Proposal of compound amplitude envelope statistical analysis model considering low scatterer concentration

Abstract

Many methods for the analysis of amplitude envelope statistics have been proposed in recent decades to enable echo signal characterization and realize quantitative diagnosis based on these statistics. In the statistical analysis of ultrasound signals, the spatial resolution of the signal is an important factor. An analysis method that offers higher sensitivity than the current analysis model is required to allow the effective use of recently developed high-resolution ultrasonic diagnostic equipment. In this study, we propose a multi-amplitude envelope statistical model called the double Nakagami probability density function (PDF) model that assumes the physical structure of fatty liver disease under high-frequency ultrasound excitation. Application of the proposed model to actual rat livers demonstrated that it was possible to evaluate fatty liver disease at an early stage with a lower scatterer density than that of a normal liver. However, it is difficult to detect the disease at this stage using existing technology.