Assessment of viscous and elastic properties of sub-wavelength layered soft tissues using shear wave spectroscopy: theoretical framework and in vitro experimental validation

In elastography, quantitative imaging of soft tissue elastic properties is provided by local shear wave speed estimation. Shear wave imaging in a homogeneous medium thicker than the shear wavelength is eased by a simple relationship between shear wave speed and local shear modulus. In thin layered organs, the shear wave is guided and thus undergoes dispersive effects. This case is encountered in medical applications such as elastography of skin layers, corneas, or arterial walls. In this work, we proposed and validated shear wave spectroscopy as a method for elastic modulus quantification in such layered tissues. Shear wave dispersion curves in thin layers were obtained by finite-difference simulations and numerical solving of the boundary conditions. In addition, an analytical approximation of the dispersion equation was derived from the leaky Lamb wave theory. In vitro dispersion curves obtained from phantoms were consistent with numerical studies (deviation <1.4%). The least-mean-squares fitting of the dispersion curves enables a quantitative and accurate (error < 5% of the transverse speed) assessment of the elasticity. Dispersion curves were also found to be poorly influenced by shear viscosity. This phenomenon allows independent recovery of the shear modulus and the viscosity, using, respectively, the dispersion curve and the attenuation estimation along the propagation axis.     

Supersonic shear imaging: a new technique for soft tissue elasticity mapping

Supersonic shear imaging (SSI) is a new ultrasound-based technique for real-time visualization of soft tissue viscoelastic properties. Using ultrasonic focused beams, it is possible to remotely generate mechanical vibration sources radiating low-frequency, shear waves inside tissues. Relying on this concept, SSI proposes to create such a source and make it move at a supersonic speed. In analogy with the "sonic boom" created by a supersonic aircraft, the resulting shear waves will interfere constructively along a Mach cone, creating two intense plane shear waves. These waves propagate through the medium and are progressively distorted by tissue heterogeneities. An ultrafast scanner prototype is able to both generate this supersonic source and image (5000 frames/s) the propagation of the resulting shear waves. Using inversion algorithms, the shear elasticity of medium can be mapped quantitatively from this propagation movie. The SSI enables tissue elasticity mapping in less than 20 ms, even in strongly viscous medium like breast. Modalities such as shear compounding are implementable by tilting shear waves in different directions and improving the elasticity estimation. Results validating SSI in heterogeneous phantoms are presented. The first in vivo investigations made on healthy volunteers emphasize the potential clinical applicability of SSI for breast cancer detection.     

识别薄板中兰姆波和体波的阶梯板方法

斜探头在某些频率下激励出的兰姆波,其群速度与体波的传播速度相近,所以通过判断传播速度不易区分出兰姆波和体波。通过数值模拟和实验,分别研究了激励频率为2 MHz的纵波和S0模态兰姆波在阶梯板上的反射特性,发现:在阶梯板上入射S0模态兰姆波时,有反射回波;而入射纵波时,无反射回波。基于这种反射特性的差别,提出了一种利用阶梯板区别薄板中兰姆波和体波的方法,该方法可用于确认探头的激励特性。     

A lamb wave source based on the resonant cavity of phononic-crystal plates

In this paper, we propose a Lamb wave source that is based on the resonant cavity of a phononic-crystal plate. The phononic-crystal plate is composed of tungsten cylinders that form square lattices in a silicon plate, and the resonant cavity is created by arranging defects inside the periodic structure. The dispersion, transmission, and displacement of Lamb waves are analyzed by the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The eigenmodes inside the cavities of the phononic-crystal plate are identified as resonant modes. The fundamental and higher order resonant modes, which vary with the length of cavities, are calculated. By exciting the specific resonant mode in an asymmetric cavity, the 232.40 MHz flexural Lamb wave has a magnified amplitude of 78 times larger than the normal one. Thus, the cavity on the tungsten/ silicon phononic-crystal plate may serve as a source element in a microscale acoustic wave device.     

