Sol-gel transition in agar-gelatin mixtures studied with transient elastography

Using the shear wave propagation in solids, the transient elastography technique has been developed to assess the elastic properties of soft tissues. Here, a new approach of transient elastography allows assessing the viscoelastic properties of soft tissues. In this paper, the method is used to follow-up the sol-gel transition of an agar-gelatin mixture noninvasively. The shear wave velocity and shear wave attenuation through the mixture were continuously monitored in the audible range of frequencies (from 50 Hz to 200 Hz). The observed changes in velocities and attenuations as a function of frequency confirmed the validity of the Voigt's model to describe the gel at its stable mechanical state. By a simple inverse problem approach, based on the one-dimensional (1-D) Helmholtz equation, the elasticity and the viscosity of such a mixture were recovered as a function of time. The results obtained are in good agreement with the literature and theoretical predictions. Overall, they demonstrate the high sensitivity of the transient elastography measurements to the rheological parameter changes in agar-gelatin mixtures during gelation.