A better understanding of ultrasound scattering in a three-dimensional (3D) medium can provide more accurate methods for ultrasound tissue characterization. The possibility of using two-dimensional impedance maps (2DZMs) based on correlation coefficients has shown promise in the case of isotropic and sparse medium [Luchies and Oelze, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 139, 1557–1564 (2016)]. The present study investigates the use of 2DZMs in order to quantify 3D scatterer properties of dense media from two-dimensional (2D) histological slices. Two 2DZM approaches were studied: one based on the correlation coefficient and the other based on the 2D Fourier transform of 2DZMs. Both 2DZM approaches consist in estimating the backscatter coefficient (BSC) from several 2DZMs, and then the resulting BSC was fit to the theoretical polydisperse structure factor model to yield 3D scatterer properties. Simulation studies were performed to evaluate the ability of both 2DZM approaches to quantify scattering of a 3D medium containing randomly distributed polydisperse spheres or monodisperse ellipsoids. Experimental studies were also performed using the histology photomicrographs obtained from HT29 cell pellet phantoms. Results demonstrate that the 2DZM Fourier transform–based approach was more suitable than the correlation coefficient–based approach for estimating scatterer properties when using a small number of 2DZMs.

中文翻译：

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使用二维阻抗图量化来自稠密介质的散射

更好地了解三维（3D）介质中的超声散射可以为超声组织表征提供更准确的方法。在各向同性和稀疏介质的情况下，使用基于相关系数的二维阻抗图（2DZM）的可能性已显示出希望[Luchies和Oelze，J。Acoust。Soc。上午。139，1557–1564（2016）]。本研究调查了2DZM的使用，以便从二维（2D）组织切片中量化密集介质的3D散射特性。研究了两种2DZM方法：一种基于相关系数，另一种基于2DZM的2D傅里叶变换。两种2DZM方法都包括从多个2DZM中估计反向散射系数（BSC），然后将所得的BSC拟合至理论上的多分散结构因子模型以产生3D散射体特性。进行了仿真研究，以评估两种2DZM方法量化包含随机分布的多分散球体或单分散椭球体的3D介质的散射的能力。还使用从HT29细胞沉淀体模获得的组织学显微照片进行了实验研究。