Elastodynamic guided wave scattering in infinite plates

The scattering of elastic guided waves by defects in two‐dimensional infinite plates is analysed in the plane and antiplane cases, corresponding, respectively, to Lamb and SH modes. A hybrid boundary element–finite element technique is used, where the defect neighbourhood is discretized with quadratic boundary elements and the radiation condition in the plate is satisfied through a normal mode expansion. A semi‐analytical finite element technique is applied in the infinite plate to calculate its dispersion curves and normal modes. This hybrid technique, which showed excellent performance in the solution of Lamb wave reflection at the edge of semi‐infinite plates, is extended in this paper to a wider range of problems, such as Lamb mode scattering by delaminations and surface defects and SH mode interaction with step discontinuities. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

碳纤维增强复合材料层合板Lamb波衰减特性研究

为提取适用于碳纤维增强复合材料层合板声发射故障诊断的模态信号,利用三维弹性理论及传递矩阵法获得Lamb波的频散曲线。以碳纤维增强复合材料层合板为研究对象搭建实验平台,改变断铅激励位置从而获得不同声发射信号。对采集的声发射信号进行小波尺度谱分析,结合频散曲线分离出不同模式的Lamb波,分别研究其不同频率的幅度及能量衰减特性。实验结果表明,较其它信号,低频率S0波幅度信号衰减速度较低,对碳纤维增强复合材料层合板的声发射故障诊断研究具有较大优势。     

On the effects of reflected waves in transient shear wave elastography

In recent years, novel quantitative techniques have been developed to provide noninvasive and quantitative stiffness images based on shear wave propagation. Using radiation force and ultrafast ultrasound imaging, the supersonic shear imaging technique allows one to remotely generate and follow a transient plane shear wave propagating in vivo in real time. The tissue shear modulus, i.e., its stiffness, can then be estimated from the shear wave local velocity. However, because the local shear wave velocity is estimated using a time-of- flight approach, reflected shear waves can cause artifacts in the estimated shear velocity because the incident and reflected waves propagate in opposite directions. Such effects have been reported in the literature as a potential drawback of elastography techniques based on shear wave speed, particularly in the case of high stiffness contrasts, such as in atherosclerotic plaque or stiff lesions. In this letter, we present our implementation of a simple directional filter, previously used for magnetic resonance elastography, which separates the forward- and backward-propagating waves to solve this problem. Such a directional filter could be applied to many elastography techniques based on the local estimation of shear wave speed propagation, such as acoustic radiation force imaging (ARFI), shearwave dispersion ultrasound vibrometry (SDUV), needle-based elastography, harmonic motion imaging, or crawling waves when the local propagation direction is known and high-resolution spatial and temporal data are acquired.     

利用电磁超声横波检测二冷区尾端连铸坯壳厚度

使用电磁超声横波对二冷区尾端的连铸坯壳厚度进行检测,并建立了有限元仿真模型.选取Q235连铸小钢坯作为被测对象.为减小永磁铁的提离距离、在被测体内部生成更大的感应涡流,文章利用多物理场有限元仿真软件建立了一种不同于一般结构的电磁超声换能器仿真模型:圆柱形永磁体两侧并行排列螺旋线圈.分析了永磁铁尺寸对磁场涡流的影响以及电...     

Measuring Lamb wave dispersion curves of a bi-layered plate and its application on material characterization of coating

This paper investigates the Lamb wave dispersion curves of a bi-layered plate and evaluates the feasibility of using the dispersion data to characterize the coating's material properties. The measurement of dispersion curves is based on a focusing PVDF transducer operating in a pulse/echo mode. An image displaying technique is used to determine the dispersion relation of Lamb waves from the measured data. Multiple dispersion curves of Lamb waves are accurately determined over a wide frequency range (4 to 20 MHz). Lamb wave dispersion curves for thin metal sheets electrodeposited with nickel coatings are measured. The elastic constants of the nickel coating are determined by comparing the experimental dispersion data with the theoretical ones calculated numerically. Potential applications of this measurement method are addressed     

3-D FDTD simulation of shear waves for evaluation of complex modulus imaging

The Navier equation describing shear wave propagation in 3-D viscoelastic media is solved numerically with a finite differences time domain (FDTD) method. Solutions are formed in terms of transverse scatterer velocity waves and then verified via comparison to measured wave fields in heterogeneous hydrogel phantoms. The numerical algorithm is used as a tool to study the effects on complex shear modulus estimation from wave propagation in heterogeneous viscoelastic media. We used an algebraic Helmholtz inversion (AHI) technique to solve for the complex shear modulus from simulated and experimental velocity data acquired in 2-D and 3-D. Although 3-D velocity estimates are required in general, there are object geometries for which 2-D inversions provide accurate estimations of the material properties. Through simulations and experiments, we explored artifacts generated in elastic and dynamic-viscous shear modulus images related to the shear wavelength and average viscosity.     

