Sonoelasticity imaging: Theory and experimental verification

L. Gao, K. J. Parker, and S. K. Alam

Departmentof ElectricalEngineering,Centerfor BiomedicalUltrafoundand Departmentof Radiology,
Universityof Rochester,Rochester,New York 14627
R. M. Lerner

Departmentof DiagnosticRadiology,RochesterGeneralHospital,Rochester,
New York14621

(Received
7 April 1994;accepted
for publication
3 February1995)
Sonoelasticity
is a rapidly evolvingmedicalimagingtechniquefor visualizinghard tumorsin
tissues.
In thisnovel.diagnostic
technique,
a low-frequency
vibrationis externallyappliedto excite
internalvibrationswithin the tissueunderinspection.
A smallstiff inhomogeneity
in a surrounding
tissueappearsasa disturbance
in thenormalvibrationeigenmode
pattern.By employinga properly
designedDopplerdetectionalgorithm,a real-timevibrationimage can be made.A theoryfor
vibrations,or shearwave propagation
in inhomogeneous
tissuehasbeendeveloped.A tumoris
modeledas an elasticinhomogeneity
insidea 1ossyhomogeneous
elasticmedium.A vibration
sourceis appliedat a boundary.The solutionsfor the shearwaveequationhavebeenfoundbothfor
thecaseswith tumor(inhomogeneous
case)andwithouttumor(homogenous
case).The solutions
takeinto accountvaryingparameters
suchastumorsize,tumorstiffness,shapeof vibrationsource,
1ossyfactorof the material,andvibrationfrequency.
The problemof the lowestdetectable
change
in stiffnessis addressedusing the theory,answeringone of the most critical questionsin this
diagnostictechnique.Someexperimentswere conductedto checkthe validity of the theory,andthe
resultsshoweda goodcorrespondence
to the theoreticalpredictions.Thesestudiesprovidebasic
understanding
of thephenomena
observedin thegrowingfieldof clinicalSonoelasticity
imagingfor
tumor detection.

PACSnumbers:43.80.Qf,43.80.Jz,43.80.Vj

LIST OF SYMBOLS

Young'smodulus(stiffness)

displacement
field vector

Poisson's ratio

longitudinal
component
of thedisplacement
field

Ct

vector
shearcomponentof the displacement
field vector
density

Cs
w0
Q0

speedof the longitudinalwave

speedof the shearwave
angularvibrationfrequency
Q factor of the system

INTRODUCTION

tion (laser,sonar,and ultrasound)(Holen et al., 1985; Cox

andRogers,1987;Taylor,1976, 1981),
(2) the studyof tissueelasticconstants
(biomechanics)
identifies
abnormal
regionsof increased
stiffness
(elasticity). (Fung,1981;Levinson,1987;Parkereta!., 1993),and
But the methodis limitedto only thosetumorswhichoccur
(3) the studyof tissuemotionusingimagingsystems
closeto an accessible
surface.Conventionalmedicalimag(ultrasound,MRI, stroboscopes,
and others)(Oestreicher,
ing, includingMRI, CT, mammography,
and gray scaleul1951; Von Gierke et aL, 1952; Wilson and Robinson, 1982;
trasound,
is insensitive
to stiffnessas an imagingparameter Dickinson and Hill, 1982; Eisenscberet al., 1983; Bimholz
Palpationis a traditionaltumor detectionmethodthat

and often fails to reveal the extent or existence of tumors

and Fwrell, 1985; Tristam etal.,

1986, 1988; Axel and

which,uponpathologicexamination,
are foundto be palpaDougherty,1989; Adler et al., 1989, 1990).
bly more stiff thansurrounding
normaltissues.
To accuratelyinterpretsonoelasticityimages,we must
Sonoelasticityimaging is a method of "remote palpaunderstand the nature of tissue vibrations under different cirtion" that identifieshard tumors.This techniquecombines
cumstances.
There has been somepreliminarywork on viexternallyappliedvibrationswith Dopplerdetectionof the
brationmodalpatternsin tissue(Lernerand Parker,1987a,
response
throughout
tissue,to indicateabnormal
regions.We
defineSonoelasticity
as consisting
of sinusoidal
steadystate 1987b; Lerner et al., 1988, 1990; Parker eta!., 1990; Parker
vibrations,
withexternally
appliedstimulus,
andproduction andLerner, 1992;Lee et al., 1991;Huang, 1990;Gao eta!.,
1993).Othervibrationtechniques
(Krouskopet al., 1987;
of modalpatterns
in someorgans,andDopplerdeteztion
of
vibrationto generatean image. Sohoelasticityimaging is re-

Yamakoshiet at., 1990), and also an importantclassof static

latedto threemuchlarger,older,andsomewhatoverlapping and quasistatictechniqueshave been independentlydevelfields:

opedby Ophir and others(Ophir et al., 1991; Ponnekanti
(1) the studyof vibratingtargetsusingcoherent
radia- et at., 1992;Yemelyanov
et al., 1992;Cdspedes
et ai., 1993;
3875 d. Acoust.Sec.Am. 97 (6), June 1995

00014966/95/97(6)/3875/12/$6_00

1995Acoustical
Societyof America 3875

O'Donnell et al., 1993; Skovoroda et al., 1994; O'Donnell

et aL, 1994).In addition,otherapproaches

to tissuemotion
and elasticitymeasurements
have beenproposed(Meunier
et a, 1989; Ryan et al., 1992, 1993; Javier and Pedersen,
1994).
A noveltheoryfor vibrationsor shearwavepropagation
in inhomogeneous
tissue is developedin this paper. The
theorydescribesthe characteristic
patternswe expectto see
in a sonoelasticity
image,especiallyfor tumorrecognition.
Phantomand in vivo experimentswere conductedto corroboratethe theory.

