Comparison of quantitative ultrasound parameters from two approaches on in vivo human fatty liver

Two different quantitative ultrasound (QUS) processing strategies are evaluated and compared. The first method estimates the Lizzi-Feleppa (LF) parameters from the linear fit of the normalized power spectrum, and yields the slope, the intercept, and the midband. The QUS approach relies on the attenuation and BSC versus frequency, and yields the mean attenuation and BSC. By using the spherical Gaussian model, the effective scatterer diameter (ESD) and acoustic concentration (EAC) are estimated from the BSC. The goal of this study is to compare the LF and QUS parameters to determine how they are correlated and to verify their correlation with ESD and EAC. To do this, RF data were acquired using a Siemens S3000 from 20 patient livers (suspected of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Diseases (NAFLD)) and from these spectra, the LF and QUS parameters were estimated. The liver fat fraction for each patient was estimated using MRI, and ranged from 0.03 to 0.3. The results show that LF slope is correlated to ESD (R2 = 0.7...