Dispersion relations and modes of wave propagation in inclusion-reinforced composite plates

This paper is intended to examine the effect of inclusion shapes, inclusion contents, inclusion elastic constants, and plate thickness on the dispersion relations and modes of wave propagation in inclusion-reinforced composite plates. The shape of inclusion is modeled as spheroid that enables the composite reinforcement geometrical configurations ranging from sphere to short and continuous fiber. Mori–Tanaka mean-field theory is used to predict the effective elastic moduli of the composite plate explicitly. The effective elastic moduli are able to elucidate the effect of inclusion’s shape, stiffness, and volume fraction on the composite’s anisotropic elastic behavior. The resulting moduli are then used to determine the dispersion relations and the modal patterns of Lamb waves using the dynamic stiffness matrix method. The types (symmetric or antisymmetric) of Lamb waves in an isotropic plate can be classified according to the wave motions are symmetrical or antisymmetric about the midplane of the plate. Classifying the wave type in an anisotropic plate is not as simple as that in an isotropic plate, and has not received proper attention in the literature. The wave types and orders are identified by analyzing the dispersion curves and inspecting the calculated modal patterns, and the results indicate that the Lamb waves in an orthotropic composite plate can also be classified as either symmetric or antisymmetric waves. It is also found that the inclusion contents, aspect ratios and plate thickness affect propagation velocities, higher-order mode cutoff frequencies, and modal patterns. Propagation speed is generally increased with the aspect ratio, e.g., using longer fibers generally results in a higher propagation speed.     

流-固多层结构中软层介质参数反演研究

建立了固体层内含软层介质的多层流-固界面模型。使用传递矩阵法,导出固体层内含软层介质的流-固界面波的频散方程。根据频散方程计算频散曲线,改变软层介质的深度、厚度及横波波速,观察频散曲线的变化。使用有限元软件建立仿真模型,引入遗传反向传播(Back Propagation, BP)神经网络,对模型参数进行了反演。反演结果表明,使用遗传BP神经网络,能有效地反演出软层介质的深度、厚度与横波波速参数。     

板材厚度变化对Lamb波透射系数的影响

对Lamb波与厚度变化的板材之间的相互作用进行了分析。针对S0模式Lamb波入射情况,利用混合边界元模型计算了台阶状散射体的透射系数与厚度变化的关系,并进行了实验验证。结果表明S0模式的透射系数能够很好的反映板材的厚度变化,从而为该类材料的定量无损检测提供一定的理论支撑,在实际工业中具有重要的应用意义。     

水下含气泡橡胶材料的隔声性能的仿真

针对水下含气泡橡胶材料的隔声性能进行了研究。利用以往文献中Kelvin-Voigt粘弹性模型,得到材料动态等效体积模量、等效剪切模量及等效纵波声速随频率变化的关系,通过传递矩阵法数值计算、分析了不同孔隙率、孔径的情况下．材料的隔声性能、等效声速的变化。仿真结果表明,气泡的孔径、孔隙率的变化对复合材料的隔声性能都有显著的影响。该结果对水下隔声材料的设计有一定的参考意义。     

Usefulness of ultrasonic strain measurement-based shear modulus reconstruction for diagnosis and thermal treatment

We previously reported an ultrasonic strain measurement-based one-dimensional (1-D) shear modulus reconstruction technique using a regularization method for differential diagnosis of malignancies on human superficial tissues (e.g., breast tissues). Here, ultrasonic strain measurement-based 2-D and 3-D shear modulus reconstruction techniques are described, and the 1-D technique is reviewed and subsequently applied to various human in vivo tissues, including deeply situated tissues (e.g., liver). Because soft tissues are deformed in 3-D space by externally situated arbitrary mechanical sources, the accuracy of the low-dimensional (i.e., 1-D or 2-D) reconstructions is lower to that of 3-D reconstruction due to occurrence of erroneous reconstruction artifacts (i.e., the reconstructed modulus is different than reality). These artifacts are confirmed on simulated inhomogeneous cubic phantoms containing a spherical homogenous inclusion using numerically calculated deformation data. The superiority of quasi-real-time imaging of the shear modulus is then demonstrated by comparing it with conventional B-mode imaging and strain imaging from the standpoints of monitoring the effectiveness of minimally invasive thermal therapy as well as differential diagnosis. Because the 2-D and 3-D techniques require special ultrasonic (US) equipment, the 1-D technique using conventional US imaging equipment is used, even though erroneous artifacts will occur. Specifically, the 1-D technique is applied as a diagnostic tool for differentiating malignancies in human in vivo liver and breast tissue, and a monitoring technique for determining the effectiveness of interstitial electromagnetic wave (micro and rf) thermal therapy on human in vivo liver and calf in vitro liver. Even when using the 1-D technique, reconstructed shear moduli were confirmed to be a suitable measure for monitoring thermal treatment as well as differential diagnosis. These results are encouraging in that they will promote use of 2-D and 3-D reconstruction techniques.     

