Measurement of the ultrasound attenuation and dispersion in whole human blood and its components from 0-70 MHz

Review of the Low-Temperature Acoustic Properties of Water, Aqueous Solutions, Lipids, and Soft Biological Tissues

Existing data on the acoustic properties of low-temperature biological materials is limited and widely dispersed across fields. This makes it difficult to employ this information in the development of ultrasound applications in the medical field, such as cryosurgery and rewarming of cryopreserved tissues. In this review, the low-temperature acoustic properties of biological materials, and the measurement methods used to acquire them were collected from a range of scientific fields. The measurements were reviewed from the acoustic setup to thermal methodologies for samples preparation, temperature monitoring, and system insulation. The collected data contain the longitudinal and shear velocity, and attenuation coefficient of biological soft tissues and biologically relevant substances-water, aqueous solutions, and lipids-in the temperature range down to -50 °C and in the frequency range from 108 kHz to 25 MHz. The multiple reflection method (MRM) was found to be the preferred method for low-temperature samples, with a buffer rod inserted between the transducer and sample to avoid direct contact. Longitudinal velocity changes are observed through the phase transition zone, which is sharp in pure water, and occurs more slowly and at lower temperatures with added solutes. Lipids show longer transition zones with smaller sound velocity changes; with the longitudinal velocity changes observed during phase transition in tissues lying between these two extremes. More general conclusions on the shear velocity and attenuation coefficient at low-temperatures are restricted by the limited data. This review enhance knowledge guiding for further development of ultrasound applications in low-temperature biomedical fields, and may help to increase the precision and standardization of low-temperature acoustic property measurements.

Dual-frequency piezoelectric micromachined ultrasound transducer based on polarization switching in ferroelectric thin films

Due to its additional frequency response, dual-frequency ultrasound has advantages over conventional ultrasound, which operates at a specific frequency band. Moreover, a tunable frequency from a single transducer enables sonographers to achieve ultrasound images with a large detection area and high resolution. This facilitates the availability of more advanced techniques that simultaneously require low- and high-frequency ultrasounds, such as harmonic imaging and image-guided therapy. In this study, we present a novel method for dual-frequency ultrasound generation from a ferroelectric piezoelectric micromachined ultrasound transducer (PMUT). Uniformly designed transducer arrays can be used for both deep low-resolution imaging and shallow high-resolution imaging. To switch the ultrasound frequency, the only requirement is to tune a DC bias to control the polarization state of the ferroelectric film. Flextensional vibration of the PMUT membrane strongly depends on the polarization state, producing low- and high-frequency ultrasounds from a single excitation frequency. This strategy for dual-frequency ultrasounds meets the requirement for either multielectrode configurations or heterodesigned elements, which are integrated into an array. Consequently, this technique significantly reduces the design complexity of transducer arrays and their associated driving circuits.

A computational framework for the multiphysics simulation of microbubble-mediated sonothrombolysis using a forward-viewing intravascular transducer

Sonothrombolysis is a technique that utilises ultrasound waves to excite microbubbles surrounding a clot. Clot lysis is achieved through mechanical damage induced by acoustic cavitation and through local clot displacement induced by acoustic radiation force (ARF). Despite the potential of microbubble-mediated sonothrombolysis, the selection of the optimal ultrasound and microbubble parameters remains a challenge. Existing experimental studies are not able to provide a complete picture of how ultrasound and microbubble characteristics influence the outcome of sonothrombolysis. Likewise, computational studies have not been applied in detail in the context of sonothrombolysis. Hence, the effect of interaction between the bubble dynamics and acoustic propagation on the acoustic streaming and clot deformation remains unclear. In the present study, we report for the first time the computational framework that couples the bubble dynamic phenomena with the acoustic propagation in a bubbly medium to simulate microbubble-mediated sonothrombolysis using a forward-viewing transducer. The computational framework was used to investigate the effects of ultrasound properties (pressure and frequency) and microbubble characteristics (radius and concentration) on the outcome of sonothrombolysis. Four major findings were obtained from the simulation results: (i) ultrasound pressure plays the most dominant role over all the other parameters in affecting the bubble dynamics, acoustic attenuation, ARF, acoustic streaming, and clot displacement, (ii) smaller microbubbles could contribute to a more violent oscillation and improve the ARF simultaneously when they are stimulated at higher ultrasound pressure, (iii) higher microbubbles concentration increases the ARF, and (iv) the effect of ultrasound frequency on acoustic attenuation is dependent on the ultrasound pressure. These results may provide fundamental insight that is crucial in bringing sonothrombolysis closer to clinical implementation.

The effect of crystal composition and environment on the color Doppler ultrasound twinkling artifact