Insideboththehomogeneous
region(tissue)andtheinhomogeneousregion(tumor),the field vectorsatisfiesthe same
waveequations
(5),butwithdifferentCt andCs. Weassume
that v andp do not vary significantlyfor tumorand normal
tissues.The mostdistinguishable
mechanical
propertythat
separates
tumorfrom normaltissueis the stiffnessE (Parker
et al., 1990, 1993). Over the wholemedium,we can write E
as

(x)=Eo+E'(x),
with

I. THEORY
A. Tumor

(7)

=I E', fortumor
area
L'L,
centered
at(x0,Yo),

E'(x)[0, forsurrounding
tissue.

model

We beginby modelinga tumoras an elasticinhomogeneity inside a lossyhomogeneous

elasticmedium.For ex-

ample,themediastiffness
is a constant
E0, exceptthesmall
areaaround(xo,Yo)hasthestiffness
Eo+E'. Whenwe apply boundaryconditionsand a driving vibrationforce, we

Then we can derivea generalexpressionfor the speedof the

shear wave:

Cs2(x)
= E(x)/(2p(
1+ v))

want to comparethe vibrationpatternsof this mediumwith

and without the inhomogeneity.

=Eo/(2p(1 + u))+ E'(x)/(2p(1 + v))

= (1 +E'(x)/Eo)Eo/(2p( 1+ )).
B. Displacement wave equation

(8)

(9)

If we denote

We startfrom the basicfield waveequations.For a general linearand isotropicmaterial,the displacementfield vec-

Co2=
Eo/(2p(I + v)),

(10)

y(x)='(x)/e0.

(11)

tor (x,t) satisfies

thefollowingequation(LandauandLiftshitz, 1970):

82

2(1+
v)V2+
2(1+v)(1-2v)
VV-?=p
-. (1)

thenexpression
(9) couldbe simplifiedas

= C2o(1
+

The displacement
field vector canbe decomposed
into

longitudinal
andshearcomponents
( andA arethepoten-

(12)

andy(x) shouldsatisfy

tial functionsfor longitudinalandshearcomponents,

respec-

tively)
=V+VxA

(2)

= ,+ .

(3)

The two components

satisfy,respectively,

Vxt=0,

(4a)

V.s=O.

(4b)

E'IE=y,
intumor
area
L}L,
around
(x0,Y0

7(x)=0, everywhere
else.

03)

So insteadof writingtwo shearwaveequations

for boththe
homogeneous
andinhomogeneous
region,we may write one
equationfor the entiremedium:

V2s
C(i+T(x))
Ot
2=0.

As derivedin thereference
(LandauandLiftshitz,1970),Eq.
(1) will givethe homogeneous
longitudinal
andshearwave
equations

- 1 02l
2=0'
1 o2

-3-F
=o,

(6a)

Cs-2p(l
+v)'
3876 d.Acoust.
Soc.Am.,Vol.97, No.6, June1995

We have chosen to concentrate on shear waves, since

low-frequency
longitudinalwaveshavewavelengths
thatare
too largecomparedto organsof interestat the frequencies
usedin SOhOelasticity
imaging(Parkerand Lerner,1992).
Furthermore, for simplicity, we will consider the twodimensionalcase.If we denotethistwo-dimensionalplaneas
the3/-Y plane,we will onlyconsider
theZ component
of the
displacement
vector s- Thus the letter represents
the z
component
of displacement
in all later discussions.
The solutions for rectangularenclosuresare given for simplicity,
althoughthesecanbe expanded
to spherical,
cylindrical,elliptical,andotherregulargeometries.
Fourcasesaregivento
covera rangeof complexity,
andbuildan understanding
of

(Sb)

2_

(14)

(Sa)

where

2p(l + v)(1-2u)'

a2j

(6b)

the simpler cases.

Gaoet al.:Sonoelasticity
imaging 3876

C. Case one

EO

= exp(
iwot)sin(
kjY)

The caseof the homogeneous,

losslessmediumwithout
source:For a homogeneous
rectangle,on all four boundaries
x=0, x=La, y=0, and y=L o, the displacement
is prescribedas se=0on rigid walls.

Solution:
BeginwithEq. (14).In thiscasethematerialis
homogeneous,
'y(x)=0 overtherectangle,sothewaveequa-

s= e0 sin(kjy)[(G + iH)12F] exp(iwot),

(15)

V2-cot
2=0.

