Method and system for reconstructing a thermoacoustic image

1. A method for reconstructing a thermoacoustic image comprising:

directing radio frequency (RF) energy pulses generated by an RF source into a tissue region of interest;

detecting, at each of a plurality of views along a scanning trajectory of a transducer element array about the region of interest, acoustic signals generated within the region of interest in response to the RF energy pulses and generating thermoacoustic data;

applying at least one correction kernel to the thermoacoustic data, wherein the at least one correction kernel is a view and position specific kernel to correct for differences in the relative relationship between the transducer element array and an object within the region of interest to be imaged at each view, further wherein the view and position specific kernel for a selected view is generated by:

(i) generating an acoustic impulse at a known impulse position within a field of view of the transducer element array;

(ii) recording time-series thermoacoustic data for each transducer element of the transducer element array;

(iii) combining the thermoacoustic data recorded for each transducer element to generate a matrix; and

(iv) applying back projection to the matrix to generate the view and position specific kernel; and

after the at least one correction kernel has been applied to the thermoacoustic data, reconstructing a thermoacoustic image therefrom.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one correction kernel is generated during a calibration procedure.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one correction kernel is a transducer element specific kernel to correct for different properties of individual transducer elements of the array.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the transducer element specific kernel is generated by:

(i) estimating an impulse response of each transducer element of the array;

(ii) applying a filter to the impulse responses based on one or more known unique characteristics of the transducer elements; and

(iii) applying a noise and artifact correction to the filtered impulse responses.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the one or more known unique characteristics comprise at least one of center frequency, bandwidth and noise sensitivity.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one kernel is a position specific volume kernel to correct for variations in spatial sensitivity as a result of transducer element array and scanning geometries.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the position specific volume kernel is generated by:

(i) generating an acoustic impulse at a known impulse position within a field of view of the transducer element array;

(ii) recording time-series thermoacoustic data for each transducer element of the transducer element array;

(iii) combining the thermoacoustic data recorded for each transducer element to generate a matrix;

(iv) applying back projection to the matrix to generate a view and position specific kernel;

(v) repeating steps (i) to (iv) for each view of the transducer element array; and

(vi) repeating steps (i) to (v) for each known impulse position within the field of view.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein multiple correction kernels are applied to the thermoacoustic data.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the correction kernels comprise a transducer element specific kernel to correct for different properties of individual transducer elements of the array and a view and position specific kernel to correct for differences in the relative relationship between the transducer element array and an object within the region of interest to be imaged at each view.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the correction kernels comprise a transducer element specific kernel to correct for different properties of individual transducer elements of the array and a position specific volume kernel to correct for variations in spatial sensitivity as a result of transducer element array and scanning geometries.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scanning trajectory is circular or non-circular.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising applying a noise and artifact correction algorithm to the thermoacoustic data prior to reconstructing the thermoacoustic image.

13. A thermoacoustic imaging system comprising:

a radio frequency source configured to emit RF pulses into a region of interest and heat tissue therein;

a transducer element array moveable along a scanning trajectory about the region of interest and configured to receive acoustic signals generated in response to heating of the tissue, at each of a plurality of views along the scanning trajectory, and generate thermoacoustic data; and

one or more processors configured to:

apply an at least one correction kernel to the thermoacoustic data, wherein the at least one correction kernel is a view and position specific kernel to correct for differences in the relative relationship between the transducer element array and an object within the region of interest to be imaged at each view, further wherein the view and position specific kernel for a selected view is generated by:

(i) generating an acoustic impulse at a known impulse position within a field of view of the transducer element array;

(ii) recording time-series thermoacoustic data for each transducer element of the transducer element array;

(iii) combining the thermoacoustic data recorded for each transducer element to generate a matrix; and

(iv) applying back projection to the matrix to generate the view and position specific kernel; and

reconstruct a thermoacoustic image after the at least one correction kernel has been applied to the thermoacoustic data.

14. A method of calibrating a thermoacoustic imaging system comprising a transducer element array that includes a plurality of transducer elements and that is moved along a scanning trajectory about a region of interest during thermoacoustic imaging to detect acoustic signals induced within the region of interest at a plurality of views along the scanning trajectory, the method comprising:

applying an at least one correction kernel to the thermoacoustic data, wherein the at least one correction kernel is a view and position specific kernel to correct for differences in the relative relationship between the transducer element array and an object within the region of interest to be imaged at each view, further wherein the view and position specific kernel for a selected view is generated by:

(i) generating an acoustic impulse at a known impulse position within a field of view of the transducer element array;

(ii) recording time-series thermoacoustic data for each transducer element of the transducer element array;

(iii) combining the thermoacoustic data recorded for each transducer element to generate a matrix; and

(iv) applying back projection to the matrix to generate the view and position specific kernel; and

storing the at least one kernel in memory for use by one or more processors during thermoacoustic image reconstruction.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the transducer element specific kernel is generated by:

(i) estimating an impulse response of each transducer element of the array;

(ii) applying a filter to the impulse responses based on one or more known unique characteristics of the transducer elements; and

(iii) applying a noise and artifact correction to the filtered impulse responses.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the position specific volume kernel is generated by:

(i) generating an acoustic impulse at a known impulse position within a field of view of the transducer element array;

(ii) recording time-series thermoacoustic data for each transducer element of the transducer element array;

(iii) combining the thermoacoustic data recorded for each transducer element to generate a matrix;

(iv) applying back projection to the matrix to generate a view and position specific kernel;

(v) repeating steps (i) to (iv) for each view of the transducer element array; and

(vi) repeating steps (i) to (v) for each known impulse position within the field of view.