Abstract
Ultrasound imaging remains one of the widespread diagnostic imaging tools. The commercial coupling gel for ultrasound imaging is quite expensive and not readily available in developing countries. However, shea butter, which is abundant locally and affordable, has suitable acoustic properties that makes it worthwhile for consideration as a coupling agent. Thus, shea butter was investigated alternate coupling medium for ultrasound imaging. In the study, ultrasound images were acquired using commercially available gel and shea butter. The image quality assessment of the images obtained using the gel (reference sample) and shea butter (reference sample) were performed using mean pixel intensity, mean square error (MSE), peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity index matrix (SSIM) as image quality metrics. The resulting computed values of the MSE, PSNR and SSIM were respectively 40.1283 ± 20.4941, 32.7450 ± 2.5722 and 0.5934 ± 0.1035 (mean ± standard deviation). The ranges of these metrics indicate that the images captured using gel and shea butter as couplants were comparable and supported the hypothesis that shea butter could be used as an ultrasound couplant. Using the Mann Whitney U test as a test of significance with α-value set at 0.05, there was no significant difference in the mean pixel intensities between the two set of images. This inference further buttressed the proposition that shea butter could be used as an alternate coupling medium for ultrasound imaging.
Highlights
Medical ultrasound imaging remains invariably one of the commonest diagnostic imaging technique in hospitals and clinics [1]
We explored the properties of shea butter as a coupling medium, acoustic properties of shea butter and investigated its applicability as an alternate coupling agent based on image quality assessment indices
We set out to investigate the suitability of shea butter as a coupling medium for ultrasound imaging due to the fact that conventional gel is quite expensive and not readily available locally
Summary
Medical ultrasound imaging remains invariably one of the commonest diagnostic imaging technique in hospitals and clinics [1]. The ubiquitous nature of ultrasound imaging has been attributed to its safety, good visualization and flexibility It has been applied in obstetrics, breasts, genitourinary, musculoskeletal, pelvic and abdominal examinations [2, 3]. To minimize the mismatch and enhance the transmission of ultrasound, a suitable coupling medium such as gel is applied on the skin prior to imaging to eliminate the air layer and improve impedance synergy. The exclusion of air by the coupling medium ensures maximum transmission of ultrasonic energy from transducers to test specimens and subsequently improve the quality of ultrasound images. The acoustic impedance of the coupling agent must match that of the interface tissue to permit maximum transmission of ultrasound energy, with negligible attenuation [7]
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