Model-based validation of a tracking algorithm to quantify strain in muscles from two-dimensional ultrasound images

Fascicle shear is theoretically a mechanism by which skeletal muscles lengthen. Existing ultrasound based techniques allow measurement of muscle architecture parameters, but not the quantification of shear strain. In this study, an algorithm that tracks the shear strain from ultrasound images using a continuum representation of the muscle was...

An Investigation of the Medical Ultrasound Image Sparse Spaces used for the Model-Based Imaging

In this thesis, we investigate a sparse basis for ultrasound images, so that we can use sparse regularization in imaging. Actually, there are few previous researches explicitly demonstrating that medical ultrasound images can be sparsified for some dictionary. We consider various orthogonal transforms such as wavelet transforms, cosine...

A synchronized phonocardiogram for shear wave elastography

Worldwide, cardiovascular diseases (e.g. coronary heart disease and stroke) are the leading cause of death. Early detection of cardiac failure symptoms and effective treatment can help reducing health care costs and predict cardiovascular events, which may prevent loss of quality of life, or even loss of life. This early recognition of imminent...

Intrinsically Passive Control for Ultrasound-guided Robotic Scanning of the Breast

Automated breast ultrasound imaging systems provide the ability to combine the high anatomical detail of preoperative imaging with real-time intraoperative imaging. Ultrasound imaging involves interaction between the transducer and the patient, which requires a compliant behaviour of the robot in manipulating the transducer. We present an energy...

Semi-Controllable Compression Schemes for Ultrasound Imaging

The application of Compressive Sampling (CS) in the medical ultrasound has been widely studied in recent years with the growing requirement of reconstructing high-quality images with smaller data size. Most of the current studies with successful CS reconstruction are mainly focusing on the mathematical applications of CS theory in ultrasound...

Design of a pipelined time-to-digital Converter (TDC) suitable for transducer array channel multiplexing

Many fields need high performance time measurements, including particle detection, time-resolved imaging, transducer array channel multiplexing and other time of-flight systems. These measurements are often performed by means of time-to-digital converters(TDCs), that for these applications, require high resolution, accuracy, and throughput. This...

A Low-Power Area-Efficient SAR-Assisted Hybrid ADC for Ultrasound Imaging

This thesis presents a Low-Power Area-Ecient SAR-Assisted Hybrid ADC for ultra-<br/>sound imaging systems. This ADC combines a 5-bit SAR ADC per channel with a 4-bit single-slope ADC that produces the converter's LSBs and is implemented using shared hardware. The number of unit capacitors of the proposed ADC is about 1/16th of that of a 9-bit...

Beamforming for novel matrix arrays: Fresnel Zone Beamforming and Stolt Migration

Currently a lot of effort is put into developing matrix arrays which allow for volumetric imaging and new applications. There are however multiple problems. Compared to arrays currently in use which have in the order of 128 elements, matrix arrays can easily contain 1000 to 10000 elements. If all elements would be connected independently, the...