Ultrasound tissue motion assessment using full correlation analysis

Conventional ultrasound cross-correlation technique for tissue motion assessment searches the best match between successive B-mode frames. This strategy neglects the decrease of cross-correlation caused by the time difference between two measurement points utilized for the calculation of cross-correlation. The assumption causes the smaller estimated velocity than the true velocity. In this study, we employ full correlation analysis to compensate for the change of the location where the correlation coefficient is maximum. Simulation study shows that the difference between the true tissue velocity and the expectation of the tissue velocity estimated using the proposed method is 11.3% of that estimated using the conventional cross-correlation technique. These findings indicate the potential of the proposed method to improve the accuracy in tissue motion assessment, including blood flow velocity estimation.