TISSUE SHEAR MODULUS COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY BASED ON ULTRASONIC RF-ECHO METHOD

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An effective shear modulus reconstruction technique was developed which uses ultrasonic strain measurements for diagnosis of superficial tissues, I.e,, our previously developed ultrasonic strain measurement and shear modulus reconstruction methods are combined and enhanced. The technique realizes very low computational load, yet yields fairly high quantitativeness, high stability and spatial resolution, and large dynamic range. The feasibility is demonstrated on in vitro pork ribs and in vivo human breast tissues (fibroadenoma and scirrhous carcinoma). Although the stable shear modulus reconstruction images presented here were obtained in only 5 min using a typical workstation (Compaq XP 1000, 500 MHz), they nevertheless possess high stability and spatial resolution over a large dynamic range. It is therefore expected that this newly developed imaging technique has great potential to be practically used as an effective diagnostic tool for superficial tissues. Presently, a variety of in vivo shear modulus images are being obtained to clarify any limitations for further application as a differentiation technique.