Many noninvasive ultrasound techniques have been developed to explore mechanical properties of soft tissues. One of these methods, Localized Harmonic Motion Imaging (LHMI), has been proposed to be used for ultrasound surgery monitoring. In LHMI, dynamic ultrasound radiation-force stimulation induces displacements in a target that can be measured using pulse-echo imaging and used to estimate the elastic properties of the target. In this initial, simulation study, the use of a one-dimensional phased array is explored for the induction of the tissue motion. The study compares three different dual-frequency and amplitude-modulated single-frequency methods for the inducing tissue motion. Simulations were computed in a homogeneous soft-tissue volume. The Rayleigh integral was used in the simulations of the ultrasound fields and the tissue displacements were computed using a finite-element method (FEM). The simulations showed that amplitude-modulated sonication using a single frequency produced the largest vibration amplitude of the target tissue. These simulations demonstrate that the properties of the tissue motion are highly dependent on the sonication method and that it is important to consider the full three-dimensional distribution of the ultrasound field for controlling the induction of tissue motion.
ParkerKJHuangSRMusulinRALernerRM. Tissue response to mechanical vibrations for “sonoelasticity imaging”, Ultrasound Med Biol16, 241–246 (1990).
2.
OphirJCespedesIPonnekantiHYazdiYLiX.Elastography: a quantitative method for imaging the elasticity of biological tissues, Ultrasonic Imaging13, 111–134 (1991).
3.
KrouskopTAWheelerTMKallelFGarraBSHallT.Elastic moduli of breast and prostate tissues under compression, Ultrasonic Imaging20, 260–274 (1998).
4.
StaffordRJKallelFPriceREElastographic imaging of thermal lesions in soft tissue: a preliminary study in vitro, Ultrasound Med Biol24, 1449–1458 (1998).
5.
KallelFStaffordRJPriceREThe feasibility of elastographic visualization of HIFU-induced thermal lesions in soft tissues. Image-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound, Ultrasound Med Biol25, 641–647 (1999).
6.
RighettiRKallelFStaffordRJElastographic characterization of HIFU-induced lesions in canine livers, Ultrasound Med Biol25, 1099–1113 (1999).
7.
ShiXMartinRWRouseffDVaezySCrumLA. Detection of high-intensity focused ultrasound liver lesions using dynamic elastometry, Ultrasonic Imaging21, 107–126 (1999).
8.
KonofagouEThiermanJHynynenK.A focused ultrasound method for synchronous diagnostic and therapeutic applications — a simulation study, Physics Med Biol46, 2967–2984 (2001).
9.
KonofagouEThiermanJKarjalainenTHynynenK.The temperature dependence of ultrasound-stimulated acoustic emission, Ultrasound Med Biol28, 331–338 (2002).
10.
FaheyBJNightingaleKRStutzDLTraheyG.Acoustic radiation force impulse imaging of thermally-and chemically-induced lesions in soft tissues: preliminary ex vivo results, Ultrasound Med Biol30, 321–328 (2004).
SarvazyanAPRudenkoOVSwansonSDFowlkesJBEmelianovSY. Shear wave elasticity imaging: a new ultrasonic technology of medical diagnostics, Ultrasound Med Biol24, 1419–1435 (1998).
13.
NightingaleKRPalmeriMLNightingaleRWTraheyGE. On the feasibility of remote palpation using acoustic radiation force, J Acoust Soc Am110, 625–634 (2001).
14.
NightingaleKRScottSMNightingaleRWTraheyGE. Acoustic radiation force impulse imaging: in vivo demonstration of clinical feasibility, Ultrasound Med Biol28, 227–235 (2002).
15.
KonofagouEHynynenK.Localized harmonic motion imaging: theory, simulations and experiments, Ultrasound Med Biol29, 1405–1413 (2003).
16.
TraheyGEPalmeriMLBentleyRCNightingaleKR. Acoustic radiation force impulse imaging of the mechanical properties of arteries: In vivo and ex vivo results, Ultrasound Med Biol30, 1163–1171 (2004).
17.