Objective.Pathological mineralizations form throughout the body and can be difficult to detect using conventional imaging methods. Color Doppler ultrasound twinkling highlights ∼60% of kidney stones with a rapid color shift and is theorized to arise from crevice microbubbles as twinkling disappears on kidney stones at elevated pressures and scratched acrylic balls in ethanol. Twinkling also sometimes appears on other pathological mineralizations; however, it is unclear whether the etiology of twinkling is the same as for kidney stones.Approach.In this study, five cholesterol, calcium phosphate, and uric acid crystals were grownin vitroand imaged in Doppler mode with a research ultrasound system and L7-4 transducer in water. To evaluate the influence of pressure on twinkling, the same crystals were imaged in a high-pressure chamber. Then, the effect of surface tension on twinkling was evaluated by imaging crystals in different concentrations of surfactant (1%, 2%, 3%, 4%) and ethanol (10%, 30%, 50%, 70%), artificial urine, bovine blood, and a tissue-mimicking phantom.Main results. Results showed that all crystals twinkled in water, with cholesterol twinkling significantly more than calcium phosphate and uric acid. When the ambient pressure was increased, twinkling disappeared for all tested crystals when pressures reached 7 MPa (absolute) and reappeared when returned to ambient pressure (0.1 MPa). Similarly, twinkling across all crystals decreased with surface tension when imaged in the surfactant and ethanol (statistically significant when surface tension <22 mN m^-1) and decreased in blood (surface tension = 52.7 mN m^-1) but was unaffected by artificial urine (similar surface tension to water). In the tissue-mimicking phantom, twinkling increased for cholesterol and calcium phosphate crystals with no change observed in uric acid crystals.Significance.Overall, these results support the theory that bubbles are present on crystals and cause twinkling, which could be leveraged to improve twinkling for the detection of other pathological mineralizations.

High-frequency quantitative ultrasound for the assessment of the acoustic properties of engineered tissues in vitro

Acoustic properties of biomaterials and engineered tissues reflect their structure and cellularity. High-frequency ultrasound (US) can non-invasively characterize and monitor these properties with sub-millimetre resolution. We present an approach to estimate the speed of sound, acoustic impedance, and acoustic attenuation of cell-laden hydrogels that accounts for frequency-dependent effects of attenuation in coupling media, hydrogel thickness, and interfacial transmission/reflection coefficients of US waves, all of which can bias attenuation estimates. Cell-seeded fibrin hydrogel disks were raster-scanned using a 40 MHz US transducer. Thickness, speed of sound, acoustic impedance, and acoustic attenuation coefficients were determined from the difference in the time-of-flight and ratios of the magnitudes of US signals, interfacial transmission/reflection coefficients, and acoustic properties of the coupling media. With this approach, hydrogel thickness was accurately measured by US, with agreement to confocal microscopy (r² = 0.97). Accurate thickness measurement enabled acoustic property measurements that were independent of hydrogel thickness, despite up to 60% reduction in thickness due to cell-mediated contraction. Notably, acoustic attenuation coefficients increased with increasing cell concentration (p < 0.001), reflecting hydrogel cellularity independent of contracted hydrogel thickness. This approach enables accurate measurement of the intrinsic acoustic properties of biomaterials and engineered tissues to provide new insights into their structure and cellularity. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: High-frequency ultrasound can measure the acoustic properties of engineered tissues non-invasively and non-destructively with µm-scale resolution. Acoustic properties, including acoustic attenuation, are related to intrinsic material properties, such as scatterer density. We developed an analytical approach to estimate the acoustic properties of cell-laden hydrogels that accounts for the frequency-dependent effects of attenuation in coupling media, the reflection/transmission of ultrasound waves at the coupling interfaces, and the dependency of measurements on hydrogel thickness. Despite up to 60% reduction in hydrogel thickness due to cell-mediated contraction, our approach enabled measurements of acoustic properties that were substantially independent of thickness. Acoustic attenuation increased significantly with increasing cell concentration (p < 0.001), demonstrating the ability of acoustic attenuation to reflect intrinsic physical properties of engineered tissues.

Using an Ultrasound Tissue Phantom Model for Hybrid Training of Deep Learning Models for Shrapnel Detection

Tissue phantoms are important for medical research to reduce the use of animal or human tissue when testing or troubleshooting new devices or technology. Development of machine-learning detection tools that rely on large ultrasound imaging data sets can potentially be streamlined with high quality phantoms that closely mimic important features of biological tissue. Here, we demonstrate how an ultrasound-compliant tissue phantom comprised of multiple layers of gelatin to mimic bone, fat, and muscle tissue types can be used for machine-learning training. This tissue phantom has a heterogeneous composition to introduce tissue level complexity and subject variability in the tissue phantom. Various shrapnel types were inserted into the phantom for ultrasound imaging to supplement swine shrapnel image sets captured for applications such as deep learning algorithms. With a previously developed shrapnel detection algorithm, blind swine test image accuracy reached more than 95% accuracy when training was comprised of 75% tissue phantom images, with the rest being swine images. For comparison, a conventional MobileNetv2 deep learning model was trained with the same training image set and achieved over 90% accuracy in swine predictions. Overall, the tissue phantom demonstrated high performance for developing deep learning models for ultrasound image classification.

Improving coronary ultrafast Doppler angiography using fractional moving blood volume and motion-adaptive ensemble length

Coronary microperfusion assessment is a key parameter for understanding cardiac function. Currently, coronary ultrafast Doppler angiography is the only non-invasive clinical imaging technique able to assess coronary microcirculation quantitatively in humans. In this study, we propose to use fractional moving blood volume (FMBV), proportional to the red blood cell concentration, as a metric for perfusion. FMBV compares the power Doppler in a region of interest (ROI) inside the myocardium to the power Doppler of a reference area in the heart chamber, fully filled with blood. This normalization gives then relative values of the ROI blood filling. However, due to the impact of ultrasound attenuation and elevation focus on power Doppler values, the reference area and the ROI need to be at the same depth to allow this normalization. This condition is rarely satisfied in vivo due to the cardiac anatomy. Hereby, we propose to locally compensate the attenuation between the ROI and the reference, by measuring the attenuation law on a phantom. We quantified the efficiency of this approach by comparing FMBV with and without compensation on a flow phantom. Compensated FMBV was able to estimate the ground-truth FMBV with less than 5% variation. This method was then adapted to the in vivo case of myocardial perfusion imaging during heart surgery on human neonates. The translation from in vitro to in vivo required an additional clutter filtering step to ensure that blood signals could be correctly identified in the fast-moving myocardium. We applied the singular value decomposition filter on temporal sliding windows whose lengths were a function of myocardium motion. This motion-adaptive temporal sliding window approach was able to improve blood and tissue separation in terms of contrast-to-noise ratio, as compared to well-established constant-length sliding window approaches. Therefore, compensated FMBV and singular value decomposition assisted with motion-adaptive temporal sliding windows improves the quantification of blood volume in coronary ultrafast Doppler angiography.

