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[Preprint]. 2024 Jul 17:rs.3.rs-4714949.
doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4714949/v1.

Whole-Body Human Ultrasound Tomography

David C Garrett  1 , Jinhua Xu  1 , Yousuf Aborahama  1 , Geng Ku  1 , Konstantin Maslov  1 , Lihong V Wang  1
Affiliations

Whole-Body Human Ultrasound Tomography

David C Garrett et al. Res Sq. .

Abstract

Ultrasonography is a vital component of modern clinical care, with handheld probes routinely used for a variety of applications. However, handheld ultrasound imaging is limited by factors such as the partial-body field of view, operator dependency, contact-induced distortion, and lack of transmission contrast. Here, we demonstrate a new system enabling whole-body ultrasound tomography of humans in reflection and transmission modes. To generate 2D isotropically resolved images across the entire cross-section in vivo, we use a custom 512-element circular ultrasound receiver array with a rotating ultrasonic transmitter. We demonstrate this technique in regions such as the abdomen and legs in healthy volunteers. We also showcase two potential clinical extensions. First, we readily observe subcutaneous and preperitoneal abdominal adipose distributions in our images, enabling adipose thickness assessment over the body without ionizing radiation or mechanical deformation. Second, we demonstrate an approach for rapid (seven frame-per-second) biopsy needle localization with respect to internal tissue features. These capabilities make whole-body ultrasound tomography a potential practical tool for clinical needs currently unmet by other modalities.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: D.C.G., J.X., G.K., and L.V.W. have a provisional patent application titled “Thermoacoustic and ultrasound tomography”, U.S. Patent App. 18/336,863, through the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. The rest of the authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.. Whole-body UST system.
a System diagram. AWG: arbitrary waveform generator; PA: power amplifier; LPFs: low-pass filters; DAQs: data acquisition modules. b Example signals recorded with the receiver array. Top: water only in tank. Middle: human abdomen. Bottom: human abdomen after cross-correlation with the water only signals. The dashed line indicates the channel shown in panel c. c Example signals from an individual receiver channel directly opposite the transmitter.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.. Whole-body UST of a healthy female.
a Reflectivity image of human abdomen. IVC: inferior vena cava. AA: abdominal aorta. RL: right lobe of liver. LL: left lobe of liver. VB: vertebral body. SC: spinal cord. St: stomach. Sp: spleen. b Reflectivity image of human upper leg (top) and lower leg (bottom). F: femur. Fi: fibula. T: tibula. c and d show the speed of sound and attenuation coefficient profiles, respectively, overlaid on the reflectivity image. e Speed of sound reconstruction constrained using organ regions determined from the reflectivity image.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.. Example reflection-mode UST images of a healthy female’s abdomen.
a Labels denote distance downward from the ribcage. b Expanded view of the 3 cm image. c Expanded view of the 8 cm image. HPV: hepatic portal vein. IVC: inferior vena cava. AA: abdominal aorta. RL: right lobe of liver. LL: left lobe of liver. St: stomach. SA: subcutaneous adipose. VB: vertebral body. SC: spinal cord. Sp: spleen.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.. Abdominal adipose thickness assessment of healthy volunteers.
a UST image of the entire body of a male volunteer, with an inset showing adipose regions in the anterior region of the abdomen. b Abdominal image showing Scarpa’s fascia in SA. c UST image with adipose calipers positioned on the abdomen. RA: rectus abdominus. SA: subcutaneous adipose. PA: preperitoneal adipose. SF: Scarpa’s fascia. d UST image of a female volunteer. SA thickness is evaluated in the image where calipers were used.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.. UST biopsy needle localization.
a Diagram of needle configuration. b Representative image of the needle’s acoustic response in water. c Video frame showing the needle inserted into an agarose phantom. d Reconstructed video frame overlaid on a reflectivity image. The red circle is automatically placed around the center acoustic response.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 6.. Whole-body UST hardware.
a System photograph. b Acoustic receiver array design, showing a cross-section of the array. DAQs: data acquisition modules.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 7.. In-plane and elevational resolution assessment.
a Reconstructed reflectivity image of a thin wire. b Profiles along the x and y axes: pixel amplitude (blue), the magnitude of its Hilbert transform (orange), and the FWHM (dashed vertical lines). c Example reflectivity image of a brass disc used for elevational resolution assessment. d Profiles of the center and edge responses at different z positions.
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