Sound speed is an important acoustic parameter for tissue characterization. Herein we developed an ultrasound computed tomography (USCT) system for ex vivo sound speed imaging and evaluation of small animal organs. The proposed USCT system employs a 256-element ring array transducer and allows simultaneous signal transmission and reception for all channels. The method does not require complicated sample preparation procedures and can yield accurate measurement results. Experimental results show that sound speeds of excised rat brain, heart, liver, spleen, and kidney measured by the method are close to published data. This work demonstrates a new method for sound speed imaging and holds potential for in vivo applications.
Sound speed is an important acoustic parameter for tissue characterization. Herein we developed an ultrasound computed tomography (USCT) system for ex vivo sound speed imaging and evaluation of small animal organs. The proposed USCT system employs a 256-element ring array transducer and allows simultaneous signal transmission and reception for all channels. The method does not require complicated sample preparation procedures and can yield accurate measurement results. Experimental results show that sound speeds of excised rat brain, heart, liver, spleen, and kidney measured by the method are close to published data. This work demonstrates a new method for sound speed imaging and holds potential for in vivo applications.
[1] |
Duck F A. Physical Properties of Tissues: a Comprehensive Reference Book. Academic Press, 1990. https://sciencedirect.53yu.com/book/9780122228001/physical-properties-of-tissues
|
[2] |
Hachiya H, Ohtsuki S, Tanaka M. Relationship between speed of sound in and density of normal and diseased rat livers. Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 1994, 33 (5S): 3130. doi: 10.1143/JJAP.33.3130
|
[3] |
Ghoshal G, Lavarello R J, Kemmerer J P, et al. Ex vivo study of quantitative ultrasound parameters in fatty rabbit livers. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 2012, 38 (12): 2238–2248. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2012.08.010
|
[4] |
Wiskin J, Malik B, Natesan R, et al. Quantitative assessment of breast density using transmission ultrasound tomography. Medical Physics, 2019, 46 (6): 2610–2620. doi: 10.1002/mp.13503
|
[5] |
Zografos G, Liakou P, Koulocheri D, et al. Differentiation of BIRADS-4 small breast lesions via multimodal ultrasound tomography. European Radiology, 2015, 25 (2): 410–418. doi: 10.1007/s00330-014-3415-3
|
[6] |
Bamber J C, Hill C R. Acoustic properties of normal and cancerous human liverjI. Dependence on pathological condition. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 1981, 7 (2): 121–133. doi: 10.1016/0301-5629(81)90001-6
|
[7] |
Li C, Duric N, Littrup P, et al. In Vivo breast sound-speed imaging with ultrasound tomography. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 2009, 35 (10): 1615–1628. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2009.05.011
|
[8] |
Ruiter N V, Zapf M, Hopp T, et al. 3D ultrasound computer tomography of the breast: A new era? European Journal of Radiology, 2012, 81 (S): 133–134. doi: 10.1016/S0720-048X(12)70055-4
|
[9] |
Ding M, Song J, Zhou L, et al. In Vitro and in Vivo evaluations of breast ultrasound tomography imaging system in HUST. Medical Imaging 2018— —4th World Congress on Medical Imaging and Clinical Research. London: International Society for Optics and Photonics, 2018: 105800P. https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie/10580/105800P/In-vitro-and-in-vivo-evaluations-of-breast-ultrasound-tomography/10.1117/12.2292985.short
|
[10] |