Multiphysical numerical study of photothermal therapy of glioblastoma with photoacoustic temperature monitoring in a mouse head

This paper presents a multiphysical numerical study of a photothermal therapy performed on a numerical phantom of a mouse head containing a glioblastoma. The study has been designed to be as realistic as possible. Heat diffusion simulations were performed on the phantom to understand the temperature evolution in the mouse head and therefore in the glioblastoma. The thermal dose has been calculated and lesions caused by heat are shown. The thermal damage on the tumor has also been quantified. To improve the effectiveness of the therapy, the photoabsorber's concentration was increased locally, at the tumor site, to mimic the effect of using absorbing contrast agents such as nanoparticles. Photoacoustic simulations were performed in order to monitor temperature in the phantom: as the Grüneisen parameter changes with the temperature, the photoacoustic signal undergoes changes that can be linked to temperature evolution. These photoacoustic simulations were performed at different instants during the therapy and the evolution of the photoacoustic signal as a function of the spatio-temporal distribution of the temperature in the phantom was observed and quantified. We have developed in this paper a numerical tool that can be used to help defining key parameters of a photothermal therapy.

Evaluation of Blood Induced Influence for High-Definition Intravascular Ultrasound (HD-IVUS)

High-definition intravascular ultrasound (HD-IVUS) utilizing more than 80 MHz frequency to assess atherosclerotic plaque, can theoretically achieve an axial resolution of less than [Formula: see text]. However, the blood is a high-attenuation source at high frequency, which would affect the imaging quality. There has been no research evaluating the blood-induced influence on HD-IVUS imaging. And whether a temporary removal of blood is needed for HD-IVUS is unknown. In this study, an ultrahigh-frequency (100 MHz) ultrasound transducer was developed to evaluate the blood-induced attenuation for HD-IVUS imaging. A series of tungsten-wire phantom images in saline and blood at varying hematocrits were obtained. The images showed that blood did influence the ultrahigh-frequency imaging quality greatly. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) decrease by 71.7% in porcine whole blood compared to that in saline at the same depth of 2.3 mm. Moreover, the potential flushing schemes for HD-IVUS were studied in varying hematocrits. Three flushing agents commonly used in intravascular optical coherence tomography (IV-OCT) were investigated, including iohexol, mannitol, and dextran 5% and saline as the control group. The attenuation of blood in varying hematocrits/flushing agents was measured from 90 to 110 MHz. The result indicated dextran 5% was a suitable flushing agent for HD-IVUS due to its less signal attenuation compared to others.

Measurement of the ultrasound attenuation and dispersion in 3D-printed photopolymer materials from 1 to 3.5 MHz

Over the past decade, the range of applications in biomedical ultrasound exploiting 3D printing has rapidly expanded. For wavefront shaping specifically, 3D printing has enabled a diverse range of new, low-cost approaches for controlling acoustic fields. These methods rely on accurate knowledge of the bulk acoustic properties of the materials; however, to date, robust knowledge of these parameters is lacking for many materials that are commonly used. In this work, the acoustic properties of eight 3D-printed photopolymer materials were characterised over a frequency range from 1 to 3.5 MHz. The properties measured were the frequency-dependent phase velocity and attenuation, group velocity, signal velocity, and mass density. The materials were fabricated using two separate techniques [PolyJet and stereolithograph (SLA)], and included Agilus30, FLXA9960, FLXA9995, Formlabs Clear, RGDA8625, RGDA8630, VeroClear, and VeroWhite. The range of measured density values across all eight materials was 1120-1180 kg  · m^-3, while the sound speed values were between 2020 to 2630 m  · s^-1, and attenuation values typically in the range 3-9 dB  ·  MHz^-1· cm^-1.

Nanogenerator for determination of acoustic power in ultrasonic reactors

This paper presents the novel use of a sonochemical reaction product as a sensing material in self-powered ultrasonic reactor devices for determination of ultrasound parameters. A piezoelectric nanogenerator was fabricated via sonochemical synthesis of SbSeI nanowires compressed into a bulk sample. The prepared device was used to develop two fast and simple evaluation methods for acoustic power in liquid. A calibration procedure was carried out for both methods using a VCX-750 ultrasonic processor. The ultrasound acoustic power was varied within a 150 W to 750 W range and the corresponding nanogenerator electrical responses were measured. The voltage signals of the first method fit the best with theoretical dependence. The second technique was based on the application of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to the measured electric output. The results of these two approaches were convergent. Acoustic power values of 255(8) W and 222(7) W were determined for the Sonic-6 reactor using theoretical dependence fitting to experimental data and FFT analysis, respectively. Developed sensing technology possesses great potential for sonochemistry applications.

