongate member <NUM> further includes a guide wire exit port <NUM>. The guide wire exit port <NUM> allows a guide wire <NUM> to be inserted towards the distal end in order to direct the member <NUM> through a vascular structure (i.e., a vessel) <NUM>. Accordingly, in some instances the IVUS device is a rapid-exchange catheter. In an embodiment, the elongate member <NUM> can also include an expandable member such as an inflatable balloon near the distal tip to facilitate medical and/or diagnostic procedures.

The PIM <NUM> facilitates communication of signals between the IVUS processing system <NUM> and the elongate member <NUM> to control the operation of the scanner assembly <NUM>. This includes generating control signals to configure the scanner, generating signals to trigger the transmitter circuits, and/or forwarding echo signals captured by the scanner assembly <NUM> to the IVUS processing system <NUM>. With regard to the echo signals, the PIM <NUM> forwards the received signals and, in some embodiments, performs preliminary signal processing prior to transmitting the signals to the IVUS processing system <NUM>. In examples of such embodiments, the PIM <NUM> performs amplification, filtering, and/or aggregating of the data. In an embodiment, the PIM <NUM> also supplies high- and low-voltage direct current (DC) power to support operation of the circuitry within the scanner assembly <NUM>. The PIM <NUM> may also perform some, all, or none, of the functions attributed to the IVUS processing system <NUM> such as processing the echo data to create an ultrasound image.

The IVUS processing system <NUM> receives the echo data from the scanner assembly <NUM> by way of the PIM <NUM> and performs any remaining processing of the data to create an image of the tissue surrounding the scanner assembly <NUM>. The IVUS processing system <NUM> may also display the image on the monitor <NUM>.

The system <NUM> may be utilized in a variety of applications and can be used to image vessels and structures within a living body. Vessel <NUM> represents fluid filled or surrounded structures, both natural and man-made, within a living body that may be imaged and can include for example, but without limitation, structures such as: organs including the liver, heart, kidneys, cardiovascular vessels, as well as valves within the blood or other systems of the body. In addition to imaging natural structures, the images may also include imaging man-made structures such as, but without limitation, heart valves, stents, shunts, filters and other devices positioned within the body.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional ultrasound image <NUM> of a vessel including a ringdown artifact component <NUM> according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the ultrasound image <NUM> is produced from the system <NUM>, where the elongate member <NUM> is placed in the vessel <NUM> and the transducers <NUM> emit ultrasonic signal pulses and receive echo signals of the ultrasonic signal pulses reflected by the vessel <NUM>. The ultrasound image <NUM> is reconstructed from the received echo signals. The ringdown artifact component <NUM> is located adjacent to a region <NUM> corresponding to cross-sectional area of the elongate member <NUM>.

As described above, ringdown artifacts can interfere or hide tissues in a region close to a catheter surface. One approach to reducing or removing ringdown artifacts is to obtain a single static reference frame, which is an estimate of a ringdown signal generated by oscillations in transducers, and subtract the reference frame from subsequent image frames. In the static approach, the reference frame is generated or acquired prior to starting the imaging process. For example, the reference frame may be acquired by placing the elongate member <NUM> in a large vessel to obtain an echo-free waveform. The static approach is limited due to the user interaction required for obtaining the reference frame. In addition, the static approach does not address ringdown thermal drift. Ringdown thermal drift is caused by thermal variation near a transducer and surrounding acoustic medium. The variation can cause drifting in the amplitude and/or the phase of the ringdown signal. The ringdown thermal drift can degrade the quality of the resulting image over time since the reference frame is statically captured prior to the imaging process, and thus does not represent the ringdown signal over time. For example, ringdown thermal drift can cause ghost artifacts or ghost tissues in resulting images. In addition, the static approach does not address other tissue artifact captured while obtaining the echo-free waveform. It is not always possible to obtain a static reference frame in a large vessel free of other structures and therefore ultrasound echoes. As a result, these echoes are captured in the static reference frame and the echoes can cause ghost artifacts and ghost tissues in resulting images.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional ultrasound image <NUM> illustrating the effect of ringdown thermal drift under static ringdown subtraction according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The image <NUM> is constructed from the same received echo signals as the image <NUM>, but the static ringdown subtraction approach described above is applied to the received echo signals to remove the ringdown component <NUM>. As shown, the ringdown component <NUM> is removed from the image <NUM>. However, a ghost tissue <NUM> appears in the image <NUM> due to ringdown thermal drift.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional ultrasound image <NUM> illustrating the effect of ringdown ghost artifacts, due to other tissue structures being captured in the static reference frame, under static ringdown subtraction according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The image <NUM> is constructed from the same received echo signals as the image <NUM>, but a different placement in the vessel, and the static ringdown subtraction approach described above is applied to the received echo signals to remove the ringdown component <NUM> seen in image <NUM>. As shown, the ringdown component <NUM> is removed from the image <NUM>. However, a ghost tissue <NUM> appears in the image <NUM> due to capture of the tissue structure in the static reference frame.