Anderson M E, McKeag M S, Trahey G E. The impact of sound speed errors on medical ultrasound imaging. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2000, 107 (6): 3540–3548. doi: 10.1121/1.429422
|
[11] |
Tian C, Zhang C, Zhang H, et al. Spatial resolution in photoacoustic computed tomography. Reports on Progress in Physics, 2021, 84 (3): 036701. doi: 10.1088/1361-6633/abdab9
|
[12] |
Wang T, Liu W, Tian C. Combating acoustic heterogeneity in photoacoustic computed tomography: A review. Journal of Innovative Optical Health Sciences, 2020, 13 (03): 2030007. doi: 10.1142/S1793545820300074
|
[13] |
Feng T, Zhu Y, Morris R, et al. Functional photoacoustic and ultrasonic assessment of osteoporosis: A clinical feasibility study. BME Frontiers, 2020, 2020: 1081540. doi: 10.34133/2020/1081540
|
[14] |
Ophir J. Estimation of the speed of ultrasound propagation in biological tissues: A beam-tracking method. IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, 1986, 33 (4): 359–368. doi: 10.1109/T-UFFC.1986.26843
|
[15] |
Ophir J, Moriya T, Yazdi Y. A single transducer transaxial compression technique for the estimation of sound speed in biological tissues. Ultrasonic Imaging, 1991, 13 (3): 269–279. doi: 10.1177/016173469101300304
|
[16] |
Yoon C, Lee Y, Chang J H, et al. In Vitro estimation of mean sound speed based on minimum average phase variance in medical ultrasound imaging. Ultrasonics, 2011, 51 (7): 795–802. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2011.03.007
|
[17] |
Jakovljevic M, Hsieh S, Ali R, et al. Local speed of sound estimation in tissue using pulse-echo ultrasound: Model-based approach. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2018, 144 (1): 254–266. doi: 10.1121/1.5043402
|
[18] |
Kondo M, Takamizawa K, Hirama M, et al. An evaluation of an in vivo local sound speed estimation technique by the crossed beam method. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 1990, 16 (1): 65–72. doi: 10.1016/0301-5629(90)90087-S
|
[19] |
Byram B C, Trahey G E, Jensen J A. A method for direct localized sound speed estimates using registered virtual detectors. Ultrasonic Imaging, 2012, 34 (3): 159–180. doi: 10.1177/0161734612455576
|
[20] |
Robinson D E, Ophir J, Wilson L S, et al. Pulse-echo ultrasound speed measurements: progress and prospects. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 1991, 17 (6): 633–646. doi: 10.1016/0301-5629(91)90034-T
|
[21] |
Irie S, Inoue K, Yoshida K, et al. Speed of sound in diseased liver observed by scanning acoustic microscopy with 80 MHz and 250 MHz. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2016, 139 (1): 512–519. doi: 10.1121/1.4940126
|
[22] |
Greenleaf J F, Johnson S A, Lee S L, et al. Algebraic reconstruction of spatial distributions of acoustic absorption within tissue from their two-dimensional acoustic projections. Acoustical Holography: Springer, 1974: 591–603. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4757-0827-1_34
|
[23] |
PȦrez-Liva M, Herraiz J L, UdȪas J M, et al. Time domain reconstruction of sound speed and attenuation in ultrasound computed tomography using full wave inversion. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2017, 141 (3): 1595–1604. doi: 10.1121/1.4976688
|
[24] |
Rajagopalan B, Greenleaf J F, Thomas P J, et al. Variation of acoustic speed with temperature in various excised human tissues studied by ultrasound computerized tomography. The Second International Symposium on Ultrasonic Tissue Characterization, (US Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards, 1979: 227. https://xs.dailyheadlines.cc/books?hl=zh-CN&lr=&id=AL7AirGJZfkC&oi=fnd&pg=PA227&ots=R-lsIWQxtU&sig=nEvwV5cHatxexxkatqdUEu0c-Fw