F= ((exp(
-otL,)- exp(oLa))Cos(kmLa))
2
4-((exp(-- otL)q-exp(aLa))sin(kmLa))
2,
(23a)

The sinusoidalsteady-statesolutionis well known as

= o exp(iwot)sin(k,,x)sin(k,Y),

(16)

G = (exp(-OlLa) -- exp(aLa)) (exp(- ax)

- exp(ax ) ) cos(krL.) cos(k,x) + (exp(-otL.)

with k,.= mrr/L.. k.= n*r/Lb (m andn are integers).

and
2

(22)

with

I 02s

(21)

Separating
thereal andimaginarypart,Eq. (21) becomes

tion becomes

')

exp(iknx-ax) - exp(- ik,.x + otx)

exp(ik.L.- otL.)- exp(- ik,L. +otL.)'

+ exp(aL)) (exp( - otx)

wfi= Co(km+ kn). Thus eigenmodesoccur at predictable

eigenfrequencies.

+ exp(ax)) sin(k,L.)sin(k,x),

(23b)

H = (exp(- aL,,) - exp(aLa))(exp(- ax)

D. Case two

+ exp(otx))cos(k,.La)sin(k,.x
) - (exp(- aLa)

The caseof the homogeneous,

1ossymediumwith a vibrationsourceon one side:For a homogeneous
rectangle.on
boundariesx= 0, y = 0, and y = Lt,. the displacement is
zero. On the fourth boundary x = L,,
= %
Xexp(iwot)sin(kjy). Here ka=Jrr/Lo, J is an integer,and

+ exp(otL))(exp( - otx)

- exp(ax))sin(k,.L)cos(k,.x).

(23c)

Only the real part of j is the solution,whichis

G cos(wot)-H sin(w0t)
e0 is a real constant.
The materialis 1ossy.
Re()
= e0sin(kjy)
2F
(24)
Solution:
Thetermy(x)=0 throughout
thehomogeneous
medium.As the systemis Iossy,a relaxationterm can be
Sincenltrasound
Dopplerdevicescaneasilydetectthe vibraincludedin Eq. (14) (Kinsleret al., 1982):
tion mnplitude,we are also interestedin that functionof
position:
i
R
(17)

IRe()l= e0sin(kjy)(/G2+ H2/2F).

(with woplR= Qo, whichis the Q factorof the systemat

W0).
Assumingsinusoidaldependence=exp(iwot), the
aboveequationbecomes

V2+K2-(iK2/Qo)=O,

08)

with K= wolCo, which is the vibrationwave number.

Given the boundarycondition,we know the forra of the
solution should be

= E0 sin[(k,.+ iot)x]sin(kjy).

(19)

Substituting
thisinto the waveequation(18) andthe source
term, we find
2

k,.=(l/./-)
k-----,+K/Qo,

(20a)

ot= - K2/2kmQo.

(20b)

E0

E-sin[
(k,
+ia)L,]'

(20c)

withk=K2- kj2.
We couldrewrite the solutiongiven by Eq. (19) in the
conventional
exponential
form:
3877 d.Acoust.
Soc.Am.,Vol.97, No.6, June1995

E. Case

(25)

three

The case of the inhomogeneous,

lossy medium with a
vibrationsource:Again we beginwith a rectanglewith dimension
L aX L b. On theboundaries
x = 0, y - 0, andy = Lt,,
the boundaryconditionis =0. The fourthboundaryx= L,
satisfies=e 0exp(iwot)sin(ky). % is a real constant.The
materialis 1ossy.The stiffnessof the inhomogeneous
areais

Eoq-E' withdimension
L x L (assumed
small),whichis
locatedat (x 0,y0).
Solution:Combiningthe1ossytermof Eq. (17) with the
inhomogeneous
wave equation(14) produces

02/5

oj

--=0

V2:-C(I+y(x))
0t2 pC(l+y(x))
clt

(26)

(with wop/R= Qo, whichis the Q factorof the systemat

Assuming the
sinusoidal time
dependence
= exp(iwot), the equationabovebecomes
K2

iK 2

V2+
[1+T(x)]
- Qo[1
+(x)]
=0,

(27)

whereK= wolCo and Qo= wop/R.

Withoutchangingthe equationabove,we rewriteit as
Gaget aL:Songelasticity
imaging3877

iK

K(x)

iK

with

7(x)

V2+
K2-o --=
1+7(x----
- Q-1+y(x
' (28)

Ceq-LaLb
4 J0
CL
J0
t'Lb
K2"x)[
I1- oo
i)

Denoting
andrecallingthedefinition
of y(x) givenby Eq. (13), we summarize
the behaviorof

171(1
+y),inthearea
L'L;around
(xo,Y0),
(x)=[0, everywhere
else.
(29)

Splitting into incidentand scatteredwaves,

= ,+ s.

(30)

X i sin(kex)sin(kqy)dx
dy.

As /3(x) is zero exceptin the smallareaLL around

(x0,Y0), we assumethat andthe two sinusoidal
functions
are essentiallyconstantover this smallregionof integration.
As a preliminaryapproximation,we usetheir valuesat the
point (xo,Y0) to carry out the integration.So the integral
becomes

wherei stands
for theincidentwaveand for thescattered
wave.i satisfies
thehomogeneous
1ossy
waveequation(18),
whichwe rewritefor the sakeof emphasis

V2iq-K2i- (iK2/Qo)i = 0.

