Elasticity estimation of thin-layered soft tissues has gained increasing interest propelled by medical applications like skin, corneal, or arterial wall shear modulus assessment. In this work, the authors propose one-dimensional transient elastography (1DTE) for the shear modulus assessment of thin-layered soft tissue. Experiments on three phantoms with different elasticities and plate thicknesses were performed. First, using 1DTE, the shear wave speed dispersion curve inside the plate was obtained and validated with finite difference simulation. No dispersive effects were observed and the shear wave speed was directly retrieved from time-of-flight measurements. Second, the supersonic shear imaging (SSI) technique (considered to be a gold standard) was performed. For the SSI technique, the propagating wave inside the plate is guided as a Lamb wave. Experimental SSI dispersion curves were compared with finite difference simulation and fitted using a generalized Lamb model to retrieve the plate bulk shear wave speed. Although they are based on totally different mechanical sources and induce completely different diffraction patterns for the shear wave propagation, the 1DTE and SSI techniques resulted in similar shear wave speed estimations. The main advantage of the 1DTE technique is that bulk shear wave speed can be directly retrieved without requiring a dispersion model.

Atherosclerosis is the most fatal cardiovascular disease. As disease progresses, stenoses grow inside the arteries blocking their lumen and altering blood flow. Analysing flow dynamics can provide a deeper insight on the stenosis evolution. In this work we combined Eulerian and Lagrangian descriptors to analyze blood flow dynamics and fluid transport in stenotic aortic models with morphology, mechanical and optical properties close to those of real arteries. To this end, vorticity, particle residence time (PRT), particle's final position (FP) and finite time Lyapunov's exponents (FTLE) were computed from the experimental fluid velocity fields acquired using ultrasonic particle imaging velocimetry (Echo-PIV). For the experiments, CT-images were used to create morphological realistic models of the descending aorta with 0%, 35% and 50% occlusion degree with same mechanical properties as real arteries. Each model was connected to a circuit with a pulsatile programmable pump which mimics physiological flow and pressure conditions. The pulsatile frequency was set to ≈0.9 Hz (55 bpm) and the upstream peak Reynolds number ( Re ) was changed from 1100 to 2000. Flow in the post-stenotic region was composed of two main structures: a high velocity jet over the stenosis throat and a recirculation region behind the stenosis where vortex form and shed. We characterized vortex kinematics showing that vortex propagation velocity increases with Re . Moreover, from the FTLE field we identified Lagrangian coherent structures (i.e. material barriers) that dictate transport behind the stenosis. The size and strength of those barriers increased with Re and the occlusion degree. Finally, from the PRT and FP maps, we showed that independently of Re , the same amount of fluid remains on the stenosis over more than a pulsatile period.

Shear wave elastography (SWE) relies on the generation and tracking of coherent shear waves to image the tissue's shear elasticity. Recent technological developments have allowed SWE to be implemented in commercial ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging systems, quickly becoming a new imaging modality in medicine and biology. However, coherent shear wave tracking sets a limitation to SWE because it either requires ultrafast frame rates (of up to 20 kHz), or alternatively, a phase-lock synchronization between shear wave-source and imaging device. Moreover, there are many applications where coherent shear wave tracking is not possible because scattered waves from tissue’s inhomogeneities, waves coming from muscular activity, heart beating or external vibrations interfere with the coherent shear wave. To overcome these limitations, several authors developed an alternative approach to extract the shear elasticity of tissues from a complex elastic wavefield. To control the wavefield, this approach relies on the analogy between time reversal and seismic noise cross-correlation. By cross-correlating the elastic field at different positions, which can be interpreted as a time reversal experiment performed in the computer, shear waves are virtually focused on any point of the imaging plane. Then, different independent methods can be used to image the shear elasticity, for example, tracking the coherent shear wave as it focuses, measuring the focus size or simply evaluating the amplitude at the focusing point. The main advantage of this approach is its compatibility with low imaging rates modalities, which has led to innovative developments and new challenges in the field of multi-modality elastography. The goal of this short review is to cover the major developments in wave-physics involving shear elasticity imaging using a complex elastic wavefield and its latest applications including slow imaging rate modalities and passive shear elasticity imaging based on physiological noise correlation.

