| abstract |
An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system produces contrast-enhanced images that are processed differently at different stages of contrast agent wash-in. During the initial phase of contrast agent wash-in, imaging is performed with pixels processed by maximum intensity detection to better reflect rapid changes in contrast intensity. During the later stages of contrast agent wash-in, temporal averaging is used to reduce the effect of noise and motion on pixel values. During the intermediate period of peak enhancement, a combination of two pixel values processed by both techniques is used. On the other hand, the rush-in phase can be characterized by an emergence phase, a growth phase, and a peak phase, during which contrast pixel data is adaptively processed in different ways. |