Jupitz Sydney, Zagzebski James, Dekker Sander, Mills David, Lee Warren, Smith Lowell Scott, Chan Heather, Foo Thomas K, Bednarz Bryan P
Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
Cablon Medical, Leusden, The Netherlands.
Ultrasound Med Biol. 2025 Sep;51(9):1487-1494. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.05.019. Epub 2025 Jun 20.
Ultrasound for guidance during therapy procedures often is augmented when image features of targeted regions are correlated with features derived from other cross-sectional images such as X-ray, CT and MRI. This work aimed to characterize image quality of a novel magnetic resonance-compatible, real-time two-dimensional matrix array (4D) linear ultrasound probe (E4DL) designed for ultrasound-based image-guided interventions. Performance of this 3 MHz prototype transducer is compared to that of two commercial probes-a 4V cardiac probe and a C1-6 curvilinear abdominal probe (GE Healthcare, Milwaukee, WI).
Image quality measurements were performed on a GE Vivid E95 scanner for the E4DL and 4V and on a GE LOGIQ E10 scanner for the C1-6. Depth of penetration (DOP), lateral resolution and 4 mm spherical lesion detectability versus depth (lesion signal-to-noise ratio [LSNR]) were assessed in phantoms. Additionally, in vivo liver images were acquired.
The E4DL and 4V probes achieved DOPs of 147.0 ± 1.4 mm and 164.8 ± 3.2 mm, respectively. The C1-6 displayed superior DOP (180+ mm). The lateral resolution was comparable for all probes up to 125 mm. From the LSNR analysis, the C1-6 elevational focal zone appears to be around 50 mm; this was at a greater depth than that of the E4DL (35 mm) or 4V (40 mm) probes. When comparing the LSNR near each focal zone, the E4DL probe outperformed both commercial probes.
The E4DL probe yielded image performance metrics comparable to other commercial probes. Due to its image quality and design features, this probe may be useful for image guidance and motion management during medical interventions.
当靶向区域的图像特征与其他横断面图像（如X射线、CT和MRI）的特征相关联时，治疗过程中的超声引导通常会得到增强。这项工作旨在表征一种新型的磁共振兼容实时二维矩阵阵列（4D）线性超声探头（E4DL）的图像质量，该探头专为基于超声的图像引导干预而设计。将这款3MHz原型换能器的性能与两款商用探头——一款4V心脏探头和一款C1-6腹部曲线探头（通用电气医疗集团，威斯康星州密尔沃基市）进行比较。
在通用电气Vivid E95扫描仪上对E4DL和4V探头进行图像质量测量，在通用电气LOGIQ E10扫描仪上对C1-6探头进行图像质量测量。在体模中评估穿透深度（DOP）、横向分辨率以及4mm球形病变的可检测性与深度的关系（病变信噪比[LSNR]）。此外，还采集了体内肝脏图像。
E4DL和4V探头的穿透深度分别为147.0±1.4mm和164.8±3.2mm。C1-6探头显示出更高的穿透深度（超过180mm）。在125mm以内，所有探头的横向分辨率相当。从LSNR分析来看，C1-6探头的仰角聚焦区似乎在50mm左右；这一深度大于E4DL探头（35mm）或4V探头（40mm）的聚焦区深度。在比较每个聚焦区附近的LSNR时，E4DL探头的表现优于两款商用探头。
E4DL探头产生的图像性能指标与其他商用探头相当。由于其图像质量和设计特点，该探头可能有助于医疗干预过程中的图像引导和运动管理。