(31)

Substituting
Eqs. (30) and (31) into Eq. (26), the latterbecomes

Vs+K

(37)

Ceq-L,Lb l-y 1-

i(xo,Yo)

X sin(kexo)sin(kqyo)
,

(38)

where i(x0,Y0) representsthe value of at the point

(x0 ,Y0)We havetheexpression
of i givenby Eq. (22) in case

two,soCeqis known.SettingLHS=RHS,expressions
for
AeqandBeeareproduced:

_i

As/(x) is zeroeverywhere,
exceptaround(x0,yo) whereit
is 3//(1+y), we may assumethatthe scattered
waveis much
smallerthanthe incidentwave: i, anddiscardthe term

Aeq=
oLL,1+ sin(kjY)
2

K [(K - ke- kq)G(Xo,Yo)

- (K2/Qo)
H'(xo,Yo)]

/(x)K2(
1-i/Qo) s. [Thisisanalogous
totheBornapproxi-

mationfor longitudinal
wavescauedng(Morseand Ingard,
1968).] This resultsin

F[(K
2_kp2 kq)
22q-(K2IQo)2]

x sin(kex
o)sin(kqy
0),

(39a)

2 iK2
s=
,(x)K2(
l-00)
,. (33)Be=oLLt,1+ sin(kjY)
Equation(33) is the governingequationfor shearwave
propagation
in a 1ossy,inhomogeneous,
elasticmediumun-

der the "sonoelasticBorn approximation."Case two gives

the solutionof the incidentwave, with the sameboundary

conditions
definedasabove.So ourproblemnowis to obtain
the solutionof the scatteredwave ,.
As = i+ s, s shouldhave the following boundary
condition:on all four boundaries,, = 0. With thisboundary
condition,we knowthatthe solutionof s canbe completely
determinedby the followingseriesexpansion:

K [(K - ke- kq)H(xo,yo)

+ (K2/Qo)G'(xo,Yo)
F[(K2- ke
2- kq2)
+ (K2/Qo)2]
sin(kexo)sin(kqYo),
with

H(xo,Yo)

G'(xo
,Yo)
=G(xo,Yo)
+ Qo '
G(xo,Yo)
H'(xo,Yo)=H(xo,Yo)- -Qo

= (Avq+
iBvq)sin(kex)sin(kqy), (34)
pq

whereke=p'n'lL
a, kq=qrlLb,andp andq areintegers.
Substituting
the , givenby Eq. (34) intotheleft-hand
sideof Eq. (33), we have

[ 2

(39b)

(40a)

(40b)

G(xo,Yo) andH(x o,yo) representthe valueof G and H at

the point (x o,yo). The expression
of G, H, and F are given

in casetwo by Eq. (23).

So we havethesolutionfor , andalsothatfor i given
by Eq. (22):

2 iK2\

,= (Avq+
iBvq)sin(kr,
x)sin(kqy
),

pq

(41)

pq

Xsin(kex)
sin(kqy).

(35)

Expandtheright-hand
sideof Eq. (33) intoa seriesalso:

i = 0 sin(kjy)[(G+ iH)I2F].

(42)

The total wave will be

RHS=K2,(x)(10),=
Ceq
sin(kx)sin(keY),
= ( + )exp( iwot).

(36)

3878 J. Acoust.Soc.Am.,Vol.97, No.6, June1995

(43)

Only the real partof the solutionis of interest,whichis

Gaoet al.:Sonoelasticity
imaging 3878

I
L

=0

-Srr11
width

J=l

J=2

J=3

J=l

J=2

J-3

Gaussian s3urce

.
exp(iWot)cp(-(y
_t_),
%=0

F{G. 1. Boundaryconditionsof case four, where a Gaussianvibration

sourceis appliedto a two-dimensional
object.
Gaussian function

G
+ Apq
sin(kpx)sin(kqy))
cos(woO

Re()=e0sin(k/y)

FIG. 2. Comparison
of thefunctionsthatareusedto compose
theGaussian
SOUrCe.

pq

tain the solutionfor each sinusoidalcomponent,and then

apply superposition.
In this case, we may decomposethe

- e0sin(k/y)

Gaussian function

into

+ Bpq
sin(kvx)sin(kqy))
sin(woO.
(44)

Pq

Also of interestis the amplitudeof the vibration,

C/sin

J,r

Jrr

y +Di COS y .

(46)

Y=0

If the Gaussianis centeredon the midpointy = Lb/2, and is

assumedto approachzero at the extremesof the rectangle,
thenwe coulddecompose
that Gaussianonly into sinefunc-

AmpRe(O
= eosin(k/y)
2F

tions(referto Fig. 2):

qZApq
sin(ktrr)sin(kqy)
)2
exp[-(Y---)2
/2(otL,'2l--j=o
CjSin('-
Y
)
.
+ eosin(k/y)
2F
H
pq

J'rr

(47)

\ 21112

C/is given by

(45)

qZ Bpq
sin(kpx)gin(kqy))
].
pq

Cs=L
fsin(Y)

I-. Case four

The case of the inhomogeneous,

1ossymedium with
Gaussian
source(shownin Fig. 1): Basedon casethree,we
model the vibration source as Gaussian extended source,

whichis moreplausiblefor someexperimentalsetups.

We have a rectanglewith dimensionLXL o. On the
boundaries
x TM
0, y = 0, and y = Lo, the boundarycondition

is

=0.