Analysis of Dielectric Waveguide Grating and Fabry-Perot Modes in Elastic Grating in Optical Detection of Ultrasound

In our previous work, we have demonstrated that dielectric elastic grating can support Fabry-Perot modes and provide embedded optical interferometry to measure ultrasonic pressure. The Fabry-Perot modes inside the grating provide an enhancement in sensitivity and figure of merit compared to thin film-based Fabry-Perot structures. Here, in this paper, we propose a theoretical framework to explain that the elastic grating also supports dielectric waveguide grating mode, in which optical grating parameters control the excitation of the two modes. The optical properties of the two modes, including coupling conditions and loss mechanisms, are discussed. The proposed grating has the grating period in micron scale, which is shorter than the wavelength of the incident ultrasound leading to an ultrasonic scattering. The gap regions in the grating allow the elastic grating thickness to be compressed by the incident ultrasound and coupled to a surface acoustic wave mode. The thickness compression can be measured using an embedded interferometer through one of the optical guided modes. The dielectric waveguide grating is a narrow bandpass optical filter enabling an ultrasensitive mode to sense changes in optical displacement. This enhancement in mechanical and optical properties gives rise to a broader detectable pressure range and figure of merit in ultrasonic detection; the detectable pressure range and figure of merit can be enhanced by 2.7 times and 23 times, respectively, compared to conventional Fabry-Perot structures.

Quantifying the Effect of Abdominal Body Wall on In Situ Peak Rarefaction Pressure During Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging

In this study, 3-D non-linear ultrasound simulations and experimental measurements were used to estimate the range of in situ pressures that can occur during transcutaneous abdominal imaging and to identify the sources of error when estimating in situ peak rarefaction pressures (PRPs) using linear derating, as specified by the mechanical index (MI) guideline. Using simulations, it was found that, for a large transmit aperture (F/1.5), MI consistently over-estimated in situ PRP by 20%-48% primarily owing to phase aberration. For a medium transmit aperture (F/3), the MI accurately estimated the in situ PRP to within 8%. For a small transmit aperture (F/5), MI consistently underestimated the in situ PRP by 32%-50%, with peak locations occurring 1-2 cm before the focal depth, often within the body wall itself. The large variability across body wall samples and focal configurations demonstrates the limitations of the simplified linear derating scheme. The results suggest that patient-specific in situ PRP estimation would allow for increases in transmit pressures, particularly for tightly focused beams, to improve diagnostic image quality while ensuring patient safety.

Flexible Pico-Liter Acoustic Droplet Ejection Based on High-Frequency Ultrasound Transducer

Acoustic droplet ejection (ADE) uses the acoustic energy produced by a focused ultrasound beam to provide a noncontact, highly precise, automatic, and cost-effective liquid transfer method for life science applications. The reported minimum precision of the current acoustic liquid transfer technology is 1 nL. Since precision improvement always brings valuable results in biological research, it is highly necessary to develop pico-liter precision liquid transfer technology. In this work, we developed a 40-MHz ultrahigh -frequency focused ultrasound transducer with a large aperture of 7×7 mm² and a wide bandwidth of 76.4%. The designed transducer can successfully eject pico-liter droplets, and the droplet ejection accuracy ranges from 28 to 439 pL. The effects of the acoustic parameters, including excitation amplitude, pulsewidth, and frequency, on the size of the ejected droplet were studied. A wide range of ejected droplet sizes could be obtained by adjusting the acoustic parameters, thereby making liquid transfer flexible. The flexible pico-liter liquid transfer based on the wide-bandwidth, high-frequency ultrasound transducer is easier to achieve automatically, and thus it has broad prospects in biological research and industrial applications.

Ultra-high-frequency (UHF) surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) microfluidics and biosensors

Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) have the potential to become the basis for a wide gamut of lab-on-a-chips (LoCs). These mechanical waves are among the most promising physics that can be exploited for fulfilling all the requirements of commercially appealing devices that aim to replace-or help-laboratory facilities. These requirements are low processing cost of the devices, scalable production, controllable physics, large flexibility of tasks to perform, easy device miniaturization. To date, SAWs are among the small set of technologies able to both manipulate and analyze biological liquids with high performance. Therefore, they address the main needs of microfluidics and biosensing. To this purpose, the use of high-frequency SAWs is key. In the ultra-high-frequency regime (UHF, 300 MHz-3 GHz) SAWs exhibit large sensitivities to molecule adsorption and unparalleled fluid manipulation capabilities, together with overall device miniaturization. The UHF-SAW technology is expected to be the realm for the development of complex, reliable, fully automated, high-performance LoCs. In this review, we present the most recent works on UHF-SAWs for microfluidics and biosensing, with a particular focus on the LoC application. We derive the relevant scale laws, useful formulas, fabrication guidelines, current limitations of the technology, and future developments.

Modelling and measurement of laser-generated focused ultrasound: Can interventional transducers achieve therapeutic effects?