Another approach adaptively updates a reference frame to mitigate the ringdown thermal drift and eliminate the need to acquire the ringdown reference frame prior to the imaging process. In the adaptive approach, the reference frame is updated based on an average of several frames. The adaptive approach operates based on the assumption that ringdown artifacts vary slowly or almost constant across time, whereas vessel motions vary substantially from frame to frame. Thus, the averaging can provide a good estimate of the ringdown artifacts. The adaptive approach may perform well when the reference frame is updated at a faster rate than the ringdown thermal drift, and when the reference frame is updated slower than the tissue structure motion. However, the performance can degrade when used for measurements in small coronary vessels, peripheral vessels, and or under signal saturation conditions. For example, when a catheter is wedged in a small vessel, tissue motions are lessened or restricted. Under a signal saturation condition, such as if certain structures like stents or calcification in tissue structures is present, the changes in signal amplitudes and/or phases are not detectable. Peripheral vessels have less vessel motions than coronary vessels due to the cardiac cycle pressure wave changes and the lessened curvatures in the peripheral vessels. When tissue motions are reduced or undetectable, the adaptive approach may introduce tissue information from a previous frame into a current frame, causing similar ghost artifacts as shown in the image <NUM>. Thus, both the static ringdown subtraction and the adaptive ringdown subtraction may not be effective in removing ringdown artifacts.

Disclosed herein are various embodiments of an improved ringdown reduction system. The disclosed embodiments automatically initiate an adaptive ringdown subtraction process upon receiving imaging data. The ringdown subtraction process performs IIR averaging to adaptively estimate ringdown and subtracts the ringdown estimate from the imaging data. The disclosed embodiments perform data selection and masking on the imaging data and the ringdown-subtracted data to identify ringdown from slow-moving tissues and fast-moving tissues. Thus, the disclosed embodiments are suitable for use with coronary vessels and peripheral vessels. In addition, the data selection and masking minimizes subtraction of information of stationary tissues and is robust to signal saturation. Thus, the performance is not degraded when tissues are wedged in a tight vessel or when the system is under signal saturation. For example, the disclosed embodiments can identify and remove ringdown when tissues are at a distance of about <NUM> microns away from a catheter surface. Further, the data selection and masking can reduce or remove ghost artifacts or ghost tissues carry from a previous image frame into a current image frame. Thus, the disclosed embodiments can reduce or avoid mis-interpretation or mis-measurement of tissue structures. Although the disclosed embodiments are described in the context of ringdown artifacts of phased array devices, the disclosed embodiments are suitable for use in removing halo artifacts of rotational devices. In addition, the disclosed embodiments can be used in conjunction with a manual initiation of the ringdown subtraction process and any suitable type of averaging for acquiring the ringdown estimate.

