Fine-tuning the H-scan for discriminating changes in tissue scatterers.

The H-scan approach ('H' denoting hue, or Hermite) is a recent matched filter methodology that aims to add information to the traditional ultrasound B-scan. The theory is based on the differences in the echoes produced by different classes of reflectors or scatterers. Matched filters can be created for different types of scatterers, whereby the maximum output indicates a match, and color schemes can be used to indicate the class of scatterer responsible for echoes, providing a visual interpretation of the results. However, within the theory of weak scattering from a variety of shapes, small changes in the size of the inhomogeneous objects will create shifts in the scattering transfer function. In this paper, we argue for a general power law transfer function as the canonical model for transfer functions from most normal soft vascularized tissues, at least over some bandpass spectrum illuminated by the incident pulse. In cases where scatterer size and distributions change, this produces a corresponding shift in center frequency, along with time and frequency domain characteristics of echoes, and these are captured by matched filters to distinguish and visualize in color the major characteristics of scattering types. With this general approach, the H-scan matched filters can be set to elicit more fine grain shifts in scattering types, commensurate with more subtle changes in tissue morphology. Compensation for frequency-dependent attenuation is helpful for avoiding beam softening effects with increasing depths. Examples from phantoms and normal and pathological tissues are provided to demonstrate that the H-scan analysis and displays are sensitive to scatterer size and morphology, and can be adapted to conventional imaging systems.