Abdominal ultrasound image quality is comparable among veterinary sonographers with varying levels of expertise for healthy canine and feline patients

Abstract Standard diagnostic ultrasound imaging procedures heavily rely on a sonographer for image acquisition. Given the ultrasound probe is manually manipulated by the sonographer, there is a potential for noise artifacts like blurry acquired images caused by involuntary hand movements. Certain surgical procedures can also cause patients to exhibit involuntary “jumping” movements while on the operating table leading to further deterioration in ultrasound image quality. In this study, we attempt to mitigate these problems by fabricating a 3D-printed ultrasound probe holder. Due to the lightweight nature of the device, it can attach to surgical retractors without influencing the functionality of the retractor. Therefore, the 3D printed probe holder not only reduces relative motion between the probe and the patient, but also reduce the need for a sonographer during complex surgeries.

Download Full-text

Evaluation of Digestive Activation Level of a Small Intestine by Abdominal Ultrasound Image Analysis

Japan Journal of Food Engineering ◽

10.11301/jsfe.12.81 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 81-89 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Osamu SAKATA ◽

Yutaka SUZUKI ◽

Ken-ichi MATSUDA ◽

Takaaki SATAKE

Keyword(s):

Image Analysis ◽

Small Intestine ◽

Ultrasound Image ◽

Abdominal Ultrasound ◽

Activation Level

Download Full-text

Phase Constraint Improves Ultrasound Image Quality Reconstructed using Deep Neural Network

10.1109/ius52206.2021.9593647 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hao Zuo ◽

Jingke Zhang ◽

Jianwen Luo ◽

Bo Peng

Keyword(s):

Neural Network ◽

Image Quality ◽

Deep Neural Network ◽

Ultrasound Image ◽

Phase Constraint

Download Full-text

Denoising Ultrasound Medical Images

Medical Imaging ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-0571-6.ch031 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 761-775

Author(s):

A.S.C.S. Sastry ◽

P.V.V. Kishore ◽

Ch. Raghava Prasad ◽

M.V.D. Prasad

Keyword(s):

Image Quality ◽

Medical Images ◽

Ultrasound Image ◽

Similarity Index ◽

Speckle Noise ◽

Ultrasound Images ◽

Medical Ultrasound ◽

Soft Thresholding ◽

Block Based

Medical ultrasound imaging has revolutioned the diagnostics of human body in the last few decades. The major drawback of ultrasound medical images is speckle noise. Speckle noise in ultrasound images is because of multiple reflections of ultrasound waves from hard tissues. Speckle noise degrades the medical ultrasound images lessening the visible quality of the image. The aim of this paper is to improve the image quality of ultrasound medical images by applying block based hard and soft thresholding on wavelet coefficients. Medical ultrasound image transformation to wavelet domain uses debauchee's mother wavelet. Divide the approximate and detailed coefficients into uniform blocks of size 8×8, 16×16, 32×32 and 64×64. Hard and soft thresholding on these blocks of approximate and detailed coefficients reduces speckle noise. Inverse transformation to original spatial domain produces a noise reduced ultrasound image. Experiments on medical ultrasound images obtained from diagnostic centers in Vijayawada, India show good improvements to ultrasound images visually. Quality of improved images in measured using peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR), image quality index (IQI), structural similarity index (SSIM).

Download Full-text

Abdominal ultrasound image acquisition and interpretation by novice practitioners after minimal training on a simulated patient model

CJEM ◽

10.1017/cem.2019.495 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (S2) ◽

pp. S62-S66

Author(s):

Bradley Waterman ◽

Kristine Van Aarsen ◽

Michael Lewell ◽

Homer Tien ◽

Frank Myslik ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Critical Care ◽

Training Session ◽

Ultrasound Image ◽

Abdominal Ultrasound ◽

Free Fluid ◽

Trauma Patients ◽

Emergency Physicians ◽

Didactic Training ◽

Training Course ◽

Fast Exam

AbstractBackgroundThe Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (FAST) exam is a rapid ultrasound test to identify evidence of hemorrhage within the abdomen. Few studies examine the accuracy of paramedic performed FAST examinations. The duration of an ultrasound training program remains controversial. This study's purpose was to assess the accuracy of paramedic FAST exam interpretation following a one hour didactic training session.MethodsThe interpretation of paramedic performed FAST exams was compared to the interpretation of physician performed FAST examinations on a mannequin model containing 300ml of free fluid following a one hour didactic training course. Results were compared using the Chi-square test. Differences in accuracy rate were deemed significant if p < 0.05.ResultsFourteen critical care flight paramedics and four emergency physicians were voluntarily recruited. The critical care paramedics were mostly ultrasound-naive whereas the emergency physicians all had ultrasound training. The correct interpretation of FAST scans was comparable between the two groups with accuracy of 85.6% and 87.5% (∆1.79 95%CI -33.85 to 21.82, p = 0.90) for paramedics and emergency physicians respectively.ConclusionsThis study determined that critical care paramedics were able to use ultrasound to detect free fluid on a simulated mannequin model and interpret the FAST exam with a similar accuracy as experienced emergency physicians following a one hour training course. This suggests the potential use of prehospital ultrasound to aid in the triage and transport decisions of trauma patients while limiting the financial and logistical burden of ultrasound training.

Download Full-text