Laser-generated focused ultrasound (LGFU) transducers used for ultrasound therapy commonly have large diameters (6-15 mm), but smaller lateral dimensions (<4 mm) are required for interventional applications. To address the question of whether miniaturized LGFU transducers could generate sufficient pressure at the focus to enable therapeutic effects, a modelling and measurement study is performed. Measurements are carried out for both linear and nonlinear propagation for various illumination schemes and compared with the model. The model comprises several innovations. First, the model allows for radially varying acoustic input distributions on the surface of the LGFU transducer, which arise from the excitation light impinging on the curved transducer surfaces. This realistic representation of the source prevents the overestimation of the achievable pressures (shown here to be as high as 1.8 times). Second, an alternative inverse Gaussian illumination paradigm is proposed to achieve higher pressures; a 35% increase is observed in the measurements. Simulations show that LGFU transducers as small as 3.5 mm could generate sufficient peak negative pressures at the focus to exceed the cavitation threshold in water and blood. Transducers of this scale could be integrated with interventional devices, thereby opening new opportunities for therapeutic applications from inside the body.

Optically Generated Ultrasound for Intracoronary Imaging

Conventional intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) devices use piezoelectric transducers to electrically generate and receive US. With this paradigm, there are numerous challenges that restrict improvements in image quality. First, with miniaturization of the transducers to reduce device size, it can be challenging to achieve the sensitivities and bandwidths required for large tissue penetration depths and high spatial resolution. Second, complexities associated with manufacturing miniaturized electronic transducers can have significant cost implications. Third, with increasing interest in molecular characterization of tissue in-vivo, it has been challenging to incorporate optical elements for multimodality imaging with photoacoustics (PA) or near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) whilst maintaining the lateral dimensions suitable for intracoronary imaging. Optical Ultrasound (OpUS) is a new paradigm for intracoronary imaging. US is generated at the surface of a fiber optic transducer via the photoacoustic effect. Pulsed or modulated light is absorbed in an engineered coating on the fiber surface and converted to thermal energy. The subsequent temperature rise leads to a pressure rise within the coating, which results in a propagating ultrasound wave. US reflections from imaged structures are received with optical interferometry. With OpUS, high bandwidths (31.5 MHz) and pressures (21.5 MPa) have enabled imaging with axial resolutions better than 50 μm and at depths >20 mm. These values challenge those of conventional 40 MHz IVUS technology and show great potential for future clinical application. Recently developed nanocomposite coating materials, that are highly transmissive at light wavelengths used for PA and NIRS light, can facilitate multimodality imaging, thereby enabling molecular characterization.

30/80 MHz Bidirectional Dual-Frequency IVUS Feasibility Evaluated In Vivo and for Stent Imaging

Although intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is an important tool in guiding complex coronary interventions, the resolution of existing commercial IVUS devices is considerably poorer than that of optical coherence tomography. Dual-frequency IVUS (DF IVUS), incorporating a second, higher frequency transducer, has been proposed as a possible method of overcoming this limitation. Although preliminary studies have shown that DF IVUS can produce complementary images, including large-scale morphology and high detail of superficial features, it has not yet been determined that this approach would be feasible in a more clinically relevant environment. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the first in vivo use of a 30/80 MHz DF IVUS catheter in visualizing coronary vessels in a porcine model. In addition, two commercially available stents were studied in vitro and in vivo. Clear subjective improvement of visualization of superficial structures is demonstrated, and sufficient dynamic range is achieved to image through both the catheter sheath and blood in vivo.

Cavitation induced by shock wave focusing in eye-like experimental configurations

During laser-induced, breakdown-based medical procedures in human eyes such as posterior capsulotomy and vitreolysis, shock waves are emitted from the location of the plasma. A part of these spherically expanding transients is reflected from the concave surface of the corneal epithelium and refocused within the eye. Using a simplified experimental model of the eye, the dominant secondary cavitation clusters were detected by high-speed camera shadowgraphy in the refocusing volume, dislocated from the breakdown position and described by an abridged ray theory. Individual microbubbles were detected in the preheated cone of the incoming laser pulse and radially extending cavitation filaments were generated around the location of the breakdown soon after collapse of the initial bubble. The generation of the secondary cavitation structures due to shock wave focusing can be considered an adverse effect, important in ophthalmology.

Acoustic Fountains and Atomization at Liquid Surfaces Excited by Diagnostic Ultrasound

Pulmonary capillary hemorrhage (PCH) has been found in mammalian lungs exposed to diagnostic ultrasound (DUS), although the mechanism is poorly understood. This work investigates acoustic atomization and fountains at liquid-air interfaces subjected to DUS, which has been suggested as a possible PCH damage mechanism. Primarily using a SuperSonic Imagine Aixplorer DUS machine (SuperSonic Imagine, Aix-en-Provence, France), blood and water surfaces were excited in vitro by DUS and recorded with a high-speed camera. The surface was driven by B-mode, color Doppler, pulsed Doppler, and shear wave elastography imaging modes with center frequencies from 5.0-7.2 MHz and mechanical indexes (MI) up to 1.7. Fountains and atomization were only observed for SWE, for MI as low as 1.0. A comparison of the SWE waveforms with the surface dynamics suggests that fountains and atomization were driven by push-pulses and depended on pulse duration and intensity. However, we conclude that atomization and fountaining are unlikely primary mechanisms behind all DUS-induced PCH because neither phenomenon occurred for traditional diagnostic imaging modes.

