Narrowband shear wave generation by a Finite-Amplitude radiation force: The fundamental component

A highly localized source of low-frequency shear waves can be created by the modulated radiation force resulting from two intersecting quasi-continuous-wave ultrasound beams of slightly different frequencies. In contrast to most other radiation force-based methods, these shear waves can be narrowband. Consequently, different frequency-dependent effects will not significantly affect their spectrum as they propagate within a viscoelastic medium, thereby enabling the viscoelastic shear properties of the medium to be determined at any given modulation frequency. This can be achieved by tracking the shear wave phase delay and change in amplitude over a specific distance. In this paper we explore the properties of short duration (dynamic) low-frequency shear wave propagation and study how the shear displacement field depends on the excitation conditions. Our investigations make use of the approximate Green's functions for viscoelastic media, and the evolution of such waves is studied in the spatiotemporal domain from a theoretical perspective. Although nonlinearities are included in our confocal source model, just the properties of the fundamental shear component are examined in this paper. We examine how the shear wave propagation is affected by the shear viscosity, the coupling wave, the spatial distribution of the force, the shear speed, and the duration of the modulated wave. A method is proposed for estimating the shear viscosity of a viscoelastic medium. In addition, it is shown how the Voigt model paremeters can be extracted from the frequency-dependent speed and attenuation.     

The role of viscosity in the impulse diffraction field of elastic waves induced by the acoustic radiation force

Several ultrasound-based techniques for the estimation of soft tissue elasticity are currently being investigated. Most of them study the medium response to dynamic excitations. Such responses are usually modeled in a purely elastic medium using a Green's function solution of the motion equation. However, elasticity by itself is not necessarily a discriminant parameter for malignancy diagnosis. Modeling viscous properties of tissues could also be of great interest for tumor characterization. We report in this paper an explicit derivation of the Green's function in a viscous and elastic medium taking into account shear, bulk, and coupling waves. From this theoretical calculation, 3D simulations of mechanical waves in viscoelastic soft tissues are presented. The relevance of the viscoelastic Green's function is validated by comparing simulations with experimental data. The experiments were conducted using the supersonic shear imaging (SSI) technique which dynamically and remotely excites tissues using acoustic radiation force. We show that transient shear waves generated with SSI are modeled very precisely by the Green's function formalism. The combined influences of out-of-plane diffraction, beam shape, and shear viscosity on the shape of transient waves are carefully studied as they represent a major issue in ultrasound-based viscoelasticity imaging techniques.     

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.     

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.     

Harmonic wave propagation in viscoelastic heterogeneous materials Part I: Dispersion and damping relations

An analytico-numerical method is presented to study the propagation of plane harmonic waves in infinite periodic linear viscoelastic media. Part I considers only the dispersion and attenuation of acoustical longitudinal and shear waves. To show the accuracy of the method, examples of plane harmonic wave propagation in an infinite homogeneous medium and in a periodic layered viscoelastic medium are presented. The method is then used to calculate the damping and dispersion relations for a fibre-reinforced viscoelastic composite material. The results show clearly the influence of materials' viscoelastic properties and heterogeneities on the propagation of plane harmonic waves through the media.     

初始均匀波列调制演化的实验研究

该文运用实验的方法对初始均匀波列在静水条件下的演变做出了详细的研究,分析了不同波陡情况下的均匀波列沿水槽的演变过程。实验结果表明由于不稳定波前的作用,初始均匀波列的群性逐渐增大,并且在相同传播范围内波长越小,波浪不稳定性表现得越明显,不稳定边频也增加的越快。通过小波变换的方法提取波列的瞬时频率来分析波浪的频率调制现象,分析结果表明:频率调制是从局部开始的,并且发生频率调制的时间段随着传播距离的增加而增加;另外实验中虽然没有有效频带下移发生,但是还发现了局部频带下移,这也说明频带下移是从局部开始的。     

Propagation properties of longitudinal leaky surface waves on lithium tetraborate

Theoretical and experimental results of longitudinal leaky surface waves with a higher phase velocity than that of ordinary leaky surface waves and a low propagation loss on lithium tetraborate (LBO) are investigated in detail. They propagate along the surface with a phase velocity close to that of longitudinal bulk wave, slightly radiating two kinds of shear bulk waves (or one shear bulk wave in the case that one of two shear wave terms is uncoupled) into the solid. Most surface components of the mode consist of a longitudinal wave term and an electromagnetic wave term. The detailed propagation properties of the longitudinal leaky surface waves on LBO with the Euler angles (phi, theta, 90 degrees ) are investigated theoretically and experimentally. The (011) cut of LBO was found to be desirable for higher frequency SAW devices. One of the reasons why that mode on LBO has a low propagation loss is also discussed.     