|
[25] |
Del Grosso V A, Mader C W. Speed of sound in pure water. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1972, 52 (5B): 1442–1446. doi: 10.1121/1.1913258
|
[26] |
Coppens A B. Simple equations for the speed of sound in Neptunian waters. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1981, 69 (3): 862–863. doi: 10.1121/1.385486
|
[27] |
Li C, Huang L, Duric N, et al. An improved automatic time-of-flight picker for medical ultrasound tomography. Ultrasonics, 2009, 49 (1): 61–72. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2008.05.005
|
[28] |
Ali R, Hsieh S, Dahl J. Open-source Gauss-Newton-based methods for refraction-corrected ultrasound computed tomography. Medical Imaging 2019, International Society for Optics and Photonics. London: SPIE, 2019: 1095508. https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie/10955/1095508/Open-source-Gauss-Newton-based-methods-for-refraction-corrected-ultrasound/10.1117/12.2511319.short?sessionGUID=329ad883-c9d9-02bc-9993-ced268bead49&sessionGUID=329ad883-c9d9-02bc-9993-ced268bead49&webSyncID=c89a0ce4-6e9e-6ec7-a49d-ab6a0cbad059
|
[29] |
Aster R C, Borchers B, Thurber C H. Parameter Estimation and Inverse Problems. 3ed, Elsevier, 2018: 165. http://www.ees.nmt.edu/outside/courses/GEOP529/Docs/old/preface.pdf
|
[30] |
Kuo I Y, Hete B, Shung K K. A novel method for the measurement of acoustic speed. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1990, 88 (4): 1679–1682. doi: 10.1121/1.400242
|
[31] |
Kremkau F W, Barnes R W, McGraw C P. Ultrasonic attenuation and propagation speed in normal human brain. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1981, 70 (1): 29–38. doi: 10.1121/1.386578
|
[32] |
Rabell-Montiel A, Thomson A J, Anderson T A, et al. Acoustic properties of small animal soft tissue in the frequency range 12~32 MHz. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 2018, 44 (3): 702–713. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2017.11.003
|
[33] |
Hachiya H, Ohtsuki S. Non-contact measurement of sound speed of tissues. Ultrasonic Tissue Characterization, Springer, 1996: 63–72.
|
[34] |
Chen C F, Robinson D E, Wilson L S, et al. Clinical sound speed measurement in liver and spleen in Vivo. Ultrasonic Imaging, 1987, 9 (4): 221–235.
|
[35] |
Bamber J C, Hill C R. Ultrasonic attenuation and propagation speed in mammalian tissues as a function of temperature. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 1979, 5 (2): 149–157. doi: 10.1016/0301-5629(79)90083-8
|
[36] |
Sehgal C M, Brown G M, Bahn R C, et al. Measurement and use of acoustic nonlinearity and sound speed to estimate composition of excised livers. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 1986, 12 (11): 865–874. doi: 10.1016/0301-5629(86)90004-9
|
[37] |
Kumagai H, Yokoyama K, Katsuyama K, et al. A new method for measuring the speed of sound in rat liver ex vivo using an ultrasound system: Correlation of sound speed with fat deposition. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 2014, 40 (10): 2499–2507. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2014.03.019
|
[38] |
Frizzell L A, Gindorf J D. Measurement of ultrasonic velocity in several biological tissues. Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology, 1981, 7 (4): 385–387. doi: 10.1016/0301-5629(81)90049-1
|
Figure 3. Sound speed maps of rat organs imaged by USCT. First column: photograph of isolated organs. Second column: corresponding sound speed maps. Third column: masks used to segment the regions of interest (ROIs). Fourth column: segmented images used to calculate the average sound speeds. First row to the fifth row: brain, heart, liver, spleen, kidney.
