# IMPROVED TUMOR DETECTION BY ULTRASONIC SPECKLE REDUCTION

> **NIH NIH R01** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 1987 · $91,879

## Abstract

Ultrasonic speckle is themost important source of noise degrading clinical
ultrasound scan images.  The detectability of tumors in ultrasonic scan
images, particularly those of relatively low contrast in the surrounding
normal tissues, may be greatly decreased due to speckle.  The overall aim
of the project proposal is the evaluation of the improvement in tumor
detectability which may be achieved in diagnostic ultrasound through the
application of techniques for the reduction of speckle in untrasonic images
and definition of those forms of waveform processing which will lead to
optimum improvement in image quality and tumor detectability.

A versatile laboratory system for the acquisition of ultrasonic waveform
data from phantoms and human tissues in vitro will be constructed.  A
variety of ultrasonic phantoms containing low-contrast, hyperechoic and
hypechoic targets, similar to low-contrast tumors in the human body, will
be scanned using this dedicated laboratory system.  Fresh pathologic liver
specimens involved with metastatic tumor, and some normal liver specimens
will be scanned with the laboratory system as well.  A variety of schemes
for ultrasonic speckle reduction will be employed:  the basic principle
will be to use techniques which employ either spatial or frequency
diversity techniques to produce differing (possibly uncorrelated) images
which may then be averaged to create ultrasonic images with reduced
speckle.  Spatial diversity will be achieved by both linear translation of
transducers perpendicular to scan planes and through transducer angulation
techniques.  Frequency diversity will be attained by both altering the
number of cycles and center frequencies of ultrasound exciting the
ultrasound transducer, and via digital filtering of scan data obtained
employing broad-band transducers.  The relationship between frequency
parameters (center frequency, bandwidth) and transducer
translation/rotation and speckle decorrelation will be determined
experimentally and compared to prior theoretical predictions (of Gehlbach).

The effects of the speckle reduction techniques will be evaluated via
receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of observers' ability to
detect low-contrast targets and tumors in images created via a variety of
processing schemes.

The framework of knowledge created in these studies will indicate possible
hardware and waveform processing improvements in clinical scanners, which
will give improved and earlier detection of tumors in parenchymal organs of
the body.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3176141
- **Project number:** 5R01CA038109-03
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **SAM.gov UEI:** HJD6G4D6TJY5
- **Principal Investigator:** FRANK GRAHAM SOMMER
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1987
- **Award amount:** $91,879
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1985-09-30 → 1989-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3176141

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3176141, IMPROVED TUMOR DETECTION BY ULTRASONIC SPECKLE REDUCTION (5R01CA038109-03). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3176141. Licensed CC0.

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