Transcranial ultrasonography system for visualizing skull and brain surface aided by fuzzy expert system

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Biomedical Engineering
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Conventional ultrasonography is limited in transcranial imaging due to the skull.
• Existing methods restrict brain imaging to specific cranial windows, hindering comprehensive anatomical assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an advanced transcranial sonography system capable of visualizing skull and brain surfaces from arbitrary locations.
• To enable noninvasive examination of skull fractures and brain diseases like hematomas and cerebral atrophy.

Main Methods:

• Development of a transcranial sonography system incorporating anatomical knowledge of the human head.
• Utilization of fuzzy inference algorithms to accurately determine skull and brain surface topography.
• Validation using phantom, soft tissue, and brain tissue animal models, followed by application in two adult subjects.

Main Results:

• Successful determination of skull and brain tissue surface shapes in all tested models.
• Accurate mapping of skin, skull, and brain tissue surfaces on adult subjects' foreheads.
• Demonstration of the system's capability to provide three-dimensional skull and brain surface information.

Conclusions:

• The novel transcranial sonography system effectively overcomes conventional limitations for brain imaging.
• The system provides detailed 3D anatomical information of the skull and brain surface noninvasively.
• This technology holds potential for improved diagnosis of various neurological conditions and skull injuries.