[1] |
Duck F A. Physical Properties of Tissues: a Comprehensive Reference Book. Academic Press, 1990. https://sciencedirect.53yu.com/book/9780122228001/physical-properties-of-tissues
|
[2] |
Hachiya H, Ohtsuki S, Tanaka M. Relationship between speed of sound in and density of normal and diseased rat livers. Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 1994, 33 (5S): 3130. doi: 10.1143/JJAP.33.3130
|
[3] |
Ghoshal G, Lavarello R J, Kemmerer J P, et al. Ex vivo study of quantitative ultrasound parameters in fatty rabbit livers. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 2012, 38 (12): 2238–2248. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2012.08.010
|
[4] |
Wiskin J, Malik B, Natesan R, et al. Quantitative assessment of breast density using transmission ultrasound tomography. Medical Physics, 2019, 46 (6): 2610–2620. doi: 10.1002/mp.13503
|
[5] |
Zografos G, Liakou P, Koulocheri D, et al. Differentiation of BIRADS-4 small breast lesions via multimodal ultrasound tomography. European Radiology, 2015, 25 (2): 410–418. doi: 10.1007/s00330-014-3415-3
|
[6] |
Bamber J C, Hill C R. Acoustic properties of normal and cancerous human liverjI. Dependence on pathological condition. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 1981, 7 (2): 121–133. doi: 10.1016/0301-5629(81)90001-6
|
[7] |
Li C, Duric N, Littrup P, et al. In Vivo breast sound-speed imaging with ultrasound tomography. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 2009, 35 (10): 1615–1628. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2009.05.011
|
[8] |
Ruiter N V, Zapf M, Hopp T, et al. 3D ultrasound computer tomography of the breast: A new era? European Journal of Radiology, 2012, 81 (S): 133–134. doi: 10.1016/S0720-048X(12)70055-4
|
[9] |
Ding M, Song J, Zhou L, et al. In Vitro and in Vivo evaluations of breast ultrasound tomography imaging system in HUST. Medical Imaging 2018— —4th World Congress on Medical Imaging and Clinical Research. London: International Society for Optics and Photonics, 2018: 105800P. https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie/10580/105800P/In-vitro-and-in-vivo-evaluations-of-breast-ultrasound-tomography/10.1117/12.2292985.short
|
[10] |
Anderson M E, McKeag M S, Trahey G E. The impact of sound speed errors on medical ultrasound imaging. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2000, 107 (6): 3540–3548. doi: 10.1121/1.429422
|
[11] |
Tian C, Zhang C, Zhang H, et al. Spatial resolution in photoacoustic computed tomography. Reports on Progress in Physics, 2021, 84 (3): 036701. doi: 10.1088/1361-6633/abdab9
|
[12] |
Wang T, Liu W, Tian C. Combating acoustic heterogeneity in photoacoustic computed tomography: A review. Journal of Innovative Optical Health Sciences, 2020, 13 (03): 2030007. doi: 10.1142/S1793545820300074
|
[13] |
Feng T, Zhu Y, Morris R, et al. Functional photoacoustic and ultrasonic assessment of osteoporosis: A clinical feasibility study. BME Frontiers, 2020, 2020: 1081540. doi: 10.34133/2020/1081540
|
[14] |
Ophir J. Estimation of the speed of ultrasound propagation in biological tissues: A beam-tracking method. IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, 1986, 33 (4): 359–368. doi: 10.1109/T-UFFC.1986.26843
|
[15] |
Ophir J, Moriya T, Yazdi Y. A single transducer transaxial compression technique for the estimation of sound speed in biological tissues. Ultrasonic Imaging, 1991, 13 (3): 269–279. doi: 10.1177/016173469101300304
|
[16] |
Yoon C, Lee Y, Chang J H, et al. In Vitro estimation of mean sound speed based on minimum average phase variance in medical ultrasound imaging. Ultrasonics, 2011, 51 (7): 795–802. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2011.03.007
|
[17] |
Jakovljevic M, Hsieh S, Ali R, et al. Local speed of sound estimation in tissue using pulse-echo ultrasound: Model-based approach. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2018, 144 (1): 254–266. doi: 10.1121/1.5043402
|
[18] |