Analysis and Design of High-Frequency 1-D CMUT Imaging Arrays in Noncollapsed Mode

High-frequency ultrasound imaging arrays are important for a broad range of applications, from small animal imaging to photoacoustics. Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) arrays are particularly attractive for these applications as low noise receiver electronics can be integrated for an overall improved performance. In this paper, we present a comprehensive analysis of high-frequency CMUT arrays based on an experimentally verified CMUT array simulation tool. The results obtained on an example, a 40-MHz 1-D CMUT array for intravascular imaging, are used to obtain key design insights and tradeoffs for receive only and pulse-echo imaging. For the receiver side, thermal mechanical current noise, plane wave pressure sensitivity, and pressure noise spectrum are extracted from simulations. Using these parameters, we find that the receiver performance of CMUT arrays can be close to an ideal piston, independent of gap thickness, and applied dc bias, when coupled to low noise electronics with arrays utilizing smaller membranes performing better. For pulse-echo imaging, thermal mechanical current noise limited signal-to-noise ratio is observed to be dependent on the maximum available voltage and gap thickness. In terms of bandwidth, we find that the Bragg resonance of the array, related to the fill factor, is a significant determinant of the high frequency limit and the fluid loaded single membrane resonance determines the lower limit. Based on these results, we present design guidelines requiring only fluid loaded single membrane simulations and membrane pitch to achieve a desired pulse-echo response. We also provide a design example and discuss limitations of the approach.

Viscosity monitoring during hemodiluted blood coagulation using optical coherence elastography

Rapid and accurate clot diagnostic systems are needed for the assessment of hemodiluted blood coagulation. We develop a real-time optical coherence elastography (OCE) system, which measures the attenuation coefficient of a compressional wave induced by a piezoelectric transducer (PZT) in a drop of blood using optical coherence tomography (OCT), for the determination of viscous properties during the dynamic whole blood coagulation process. Changes in the viscous properties increase the attenuation coefficient of the sample. Consequently, dynamic blood coagulation status can be monitored by relating changes of the attenuation coefficient to clinically relevant coagulation metrics, including the initial coagulation time and the clot formation rate. This system was used to characterize the influence of activator kaolin and the influence of hemodilution with either NaCl 0.9% or hydroxyethyl starch (HES) 6% on blood coagulation. The results show that PZT-OCE is sensitive to coagulation abnormalities and is able to characterize blood coagulation status based on viscosity-related attenuation coefficient measurements. PZT-OCE can be used for point-of-care testing for diagnosis of coagulation disorders and monitoring of therapies.

Anatomically realistic ultrasound phantoms using gel wax with 3D printed moulds

Here we describe methods for creating tissue-mimicking ultrasound phantoms based on patient anatomy using a soft material called gel wax. To recreate acoustically realistic tissue properties, two additives to gel wax were considered: paraffin wax to increase acoustic attenuation, and solid glass spheres to increase backscattering. The frequency dependence of ultrasound attenuation was well described with a power law over the measured range of 3–10 MHz. With the addition of paraffin wax in concentrations of 0 to 8 w/w%, attenuation varied from 0.72 to 2.91 dB cm⁻¹ at 3 MHz and from 6.84 to 26.63 dB cm⁻¹ at 10 MHz. With solid glass sphere concentrations in the range of 0.025–0.9 w/w%, acoustic backscattering consistent with a wide range of ultrasonic appearances was achieved. Native gel wax maintained its integrity during compressive deformations up to 60%; its Young’s modulus was 17.4  ±  1.4 kPa. The gel wax with additives was shaped by melting and pouring it into 3D printed moulds. Three different phantoms were constructed: a nerve and vessel phantom for peripheral nerve blocks, a heart atrium phantom, and a placental phantom for minimally-invasive fetal interventions. In the first, nerves and vessels were represented as hyperechoic and hypoechoic tubular structures, respectively, in a homogeneous background. The second phantom comprised atria derived from an MRI scan of a patient with an intervening septum and adjoining vena cavae. The third comprised the chorionic surface of a placenta with superficial fetal vessels derived from an image of a post-partum human placenta. Gel wax is a material with widely tuneable ultrasound properties and mechanical characteristics that are well suited for creating patient-specific ultrasound phantoms in several clinical disciplines.

Evaluation of the human blood entropy production: a new thermodynamic approach

In this paper, we follow the thermodynamic theory with internal variables of Kluitenberg evaluating the entropy production of red blood cell in saline solution and whole blood, respectively, when they are subjected to an ultrasound wave. From a thermodynamic point of view, blood is an open system; so to fully represent the entropy variation as function of frequency perturbation we employ phenomenological coefficients which allow us to qualitatively discriminate among classes of phenomena which cannot be observed in any other way. Therefore, a correlation between these coefficients and quantities experimentally measurable allows to a deeper knowledge of biological phenomena.

Detection and quantification of subtle changes in red blood cell density using a cell phone

Magnetic levitation has emerged as a technique that offers the ability to differentiate between cells with different densities. We have developed a magnetic levitation system for this purpose that distinguishes not only different cell types but also density differences in cells of the same type. This small-scale system suspends cells in a paramagnetic medium in a capillary placed between two rare earth magnets, and cells levitate to an equilibrium position determined solely by their density. Uniform reference beads of known density are used in conjunction with the cells as a means to quantify their levitation positions. In one implementation images of the levitating cells are acquired with a microscope, but here we also introduce a cell phone-based device that integrates the magnets, capillary, and a lens into a compact and portable unit that acquires images with the phone's camera. To demonstrate the effectiveness of magnetic levitation in cell density analysis we carried out levitation experiments using red blood cells with artificially altered densities, and also levitated those from donors. We observed that we can distinguish red blood cells of an anemic donor from those that are healthy. Since a plethora of disease states are characterized by changes in cell density magnetic cell levitation promises to be an effective tool in identifying and analyzing pathologic states. Furthermore, the low cost, portability, and ease of use of the cell phone-based system may potentially lead to its deployment in low-resource environments.