Interaction of shear waves with a griffith crack situated in an infinitely long elastic strip

This paper deals with the propagation of shear waves in a wave guide which is in the form of an infinite elastic strip with free lateral surfaces. This strip contains a Griffith crack. An integral transform method is used to find the solution of the equation of motion from the linear theory for a homogeneous, isotropic elastic material. This method reduces the problem into an integral equation. It has been observed that only shear waves with frequencies less than a parameter-value, depending on the width of the wave guide, can propagate. The integral equation is solved numerically for a range of values of wave frequency and the width of the strip. These solutions are used to calculate the dynamic stress intensity factor, displacement on the surface of the crack and crack energy. The results are shown graphically.     

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.     

Monitored steady-state excitation and recovery (MSSER) radiation force imaging using viscoelastic models

Acoustic radiation force imaging methods distinguish tissue structure and composition by monitoring tissue responses to applied radiation force excitations. Although these responses are a complex, multidimensional function of the geometric and viscoelastic nature of tissue, simplified discrete biomechanical models offer meaningful insight to the physical phenomena that govern induced tissue motion. Applying Voigt and standard linear viscoelastic tissue models, we present a new radiation force technique - monitored steady-state excitation and recovery (MSSER) imaging - that tracks both steady-state displacement during prolonged force application and transient response following force cessation to estimate tissue mechanical properties such as elasticity and viscosity. In concert with shear wave elasticity imaging (SWEI) estimates for Young's modulus, MSSER methods are useful for estimating tissue mechanical properties independent of the applied force magnitude. We test our methods in gelatin phantoms and excised pig muscle, with confirmation through mechanical property measurement. Our results measured 10.6 kPa, 14.7 kPa, and 17.1 kPa (gelatin) and 122.4 kPa (pig muscle) with less than 10% error. This work demonstrates the feasibility of MSSER imaging and merits further efforts to incorporate relevant mechanical tissue models into the development of novel radiation force imaging techniques.     

Periodic Green's functions analysis of SAW and leaky SAWpropagation in a periodic system of electrodes on a piezoelectriccrystal

A method of periodic Green's functions with a propagation factor exp(iβx), unknown in advance, is used to calculate dispersion curves and attenuation coefficients for Rayleigh- and leaky- waves propagating in a periodic system of thin electrodes on a piezoelectric surface. To describe the charge distribution on the electrodes both a step approximation and Chebyshev polynomials are used, the last being more adequate in most cases. Numerically determined values of the Green's function are used and interpolated either linearly or using a modified variant of Ingebrigtsen's formula. Such basic parameters as stopband width, stopband center frequency, wave velocity and attenuation in the stopband are found. These parameters can be used in the coupling-of-modes (COM) analysis and design of SAW devices. The analysis includes bulk wave radiation and scattering. The dependence of the corresponding attenuation coefficient on frequency is determined. Results obtained allow the determination directly and properly of the COM parameters and the design of SAW devices having large number of electrodes most precisely and rapidly. Numerical results for Rayleigh waves on YZ-LiNbO₃ and leaky waves on 36°YX-LiTaO₃ substrates are presented     

Some exact solutions for the propagation of transient electroacoustic waves. I: Piezoelectric half-space

In piezoelectric materials, coupled electromagnetic and horizontally polarized shear surface wave disturbances can exist which have no purely elastic counterpart. The properties of these electroacoustic surface waves and similarly coupled body wave components have to date only been described by far-field approximations in the frequency domain. This article obtains exact transient solutions for the electroacoustic surface and body waves generated by a dipole source on a piezoelectric half-space. These solutions are obtained for both conducting and nonconducting surface boundary conditions using a modification of the Lamb-Cagniard-Pekeris technique previously applied to similar elastic and acoustic wave propagation problems. Explicit results for the separated surface and body wave contributions at the surface of the piezoelectric are given and discussed.     

