Ultrasound Technologies - Term Paper Example

Ultrasound Ultrasound Answer a. Extended Field of View Progression of the Prolonged Area of Perspective in the ultrasound examination technological innovation allows a person to get a wider and obvious perspective of the check pat and to make more precise research. It generates the inner body pictures in a real-time, which makes them quicker to evaluate. The benefits of the EFOV over the B method is that, in situation of ovarian public, it offered the physicians with whole result in one individual view, whereas the outcome from the B method is acquired in divided displays, which is challenging to understand (Zheng et al., 2012, p.423-432). Spatial Compound Imaging In the Spatial Substance Picture strategy, pictures of an item are taken from different perspectives, and then are mixed to form an averaged picture quickly. This picture gives the better representation of the item, finding all the minute details. The resulting picture is the compound picture, displaying better picture quality as compared to the traditional ultrasound examination pictures. A study of research of difference reveals that the spatial compound imaging gives better meaning for the soft-tissue of the body with reduced disturbance distortions, in evaluation to the traditional top quality sonographic ultrasound examination b. Frequency Compound Imaging The drawback of speckle reduction in compound sonography is overcome by the frequency compound imaging, using higher harmonics of frequencies. The conventional sonography is performed on lower harmonics, which are more probable to the speckle noise effect, thus altering the sonogram information. The using of advanced harmonics in frequency compound imaging ensures that a much wider bandwidth of the transducer frequency is achieved, where the received frequency is double the intensity of the transmitted frequency. Therefore, the echo of the transmitted sound wave that is reflected back after striking a tissue is stronger in the case of frequency compound imaging, thus generating a clearer image (Chan & Perlas, 2011). 3D/4D Imaging The advancement of 3D/4D imaging has significantly benefited the ultrasound technology. It has several benefits over the 2D technology some of which are; Simpler to study than the 2D image. Faster operation and examination procedure. The volume of the data collected is more descriptive and can be diagnose effectively. Provide the user with an anatomical view of the internal organs, which is not possible to achieve in 2D scanning (Layyous, 2012). Also in the diagnosis of deeper organs and lesion, the 3D/ 4D techniques are very useful, as it has a simple and reproducible methodology. This makes it easier to get the image of the same organ at different intervals (Layyous, 2012). Multi-Beam Imaging The multi beam technique generates multiple lines of the transmitted beam to be sent at once from the probe. These multiple lines then overlap when several beams have been sent, and carry the detailed information about the test organ. They are then separated in the reconstruction stage of the analysis where all the information is dealt separately. The advantage of a Multi- beam technique is that, both the spatial and temporal information is controlled in the received signal giving an improved interpretation of the test part. The temporal strategy is not applicable with any other technique like the wide-beam or plane wave methods of diagnosis, as it changes the polarity of the excitation signal in the time frame that can only be visualize using the Multi-beam technique (Chan & Perlas, 2011). Answer 2 Introduction The by default setting of the ultrasound allows a substantial visualization of the inner body parts in most cases. But for several body tests and diagnosis, they are needed to be altered in order to achieve better visualization results. The region I have selected is the Focal Liver Lesions, as it is hard to focus under normal settings. It needs manual settings of various ultrasound machines parameters like frequency of the probe and the transducer used, perfect imaging and brightness control to get a clear picture of it (Avramovski, 2009, p.2). B mode setting In the initial stage of diagnosis of Focal Liver Lesions, the Ultrasound machine is set to B-mode to focus the area which is to examine. Manual focusing is done when the desired area is spotted to get a closer view of the image. The frequency of the probe is also selected as par the depth of the area to optimize the machine’s accuracy. The high frequency probe would provide the user with high resolution image but is not applicable for visualizing very deep vessels. The low frequency vessel would generate image of lower resolution but can be used to get the picture of extremely deep and profound vessels (Avramovski, 2009). Doppler mode settings The B- mode diagnosis is a quick and inexpensive method for focusing the Liver Lesions but it has its limitations too. And for optimum and clearer results the Doppler technique is adopted to get some added information regarding the vessels of the lesion. In the more challenging scenarios, the traditional black and white image from the ultrasound might not be sufficient to provide the user with the best interpretation of the internal vessels, in the more challenging scenarios. A color image therefore, is required to distinguish the separate links of the vessels and between malignant and benign lessions.. So we can optimize the machine settings by using the Doppler mode (Deane, 2002). The principle of the Doppler mode is the use of travelling sound waves to see the blood circulation in the body. The sound waves travels better in liquid as they travel in the air and the echo of the wave provides the user with information about the blood flow in the vessels (Deane, 2002). The auto setting is again not preferred in Doppler mode, as the frame rate of the screen, the blood flow gain and the Peak Repetitive Frequency have to be set manually, depending on the Ultrasound machine and the vessel that has to be visualized (Deane, 2002). Selecting Transducer’s Frequency and