The

fourth boundary x=La

Changingthe integralvariabley-L12-,y,

satisfies

(49)

=% exp(iwot)exp[(y-Lo12)2/2(otLb)21.
otis a small
number (no more than 0.11), so the sourceis a small width
Gaussian.e0 is a real constant.The material is 1ossy.The

inhomogeneous
areais around(x 0,y0).
Solution:The approachis to decompose
the Gaussian
boundary
conditionintoa sinusoidal
boundarycondition,ob3879 J. Acoust.Soc.Am.,Vol.97, No.6, June1995

the aboveequa-

tion becomes

As a is assumedto be no more than 0.11, the exponentialin

theintegralgoesalmostto zeroat y = z L/2, andit becomes

evensmaller
when[y[>Ld2. Soasa reasonable
approximation, we could extend the limit to too with little effect on the

value of C/:
Gao et aL:Sohoelasticity
imaging 3879

For the sakeof emphasis,we rewrite the decomposition

Jr __)
]exp(
(.0)
2 2)
dy
'

equation(47) here:

(50)

Now thisis in theform of a knownintegration

(Gradshteyn
andRyzhik,1965):

_o
sin(p
(x+b))exp(
-q2x2)dx
'fsin(p
b)exp
(3) .
q

=oexp(iwot)
C2J-I
sin['0 Y'

(51)Casethreegivesthe solutionwhen the sourceterm is a sine

functioneo exp(iwot)sin[(JrrlL)y]. So the solutionfor the
Gaussiansourceis easilyobtainedby addingup the results
of thosesinefunctions,weightedby the coefficientCj. Using Eq. (43), our final solutionis

So the expression
of Cj is

Note that Cj is 0 for J = 0,2,4..... That is easilyunderstood

by analyzingthe symmetryproperty.Our Gaussianfunction
is evensymmetricwith respectto the pointy = Lol2, so we
expect the odd-symmetriccomponentsto be zero. Please

=exp(iw0t
) C2s((2J-)i+ {(2J)).

(54)

J=l

Here {2J-)/ meansthe incidentwave of the (2J-1)th

component,
and(2J-l)sthescattered
waveof the(2J- 1)th

note that

CO

(53)

J=l

as j-oo

component.The expressionsbelow also containthe index

(2J-1 ), and it is understoodas indicatingthe (2J-1 )th

and the decay is squareexponential,which providesrapid

convergence.
So in computersimulation,we couldtruncate
the series(47) at a reasonable

component.

Only the real part is the solution,which is

Re()=cos(w0t)
C2j-Ie0sin(k2j-ly)
2F2j_i
--I A(2
J_
l)pq
sin(k(2j_
opx)sin(k(2j
!)qY))
J=l

pq

-sin(wot)
2Fe_
C_(eosin(k2-Y)
-H2jl-1 B(2J1)pq
sin(k(2j!)t
x)sin(k(2
J_
1)qY
))Jl

(55)

pq

The amplitudeis given by

(56)

G. Examples
To visualize the vibration solutions derived above, we

simulatedsomesolutionsto the differentcases(referto Fig.

3). The first threeare for the caseof a homogeneous,
lossy
medium with a Gaussian source. The last three are the case

of aninhomogeneous,
lossymediumwitha Gaussian
source,
usingthe sameparameters
as the first three,exceptfor the
inclusionof a discreteinhomogeneity.The parametersare
selectedto coincidewith phantomexperimentsgiven in Sec.
II of this paper.

A rectangle
withdimensions
L,,XLo=5 cmX4.5cm is
considered.On the boundariesx= 0, y = 0, and y---L, the

boundary
conditionis =0. The fourthboundary
x=La sat-

3880 J.Acoust.
Soc.Am.,Vol.97,No.6,June1995

isfies=eoexp(iwot)exp[-(y-Lo/2)2/2(aL,)2],
where
or=0.06.The mediumis 1ossy,
whereQo of thesystemis 4.0.

The speedof sound,C0, is setto 3.79 m/s(Huang,1990).

For the inhomogeneous
case,the inhomogeneityis locatedat

x= 1.9 cm,y=3.3 cm, andit hasa areaofL,L o, whichis

0.013of LaL . Thetumorstiffness

E is8 E0, thestiffhess
of the surroundingtissue.The sourcefrequenciesare 60,
100, and 200 Hz, respectively.
For the homogeneous
cases,the simpleeigenmodesare

clearlyseento be a functionof frequency,

andthedamping

results
in a lossof amplitude
awayfromthesource
(onthe
right-hand
side).We couldseeveryclearlythatfor theinhomogeneous
cases,
the"tumor"regionhasa localized
dismrGaoetal.:Sohoelasticity
imaging3880

I0000
0100
2)
5OOO

0o

(d)

(e)

tO

3004...,. >"'4

=
Excltatton
mode

500

FIG. 3. Shearwave vibration(amplitude)in a 1ossyelasticmediumwith

Gaussian
soume.Vibrationis appliedat theright-handboundary.
(a)-(c) are
the modalpatternsin a homogeneous
medium,with the vibrationfrequenciesof 60, 100,and200 Hz, respectively.
(d)-(f) are vibrationsin a similar
mediumwith a hard tumor(discreteinhomogeneity)
locatedin the lower
middleregion.This inhomogeneous
mediumis vibratedat the samethree
frequencies
as in the homogeneous
examples.Note the distinctcirculardefect producedby the tumon

bancein the vibrationpattern,as comparedwith the correspondinghomogeneouscase.

