Key result
Diagnostic ultrasound literature on first-order speckle statistics largely ignores basic assumptions like system response linearity.
Why the study?
New models, estimation methods, and processing techniques have proliferated for ultrasound tissue characterization, prompting a review to examine these methods and critically track assumptions and knowledge gaps.
Systematic Review (n=388)
This systematic review highlights the need for greater attention to fundamental assumptions, such as system linearity and scatterer geometry, in quantitative ultrasound speckle statistics.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Demands verification of linearity assumptions before clinical speckle use; challenges robustness of much quantitative ultrasound research.
Since the late 1970s, the speckle interference patterns ubiquitous in pulse-echo ultrasound images have been used to characterize subresolution tissue structures. During this time, new models, estimation methods, and processing techniques have proliferated, offering a wealth of recommendations for the task of tissue characterization. A literature review was performed to draw attention to these various methods and to critically track assumptions and gaps in knowledge. A total of 388 articles were collected from a systematic search for first-order speckle statistics in diagnostic ultrasound in the NIH PubMed database and Elsevier's Scopus database. Articles were grouped by basic characteristics and evaluated for addressing fundamental assumptions. A sampling of models and methods is presented to reveal the state of the art in speckle statistics as well as sources of measurement error and other important considerations. While this body of literature emphasizes the value of speckle analysis in diagnostic ultrasound, it is shown that relatively little attention is devoted to basic assumptions such as the linearity of system response and scatterer geometry. Additionally, several areas of investigation are available to improve upon speckle statistics analysis, potentially leading to the advancement of this unique tool.
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Christensen et al. (2024) conducted a systematic review in Diagnostic ultrasound (n=388). First-order speckle statistics analysis was evaluated. A systematic review of 388 articles on first-order speckle statistics in diagnostic ultrasound found that little attention is devoted to basic assumptions like system response linearity.
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