A method of processing ultrasound imaging data is described with reference to <FIG>. <FIG> is a flow diagram of a method <NUM> of processing ultrasound imaging data according to embodiments of the present disclosure. It is understood that additional steps can be provided before, during, and after the steps of method <NUM>, and that some of the steps described can be replaced or eliminated for other embodiments of the method. <FIG> is a flow diagram of a method <NUM> of correcting ringdown-distorted imaging data according to embodiments of the present disclosure. It is understood that additional steps can be provided before, during, and after the steps of method <NUM>, and that some of the steps described can be replaced or eliminated for other embodiments of the method. The steps of the methods <NUM> and <NUM> can be implemented by an ultrasound image processing system such as the IVUS processing system <NUM> and the ultrasound image processing system <NUM> or any other suitable system, device, or component that are coupled to the elongate member <NUM>, which may be a direct coupling or via the PIM <NUM>. The methods <NUM> and <NUM> are implemented after placing the elongate member <NUM> into the vessel <NUM> and configuring the transducers <NUM> to transmit ultrasound signal pulses.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound image processing system <NUM> according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The system <NUM> may be incorporated into an IVUS processing system <NUM> and/or other components of an imaging system <NUM>. The system <NUM> may include an input interface <NUM>, a ringdown depth selector <NUM>, a ringdown reduction component <NUM>, and a tapering component <NUM>. The ringdown reduction component <NUM> includes a ringdown detector <NUM>, a frame difference component <NUM>, a threshold mask generator <NUM>, a comparator mask generator <NUM>, a data selector <NUM>, multiplication components <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, and a filter <NUM>. The components of the system <NUM> can be implemented as hardware components and/or software components executed on one or more central processing units (CPUs), general purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and/or functional programmable gated arrays (FPGA).

Referring to the step <NUM> of the method <NUM> and <FIG>, in an embodiment, a plurality of complete frames of samples including tissue information and a ringdown component is received. The ringdown component can be similar to the ringdown component <NUM> shown in the image <NUM>. The plurality of complete frames is received by the input interface <NUM> of the system <NUM>. The samples correspond to echo signals of the transmitted ultrasound signal pulses reflected from the tissues under the imaging process. The transducers <NUM> receive the echo signals and the control circuitry <NUM> transfers the received echo signals to the input interface <NUM>, for example, via the PIM <NUM>. A complete frame of samples refers to samples collected from a field-of-view (FOV) of the transducers <NUM>. The samples are sample points of A-lines. The samples carry amplitude and phase information of the received echo signals. For example, an ith sample point of a jth A-line can be represented as RFC(i, j). A-lines refer to the echo signal received from groupings of emitting and receiving transducers. Any emitting transducer and any receiving transducer may be configured together to form a transmit-receive pair, and the echo received from this is an A-line. Within an A-line, more than one emitting transducer and more than one receiving transducer may be configured to act together. In some embodiments, a transducer may be designated as both an emitting and a receiving transducer.

Referring to the step <NUM> of the method <NUM> and <FIG>, in an embodiment, portions of the plurality of complete frames of data samples are selected based on a ringdown depth to produce a plurality of frame segments of data samples. The frame segments are selected by the ringdown depth selector <NUM>. The ringdown depth selector <NUM> receives the complete frames from the input interface <NUM> and selects a portion of the data samples from each complete frame corresponding to a ringdown region to form a frame segment of data samples, denoted as RF(i, j), where i, j represents an ith sample point of a jth A-line, as shown below: <MAT> The ringdown depth may vary in different embodiments depending on the characteristics of the transducers <NUM> and the elongate member <NUM>. The ringdown depth selector <NUM> may consider the entire data set, rather than a sub-region of the data set (e.g., ringdown_depth = entire Field-of-View (FOV) as acquired in the received ultrasound echo data). For example, a complete frame may include <NUM> samples per A-line and the ringdown depth selector <NUM> may select the first <NUM> samples corresponding to a region near the surfaces of the transducers <NUM> for each A-line. In other embodiments, the ringdown depth selector <NUM> may set the ringdown depth to <NUM> samples, thereby allowing the entire complete frame to be processed.

Referring to the step <NUM> of the method <NUM> and <FIG>, in an embodiment, the plurality of frame segments of data samples are processed to produce a ringdown-reduced frame. The frame segments are processed by the ringdown reduction component <NUM>. The ringdown reduction component <NUM> receives the frame segments from the ringdown depth selector <NUM>. The ringdown reduction component <NUM> processes each frame segment by selecting tissue information and discarding ringdown components to produce a ringdown-reduced frame, as described in greater detail herein. For example, the step <NUM> can implement the method <NUM>.

Referring to the step <NUM> of the method <NUM> and <FIG>, in an embodiment, a tapering function is applied to the ringdown-reduced frame and a corresponding complete frame to produce an ultrasound image. The tapering function is applied by the tapering component <NUM>. The tapering component <NUM> receives ringdown-reduced frames from the ringdown reduction component <NUM> and combines each ringdown-reduced frame with the corresponding complete frame to produce an ultrasound image, which is a corrected complete frame, denoted as O, for each complete frame. The tapering function provides a smooth transition between the ringdown-reduced frame and the corresponding complete frame, as described in greater detail herein. In some embodiments, when the ringdown-reduced frame is the same as the complete frame, then the taper function is not used.

