Radial reflection diffraction tomography
View Patent ↗A wave-based tomographic imaging method and apparatus based upon one or more rotating radially outward oriented transmitting and receiving elements have been developed for non-destructive evaluation. At successive angular locations at a fixed radius, a predetermined transmitting element can launch a primary field and one or more predetermined receiving elements can collect the backscattered field in a “pitch/catch” operation. A Hilbert space inverse wave (HSIW) algorithm can construct images of the received scattered energy waves using operating modes chosen for a particular application. Applications include, improved intravascular imaging, bore hole tomography, and non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of parts having existing access holes.
1. A wave-based imaging method of characterizing a plaque, comprising:
inserting a catheter into an artery;
directing one or more predetermined energy waves radially outward and receiving one or more radial scattered energy waves from a distal end of said catheter;
collecting a radial scattered tomographic data baseline of said artery's tissue;
measuring an applied external pressure to said artery;
obtaining a deformation radial scattered tomographic data set of said artery's tissue after application of said external pressure; and
processing said radial scattered tomographic data baseline and said deformation radial reflected tomographic data set to produce a final image indicating elasticity of said artery to characterize said plaque, wherein said processing includes application of a wave-based algorithm that can map an angular location and a plurality of frequency parameters of said received scattered energy waves, wherein said wave-based algorithm comprises a Hilbert space inverse wave (HSIW) algorithm.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said catheter further comprises a single rotating radially outward oriented transducer capable of rotating up to 360 degrees about a predetermined axis.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said catheter further comprises a single transmitter and a receiver aperture further comprising a plurality of receivers, wherein said transmitter and said receiver aperture is capable of rotating up to 360 degrees about a predetermined axis.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein said transmitter and said plurality of receivers further comprise transducers.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said final image is capable of being formed along a plane perpendicular to a predetermined axis of rotation.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said energy waves further comprise acoustic frequencies having a range between about 100 Hz and about 1.0 MHz.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said energy waves further comprise electromagnetic frequencies having a range between about 1 kHz and about 3 THz.