Ultrasound in

diagnostics and
therapy
Ultrasonic waves in water approach an aluminium cylinder
Periodic motion causes pressure waves
Sound propagation parameters

T Period (sec) Frequency

Frequency==ff==1/T
1/T

λ Wavelength (mm) Velocity==λλ/T

Velocity /T==λλ*f*f

high pressure low pressure

Transducers produce sound:

piezo-electric crystal
- + + ++ ++ + ++
+
- -- -- -- -- - -
+
- + + ++ ++ +
+
+ ++
- +
-- -- -- -- - -
- +
+ + ++ ++ +
+ ++
- +
-- -- -- -- - -
- +
+ + ++ ++ +
+ ++
- +
-- -- -- -- - -
- + Applied
Appliedvoltage
voltage
- + induces
inducesexpansion.
expansion.
Transducers detect sound:

piezo-electric crystal
+ + + ++ ++ + ++
-
+ -- -- -- -- - -
-
+ + + ++ ++ +
-
+ ++
+ -
-- -- -- -- - -
+ - pressure
+ + ++ ++ +
+ ++
+ -
-- -- -- -- - -
+ -
+ + ++ ++ +
+ ++
+ -
-- -- -- -- - -
+ - Applied
Appliedpressure
pressure
+ - induces
inducesvoltage.
voltage.
Pulse-echo principle

2t
t

transducer
target
Delay
Delaytime,
time,TT==2t
2t
D=(v)(t)
D=(v)(t)
DD==vT/2
vT/2
Ultrasound Transducers

Can be used both to transmit & receive ultrasound

Coaxial cable
Transducer housing
Acoustic absorber
Backing block
Electrodes
Piezoelectric crystal
Matching layer
 Acoustic pulse production

high-Q transducer

electrical pulse

low-Q transducer

electrical pulse
Acoustic pulse production

‹A medical transducer produces a “characteristic”

frequency.
‹ For each electrical impulse, a pulse “train” that
consists of N sinusiodal cycles is produced.
‹ The “Q” of a transducer is a measure of the
number of cycles in a pulse train.
High- versus low-Q transducers

‹ High-Q transducers
– High intensity
– Long-duration pulse “train”
‹ Low-Q transducers
– Lower intensity
– Shorter-duration pulse train
Ultrasound definition

Infrasound < 15 Hz
15 < Sound < 20 kHz
Ultrasound> 20kHz
2 MHz < Medical ultrasound<20 MHz
Internal local use about 50 MHz
 Velocity of Sound

‹ Velocity of sound is an important parameter

‹ Two material qualities decide the velocity
– bulk modulus, B and density, ρ
‹ Bulk modulus (compressibility) is defined as
– ratio of increase in pressure to a change in volume
– units are N/m2
» Air, B = 1.5×105 N m-2, ρ = 1.27 kg m-3
‹ v = 345 m s-1 ( at room temperature & pressure)
» Water, B = 2.05×109 N m-2, ρ = 1×103 kg m-3
‹ v = 1432 m s-1 ( at room temperature & pressure)
Ultrasound propagation properties

‹ Velocity of sound in “soft tissue” is

nearly constant = 1500 m/sec.
‹ Velocity of sound in bone and air
differ greatly from soft tissue.
‹ Velocity = Frequency x Wavelength
‹ “Ultra”sound implies f > 1 MHz
‹ Wavelength = Velocity/Frequency
‹ Wavelength < 1.5 mm
 Speed of sound in different materials

dry Perspex
air gelatine (10%)
tooth brass steel
natural rubber
bone glass
lung gall stone

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000

speed of sound (ms-1)
skin
muscle
brain
saline
water blood eye lens tendon
fat
Sound Intensity & Attenuation

‹ Intensity
of a wave:
– Energy per unit time per unit area
» Units: Wm-2; Symbol: I
‹ Sound is scattered & absorbed by matter
– Reduction in intensity called attenuation
– change in intensity ∝ distance × intensity
≈ µ = attenuation constant, dependent on material

∆I = −µI∆x
Attenuation of Sound

− µx
Io
Integrating gives:
Io is the original intensity I = I oe
µ
Intensity

g
sin
rea
ec
D

D istance
Attenuation Coefficient
‹ Attenuationof sound is usually expressed as decibel (dB)
‹ Change in decibels (dB) is defined as: 10 log10 ⎛⎜ I ⎞⎟
⎝ Io ⎠

‹
I = e − µx
Io

‹ log(I/Io) = -µx * log(e)