Evaluating the intensity of the acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) in intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging: Preliminary in vitro results

The ability to measure the elastic properties of plaques and vessels is significant in clinical diagnosis, particularly for detecting a vulnerable plaque. A novel concept of combining intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging and acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging has recently been proposed. This method has potential in elastography for distinguishing between the stiffness of plaques and arterial vessel walls. However, the intensity of the acoustic radiation force requires calibration as a standard for the further development of an ARFI-IVUS imaging device that could be used in clinical applications. In this study, a dual-frequency transducer with 11MHz and 48MHz was used to measure the association between the biological tissue displacement and the applied acoustic radiation force. The output intensity of the acoustic radiation force generated by the pushing element ranged from 1.8 to 57.9mW/cm(2), as measured using a calibrated hydrophone. The results reveal that all of the acoustic intensities produced by the transducer in the experiments were within the limits specified by FDA regulations and could still displace the biological tissues. Furthermore, blood clots with different hematocrits, which have elastic properties similar to the lipid pool of plaques, with stiffness ranging from 0.5 to 1.9kPa could be displaced from 1 to 4μm, whereas the porcine arteries with stiffness ranging from 120 to 291kPa were displaced from 0.4 to 1.3μm when an acoustic intensity of 57.9mW/cm(2) was used. The in vitro ARFI images of the artery with a blood clot and artificial arteriosclerosis showed a clear distinction of the stiffness distributions of the vessel wall. All the results reveal that ARFI-IVUS imaging has the potential to distinguish the elastic properties of plaques and vessels. Moreover, the acoustic intensity used in ARFI imaging has been experimentally quantified. Although the size of this two-element transducer is unsuitable for IVUS imaging, the experimental results reported herein can be applied in ARFI-IVUS imaging applications.

Optimal flushing agents for integrated optical and acoustic imaging systems

An increasing number of integrated optical and acoustic intravascular imaging systems have been developed and hold great promise for accurately diagnosing vulnerable plaques and guiding atherosclerosis treatment. However, in any intravascular environment, the vascular lumen is filled with blood, a high-scattering source for optical and high-frequency ultrasound signals. Blood must be flushed away to provide clearer images. To our knowledge, no research has been performed to find the ideal flushing agent for combined optical and acoustic imaging techniques. We selected three solutions as potential flushing agents for their image-enhancing effects: mannitol, dextran, and iohexol. Testing of these flushing agents was performed in a closed-loop circulation model and in vivo on rabbits. We found that a high concentration of dextran was the most useful for simultaneous intravascular ultrasound and optical coherence tomography imaging.

Full-wave intravascular ultrasound simulation from histology

In this paper, we introduce a framework for simulating intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) images and radiofrequency (RF) signals from histology image counterparts. We modeled the wave propagation through the Westervelt equation, which is solved explicitly with a finite differences scheme in polar coordinates by taking into account attenuation and non-linear effects. Our results demonstrate good correlation for textural and spectral information driven from simulated IVUS data in contrast to real data, acquired with single-element mechanically rotating 40 MHZ transducer, as ground truth.

Acoustic precursor wave propagation in viscoelastic media

Precursor field theory has been developed to describe the dynamics of electromagnetic field evolution in causally attenuative and dispersive media. In Debye dielectrics, the so-called Brillouin precursor exhibits an algebraic attenuation rate that makes it an ideal pulse waveform for communication, sensing, and imaging applications. Inspired by these studies in the electromagnetic domain, the present paper explores the propagation of acoustic precursors in dispersive media, with emphasis on biological media. To this end, a recently proposed causal dispersive model is employed, based on its interpretation as the acoustic counterpart of the Cole¿Cole model for dielectrics. The model stems from the fractional stress¿strain relation, which is consistent with the empirically known frequency power-law attenuation in viscoelastic media. It is shown that viscoelastic media described by this model, including human blood, support the formation and propagation of Brillouin precursors. The amplitude of these precursors exhibits a sub-exponential attenuation rate as a function of distance, actually being proportional to z(-p), where z is the distance traveled within the medium and 0.5 <p < 1. The precursors identified in this work facilitate the design of optimal waveforms for propagation in complex media, creating new possibilities for acoustic-pulse-based communication and imaging systems.

An ex vivo human lung model for ultrasound-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy using lung flooding

The usability of an ex vivo human lung model for ablation of lung cancer tissue with high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is described. Lung lobes were flooded with saline, with no gas remaining after complete atelectasis. The tumor was delineated sono-morphologically. Speed of sound, tissue density and ultrasound attenuation were measured for flooded lung and different pulmonary cancer tissues. The acoustic impedance of lung cancer tissue (1.6-1.9 mega-Rayleighs) was higher than that of water, as was its attenuation coefficient (0.31-0.44 dB/cm/MHz) compared with that of the flooded lung (0.12 dB/cm/MHz). After application of HIFU, the temperature in centrally located lung cancer surrounded by the flooded lung increased as high as 80°C, which is sufficient for treatment. On the basis of these preliminary results, ultrasound-guided HIFU ablation of lung cancer, by lung flooding with saline, appears feasible and should be explored in future clinical studies.