The method <NUM> processes ringdown-distorted imaging data by selecting tissue information and removing ringdown components from the ringdown-distorted data. The method <NUM> is described in the context of processing a current frame and can be repeated to process subsequent frames. Referring to the step <NUM> of the method <NUM> and <FIG>, in an embodiment, a plurality of frames of data samples including tissue information and a ringdown component is obtained. The plurality of frames may correspond to the frame segments produced within the range of ringdown in the step <NUM> of the method <NUM> or complete frames corresponding to a FOV. A current frame of the plurality of frames is denoted as RF.

Referring to the step <NUM> of the method <NUM> and <FIG>, in an embodiment, a reference frame is determined based on the plurality of frames of samples to approximate the ringdown component. The reference frame is determined by the ringdown detector <NUM>. The ringdown detector <NUM> receives the frames from the ringdown depth selector <NUM> and determines the reference frame by applying an averaging function to the plurality of frames. As described above, ringdown varies slowly or almost constant in time compared to tissue motions. Thus, the averaging can remove the effect of the tissue motions and provide an estimate of the ringdown component. The averaging function can be based on a weighted sum, a finite impulse response (FIR) average, an infinite impulse response (IIR) average, or any suitable averaging scheme. The averaging function enables automatic update of the reference frame to adapt to ringdown variations such as thermal drift. The IIR averaging is a recursive update, which computes a weighted sum of a current frame and a previous frame. The IIR averaging can provide a fast update of the reference frame. In addition, averaging may include a threshold function to exclude certain signal ranges from the average, such as very small or very large signals. A basic IIR averaging scheme without a threshold function and a piecewise-update IIR averaging scheme are described in greater detail herein. The reference frame is denoted as R<NUM>.

Referring to the step <NUM> of the method <NUM> and <FIG>, in an embodiment, the reference frame is subtracted from a current frame of the plurality of frames to produce a difference frame. The subtraction is performed by the frame difference component <NUM>. The frame difference component <NUM> receives the reference frame and the current frame from the ringdown detector <NUM> and the ringdown depth selector <NUM>, respectively. The frame difference component <NUM> operates on each sample as shown below: <MAT> where RF(i, j) represents an ith sample point of a jth A-line in the current frame, R<NUM>(i, j) represents an ith sample point of a jth A-line in the reference frame, I(i, j) represents an ith sample point of a jth A-line in the difference frame. The subtraction can remove most of the ringdown component from the current frame. However, the difference frame can include tissue information of a previous frame since the reference frame is an average of the current frame and the previous frame. In addition, the difference frame may include ringdown residuals, such as PZT noise and fast thermal drifts. Thus, additional processing is required to identify tissue information of the current frame.

In some embodiments, the frame difference component <NUM> can optionally perform a clipping function to prevent overflow due to a dynamic range of the system <NUM> as shown below: <MAT> The clipping limits the magnitudes of the samples in the difference frame to be within the maximum value and the minimum value of the system <NUM>.

Referring to the step <NUM> of the method <NUM> and <FIG>, in an embodiment, a threshold mask is generated based on the difference frame and a threshold. The threshold mask is generated by the threshold mask generator <NUM>. The threshold mask generator <NUM> receives the difference frame from the frame difference component <NUM> and generates the threshold mask as shown below: <MAT> where |I(i, j)| represents the absolute magnitude of I(i, j), MT represents the threshold mask, and T represents the threshold. The threshold can be any suitable value. In an embodiment, T is set to a value of about <NUM>. Thus, equation (<NUM>) sets any non-zero valued sample to a value of <NUM>.

