Tissue Classification Using Ultrasound-Induced Variations in Acoustic Backscattering Features

Ultrasound (US) radio-frequency (RF) time series is an effective tissue classification method that enables accurate cancer diagnosis, but the mechanisms underlying this method are not completely understood. This paper presents a model to describe the variations in tissue temperature and sound speed that take place during the RF time series scanning procedures and relate these variations to US backscattering. The model was used to derive four novel characterization features. These features were used to classify three animal tissues, and they obtained accuracies as high as 88.01%. The performance of the proposed features was compared with RF time series features proposed in a previous study. The results indicated that the US-induced variations in tissue temperature and sound speed, which were used to derive the proposed features, were important contributors to the tissue typing capabilities of the RF time series. Simulations carried out to estimate the heating induced during the scanning procedure employed in this study showed temperature rises lower than 2 degrees C. The model and results presented in this paper can be used to improve the RF time series.