‹ 10* log(I/Io) = -µx * 10 * log(e) = -µx *4.343

Attenuation coeff. in dB/m (α) = 4.343 µ (m-1)

Attenuation against Frequency

1000
Attenuation Coefficient (dBm-1)

ng
air
100
lu skin

tis
en in
tes
le b
sp
10 l o
og
m
ae

r
te
H
1. wa
0

0.
1 1.0 10 100 1000
Frequency (MHz)
Safety Issues

‹ High intensity ultrasound causes heating

‹ Could damage body tissues
– Diagnostic ultrasound always used at low
intensities
100
Intensity (W/cm2)

10
“Potentially harmful zone”
1 “Safe zone”
0.1
Diagnostic Ultrasound levels
0.01 Exposure time (seconds)
1 10 100 1,000 10,000
Time of exposure (s)
Lithotripsy - to remove kidney stones by ultrasound
 Scattering of Ultrasound

Attenuation made up from:

absorption (heating)
scattering
depends on relative size of particle (a) wavelength (λ)

Scale of Frequency Scattering Examples

Interaction Dependence Strength
a >> λ f 0=1 (no Diaphragm, large
geometrical dependence) Strong vessels, soft
region tissue/bone, cysts
a~λ Predominates for
Stochastic variable Moderate most structures
region
a << λ f4 Weak Blood
Reflection

Z1 = ρ1v1 Z2 = ρ2v2

1
T =1-R
R

Z = acoustic impedance
Z=ρv
2
R = [(Z1-Z2)/(Z1+Z2)]
Acoustic Impedances

Material Impedance, Z
(kg m-2 s-1)
Air 0.0004 × 106
Blood 1.61× 106
Brain 1.58× 106
Fat 1.38× 106
Human soft tissue 1.63× 106
Kidney 1.62× 106
Liver 1.65× 106
Muscle 1.70× 106
Skull Bone 7.80× 106
Water 1.48× 106
Reflection: fat/kidney

Zfat = 1.38 Zkidney = 1.62

1
.934
.064
Reflection: muscle/air

Zmuscle = 1.70 Zair = 0.0004

1
.001
.999
Ultrasound reflection properties

‹ Acoustic energy is reflected at interfaces between

tissues with differing acoustic impedances (Z).
‹ Acoustic impedance = product of velocity of
sound (v) and physical density (ρ).
‹ The unit of acoustic impedance is the “Rayl.”
‹ Strength of acoustic reflection increases as
difference in Z increases.
‹ For soft-tissue/air, soft-tissue/bone and bone/air
interfaces, almost total reflection occurs.
Transmission

velocity = v decreased velocity

Frequency is unchanged during propagation.

Therefore, wavelength must change as velocity of medium changes.
Transmission: muscle/fat

vmuscle = 1585 m/s vfat = 1450 m/s

10% Change in wavelength

Refraction

reflected
refracted

incident

Angle of incidence = angle of reflection.

Refracted wave changes direction.
 Geometrical region (a>>λ)

Sound reflected & refracted like light

Ðlaws of reflection
& refraction hold
θi θ
θi = θ r
r
sound velocity = v1
sound velocity = v2 sin θi v 1
=
θt sin θr v 2
Doppler effect
Stationary Source

Moving Source

Decreased wavelength
Increased frequency
 Doppler Ultrasound

‹ Waves reflected off moving surfaces have changed

frequency
– fractional change ∝ velocity

» vsurface= velocity of surface

» v = velocity of sound
» fs = frequency of source
» ∆f = change in frequency
‹ Measuring frequency of returned signal gives
velocity
Doppler effect

‹ Moving source of sound changes perceived

wavelength (frequency).
‹ Shift in frequency is termed “Doppler shift.”
‹ Change in frequency = 2f(S/v)cosθ.
– f = frequency
– S = source velocity
– v = velocity of sound
– θ = angle between “view” direction and
direction of motion.
Doppler Ultrasound

‹ Used to monitor heartbeats, blood flow, etc.