Referring to the step <NUM> of the method <NUM> and <FIG>, in an embodiment, the threshold mask is applied to the reference frame to produce a masked reference frame. Referring to the step <NUM> of the method <NUM> and <FIG>, in an embodiment, the threshold mask is applied to the current frame to produce a masked current frame. The applying of the generator mask to the reference frame and the current frame is performed by the multiplication components <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively, but can alternatively be performed by a MUX operation since the mask includes values of ones and zeros, which is a conditional logic. The applying of the generator mask to the reference frame and the current frame suppresses ringdown residuals. The masked reference frame is denoted as R<NUM>'. The masked current frame is denoted as RF'. A higher threshold T can be used to further reduce ringdown residuals, but may degrade tissue information. In some embodiments, instead of generating the generator mask and applying the generator mask as shown in <FIG>, ringdown residual can be suppressed by setting the lower significant bits of the samples in the reference frame to bit values of zeros prior to subtracting the reference frame from the current frame.

In addition, the threshold mask generator <NUM> can alternatively be used to exclude larger signals, for example, by setting the higher significant bits of the samples in the reference frame to bit values of zeros prior to subtracting the reference frame from the current frame. This can remove deleterious components in the ringdown reference which are not ringdown residual but instead may be caused by defects in catheter manufacturing process such as excessive glue on the catheter in front of the transducer elements. In other embodiments the threshold mask generator could include a weighting function to establish the mask. The weighting function could be a range based taper, applied to signal I, and then compared to a threshold.

Referring to the step <NUM> of the method <NUM> and <FIG>, in an embodiment, a comparator mask is generated based on the current frame and the difference frame. The comparator mask is generated by the comparator mask generator <NUM>. The comparator mask generator <NUM> receives the masked reference frame and the masked current frame and generates the comparator mask as shown below: <MAT> where |RF'(i, j)| represents the absolute magnitude of a sample in the masked current frame, |R<NUM>'(i, j)| represents the absolute magnitude of a sample in the masked reference frame, C is a scale factor, and MC represents the comparator mask. The area under the comparator mask that has values of ones indicates a high probability of tissue information of the current frame in the area. However, the area can also include tissue information of a previous frame. The comparator mask can be improved by scaling the masked reference frame as shown below: <MAT> where C represents a comparator mask scale factor. The comparator mask scale factor C can be set to any suitable value. In an embodiment, C is set to a value of about <NUM>. In other embodiments the comparator mask generator <NUM> can be alternatively configured with a weighting function to establish the mask, instead of utilization of a fixed threshold. The weighting function could be a fuzzy weighting, controlled by the signal strength present in the signals |RF'(i, j)| and |R<NUM>'(i, j)|.

Referring to the step <NUM> of the method <NUM> and <FIG>, in an example a selection is performed between the masked current frame and the difference frame to obtain a ringdown-reduced frame to represent the tissue information. The selection is performed by the data selector <NUM>. The data selector <NUM> receives the masked reference frame from the multiplication component <NUM> and the difference frame from the frame difference component <NUM>. The data selector <NUM> performs the selection as shown below: <MAT> where D represents the ringdown-reduced frame. Since the current frame includes tissue information of the current frame but also the ringdown artifact, and the difference frame includes tissue information of both the current frame and any captured tissue information in the reference frame, the selection is performed to exclude tissue information of the reference frame from the ringdown-reduced frame. Since the current frame includes the ringdown artifact, and the difference frame does not, it is ensured that the ringdown artifact from the current frame is not included in the output D(i, j).

Referring to the step <NUM> of the method <NUM> and <FIG>, in an example, the comparator mask is applied to the ringdown-reduced frame. The applying of the comparator mask is performed by the multiplication component <NUM>, but can alternatively be performed by a MUX operation since the mask includes values of ones and zeros, which is a conditional logic. The masked ringdown-reduced frame is denoted as D'. As described above, the area of the comparator mask that has values of ones indicate a high probability of tissue information in the current frame. Thus, the applying of the comparator mask further limits the selection performed by the step <NUM>. After the selection and the comparator mask operations, the masked ringdown-reduced frame includes the tissue information of the current frame and a minimal amount or close to zero amount of ringdown residual.

