Experimental modelling of imaging artifacts in ultrasound examination of human lungs

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Abstract

To determine the nature of artifacts on the ultrasound image of human lungs (so-called B-lines), experimental phantoms were created consisting of a silicone layer for acoustic imitation of intercostal muscles, a layer formed with fine-pored anti-burn sponge imitating healthy or edematous lung tissue, a sponge fragment, a mandarin juice pouch and a drop of ultrasound gel imitating the structures of the lung fabrics. Ultrasonic (US) images were recorded by a linear ultrasonic probe L7-4 connected to a Verasonics V-1 ultrasound scanner. Additionally, an image of a tangerine juice sac located on the surface of the water was constructed based on the synthesized aperture method using a focused piezoelectric transducer Olympus V307. The resulting echograms were compared with images recorded in clinical cases of pulmonary pathologies. It is shown that the appearance of artificial B-lines is associated with the effects of multiple reverberation in liquid-filled structures imitating lung tissue, while their brightness and width on the echogram depend on the characteristic size of the internal structure of the phantom.

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About the authors

S. D. Sorokin

Lomonosov Moscow State University

Author for correspondence.
Email: srknstepan@gmail.com

Faculty of Physics

Russian Federation, Leninskie Gory 1, Moscow, 119991

M. V. Ryabkov

Lomonosov Moscow State University

Email: srknstepan@gmail.com

Faculty of Physics

Russian Federation, Leninskie Gory 1, Moscow, 119991

S. A. Tsysar

Lomonosov Moscow State University

Email: srknstepan@gmail.com

Faculty of Physics

Russian Federation, Leninskie Gory 1, Moscow, 119991

O. A. Sapozhnikov

Lomonosov Moscow State University

Email: srknstepan@gmail.com

Faculty of Physics

Russian Federation, Leninskie Gory 1, Moscow, 119991

V. A. Khokhlova

Lomonosov Moscow State University

Email: srknstepan@gmail.com

Faculty of Physics

Russian Federation, Leninskie Gory 1, Moscow, 119991

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Supplementary files

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2. Fig. 1. (a) — Schematic diagram of the setup for observing image artifacts for various phantoms of lung tissue: 1 — phantom, 2 — silicone layer, 3 — L7-4 ultrasound transducer (ATL, Bothell, USA). (b) — Schematic diagram of the setup for recording the signal of the piezoelectric emitter reflected from different points on the surface of the water and the phantom of the edematous region of the lungs in the form of a tangerine juice sac. The Olympus V307 ultrasound transducer moves parallel to the surface of the water.

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3. Fig. 2. (a) — Microscope image of a dry fine-pored sponge (Stemi 2000 by Carl Zeiss, Germany). (b) — The characteristic sizes of the sponge pores are comparable to the structural elements of the human lungs, namely the alveoli (0.2 mm); the characteristic size of the juice sac of a tangerine (3 × 5 mm) corresponds to the size of the acinus. (c) — A fragment of a wet sponge and a drop of ultrasound gel are comparable to a lung lobe (1–2 cm).

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4. Fig. 3. Photographs of phantoms used in the experiment: (a) – fine-pored anti-burn sponge (thickness – 8 mm); (b) – wet fragment of sponge (7 mm × 10 mm); (c) – juice sac of tangerine (3 mm × 5 mm); (d) – drop of ultrasound gel (6 mm × 7 mm).

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5. Fig. 5. Ultrasound images obtained in the B-mode (ultrasound transducer L7-4 is located on top) through a silicone layer: (a) — completely dry fine-pored sponge; (b) — completely wet sponge, (c) — water layer, the thickness of which is equal to the thickness of the sponge (8 mm). The solid red arrow marks the echogenic line corresponding to the reflection from the boundary of the silicone layer with the sponge, the dashed red arrow marks the first re-reflection in the indicated layer. The yellow arrow indicates a weak reflection from the back boundary of the completely wet sponge (b). The blue solid arrow corresponds to the boundary of water with air, and the blue dashed arrows mark multiple re-reflections in the water layer (c).

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6. Fig. 6. B-lines in ultrasound images: (a) — two drops of water on a silicone layer in the absence of a sponge; (b) — immediately after the drops are absorbed by a dry sponge, (c) — 60 s after the sponge is placed on the drops. The ultrasound sensor is located on top. The solid red arrow marks the echogenic band corresponding to the reflection from the boundary of the silicone layer with the sponge; the dashed red arrow marks the first re-reflection in the specified layer.

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7. Fig. 7. Ultrasound images of lung tissue phantoms located on the surface of the silicone layer (Fig. 1a): (a) — a wet fragment of a sponge; (b) — a tangerine juice sac; (c) — drops of ultrasound gel. The ultrasound sensor is located on top. The solid red arrow marks the echogenic line corresponding to the reflection from the boundary of the silicone layer with the sponge, the dashed red arrow indicates the first re-reflection in the specified layer. The dotted contours illustrate the characteristic geometric contours and sizes of the phantoms.

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8. Fig. 8. (a) — RAW (blue) — the original signal, filtered (orange) — the signal after filtering with the Blackman-Harris window from 0.1 to 20 MHz, envelope (red) — the signal envelope obtained using the Hilbert transform after cutting off the zero frequency. (b) — A rectangular scan of a tangerine juice sac on the water surface. The red line marks the section on the plane along which the image of the juice sac was constructed in the B-mode. (c) — A B-scan, on which the red dashed contour corresponds to the shape, size and location of the juice sac.

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