Timoshenko-beam effects on transverse wave propagation in carbon nanotubes

This paper studies effects of rotary inertia and shear deformation on transverse wave propagation in individual carbon nanotubes (CNTs) within terahertz range. Detailed results are demonstrated for transverse wave speeds of doublewall CNTs, based on Timoshenko-beam model and Euler-beam model, respectively. The present models predict some terahertz critical frequencies at which the number of wave speeds changes. The effects of rotary inertia and shear deformation are negligible and transverse wave propagation can be described satisfactorily by the existing single-Euler-beam model only when the frequency is far below the lowest critical frequency. When the frequency is below but close to the lowest critical frequency, rotary inertia and shear deformation come to significantly affect the wave speed. Furthermore, when the frequency is higher than the lowest critical frequency, more than one wave speed exists and transverse waves of given frequency could propagate at various speeds that are considerably different than the speed predicted by the single-Euler-beam model. In particular, rotary inertia and shear deformation have a significant effect on both the wave speeds and the critical frequencies especially for CNTs of larger radii. Hence, terahertz transverse wave propagation in CNTs should be better modeled by Timoshenko-beam model, instead of Euler-beam model.     

Dynamic mechanical response of elastic spherical inclusions to impulsive acoustic radiation force excitation

Acoustic radiation force impulse imaging has been used clinically to study the dynamic response of lesions relative to their background material to focused, impulsive acoustic radiation force excitations through the generation of dynamic displacement field images. Dynamic displacement data are typically displayed as a set of parametric images, including displacement immediately after excitation, maximum displacement, time to peak displacement, and recovery time from peak displacement. To date, however, no definitive trends have been established between these parametric images and the tissues' mechanical properties. This work demonstrates that displacement magnitude, time to peak displacement, and recovery time are all inversely related to the Young's modulus in homogeneous elastic media. Experimentally, pulse repetition frequency during displacement tracking limits stiffness resolution using the time to peak displacement parameter. The excitation pulse duration also impacts the time to peak parameter, with longer pulses reducing the inertial effects present during impulsive excitations. Material density affects tissue dynamics, but is not expected to play a significant role in biological tissues. The presence of an elastic spherical inclusion in the imaged medium significantly alters the tissue dynamics in response to impulsive, focused acoustic radiation force excitations. Times to peak displacement for excitations within and outside an elastic inclusion are still indicative of local material stiffness; however, recovery times are altered due to the reflection and transmission of shear waves at the inclusion boundaries. These shear wave interactions cause stiffer inclusions to appear to be displaced longer than the more compliant background material. The magnitude of shear waves reflected at elastic lesion boundaries is dependent on the stiffness contrast between the inclusion and the background material, and the stiffness and size of the inclusion dictate when shear wave reflections within the lesion will interfere with one another. Jitter and bias associated with the ultrasonic displacement tracking also impact the estimation of a tissue's dynamic response to acoustic radiation force excitation.     

Time-frequency analyses of fluid–solid interaction under sinusoidal translational shear deformation of the viscoelastic rat cerebrum

During normal extracellular fluid (ECF) flow in the brain glymphatic system or during pathological flow induced by trauma resulting from impacts and blast waves, ECF–solid matter interactions result from sinusoidal shear waves in the brain and cranial arterial tissue, both heterogeneous biological tissues with high fluid content. The flow in the glymphatic system is known to be forced by pulsations of the cranial arteries at about 1 Hz. The experimental shear stress response to sinusoidal translational shear deformation at 1 Hz and 25% strain amplitude and either 0% or 33% compression is compared for rat cerebrum and bovine aortic tissue. Time-frequency analyses aim to correlate the shear stress signal frequency components over time with the behavior of brain tissue constituents to identify the physical source of the shear nonlinear viscoelastic response. Discrete fast Fourier transformation analysis and the novel application to the shear stress signal of harmonic wavelet decomposition both show significant 1 Hz and 3 Hz components. The 3 Hz component in brain tissue, whose magnitude is much larger than in aortic tissue, may result from interstitial fluid induced drag forces. The harmonic wavelet decomposition locates 3 Hz harmonics whose magnitudes decrease on subsequent cycles perhaps because of bond breaking that results in easier fluid movement. Both tissues exhibit transient shear stress softening similar to the Mullins effect in rubber. The form of a new mathematical model for the drag force produced by ECF–solid matter interactions captures the third harmonic seen experimentally.     

Thermoelastic wave propagation in a random medium and some related problems

The mean waves in a medium with random inhomogeneities are studied within the theory of linear thermoelasticity. Under the assumption of small random fluctuations approximate integro-differential equations governing the mean displacement and temperature fields are derived. For the elastic case the material behaves effectively as a viscoelastic body with memory. The dispersion equation is obtained for the thermoelastic case. This equation is analyzed for some special cases. The random effects introduce attenuation and change of phase speeds for the compressional and shear waves. For weak thermoelastic coupling, the shear wave is not affected by the random thermal properties. Explicit results are obtained for general and special cases. In general the mean fields are coupled in a complicated way. Therefore an uncoupled theory is presented. Then the problems with random boundary conditions or a randomly varying boundary are discussed. Different perturbation methods are given. Two examples are provided respectively by the heat conduction across a rough surface and the hydrodynamic theory of lubrication under a random loading.     

