The use of the compound probability density function in ultrasonic tissue characterization.

Recently, a compound probability density function (pdf) was proposed to model the envelope of the ultrasonic backscattered echo from tissues. This pdf will allow local and global variations in scattering cross sections and even multiple scattering in tissue. It approximates to the Nakagami, K or Rayleigh distributions under different limiting conditions, thus making it very versatile. In this work, a new parameter associated with compound pdf, speckle factor, has been introduced to characterize the scattering conditions. The usefulness of this parameter for tissue characterization has been explored through computer simulation of ultrasonic A scans and analyses of the data collected from tissue-mimicking phantoms. Results suggest the potential applications of the compound pdf and its parameters in ultrasonic tissue characterization.