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1 March 2011Section-thickness profiling for brachytherapy ultrasound
guidance
Purpose: Ultrasound (US) elevation beamwidth causes a certain type of image artifact around the anechoic
areas of the tissue. It is generally assumed that the US image is of zero thickness, which contradicts the
fact that the acoustic beam can only be mechanically focused at a depth resulting in a finite, non-uniformed
elevation beamwidth. We suspect that elevation beamwidth artifacts contribute to target reconstruction error
in computer-assisted interventions. This paper introduces a method for characterization of the beamwidth for
transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) used in prostate brachythyerapy. In particular, we measure how the US sectionthickness
varies along the beam's axial depth. Method: We developed a beam-profiling device (a TRUS-bridge
phantom) specifically tailored for standard brachytherapy ultrasound imaging systems to generate a complete
section-thickness profile of a given TRUS transducer. The device was designed in CAD software and prototyped
by a 3D printer. Result: The experimental results demonstrated that the TRUS beam in the elevation direction
is focused closely to the transducer and theoretically the transducer would provide a better elevational resolution
within that range. Conclusion: We presented a beam profiling phantom to measure the section-thickness of a
transrectal ultrasound transducer for operating room use. However, there are some limitations which need to
be addressed, for example, phantom sterilization and the speed of sound in the current medium of experiment
which is not the same as that of biological tissues.
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Mohammad Peikari, Thomas Kuiran Chen, Everette C. Burdette, Gabor Fichtinger, "Section-thickness profiling for brachytherapy ultrasound guidance," Proc. SPIE 7964, Medical Imaging 2011: Visualization, Image-Guided Procedures, and Modeling, 79640R (1 March 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.877993