A Radiological Clip Design Using Ultrasound Identification to Improve Localization

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel ultrasound-encoded radiological clip that transmits identifiable signals, enabling improved localization and identification in ultrasound imaging, which is crucial for monitoring breast cancer treatment markers.

Contribution

The study introduces a custom-designed radiological clip with embedded ultrasound transmission capabilities, enhancing localization accuracy and identification in ultrasound imaging.

Findings

USID signals were detected with sub-millimeter accuracy.

Average detection rate was 93% across 4,800 frames.

Different ID values showed varying detection rates.

Abstract

Objective: We demonstrate the use of ultrasound to receive an acoustic signal transmitted from a radiological clip designed from a custom circuit. This signal encodes an identification number and is localized and identified wirelessly by the ultrasound imaging system. Methods: We designed and constructed the test platform with a Teensy 4.0 microcontroller core to detect ultrasonic imaging pulses received by a transducer embedded in a phantom, which acted as the radiological clip. Ultrasound identification (USID) signals were generated and transmitted as a result. The phantom and clip were imaged using an ultrasonic array (Philips L7-4) connected to a Verasonics Vantage 128 system operating in pulse inversion (PI) mode. Cross-correlations were performed to localize and identify the code sequences in the PI images. Results: USID signals were detected and visualized on B-mode images of the phantoms with up to sub-millimeter localization accuracy. The average detection rate across 4,800 frames of ultrasound data was 93.0%. Tested ID values exhibited differences in detection rates. Conclusion: The USID clip produced identifiable, distinguishable, and localizable signals when imaged. Significance: Radiological clips are used to mark breast cancer being treated by neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) via implant in or near treated lesions. As NAC progresses, available marking clips can lose visibility in ultrasound, the imaging modality of choice for monitoring NAC-treated lesions. By transmitting an active signal, more accurate and reliable ultrasound localization of these clips could be achieved and multiple clips with different ID values could be imaged in the same field of view.