Attenuation Correction in Echocardiography

Abstract

A commercial two-dimensional echo unit, modified to permit digital acquisition (2.2 MHz) of echo signals prior to time-gain-compensation (TGC), was ratiometrically calibrated. Simulating the TGC in software, we demonstrated improvements in image quality as compared to conventional video methods. A path-dependent attenuation correction (PDAC) algorithm, utilizing the gray level image statistics to assign one of three attenuation coefficients (for chest, myocardium or blood) to each image pixel, was then developed. Using it on left ventricular (LV) short axis images obtained in nine healthy closed chest dogs, we demonstrated that the backscatter intensity at end diastole (ED) was 2.0 ± 0.5 dB (mean ± SEM) higher (p>0.01) than at end systole (ES), in circumferential segments of the myocardium oriented anteriorly and posteriorly, relative to the transducer. In seven of the dogs, subsequently occluded for one hour in the anterior descending branch of the left coronary artery (LAD), this normal phasic myocardial backscatter (PMB) variation decreased or was reversed in ischemic segments, relative to preocclusion values, suggesting utility of the method for sequential study of myocardial ischemia and its treatment.