Frequency(Hz)

FIG. 4. Energycurveshowing
theti'equency
response
of a 1ossy,
homogeneous elastic medium with difl'erent source excitation modes.

glycol,70 g of gelatin, 100 g of glycerol,100 g of formalin,

and 10 g of bariumsulfate.A gel phantom(1.5% agar,1.5%

gelatin,0.1%bariumsulfate)wasusedfor thesecond
experiment.A hardergel tube(3% agra;3% gelatin,0.1% barium
sulfate)wasburiedin the phantomas the inhomogeneity.
The Young'smodulusof the hardgel tubewas about4 that

of thephantom
(Huang,1990).Thediameter
of thehtrdgel

H. Energy curve

tubewas0.6 cm. Figure5 showsa .sketch

of the inhomoge-

To gain a betterunderstanding
of the systemresponse
underdifferentsourcefrequenciesand boundaryconditions,
we also plotted the so-calledenergyor frequencyresponse

neousphantom.

A sketchof theexperimentsetupis drawnin Fig. 6. The

ultrasoundtransducer;
a linear array 7.5 MHz (L738) from

curve.

Acuson(MountainView, CA), was positioned

at 45 with
respect
to thetop(Y= 0 cm plane)boundary,
andsowasable
to detectthe vibrationsof the X-Y planealong the Z axis.
(25), we plottedthe sum of amplitudesquaredversusthe The vibrationwas appliedby a minishakertype4810 (Br/.iel
sourcefrequencyf0 (f0 = w0/2'n'), andtheexcitationmodeJ
& Kjer, Denmark)from the sideof the phantom(theX= 5
that controls kj [and the boundary condition cm facein Fig. 6). The vibrationdirectionwasalongtheZ
=e 0 exp(iwot)sin(kjy)]. The modelis takenfrom casetwo,
axis. The diameter of the tip of the vibrator was about 0.5
where a homogeneousrectangleL aXLb=5 cmX6 cm, on
cm, and the contactareaextended2 cm in the Z axis. Rigid
boundariesx=0, y=0, and y=L b, the displacementsc is
surfacescoveredthe phantomto ensurea rigid boundary
zero. On the fourth boundary x = L,,,
= eo
condition,exceptfor the locationof the imagingtJansducer
Xexp(iwot)sin(kjy). The material 1ossyfactor is 4.0.
(centerof Y = 0 cm plane)andthevibrationsource(centerof
The resultsare given in Fig. 4 for constantdisplacement X--5 cm plane).The amplifierwasa poweramplifiertype
e0 of the source.This demonstrates
that the largestresponse 2706 (Brel & Kjar, Denmark).
The energyof the vibratingsystemis proportionalto the
sumof the squareof the amplitudeat everypoint.UsingEq.

is obtained from the lowest order modes, where the fre-

quency and sourceshape]natch the natural eigenmodeof

that eigenfrequency.At the higher frequencies,the loss
mechanismsdamp the total energyand the response.
II. EXPERIMENTS

AND

COMPUTER

SIMULATIONS

The real-time images on the Acuson machine are con-

venttonalB-scan,but with the additionof speciallymodified

greenscaleoverlay.The greenscalerepresentsthe standard
Inhomogeneity
tube

A. Phantom experiments

Phanto]nswere used to study the possibilityof tumor

detectionby sonoelasticity.
As the theory given earlier is two
dimensional,we constructedlong rectangularphantoms.The
dimensionof the phantomwas about 5 cm5 cmX30 cm

(widthXheightXlength).
Two kinds of experimentswere
conducted.The first employeda homogeneous
phantom;the
secondincludedan inhomogeneity.The homogeneousphantom was consttuctedusing500 g of water,500 g of ethylene
3881 J. Acoust.Soc.Am., Vol.97, No. 6, June 1995

FIG. 5. Inhomogeneous
phantom.

Gao et aL:Sohoelasticity
imaging 3881

Fig. 8). Notice tile black middleupperpart is just wherethe

inhomogeneity
was located,and that regionshowsa visible
deficit of vibration.

0ZX45

B. Computer simulations

To check tile validity of our theory,compntersimulationswere comparedwith the experimenlresults.The vibration plungerfor the experimentwas cone shaped;however;
in computersimulationsthe boundaryconditionfor that
boundarywas approximatedas a Gaussiansource.We assume this GaussiansourcefitIls essentiallyto zero at the
ends.The other three boundariesare rigid. The idea is demonstratedin Fig. I.

