A Modified 2D Multiresolution Hybrid Algorithm for Ultrasound Strain Imaging

Ultrasound elastography is an imaging modality to evaluate elastic properties of soft tissue. Recently, 1D quasi-static elastography method has been commercialized by some companies. However, its performance is still limited on high strain level. In order to improve the precision of estimation during high compression, some algorithms have been proposed to expand the 1D window to a 2D window for avoiding the side-slipping. But they are usually more computationally expensive. In this paper, we proposed a modified 2D multiresolution hybrid method for displacement estimation, which can offer an efficient strain imaging with stable and accurate results. A FEM phantom with a stiffer circular inclusion is simulated for testing the algorithm. The elastographic contrast-to-noise rate (CNRe) is calculated for quantitatively comparing the performance of the proposed algorithm with conventional 1D elastography using phase zero estimation and the 1D elastography using downsampled (d-s) baseband signals. Results show that the proposed method is robust and performs similarly as other algorithms in low strain but is superior when high level strain is applied. Particularly, the CNRe of our algorithm is 15 times higher than original method under 4% strain level. Furthermore, the execution time of our algorithm is five times faster than other algorithms.

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