Abstract
The conditions for quantitative echography are outlined. First the calibration, data-acquisition and pre-processing are discussed. The preprocessing is necessary to remove the influences of beam-diffraction and focussing, of the instrument setttings, as well as of the attenuation, from the radiofrequency (rf-) signals. The first part of the analysis of echographic data concerns the acoustospectrography, quantifying the frequency dependence of the attenuation and of the backscattering by tissues. The second part of the analysis comprises the assessment of the texture of echographic images (first and second order grey level statistics). The echographic images are processed for improving the detection and subsequent differentiation of pathology (primarily of tumours). Two main categories of processing are distinguished: speckle reduction methods and parametric imaging methods. The quality of these algorithms is assessed by the calculation of the “Lesion Signal-to-Noise-Ratio” (SNRL), which describes the detectability of a lesion by an ideal observer. Parametric imaging comprises the two-dimensional presentation of locally derived acoustic-or image-texture parameters.
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Thijssen, J.M., Verhoeven, J.T.M. (1995). Processing and Analysis of Echograms: A Review. In: Tane, S., Thijssen, J.M., Fledelius, H.C. (eds) Ultrasonography in Ophthalmology 14. Documenta Ophthalmologica Proceedings Series, vol 58. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0025-0_1
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