Dop

Irna

nstru

1. Homogeneous case
FIG. 6. Sketchof the experimentsetup.

deviationof spreadof Doppler spectrum,theoreticallyrelatedto vibrationamplitude(Huang,1990).For anypointon

the image,if thegreenis on, it meansthatthe vibrationthere

is abovethreshold;if the greenis off (normalspeckle),it

meansthat the vibrationat that positionis below threshold,
which is approximately0.02-mm displacement.Also, the
brightness
of the greenscaleis proportionalto the amplitude
of the vibration.For printing reproducibility,we converted
the greenimagesto black and white imagesfor all the experiment resultsshown with normal B-scan specklesup-

pressed
(loweredto darkgrayvalues).Thusthebrightness
of
the gray scaleis proportionalto the amplitudeof the vibration. Somefilteringwith a small kernelhas beenappliedto
removesmall artifactsdue to noise.This gives a similar impressionas watchinga real-time image, where the noise
tendsto be averagedover sequentialframes.
For the homogeneous
phantom,the resultsof threedifIErentvibrationfrequencies,
59, 83, and 191 Hz, are givenin

Fig. 7. Clearlythe 59-Hz excitationproduces

a 1:1 [node
modal pattern;the 83-Hz excitationproducesa 2:1 mode
modal pattern;the 191-Hz vibrationresultsin finer mode

The theory of tile casetwo, a homogeneous,1ossymedium, was used to calculatethe vib,-ationpatternsfor the
homogeneous
casestudy.
As the dimensionsof onr homogencous
phantomwere

5.1 cmX4.5 cmX30 cm (widthX heightlength),soL,= 5. I

cm and L/,=4.5 cm. The lossyfitclot'Q0 wasempiricallyset
to 6.0. The speedof soundwas set to 2.8 m/s, similar to the
measured
valuesfoundby Hnang(1990).As the diameterof
the tip of the vibration sourcewas about 0.5 cm, and the
homogeneous
phantomhad a width of 4.5 cm, the Gaussian
sourcehalf-widthparametercr was set to 0.5/4.5=0.11 (see
case fot,t in Sec. I for the definition of o0. The resultsof the

simulationat threedifferentsonrcefrequenciesare shownin

Fig. 9. These modal patternsdemonstrate
a reasonablecorrespondence
to thosefrom the experimentin Fig. 7 over the
vibrationfrequencyrangeof 59-191 Hz.
2. Inhomogeneous case

The theory of case four, an inhomogeneous,1ossymedium, was nsed to calculatethe vibration patternsfor the
inhonogeneous
phantomstudy.
As the dimensionsof our inhomogeneot,s
phantomwere

5.1 cruX5.0cruX30csn(widthXheightXlength),
soL,,=5.1

modal pattern.

cm and Lt,=5.0 cm. The diameterof the inhomogeneity

For the inhomogeneous

phantom,we show the images
of two differentvibrationfrequencies:
37 and 201 Hz (see

tubewas0.6 cm, so the tnmorareaLjL/,[definedin Eqs.

{a}

(38)and(39)'[was0.283cm2.Theinho,nogeneity
location

(b)

(c}

t'IG. 7. Homogeneous
phantom
xibration
pattern.
Thesource
vibration
is located
ontheright-hand
sideof Iheimages.
Source
vibralion
frequency
(a) 59.
(b) 83. and (c) 191 Hz.

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J. Acoust.Sec. Am., Vol. 97, No. 6, June 1995

Gee ot aL: Sohoelasticityimaging 3882

C. Energy curve
In the phantomexperiments,we varied the vibration fre-

quencyfrom 20 to 400 Hz, while keepingthe amplitudeof

the vibration source constant. We noticed that the vibration

responseof the phantomwas frequencydependent.

At some
frequencies,
the phantomshowedgreaterresponse
to the applied vibration,producingan increasein the brightnessand
extentof the greenscaleoverlay.hi a hontogeneous
phantom
the two strongestresponsepeaks were observedat source

frequencies
of 37 and 56 Hz. Referringto the energycurve
subsectionof Sec. I, we calculatedthe theoreticalenergy
responsefor the conditionsof this experiment.Figure 11
showsthe energycurvefor the casewhereL, = 5.1 cm and
Lt,= 5.0 cm; the 1ossyfactoris Q0=3, the speedof soundis
2.8 m/s, and the Gaussiansourcehalf-widthparametero is
0.1. We can seethat the highesttwo peaksare predictedto be
at 35 and 59 Hz, which closely matchesthe two peaksobservedin the experiment.

FIG. 8. Inhomogeneousphantomvibrationpattern.The sourcevibration is

locatedon the right-handsideof the images.The inhomogeneityis located
tin the middleupperprat of lhe images,which showslittle or no vibration

(blackarea).Sourcevibrationfrequencyis (a) 37 and (b) 201 Hz.

(xo,Y0)was(3.0 cm,2.3 cm).As theYoung'sntodulus

of the
inhomogeneity
was4X thatof thephantom,the y in Eq. (13)

D. Applications to in vivo imaging

was 3. The 1ossyfactor Q0 was empirically set to 3.0. The

speedof soundwas set to 2.8 m/s, and the Gaussiansource

widthparameter
a wassetto 0.1. Equation(56) wasusedto
generatethe vibrationamplitude.Notice that in Eq. (56)

To furtherexaminethe ability of our theory,we conducteda liver scan experimenton a volunteerfrom whom
informedconsenthad beenobtained.Low-fi'equency(about

there are summationsover p and q. These serieswere trun-

20 Hz) vibrationwasappliedto therightsideof the midab-

catedatp=q=30. Looking
at theexpressions
forApqand domen. The vibration was conducted into the liver. The viBt,q givenbyEq.(39),thedenominators
areproportional
to bration of the liver was sensedby a 3.5-MHz ultrasound
thefourthpowerof k andkq, andthenumerators
arepro- transducer(V328) fi'ontAct,son (MountainView, CA). The
portional
to thesquare
of kpandkq.Whenp andq arelarge vibrationimageis shownin Fig. 12, wherethe sensitivityof

enough
sothatkpandkq>>K;
also,
k2andk>;>
1,wecould
treatAq andBpqaszero.In ourcase,K is alwayslessthan
660,whilek/, andkqatearound1800,whenp=q=30; also

the color intagingsystemwas turneddown so as to eliminate

breathingand cardiac motion color.

