Clinical tissue characterization: online determination of magnitude and time delay of myocardial backscatter

Implementation of an algorithm for the automated determination of the magnitude and time delay of the cardiac cycle-dependent variation of integrated backscatter is reported. This algorithm has been implemented in the experimental firmware of a commercially-available echocardiographic imaging system. Integrated backscatter and the cardiac cycle-dependent variation (cyclic variation) of integrated backscatter are described and their roles in myocardial tissue characterization are discussed. A brief description of the algorithm used for the determination of the magnitude and time delay is given, followed by accounts of the process of collecting cyclic variation data and the algorithm implementation on the cardiac system. This implementation demonstrates how tissue characterization techniques could be used to augment diagnostic ultrasound and may facilitate the further investigation of the diagnostic potential of the cyclic variation of myocardial backscatter.