Achieving accurate measurements of inflammation levels in tissues or thickness changes in biological membranes (e.g., amniotic sac, parietal pleura) and thin biological walls (e.g., blood vessels) from outside the human body, is a promising research line in the medical area. It would provide a technical basis to study the options for early diagnosis of some serious diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis or tuberculosis. Nevertheless, achieving the aim of non-invasive measurement of those scarcely-accessible parameters on patient internal tissues, currently presents many difficulties. The use of high-frequency ultrasonic transducer systems appears to offer a possible solution. Previous studies using conventional ultrasonic imaging have shown this, but the spatial resolution was not sufficient so as to permit a thickness evaluation with clinical significance, which requires an accuracy of a few microns. In this paper a broadband ultrasonic technique, that was recently developed by the authors to address other non-invasive medical detection problems (by integrating a piezoelectric transducer into a spectral measuring system), is extended to our new objective; the aim is its application to the thickness measurement of sub-millimeter membranes or layers made of materials similar to some biological tissues (phantoms). The modeling and design rules of such a transducer system are described, and various methods of estimating overtones location in the power spectral density (PSD) are quantitatively assessed with transducer signals acquired using piezoelectric systems and also generated from a multi-echo model. Their effects on the potential resolution of the proposed thickness measuring tool, and their capability to provide accuracies around the micron are studied in detail. Comparisons are made with typical tools for extracting spatial parameters in laminar samples from echo-waveforms acquired with ultrasonic transducers. Results of this advanced measurement spectral tool are found to improve the performance of typical cross-correlation methods and provide reliable and high-resolution estimations.

Objective. Skeletal muscles are organized into distinct layers and exhibit anisotropic characteristics across various scales. Assessing the arrangement of skeletal muscles may provide valuable biomarkers for diagnosing muscle-related pathologies and evaluating the efficacy of clinical interventions. Approach . In this study, we propose a novel ultrafast ultrasound sequence constituted of steered pushing beams was proposed for ultrasound elastography applications in transverse isotropic muscle. Based on the propagation of the shear wave vertical mode, it is possible to fit the experimental results to retrieve in the same imaging plane, the shear modulus parallel to fibers as well as the elastic anisotropy factor (ratio of Young’s moduli times the shear modulus perpendicular to fibers). Main results . The technique was demonstrated in vitro in phantoms and ex vivo in fusiform beef muscles. At last, the technique was applied in vivo on fusiform muscles ( biceps brachii ) and mono-pennate muscles ( gastrocnemius medialis ) during stretching and contraction. Significance . This novel sequence provides access to new structural and mechanical biomarkers of muscle tissue, including the elastic anisotropy factor, within the same imaging plane. Additionally, it enables the investigation of multiples parameters during muscle active and passive length changes.

Several Lagrangian methods were used to analyze the mixing processes in an experimental model of a constricted artery under pulsatile flow. Upstream Reynolds number Re was changed between 1187 and 1999, while the pulsatile period $T$ was fixed at 0.96s. Velocity fields were acquired using Digital Particle Image Velocimetry (DPIV) for a region of interest (ROI) located downstream of the constriction. The flow is composed of a central jet and a recirculation region near the wall where the vortex forms and sheds. To study the mixing processes, finite-time Lyapunov exponents (FTLE) fields and concentration maps were computed. Two Lagrangian coherent structures(LCS) responsible for mixing fluid were found from FTLE ridges. A first LCS delimits the trailing edge of the vortex, separating the flow that enters the ROI between successive periods. A second LCSdelimits the leading edge of the vortex. This LCS concentrates the highest particle agglomeration, as verified by the concentration maps. Moreover, from particle residence time maps (RT) the probability of a fluid particle of leaving the ROI before one cycle was measured. As Re increases, the probability of leaving the ROI increases from 0.6 to 0.95. Final position maps$r{_f}$ were introduced to evaluate the flow mixing between different subregions of the ROI. These maps allowed us to compute an exchange index between subregions, $\bar{\mathrm{EI}}$, which shows the main region responsible for the mixing increase with Re. Finally, by integrating the results of different Lagrangian methods, a comprehensive description of the mixing and transport of the flow was provided.