Referring to the step <NUM> of the method <NUM> and <FIG>, in an example, the filter <NUM> is applied to the masked ringdown-reduced frame. The filtered ringdown-reduced frame is denoted as D". The filtering can smooth out discontinuities caused by the masking and selection operations. The filter <NUM> can be FIR, IIR, or a moving average window. When the filter <NUM> is a FIR, the filter <NUM> can have any suitable number of taps. In one embodiment, the filter <NUM> is an A-line filter filtering samples across angles or A-lines. In another embodiment, the filter <NUM> can filter across samples within A-lines instead of filtering samples across angles or A-lines. After computing the filtered ringdown-reduced frame, the filter ringdown-reduced frame can be combined with the complete image as described in the step <NUM> and with greater detail herein.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of an IIR averaging component <NUM> according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The IIR averaging component <NUM> can be incorporated into the ringdown detector <NUM> and can be implemented by the step <NUM> of the method <NUM>. The IIR averaging component <NUM> includes an input frame buffer <NUM>, multiplication components <NUM> and <NUM>, a summing component <NUM>, and an average frame buffer <NUM>. The IIR averaging component <NUM> perform averaging by computing a weight sum of a current frame and a previous averaged frame. The multiplication component <NUM> multiples a current frame, denoted as x, obtained from the input frame buffer <NUM> with a current frame coefficient, denoted as a. The multiplication component <NUM> multiples a previous averaged frame, denoted as yn-<NUM>, obtained from the average frame buffer <NUM> with a previous frame coefficient, denoted as b. The summing component <NUM> sums the weighted current frame and the weighted previous averaged frame and saves the sum to the average frame buffer <NUM>. The input frame buffer <NUM> and the average frame buffer <NUM> can arrange input frames and averaged frames in any suitable configuration. The IIR averaging component <NUM> operates on each sample as shown below: <MAT> where xn(k) represents a kth sample of the current frame, yn-<NUM>(k) represents a kth sample of the previous averaged frame, and yn(k) represents a kth sample of the current averaged frame. For example, when the IIR averaging component <NUM> is incorporated into the ringdown detector <NUM>, xn(k) and yn(k) correspond to RF(i, j) and R<NUM>(i, j), respectively. In an embodiment, the current frame coefficient and the previous frame coefficient are fractional coefficients that sum up to <NUM>. In some embodiments, the fractional current frame coefficient and the fractional previous frame coefficient can be adjusted to control an update rate of the IIR averaging component <NUM>. The adjustment can change a ratio between the fractional current frame coefficient and the fractional previous frame coefficient such that a sum of the fractional current frame coefficient and the fractional previous frame coefficient remains at a value of <NUM>.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram an IIR averaging component <NUM> that implements piecewise update according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The IIR averaging component <NUM> can be incorporated into the ringdown detector <NUM> and can be implemented by the step <NUM> of the method <NUM>. The IIR averaging component <NUM> performs similar IIR averaging as the IIR averaging component <NUM>, but adjusts the update rate of the IIR averaging. The IIR averaging component <NUM> includes an input frame buffer <NUM>, multiplication components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, summing components <NUM> and <NUM>, a subtraction component <NUM>, a comparator mask generator <NUM>, multiplexers (MUXs) <NUM> and <NUM>, and an average frame buffer <NUM>.

The multiplication component <NUM> multiples a current frame, denoted as x, obtained from the input frame buffer <NUM> with a current frame coefficient, denoted as α. The multiplication component <NUM> multiples a previous averaged frame, denoted as yn-<NUM>, obtained from the average frame buffer <NUM> with a previous frame coefficient, denoted as b. The summing component <NUM> sums the weighted current frame and the weighted previous averaged frame to produce a first frame, denoted as f<NUM>, as shown below: <MAT> where xn(k) represents a kth sample of the current frame, yn-<NUM>(k) represents a kth sample of the previous averaged frame, and f<NUM>(k) represents a kth sample of the first frame current averaged frame.

Instead of using the first frame to update the previous averaged frame to the current averaged frame, the IIR averaging component <NUM> uses a portion of the first frame for the update to slow down the update. To control an update rate, the subtraction component <NUM> subtracts the previous averaged frame yn-<NUM> from the first frame to produce a second frame, denoted as f<NUM>, and the multiplication component <NUM> multiplies the second frame with a rate limit factor, denoted as r, to produce a third frame, denoted as f<NUM>, as shown below: <MAT> where f<NUM>(k) represents a kth sample of the second frame and f<NUM>(k) represents a kth sample of the third frame. The third frame represents a portion of a difference between the computed averaged frame or the first frame and the previous averaged frame.