Type The selection of transducer’s frequency also impacts the machine’s results. In the case of focal liver lesions, one has to get a visible image of the deeper veins and vessels of the body, so a low frequency transducer probe would be beneficial, that can travel a long distance. Its range can vary from 2-7 MHz, and any frequency of transducer above this range can result in distortion of the image (Olympus Corporation, 2012). Moreover, there are several options available in selecting the type of the transducer but the Immersion Transducer is the best suited. It is design to work in sticky and in liquid environment, and converging sound waves to the specific location that has to be focused. So a smaller area is visualized making it easier to diagnose and study. And allows a uniform coupling for the parts partially or fully immersed in water (Olympus Corporation, 2012). Answer 3 Linear Array Transducer: Linear Array Transducer is a recent technology that helps sensing the profound parameters of body or equipment. It uses several interleaved diaphragms to generate more bass in less space with minimum mechanical vibration to achieve more accurate results. It follows the principle of travelling sound waves of lower frequency and higher wavelength to reach more depth and thus act as a conventional dipole (Unruh & Struck, 2006, p1-2). Properties: Some of the properties that affect the performance of a transducer are as follows: 1. Piezoelectric Element Piezoelectric element is the active element of the transducer, which allows the transducer to sense a change in the mechanical stress by accumulating the charges in it. The frequency of operation of the transducer is set by the thickness of the piezoelectric wafer element. As the wafer vibrates with a wavelength twice its thickness, so for higher frequency operations very thin sliced wafer is integrated (George & Lai, 2006). The axial resolution of the transducer is also directly dependent to the frequency of the active element. It is the ability to recognize the slight difference in two objects laying at slight difference of depth to each other. This ability is improved, by increasing the size and frequency of the active element by reducing its thickness (George & Lai, 2006). Moreover, the beam width of the piezoelectric element affects the lateral resolution of the transducer and restricts it to distinguish between two objects laying at a distance less than a beam width to each other. The functioning of the transducer in liquids depends on the constructive interference of the active element. The more the interference produced the well it can send under liquid signals to the user (George & Lai, 2006, p.1-4). 1. Backing Material The support content is another crucial factor in identifying the understanding and damping ability of the transducer. It is a slim part installed at the back of the piezoelectric wafer, to process in reverse ultrasound alerts, and decreases the effect of unwanted ultrasound alerts from the real estate (George & Lai, 2006). The impedance of the active factor is equaled up with the impedance of the support content to obtain larger information of the transducer, leading to better quality and higher understanding. The axial quality of the transducer is also improved by the support content as it reduces the length of the beat length and decreases the buzzing of the piezoelectric amazingly. This results in a fine gleam size and better axial quality (George and Lai,2006) 2. Matching Layer A matching layer is used to provide a balance acoustic impedance so to maximize the transducer’s transmission capability. It serves as an additional layer with impedance equal to the difference in impedances of the active piezoelectric element and the soft tissue, to provide a proper match of impedances. A mismatch of impedances would result in scattering of the transmitted signal and degrades the signal strength (George & Lai, 2006). 3. Purpose of Electrode Connection and Lens The high-energy ultrasound machine requires multiple arrays of electrode connections in a sophisticated manner to attain high gain with low space. The Oscillations of the inner vibrator also depend on the electrode connections of the active element. The lens used in the ultrasound machine, serves the purpose of focusing the image of the ultrasound. Also, the probe used in such operations has an acoustic lens that focuses the transmitted wave to the desired organ (George & Lai, 2006). Reference List Avramovski, P., 2009. Value of Ultrasound Machine Settings Optimization for Better. Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences, 2(2), pp.1-4. Chan, V. & Perlas, A., 2011. Basics of Ultrasound Imaging. Research Report. Toronto: Springer Science+Business Media University of Toronto. Deane, C., 2002. Doppler Ultrasound: Principles and Practice. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.centrus.com.br/DiplomaFMF/SeriesFMF/doppler/capitulos-html/chapter_01.htm" http://www.centrus.com.br/DiplomaFMF/SeriesFMF/doppler/capitulos-html/chapter_01.htm [Accessed 22 October 2012]. George, L. & Lai, J., 2006. Ultrasound Physics. Research Report. Sydney: B.A.T.S Research Group. Layyous, N., 2012. Layyous.com. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.layyous.com/ultasound/clinicaladvantages.htm" http://www.layyous.com/ultasound/clinicaladvantages.htm [Accessed 23 October 2012]. Lin, D.C. et al., 2002. Advantages of Real-Time Spatial Compound Sonography of the Musculoskeletal System Versus Conventional Sonography. American Journal of Roentgenology, 179(6), pp.1629-31. Olympus Corporation, 2012. Immersion Transducers. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.olympus-ims.com/en/ultrasonic-transducers/immersion/" http://www.olympus-ims.com/en/ultrasonic-transducers/immersion/ [Accessed 22 October 2012]. Unruh, A.D. & Struck, C.J., 2006. Linear Array Transducer Technology. Conventional Paper. California: Audio Engineering Society San Francisco, CA, USA. Zheng, S., Wei, G., Jin, L. & Huang, Q., 2012. Real-time extended-field-of-view ultrasound based on a standard PC. Elsevier, 73(4), pp.423-32. Read More