Improved highly accurate localized motion imaging for monitoring high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy

Visualizing an area subjected to high-intensity focused ultrasound(HIFU) therapy is necessary for controlling the amount of HIFU exposure. One of the promising monitoring methods is localized motion imaging (LMI), which estimates coagulation length by detecting the change in stiffness. In this study, we improved the accuracy of our previous LMI by dynamic cross-correlation window (DCCW) and maximum vibration amount (MVA) methods. The DCCW method was used to increase the accuracy of estimating vibration amplitude, and the MVA method was employed to increase signal–noise ratio of the decrease ratio at the coagulated area. The qualitative comparison of results indicated that the two proposed methods could suppress the effect of noise. Regarding the results of the quantitative comparison, coagulation length was estimated with higher accuracy by the improved LMI method, and the root-mean-square error (RMSE) was reduced from 2.51 to 1.69 mm.