SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR NON-INVASIVE DETERMINATION OF TISSUE WALL VISCOELASTICITY USING ULTRASOUND VIBROMETRY

摘要

System and method for determining viscoelasticity of curved tissue walls using ultrasound bladder vibrometry (UBV). The UBV is a non-invasive technique utilizing, in a specific case, a focused ultrasound radiation force to excite Lamb waves in a curved bladder wall and pulse-echo techniques to track the tissue deformation propagating through such curved wall. Cross-spectral analysis is used to calculate the wave velocity, which is directly related to the elastic properties of the bladder wall.

主权项

1. A method for characterizing a parameter representing mechanical property of a tissue volume, the method comprising:
with a transducer, detecting ultrasonic energy reflected by multiple locations along the tissue volume that is subject to stress to form ultrasonic echo data, wherein the tissue volume is formed by a tissue wall that spatially separates a fluid material from a rigid material; and determining dispersion data representing a mechanical deformation of said tissue volume from said echo data