Topological design of microstructures of cellular materials for maximum bulk or shear modulus

This paper presents a new approach to designing periodic microstructures of cellular materials. The method is based on the bidirectional evolutionary structural optimization (BESO) technique. The optimization problem is formulated as finding a micro-structural topology with the maximum bulk or shear modulus under a prescribed volume constraint. Using the homogenization theory and finite element analysis within a periodic base cell (PBC), elemental sensitivity numbers are established for gradually removing and adding elements in PBC. Numerical examples in 2D and 3D demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for achieving convergent microstructures of cellular materials with maximum bulk or shear modulus. Some interesting topological patterns have been found for guiding the cellular material design.     

Hamilton体系下的功能梯度电磁弹性固体内的导波研究

根据Hamilton原理建立了三维压电压磁动力学耦合系统的Hamilton对偶体系，将经典的弹性力学一类变量问题转化为二类变量，建立了Hamilton正则方程组，研究了功能梯度电磁材料（FGMM）板／管内的弹性导波的频散特性及波结构特征。结果表明：（1）压电效应提高了Lamb波的频率和波速，而磁效应则相反，压电效应对波动的影响远大于磁效应；它们而对SH波没有影响（厚度方向极化）。（2）短路及断路电学边界条件对SH波不发生任何影响（厚度方向极化），而短路对Lamb波的频率和波速有不同程度的降低（相同波数下）。（3）在波结构上，对平板而言，所谓的“对称”和“反对称”Lamb波由于材料的梯度特性而变得不再严格的关于中心线对称或反对称。对管而言，由于材料的非均匀分布导致存轴对称栩转波模态中出现了横截面翘曲现象．轴对称纵向波也出现厚度剪切应力。     

温度对大鼠肝脏中剪切波与频散特性影响研究

剪切波相速度和衰减的频散特性的准确测量具有重要的意义。温度变化可能会对生物软组织的力学特性产生影响,为了研究温度的变化对剪切波相速度和衰减频散特性测量的影响,以大鼠肝脏为研究对象,基于声辐射力的剪切波成像的方法,通过离体实验来获取大鼠肝脏内部不同温度下的剪切波相速度和衰减频散特性曲线。实验结果发现,随着温度的升高,剪切波相速度逐渐减少,衰减频散逐渐增大,特别是在较高的频段(270~380 Hz)的变化更为显著。结果表明温度是测量大鼠肝脏中剪切波相速度和衰减频散特性中不可忽略的因素,这对今后的动物实验研究以及疾病评估提供了实验参考,具有重要的意义。     

Determination of lamb wave dispersion data in lossy anisotropic plates using time domain finite element analysis. Part II: application to 2-2 and 1-3 piezoelectric composite transducer arrays

The use of finite element modeling, combined with optical generation and detection of Lamb waves in plate structures, was extended to encompass periodic ceramic-polymer materials typical of those encountered in 1-3 and 2-2 piezoelectric composite array transducers. The resultant dispersion data was employed to predict the occurrence of Lamb wave-induced cross talk in composite monolithic arrays. The finite element modeling method was then used to simulate the dispersion behavior of two array structures that were subsequently manufactured: a 1-D 45% volume fraction linear array coupon and a 2-D 35% volume fraction array coupon. Excellent agreement between theory and experiment was obtained using impedance measurements and laser scans of the surface displacement profile at selected frequencies. Regions of strong inter-element cross-coupling were identified and these are shown to correlate very well with the dispersion data obtained for the dual-phase plate material. This work is considered to provide a useful basis for the design of wideband monolithic composite arrays and minimization of guided wave propagation along the array substrate.     

Quantitative imaging of nonlinear shear modulus by combining static elastography and shear wave elastography

The study of new tissue mechanical properties such as shear nonlinearity could lead to better tissue characterization and clinical diagnosis. This work proposes a method combining static elastography and shear wave elastography to derive the nonlinear shear modulus by applying the acoustoelasticity theory in quasi-incompressible soft solids. Results demonstrate that by applying a moderate static stress at the surface of the investigated medium, and by following the quantitative evolution of its shear modulus, it is possible to accurately and quantitatively recover the local Landau (A) coefficient characterizing the shear nonlinearity of soft tissues.