Ultrasound Transducer Vibration for Shear Wave Elastography
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ultrasound shear wave elastography techniques face limitations due to high power requirements and frame rate constraints, especially in mid and low-end ultrasound scanners, and challenges in correcting for transducer motion and motion signal alignment during continuous transducer vibration.
Innovation Solution
The method involves inducing shear waves in tissues using continuous transducer vibration, acquiring motion data to correct for transducer motion and deformation, and processing these data to calculate mechanical properties, employing techniques such as demodulation, curve fitting, and k-space analysis to remove motion artifacts and align signals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If acoustic radiation force is used to generate shear waves, then shear waves can be induced in tissue, but the frame rate is limited to about 1 Hz due to cooling time requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The transducer is vibrated periodically at a high frequency (e.g., 50-100 Hz) to generate shear waves continuously, rather than using single long-duration push pulses. This periodic vibration allows continuous shear wave generation at high frame rates while the mechanical vibration itself serves as the shear wave source, eliminating the need for repeated high-power acoustic radiation force pulses that cause heating.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the acoustic radiation force mechanism (which requires high-power ultrasound pulses causing heating) with direct mechanical vibration of the transducer. The transducer is mechanically vibrated to directly generate shear waves in the tissue, substituting the thermal/heating-limited acoustic mechanism with a mechanical vibration approach that enables continuous high-frame-rate imaging without probe heating constraints.
2Power
If acoustic radiation force is used to generate shear waves, then shear waves can be induced in tissue, but high power supply requirements make implementation challenging in mid and low-end ultrasound scanners
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using high-power acoustic radiation force pulses that require substantial power supply, the system applies continuous mechanical vibration at moderate amplitude. This partial action approach uses much lower power requirements while still effectively generating shear waves, making the technology feasible for mid and low-end ultrasound scanners that cannot support high-power ARF implementations.
3Productivity
If continuous vibration of the transducer is used to generate shear waves, then high frame-rate imaging is enabled, but motion correction and signal alignment become challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses feedback from the detected shear wave signals to correct for transducer motion effects. By monitoring the motion data and comparing it with the expected shear wave propagation patterns, the system can identify and correct for artifacts caused by continuous transducer vibration, enabling accurate mechanical property measurement even during continuous high-frame-rate imaging.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces motion correction algorithms and signal processing techniques as intermediaries between the raw motion data and the final mechanical property calculations. These intermediary processing steps separate the true shear wave signals from the artifacts caused by transducer motion, enabling accurate measurements despite the challenges of continuous vibration.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables continuous high-frame-rate shear wave imaging, reduces power requirements, and improves the accuracy of mechanical property calculations by effectively correcting for transducer motion and motion signal alignment, making it suitable for mid and low-end ultrasound systems.
Implementation Method 1
continuous vibration of the transducer generates shear waves in the tissue
Implementation Method 2
continuous vibration of the ultrasound transducer induces at least one shear wave in the object
Implementation Method 3
detects the generated shear wave signal with the same transducer
Implementation Method 4
motion data are acquired from the object using the ultrasound transducer
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for processing data acquired using ultrasound elastography, in which shear waves are generated in a subject using continuous vibration of an ultrasound transducer, are provided. The systems and methods described here can effectively remove motion artifacts associated with vibration of the ultrasound transducer, and can also remove the data sampling misalignment caused when a line-by-line imaging mode is used to acquire data, as is done by many conventional ultrasound scanners. Thus, the systems and methods described here provide techniques for transducer motion correction and for aligning motion signals detected by line-by-line scanning ultrasound systems.