The simulationmodel for the liver used the homogeneous

model,casetwo in Sec. I, with a Gaussiansource.
k andk aregreater
than106,
soitisreasonable
toapproxiwas
taken
to be 30 cm, and L,, was 10 cm. The 1ossyfactor
mateAvt andBq aszerowhenp andq areabove30.
The theoreticalresultsare shownin Fig. 10 for the same
Q0 wasempiricallysetto 3.0. The speedof soundwas setto
two fiequenciesas usedin the Fig. 8 experiment.The inho2.8 m/s. The Gaussiansourcehalf-widthparameterowas set
mogeneityappearsas a dark region, which indicateslow
to 0.1. The simulationresultis shownin Fig. 13. Although
vibration amplitude.The patternsare similar to thoseshown
this modelneglectsthe layeredabdominalwall, the irregulmliver shape,and ill-posed boundaries,comparingthe results
in the experiments.

[a}

(b)

(c)

FIG. 9. Theoreticalhomogeneous
vibrationpattern.The sourcevibrationis locatedon theright-handsideo[ theimages.Sourcevibrationrequency
is (a) 59.
(b) 83, and (c) 191 Hz.

3883

J. Acoust.Soc. Am., Vol. 97, No. 6, June 1995

Gao et al.: Sohoelasticityimaging 3883

lqG. 10. Theoreticalinhomogeneous

vibrationpattern.The soumevibration
is locatedon the right-handside of the images.The inhomogeneityis located on the middle upper part of the images.,which shows little or no

vibration(blackarea).Soumevibrationfrequencyis (a) 37 and(b) 2(}1 Hz.

with Fig. 12, the patternsare similar and display simple

modalpatternsthat are indicativeof vibrationwithin a relatively homogeneous
medium.
III. CONCLUSION

A basic model for sonoelasticityimaging is presented,

usinga "sonoelasticBorn approximation"for shearwavesin
tissuewith a small stiff tumor. Solutionsare presentedfor
two-dimensionalcaseswith regular geometries.The results
are encouragingfor successful
explorationand clinical application of sonoelasticityimaging. First, for the geometries
and parametersgiven above, "tumors" with area as small as
0.005 of the surroundingtissueare detectablein ideal imaging circumstances
assumingthe tumorstiffnessis at leasta
factorof 3 timesgreaterthan the surrounding"tissue."That
is, the presenceof the small tumor producesan approximate
20% drop in vibrationamplitude.This is easily detectablein

FIG. 12. Liver scanexperiment.The oriematlonof the ,canis suchthat the

anteriorabdominalmusclesare locatedat the top of the image, the diaphragm at the boUom. Image ,h.ws only regime,,of vibution ithin the
right I.be .f a normallive.

the "ideal" case where quanti/ation noise from an 8-bit imaging systemis the dominantnoise.This assumptionis well

justifiedby previousstudiessucha Parkeret al. (1990) and

Huang(1990). This impliesthat,underidealimagingconditions,a 3-mm stiff tumor can be visualizedin a 5-cm organ
such as the prostate.Second,the "energy curve" showsthat

low-ordermodes(whichare easyto visuali/eand interpret)

are easily producedby simple sonrces.Higher-orderntodes
are more damped but have a very regular responseover a
rangeof frequencies.Both feattu'esmay be t,seful in characterizingpropertiesof the breast,liver and otherorgansusing
SOhOelasticity
imaging.
Sonoelasticityimagingwas performedon phantomsand
liver in vivo. Resultswere comparedagaiuq theoreticalpredictions.The theory was found to satisfactorilypredict the
essentiallatures of sonoelasticityimaging. These include

o
o

Frequency
FIG. I I. Theoreticalenergycurve.The first two peaks(35 and 59 Hz.
indicatedby the arrows)wereobservedin experiment.

3884

d. Acoust.Soc. Am., Vol. 97, No. 6, June 1995

FIG. 13. Liver scan simulationusiug our theory tbr a homogeneous.

bounded

medium

with a Gaussian

vibratkm

stmrce.

Gao et al.: Sohoelasticityimaging 3884

the productionof large well coupledmodesat low vibration

frequencies.
Also, the disturbance
producedby a discretein-

homogeneity
is confirmedby theoryand experiments.
The
whole liver has sufficientlyhomogeneous
regionsthat can
exhibit broad, low-frequencymodal patterns.Bol:htheory
and phantomexperimentsmight be usefulin optimizingvibrationand imagingsystemssuchthat small, discrete,hard
tumorscan be routinelyidentifiedin clinicalapplicationsof
SOhOelasticity
imaging.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authorsgainedinsightfromdiscussions
with Prores~
sot R. Waag, Dr. D. Rubens,and Dr. S. Huang. Loan of
equipmentfrom Acuson is gratefully acknowledged.The
work was supportedin part by the Departmentof Electrical
Engineering,Universityof Rochester,and the NSF Center
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