Deep learning-driven ultrasound equipment quality assessment with ATS-539 phantom data

초록

Introduction: Ultrasound equipment provides real-time visualization of internal organs, essential for early disease detection and diagnosis. However, poor-quality ultrasound images can compromise diagnostic accuracy and increase the risk of misdiagnosis. Quality assessments are often subjective, relying on the evaluator's experience and interpretation, which can vary. Methods: This study introduces a two-stage deep learning framework designed to objectively assess ultrasound image quality using phantom data across three key parameters: 'Dead zone', 'Axial/lateral resolution', and 'Gray scale and dynamic range'. Stage 1 automatically extracts regions of interest for each parameter, while Stage 2 employs detection or classification models to evaluate image quality within these regions. To generate an overall equipment quality score, a logistic regression model combines the weighted results from each parameter. Results: The classification model demonstrated high performance across datasets, achieving AUC scores of 98.6% for 'Dead zone', 87.7% for 'Axial/lateral resolution', and 96.0% for 'Gray scale and dynamic range'. Further analysis using guideline-compliant images of individual devices showed AUC scores of 98.2%, 92.8%, and 100%, respectively. These findings highlight deep learning's potential for quantitative and objective assessments of ultrasound image quality. Ultimately, this framework provides a streamlined approach to quality management, enabling consistent quality control and efficient scoring-based evaluation of ultrasound equipment.

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