NightingaleKRNightingaleRWPalmeriMLTraheyGT. A finite element model of remote palpation of breast lesions using radiation force: Factors affecting tissue displacement, Ultrason Imaging22, 35–54 (2000).
18.
FatemiMWoldLEAlizadAGreenleafJF. Vibro-acoustic tissue mammography, IEEE Trans Med Imaging21, 1–8 (2002).
19.
KarjalainenTHynynenK.Ultrasound stimulated acoustic emission in the measurement of elasticity of arterial wall, in Proc IEEE Ultrasonics Symp, pp. 1929–1932, (2002).
20.
AlizadAFatemiMNishimuraRADetection of calcium deposits on heart valve leaflets by vibro-acoustography: An in vitro study, J Am Soc Echocardiogr15, 1391–1394 (2002).
21.
CalleSRemenierasJ-PMatarOB. Application of vibro-acoustography to bone elasticity imaging, in Proc IEEE Ultrasonics Symp, pp. 1601–1604, (2001).
22.
MitriFGTrompettePChapelonJ-Y.Improving the use of vibro-acoustography for brachytherapy metal seed imaging: a feasibility study, IEEE Trans Med Imaging23, 1–6 (2004).
23.
KarjalainenTThiermanJSHynynenK.Ultrasound acoustic stimulated emission for controlling thermal surgery, in Proc IEEE Ultrasonics Symp, pp. 1397–1400, (1999).
24.
LizziFLMuratoreRDengCXRadiation-force technique to monitor lesions during ultrasonic therapy, Ultrasound Med Biol29, 1593–1605 (2003).
25.
CalleSRemenierasJPBouMatar OPatatF.Presence of nonlinear interference effects as a source of low frequency excitation force in vibro-acoustography, Ultrasonics40, 873–878 (2002).
26.
ThiermanJS. PhD Monograph: Sources of Difference Frequency Sound in a Dual-Frequency Imaging System with Implications for Monitoring Thermal Surgery (Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Techonology, Cambrigde, MA, 2004).
27.
PalmeriMLSharmaACBouchardRRNightingaleRWNightingaleKR. A finite-element method model of soft tissue response to impulsive acoustic radiation force, IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control52, 1699–1712 (2005).
28.
ChenSFatemiMKinnickRGreenleafJF. Comparison of stress field forming methods for vibro-acoustography, IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelec Freq Contr51, 313–312 (2004).
29.
SilvaGTGreenleafJFFatemiM.Linear arrays for vibro-acoustography: a numerical simulation study, Ultrason Imaging26, 1–17 (2004).
30.
SilvaGTChenSFreryACGreenleafJFFatemiM.Stress field forming of sector array transducers for vibro-acoustography, IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control52, 1943–1951 (2005).
31.
HutchinsonEBHynynenK.Intracavitary ultrasound phased arrays for noninvasive prostate surgery, IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelec Freq Contr43, 1032–1042 (1996).
32.
TorrGR. The acoustic radiation force, Am J of Physics52, 402–408 (1984).
33.
MorsePMIngardKU. Theoretical Acoustics (Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1986).
34.
FungYC. Biomechanics: Mechanical Properties of Living Tissues (Springer-Verlag, New York, 1993).
35.
OestreicherHL. Field and impedance of an oscillating sphere in a viscoelastic medium with an application to biophysics, J Acoust Soc Am23, 707–714 (1951).
36.
BatheK-J.Finite Element Procedures (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1996).
37.
GossSAJohnstonRLDunnF.Comprehensive compilation of empirical ultrasonic properties of mammalian tissues, J Acoust Soc Am64, 423–457 (1978).
38.
International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements.ICRU Report 61: Tissue Substitutes, Phantoms and Computational Modelling in Medical Ultrasound (ICRU Publications, Bethesda, 1998).
39.
KinslerLE. Fundamentals of Acoustics (John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1982).
40.
CathelineSGennissonJ-LDelonGMeasurement of viscoelastic properties of homogeneous soft solid using transient elastography: An inverse problem approach, J Acoust Soc Am116, 3734–3741 (2004).
41.
FatemiMGreenleafJF. Vibro-acoustography: An imaging modality based on ultrasound-stimulated acoustic emission, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA96, 6603–6608 (1999).