‹ Can produce images showing motion
– i.e. Imaging beating heart
Pulse-echo principle
‹A short pulse is send out, and the time for the
return pulses is measured
– called A-scan
transmitter/ Original pulse
Echoes
receiver

Amplitude
A B C

B
Time ( depth )
C
Depth (axial) resolution

2d

transducer
tw
d

To
Toresolve
resolvedistance,
distance,d,d,
vtvtw<2d
w<2d
 Frequency and Resolution (axial resolution)

This is for linear array transducers with parallel beams

MHz Axial resolution Lateral resolution Wave length (mm)

3.0 1.1 mm 2.8 mm 0.5

4.0 0.8 mm 1.5 mm 0.375
5.0 0.6 mm 1.2 mm 0.3
7.5 0.4 mm 1.0 mm 0.2
10.0 0.3 mm 1.0 mm 0.15
For harmonic imaging the input frequency doubles the output frequency
(it works just for low frequencies)
Axial resolution

‹ “Axial” resolution is defined as the ability to

distinguish between two objects along the axis of
the sound beam.
‹ For a given frequency, axial resolution improves
as Q decreases.
‹ For a given Q, axial resolution improves with
increasing transducer frequency.
Transducer beam shape

2r
angle = λ/2r

Fresnel Zone Fraunhoffer Zone

r2/λ
r2f/v
Small versus large transducer
High versus low frequency

low frequency

high frequency
Time-gain compensation

transducer
target

Attenuation
Attenuationof
ofsoundwave
soundwave(dB)(dB)
isisapproximatley
approximatleyproportional
proportionaltoto
distance
distance(delay
(delaytime).
time).
Focused transducer
unfocused
transducer

focused transducer
Electronic focusing

virtual transducer surface

transducer
array
B-mode scan

target
Multi-element Transducers
‹ Ultrasound focused
– time of arrival of pulse at each transducer gives
direction. Called a B-scan
Electrical pulse

variable D D D D D D D D D
delays 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
transducer
array

Focused Wavefront
 Two Dimensional Imaging
‹ Using multi-element array, 2-D image can be
constructed - called B mode imaging
X
B mode
imaging system

X Y
Transducer
array

Y Computer display
3D - Ultrasound
3D - Ultrasound
3D - Ultrasound
3D - Ultrasound
3D - Ultrasound
3D - Ultrasound
 Ultrasound and contrast

Contrast agent
A material which, when introduced into blood or tissue, causes one
or more its acoustic properties to change significantly. The most
common of these properties is backscatter coefficient. Intravascular
contrast agents usually comprise microbubbles which increase the
blood echo level and can hence enhance the detectability of blood
flow. Microbubble contrast agents emits harmonics and can be
disrupted by ultrasound, both of which phenomena form the basis of
nonlinear imaging.
ARTIFACTS

2D1=v1*t1 2D2=v1*(D-d) + d*v2 =v1*D + d*(v2-v1)

D-d
v1 v1

v2 d
ARTIFACTS
ARTIFACTS
ARTIFACTS
ARTIFACTS

Electrical pulse

variable D D D D D D D D D
delays 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
transducer
array

Focused Wavefront
ARTIFACTS

To high pulse frequency

Deep echo that take long time to return

will interfere
Ultrasound/Doppler
to look for thrombosis
in the leg
Vascular Ultrasound

Imaging technology

‹ Real time US

‹ Doppler
– continuous wave spectral Doppler
– pulsed wave spectral Doppler
– Color Doppler flow imaging
Contrast and Resolution

Boundaries make echos

Structured materials make echos

Motion/Doppler Shifts

Resolution

Resolution ~ λ = c/f

2 MHz: λ = 740 µ
10 MHz: λ = 150 µ
Doppler effect
Stationary Source

Moving Source

Decreased wavelength
Increased frequency
Doppler Techniques
∆f = v/c initial sound pulse
1.0
0.5
0.0
-0.5
-1.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
time ( µsec)

moving blood cell recieves

1.0
0.5
0.0
-0.5
Reflected frequency 2v/c -1.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
time ( µsec)

moving blood cell reflects

1.0
0.5
0.0
-0.5
-1.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
time ( µsec)
Doppler Techniques

moving listener hears

1.0 1.0
0.5 0.5
0.0 0.0
-0.5 -0.5
-1.0 -1.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
time ( µsec) time ( µsec)

moving listener hears

1.0 1.0
0.5 0.5
0.0 0.0
-0.5 -0.5
-1.0 -1.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
time ( µsec) time ( µsec)

∆f = v/c
 Doppler Ultrasound

‹ Waves reflected off moving surfaces have changed

frequency
– fractional change ∝ velocity

» vsurface= velocity of surface

» v = velocity of sound
» fs = frequency of source
» ∆f = change in frequency
‹ Measuring frequency of returned signal gives
velocity
Doppler effect

‹ Moving source of sound changes perceived

wavelength (frequency).
‹ Shift in frequency is termed “Doppler shift.”
‹ Change in frequency = 2f(S/v)cosθ.
– f = frequency
– S = source velocity
– v = velocity of sound
− θ = angle between “view” direction and
direction of motion.