Quantitative ultrasound imaging of soft tissues from 1 to 1000 MHz

Abstract

Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) is an established research field using physical principles and inverse-model approaches to measure a wide range of soft-tissue properties, i.e., QUS parameters. From this definition, QUS parameters are powerful for ultrasound-based tissue characterization because they are user- and system-independent. This presentation focuses on QUS parameters associated with fundamental acoustical (e.g., attenuation, impedance, speed-of-sound) and microstructural properties (e.g., backscatter coefficient, envelope statistics). In biomedical ultrasound applications, QUS parameters are expected to change with disease progression and therefore are powerful tools to non-invasively improve diagnosis, treatment guidance and monitoring, and overall patient management in a wide range of organ systems, diseases, and spatial resolutions. After a brief overview, this presentation will review several QUS applications in biomedical applications ranging from 1 to 1000 MHz: myocardium, lymph nodes, tendons, placenta, nail bed, and eyes. [Work supported by NIH grants R01CA277038, R01GM143388, R21EB028084, and R01HL175513.]