Method for Extracting Acoustic Shadows to Construct an Organ Composite Model in Ultrasound Images

Ultrasound has a lot of advantages for observing diseased organ areas compared to other diagnostic imaging modalities. However, the presence of acoustic shadows in ultrasound images can impede the observation of the diseased area. Although the ultrasound probe can be oriented so that e.g. bones are avoided, this restricts the imaging field of view as well as favorable viewpoints for the affected area. To cope with these problems, we have designed a conceptual model with the aim of expanding the imaging range for diseased organ areas by assembling the images to complement areas with acoustic shadows. In this report, we propose a method for extracting a composed acoustic shadow element from ultrasound images of kidneys on the basis of ultrasound image generation and properties of bone-generated acoustic shadows. Experimental results show that our proposed method can locate and extract acoustic shadows with high accuracy.