Ultrasound dynamic elastic imaging probe and method

Abstract

The invention discloses ultrasound dynamic elastic imaging probe and method. The probe internally comprises an imaging transducer with higher frequency and exciting transducers with lower frequency, wherein the imaging transducer is arranged in the middle, and the exciting transducers are arranged at both sides of the imaging transducer; the imaging transducer and the exciting transducers synchronously work in a coupling mode; ultrasonic radiometric force generated by the exciting transducers generates shear waves in a tissue, and the transverse propagation of the shear waves causes the longitudinal displacement of the tissue; and the imaging transducer transmits ultrasonic waves to detect the longitudinal displacement of the tissue and then reconstructs an elastic physical quantity according to a wave equation so as to acquire an elastic image of the tissue. In the invention, the transducers with lower frequency are used for exciting the tissue to generate the shear waves, and the generated shear waves have strong intensity and wider effective exciting range; and meanwhile, the traditional transducer with higher frequency is used for imaging the shear waves, and the elastic image has high signal to noise ratio and high image quality and conforms to the standard of national acoustic power.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of medical ultrasonic imaging. Background technique [0002] At present, the electronic probe traditionally used for medical ultrasound imaging (also called echo imaging) consists of N piezoelectric transducer array elements arranged in a straight line or a curved array. The probe has only one transducer, which controls the scanning and focusing of the sound beam electronically, detects the longitudinal wave when receiving, and reconstructs the sonogram by using the echo amplitude imaging method or Doppler imaging method to provide anatomical structure information or power learning information. However, it cannot provide relevant biomechanical properties of tissue stiffness or elasticity. [0003] In dynamic elastography, another function of ultrasound is to excite tissue to produce transient changes, such as generating ultrasonic radiation force. Ultrasonic radiation force is used to excite the tissue mo...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0005] (1) The penetration depth of mechanical pressure is limited, usually only half of the potential detection depth can be reached

[0006] (2) Due to the limited propagation range of the internal shear wave source, the depth of the detection area is limited

[0007] (3) The use of an excessively strong sound field in order to generate detectable shear waves will cause cavitation effects and cause harm to the patient

[0008] (4) Excessive ultrasonic excitation will exceed the national standard

[0009] Therefore conventional probes are not the best choice for elastography

Images