The IIR averaging component <NUM> can further slow down the update by using a snap function to reuse the previous averaged frame as a current averaged frame when the difference between the computed averaged frame and the previous averaged frame is small. The comparator mask generator <NUM> implements the snap function as shown below: <MAT> where MS(k) represents a kth sample of the comparator mask and TS is a snap threshold. The snap threshold can be any suitable value. In an embodiment, the snap threshold is set to a value of about <NUM>. The MUX <NUM> selects a kth sample from the third frame when MS(k) is <NUM>, otherwise selects a kth sample from the first frame to produce a fourth frame.

After determining an update portion for the current averaged frame, the multiplication component <NUM> multiples the fourth frame by a tapering factor, denoted as t, to produce a fifth frame, denoted as f<NUM>, and the summing component <NUM> sums the fifth frame and the previous averaged frame to produce a current averaged frame, denoted as yn, as shown below: <MAT> where f<NUM>(k) represents a kth sample of the fifth frame and yn(k) represents a kth sample of the update frame. The tapering factor can be any suitable value. In an embodiment the tapering factor changes with range (sample position), thereby modifying the update rate according to range. The rate limit factor r, the tapering factor t, and the snap threshold TS can be adjusted to control an update rate of the IIR averaging. In an embodiment, the rate limit factor r, the tapering factor t, and the snap threshold TS can be determined based on the catheter in use and can be pre-calibrated to set to suitable values.

When the IIR averaging component <NUM> is incorporated into the ringdown detector <NUM>, xn(k) and yn(k) correspond to RF(i, j) and R<NUM>(i, j), respectively. The use of piecewise update allows the ringdown detector <NUM> to control the update rate of the averaging over a greater range of update rate than the IIR averaging could alone. As described above, IIR averaging can provide a fast update. For example, the IIR averaging can provide a full update in about <NUM> frames, which may be faster than variations in tissue motions. Thus, tissues in resulting images may appear with an undesirable shimmering or stroboscopic effect. The controlling of the rate limit factor r, the tapering factor t, and the snap threshold TS can remove or prevent the undesirable effect.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram a tapering component <NUM> according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The tapering component <NUM> can be incorporated into the tapering component <NUM>. The tapering component <NUM> includes a ringdown selector <NUM>, multiplication components <NUM> and <NUM>, a summing component <NUM>, and a MUX <NUM>. The tapering component <NUM> is used to combine a ringdown-reduced frame produced by the ringdown reduction component <NUM> with an original complete frame received from the input interface <NUM>. The tapering component <NUM> can provide a smooth transition during the combining. The multiplication component <NUM> multiples the filtered ringdown-reduce frame by a first tapering factor, denoted as t<NUM>, to produce a tapered ringdown-reduced frame. The multiplication component <NUM> multiples a corresponding complete frame RFC received from the input interface <NUM> by a second tapering factor, denoted as t<NUM>, to produce a tapered complete frame. The summing component <NUM> sums the tapered ringdown-reduced frame and the tapered complete frame to produce a combined frame, denoted as U. The tapering operations are shown below: <MAT> In an embodiment, the first tapering factor and the second tapering factor are fractional values that sum up to <NUM>.

The ringdown selector <NUM> outputs a value of <NUM> for a ringdown region corresponding to the ringdown-reduced frame, otherwise a value of <NUM>, for example, based on the selection at the ringdown depth selector <NUM>. The MUX <NUM> multiplexes a portion of the combined frame corresponding to the ringdown region and a portion of the complete frame outside the ringdown region to produce an output frame, denoted as O. The multiplexing operations are shown below: <MAT> where O(i, j) represents an ith sample of a jth A-line.

<FIG> collectively illustrate imaging frames at various stages of the ringdown reduction process described above with reference to <FIG>. In Figs <NUM>-<NUM>, the x-axis represents A-lines and the y-axis represents samples. <FIG> illustrates a current frame <NUM>, a reference frame <NUM>, and a difference frame <NUM> in a stage of ringdown reduction according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The current frame <NUM> corresponds to a current frame RF at the output of the ringdown depth selector <NUM>. The reference frame <NUM> corresponds to a reference frame R<NUM> at the output of the ringdown detector <NUM>. The difference frame <NUM> corresponds to a difference frame I at the output of the frame difference component <NUM>. The difference frame <NUM> is a difference between the current frame <NUM> and the reference frame <NUM>. Each of the current frame <NUM>, the reference frame <NUM>, and the difference frame <NUM> include a ringdown region <NUM> adjacent to a catheter surface region <NUM>. The ringdown distortion is shown as a band in the region <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates the difference frame <NUM> and a threshold mask <NUM> in a stage of ringdown reduction according to an example. The threshold mask <NUM> corresponds to a threshold mask MT at the output of the threshold mask generator <NUM>. The threshold mask <NUM> is generated from the difference frame <NUM> as shown in equation (<NUM>).

