APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR GENERATING MECHANICAL WAVES INTO LIVING BODIES, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MAPPING AN ORGAN OR TISSUE AND SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CHARACTERISING THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SAID ORGAN OR TISSUE

摘要

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus (100) for vibrating an organ and/or tissue and/or region of a subject's body (202) without a mechanical transmission to characterise at least one mechanical property of the region and/or tissue and/or organ. The apparatus (100) comprises: means (114-118) for generating a pressure wave of a given frequency in a gaseous medium, and waveguide means (106) for guiding, in a gaseous medium, said pressure wave from said generating means (114-118) to a human or animal body (202). The invention also relates to wave guiding in the airways of a human or animal body and to tissue displacement mapping, anisotropy, and mechanical property characterising systems (300) and methods.