Interface waves along an anisotropic imperfect interface between anisotropic solids

First and second order asymptotic boundary conditions are introduced to model a thin anisotropic layer between two generally anisotropic solids. Such boundary conditions can be used to describe wave interaction with a solid-solid imperfect anisotropic interface. The wave solutions for the second order boundary conditions satisfy energy balance and give zero scattering from a homogeneous substrate/layer/substrate system. They couple the in-plane and out-of-plane stresses and displacements on the interface even for isotropic substrates. Interface imperfections are modeled by an interfacial multiphase orthotropic layer with effective elastic properties. This model determines the transfer matrix which includes interfacial stiffness and inertial and coupling terms. The present results are a generalization of previous work valid for either an isotropic viscoelastic layer or an orthotropic layer with a plane of symmetry coinciding with the wave incident plane. The problem of localization of interface waves is considered. It is shown that the conditions for the existence of such interface waves are less restrictive than those for Stoneley waves. The results are illustrated by calculation of the interface wave velocity as a function of normalized layer thickness and angle of propagation. The applicability of the asymptotic boundary conditions is analyzed by comparison with an exact solution for an interfacial anisotropic layer. It is shown that the asymptotic boundary conditions are applicable not only for small thickness-to-wavelength ratios, but for much broader frequency ranges than one might expect. The existence of symmetric and SH-type interface waves is also discussed.     

Half-space radiation by EMATs

A Green's function calculation of the far-field radiation patterns of EMATs is presented. The approach is based on (a) closed form expressions for the eddy current and static magnetic field distributions, established by the EMATs, which react to produce the driving Lorentz forces, and (b) a Green's function derived from the steepest descent approximation to the far-field response of an arbitrary surface point force on a half space. Numerical results are presented, illustrating the radiation patterns of the three common EMAT designs. Included are vertically polarized shear waves as radiated by both meander coil and periodic magnet EMATs and horizontally polarized shear waves as radiated by the latter.     

Elastic stress transmission in cellular systems—Analysis of wave propagation

A closely packed array of thin-walled rings constitutes an idealisation of a cellular structure. Elastic waves propagating through such structures must do so via the ring (cell) walls. A theoretical investigation into the propagation of elastic stresses in thin-walled circular rings is undertaken to examine the nature of wave transmission. Three modes of motion, corresponding to shear, extensional and flexural waves, are established and their respective velocities defined by a cubic characteristic equation. The results show that all three waves are dispersive. By neglecting extension of the centroidal axis and rotary inertia, explicit approximate solutions can be obtained for flexural waves. Employment of Love's approach for extensional waves [Love AEH. A treatise on the mathematical theory of elasticity, 4th ed. New York: Dover Publications; 1944. p. 452–3] enables approximate solutions for shear waves to be derived. The three resulting approximate solutions exhibit good agreement with the exact solutions of the characteristic equation over a wide range of wavelengths. The effects of material property, ring wall thickness and ring diameter on the three wave modes are discussed, and the results point to flexural waves as the dominant means of elastic energy transmission in such cellular structures. Wave velocities corresponding to different frequency components determined from experimental results are compared with theoretical predictions of group velocity for flexural waves and good correlation between experimental data and theory affirms this conclusion.     

多极声源在裸眼井外的纵横波辐射特性

声波远探测方法已逐渐成为石油测井的一门重要应用技术,声源向井外地层中的辐射特性是远探测声场的主控因数。推导了单极、偶极和四极子声源的远场位移渐近解与辐射指向性公式,模拟分析了低频和常规测井频率下多极子声源在井外地层中的辐射图样,优选出不同声源辐射到地层中的优势波类型,并对比了不同频率下优势波指向性的变化规律。结果表明:单极辐射P波和偶极辐射SH横波在各自的辐射声场中占据了主导地位,它们对应的最佳激发频段分别在10 k Hz和4 k Hz左右,而在四极子声源的辐射声场中,P波和SH横波的指向性相近,均优于SV横波,且两者在7 k Hz左右达到最佳,为多极子声波远探测技术的应用提供了理论支持。