<FIG> illustrates a masked reference frame <NUM> in a stage of ringdown reduction according to an example. The masked reference frame <NUM> corresponds to a masked reference frame R<NUM>' at the output of the multiplication component <NUM>. The masked reference frame <NUM> is generated by applying the threshold mask <NUM> to the reference frame <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates a masked current frame <NUM> in a stage of ringdown reduction according to an example. The masked current frame <NUM> corresponds to a masked current frame RF' at the output of the multiplication component <NUM>. The masked current frame <NUM> is generated by applying the threshold mask <NUM> to the current frame <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates the masked reference frame <NUM>, the masked current frame <NUM>, and a comparator mask <NUM> in a stage of ringdown reduction according to an example. The comparator mask <NUM> corresponds to a comparator mask MC at the output of the comparator mask generator <NUM>. The comparator mask <NUM> is generated from the masked current frame <NUM> and the masked reference frame <NUM> according to equation (<NUM>).

<FIG> illustrates the masked current frame <NUM>, the difference frame <NUM>, and a ringdown-reduced frame <NUM> in a stage of ringdown reduction according to an example. The ringdown-reduced frame <NUM> corresponds to a ringdown-reduced frame D at the output of the data selector <NUM>. The ringdown-reduced frame <NUM> is generated from the masked current frame <NUM> and the difference frame <NUM> according to equation (<NUM>).

<FIG> illustrates the ringdown-reduced frame <NUM>, the comparator mask <NUM>, and a masked ringdown-reduced frame <NUM> in a stage of ringdown reduction according to an example. The masked ringdown-reduced frame <NUM> corresponds to a masked ringdown-reduced frame D' at the output of the data selector <NUM>. The masked ringdown-reduced frame <NUM> is generated by applying the comparator mask <NUM> to the ringdown-reduced frame <NUM>. As shown, the ringdown distortion has been removed from the ringdown region <NUM> of the masked ringdown-reduced frame <NUM> after the selection and the masking.

<FIG> illustrates a masked ringdown-reduced frame <NUM> and a corrected complete frame <NUM> in a stage of ringdown reduction according to an example. The corrected complete frame <NUM> corresponds to an output frame O at the output of the tapering component <NUM>. The corrected complete frame <NUM> is generated from the masked ringdown-reduced frame <NUM> and an original complete frame corresponding to the current frame <NUM> according to equations (<NUM>) and (<NUM>).

Claim 1:
A computer-implemented method (<NUM>) of reducing ringdown artifacts (<NUM>,<NUM>) in an ultrasound imaging system (<NUM>), comprising:
obtaining (<NUM>) a plurality of frames of samples including tissue information and a ringdown component, wherein obtaining (<NUM>) the plurality of frames includes:
receiving a complete frame of samples; and
selecting a portion of the complete frame to obtain a current frame according
to a ringdown depth;
determining (<NUM>) a reference frame based on the plurality of frames to approximate the ringdown component;
subtracting (<NUM>) the reference frame from the current frame of the plurality of frames to produce a difference frame (<NUM>);
characterized in
selecting between the current frame and the difference frame to obtain a ringdown-reduced frame to represent the tissue information;
forming an ultrasound image from the ringdown-reduced frame (<NUM>), including:
multiplying the ringdown-reduced frame by a first tapering factor to produce a tapered ringdown-reduced frame;
multiplying the complete frame by a second tapering factor to produce a tapered complete frame;
forming a first portion of the ultrasound image corresponding to the ringdown depth by summing the tapered ringdown-reduced frame and a second portion of the tapered complete frame corresponding to the ringdown depth; and
forming a remaining portion of the ultrasound image from the tapered complete frame.