Effect of lung flooding and high-intensity focused ultrasound on lung tumours: an experimental study in an ex vivo human cancer model and simulated in vivo tumours in pigs

Background

High-intensity focused ultrasound is a valuable tool for minimally invasive tumour ablation. However, due to the air content in ventilated lungs, lung tumours have never been treated with high-intensity focused ultrasound. Lung flooding enables efficient lung sonography and tumour imaging in ex vivo human and in vivo porcine lung cancer models. The current study evaluates the effectiveness of lung flooding and sonography-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound for lung tumour ablation in ex vivo human and in vivo animal models.

Methods

Lung flooding was performed in four human lung lobes which were resected from non-small cell lung cancers. B-mode imaging and temperature measurements were simultaneously obtained during high-intensity focused ultrasonography of centrally located lung cancers. The tumour was removed immediately following insonation and processed for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase and H&E staining. In addition, the left lungs of three pigs were flooded. Purified BSA in glutaraldehyde was injected centrally into the left lower lung lobe to simulate a lung tumour. The ultrasound was focused transthoracically through the flooded lung into the simulated tumour with the guidance of sonography. The temperature of the tumour was simultaneously measured. The vital signs of the animal were monitored during the procedure.

Results

A well-demarcated lesion of coagulation necrosis was produced in four of four human lung tumours. There did not appear to be any damage to the surrounding lung parenchyma. After high-intensity focused ultrasound insonation, the mean temperature increase was 7.5-fold higher in the ex vivo human tumour than in the flooded lung tissue (52.1 K ± 8.77 K versus 7.1 K ± 2.5 K). The transthoracic high-intensity focused ultrasound of simulated tumours in the in vivo model resulted in a mean peak temperature increase up to 53.7°C (±4.5). All of the animals survived the procedure without haemodynamic complications.

Conclusions

High-intensity focused ultrasound with lung flooding produced a thermal effect in an ex vivo human lung carcinoma and in vivo simulated lung tumours in a porcine model. High-intensity focused ultrasound is a potential new strategy for treating lung cancer.

Photoacoustic measurement of the Grüneisen parameter of tissue

The Grüneisen parameter, a constitutive parameter in photoacoustics, is usually measured from isobaric thermal expansion, which may not be valid for a biological medium due to its heterogeneity. Here, we directly measured the Grüneisen parameter by applying photoacoustic spectroscopy. Laser pulses at wavelengths between 460 and 1800 nm were delivered to tissue samples, and photoacoustic signals were detected by flat water-immersion ultrasonic transducers. Least-squares fitting photoacoustic spectra to molar optical absorption spectra showed that the Grüneisen parameter was 0.81±0.05 (mean±SD) for porcine subcutaneous fat tissue and 0.69±0.02 for porcine lipid at room temperature (22°C). The Grüneisen parameter of a red blood cell suspension was linearly related to hemoglobin concentration, and the parameter of bovine serum was 9% greater than that of water at room temperature.

The speed of sound and attenuation of an IEC agar-based tissue-mimicking material for high frequency ultrasound applications

This study characterized the acoustic properties of an International Electromechanical Commission (IEC) agar-based tissue mimicking material (TMM) at ultrasound frequencies in the range 10-47 MHz. A broadband reflection substitution technique was employed using two independent systems at 21°C ± 1°C. Using a commercially available preclinical ultrasound scanner and a scanning acoustic macroscope, the measured speeds of sound were 1547.4 ± 1.4 m∙s(-1) and 1548.0 ± 6.1 m∙s(-1), respectively, and were approximately constant over the frequency range. The measured attenuation (dB∙cm(-1)) was found to vary with frequency f (MHz) as 0.40f + 0.0076f(2). Using this polynomial equation and extrapolating to lower frequencies give values comparable to those published at lower frequencies and can estimate the attenuation of this TMM in the frequency range up to 47 MHz. This characterisation enhances understanding in the use of this TMM as a tissue equivalent material for high frequency ultrasound applications.

Experimental evaluation of time domain models for ultrasound attenuation losses in photoacoustic imaging

Understanding and compensating ultrasound attenuation losses is an important issue in photoacoustic imaging. To contribute to this effort, simulated attenuated time domain waveforms are compared to experimental waveforms. The experimental waveforms are acquired by transmitting broadband ultrasound pulses through distilled water and porcine fat tissue. Three well-known modeling approaches are examined in detail with regard to accuracy and computation time. Furthermore, the influence of attenuation on imaging resolution is addressed. In the present paper, the focus lies on the calculation of attenuated detector signals. The results, however, also provide clues about the quality of image reconstruction.

Ultrasound biomicroscopy in small animal research: applications in molecular and preclinical imaging

Ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) is a noninvasive multimodality technique that allows high-resolution imaging in mice. It is affordable, widely available, and portable. When it is coupled to Doppler ultrasound with color and power Doppler, it can be used to quantify blood flow and to image microcirculation as well as the response of tumor blood supply to cancer therapy. Target contrast ultrasound combines ultrasound with novel molecular targeted contrast agent to assess biological processes at molecular level. UBM is useful to investigate the growth and differentiation of tumors as well as to detect early molecular expression of cancer-related biomarkers in vivo and to monitor the effects of cancer therapies. It can be also used to visualize the embryological development of mice in uterus or to examine their cardiovascular development. The availability of real-time imaging of mice anatomy allows performing aspiration procedures under ultrasound guidance as well as the microinjection of cells, viruses, or other agents into precise locations. This paper will describe some basic principles of high-resolution imaging equipment, and the most important applications in molecular and preclinical imaging in small animal research.