Quantitative viscoelastic ultrasound imaging

摘要

Viscosity is included in the quantification by an ultrasound imaging system. The log of a spectrum of displacement as a function of time is determined for each of various locations subjected to a shear or other wave. Solving using the log as a function of location provides the complex wavenumber. Various viscoelastic parameters, such as loss modulus and storage modulus, are determined from the complex wavenumber.

主权项

1. A method for quantification in viscoelastic ultrasound imaging, the method comprising:
measuring, with an ultrasound system, displacement over time at a first location of tissue within a patient in response to an impulse excitation; measuring, with the ultrasound system, displacement over time at a second location of the tissue within a patient in response to the impulse excitation; Fourier transforming, by a processor, in time the displacement over time for each of the first and second locations; calculating, by the processor, a logarithm of results of the transforming; solving, by the processor, for a complex wavenumber from the logarithm of the results; determining a value for a frequency-dependent viscoelastic parameter with the complex wavenumber; and outputting, to a display, the value for the tissue.