Kondo M, Takamizawa K, Hirama M, et al. An evaluation of an in vivo local sound speed estimation technique by the crossed beam method. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 1990, 16 (1): 65–72. doi: 10.1016/0301-5629(90)90087-S
|
[19] |
Byram B C, Trahey G E, Jensen J A. A method for direct localized sound speed estimates using registered virtual detectors. Ultrasonic Imaging, 2012, 34 (3): 159–180. doi: 10.1177/0161734612455576
|
[20] |
Robinson D E, Ophir J, Wilson L S, et al. Pulse-echo ultrasound speed measurements: progress and prospects. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 1991, 17 (6): 633–646. doi: 10.1016/0301-5629(91)90034-T
|
[21] |
Irie S, Inoue K, Yoshida K, et al. Speed of sound in diseased liver observed by scanning acoustic microscopy with 80 MHz and 250 MHz. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2016, 139 (1): 512–519. doi: 10.1121/1.4940126
|
[22] |
Greenleaf J F, Johnson S A, Lee S L, et al. Algebraic reconstruction of spatial distributions of acoustic absorption within tissue from their two-dimensional acoustic projections. Acoustical Holography: Springer, 1974: 591–603. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4757-0827-1_34
|
[23] |
PȦrez-Liva M, Herraiz J L, UdȪas J M, et al. Time domain reconstruction of sound speed and attenuation in ultrasound computed tomography using full wave inversion. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2017, 141 (3): 1595–1604. doi: 10.1121/1.4976688
|
[24] |
Rajagopalan B, Greenleaf J F, Thomas P J, et al. Variation of acoustic speed with temperature in various excised human tissues studied by ultrasound computerized tomography. The Second International Symposium on Ultrasonic Tissue Characterization, (US Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards, 1979: 227. https://xs.dailyheadlines.cc/books?hl=zh-CN&lr=&id=AL7AirGJZfkC&oi=fnd&pg=PA227&ots=R-lsIWQxtU&sig=nEvwV5cHatxexxkatqdUEu0c-Fw
|
[25] |
Del Grosso V A, Mader C W. Speed of sound in pure water. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1972, 52 (5B): 1442–1446. doi: 10.1121/1.1913258
|
[26] |
Coppens A B. Simple equations for the speed of sound in Neptunian waters. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1981, 69 (3): 862–863. doi: 10.1121/1.385486
|
[27] |
Li C, Huang L, Duric N, et al. An improved automatic time-of-flight picker for medical ultrasound tomography. Ultrasonics, 2009, 49 (1): 61–72. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2008.05.005
|
[28] |
Ali R, Hsieh S, Dahl J. Open-source Gauss-Newton-based methods for refraction-corrected ultrasound computed tomography. Medical Imaging 2019, International Society for Optics and Photonics. London: SPIE, 2019: 1095508. https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie/10955/1095508/Open-source-Gauss-Newton-based-methods-for-refraction-corrected-ultrasound/10.1117/12.2511319.short?sessionGUID=329ad883-c9d9-02bc-9993-ced268bead49&sessionGUID=329ad883-c9d9-02bc-9993-ced268bead49&webSyncID=c89a0ce4-6e9e-6ec7-a49d-ab6a0cbad059
|
[29] |
Aster R C, Borchers B, Thurber C H. Parameter Estimation and Inverse Problems. 3ed, Elsevier, 2018: 165. http://www.ees.nmt.edu/outside/courses/GEOP529/Docs/old/preface.pdf
|
[30] |
Kuo I Y, Hete B, Shung K K. A novel method for the measurement of acoustic speed. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1990, 88 (4): 1679–1682. doi: 10.1121/1.400242
|
[31] |
Kremkau F W, Barnes R W, McGraw C P. Ultrasonic attenuation and propagation speed in normal human brain. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1981, 70 (1): 29–38. doi: 10.1121/1.386578
|
[32] |
Rabell-Montiel A, Thomson A J, Anderson T A, et al. Acoustic properties of small animal soft tissue in the frequency range 12~32 MHz. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 2018, 44 (3): 702–713. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2017.11.003
|
[33] |
Hachiya H, Ohtsuki S. Non-contact measurement of sound speed of tissues. Ultrasonic Tissue Characterization, Springer, 1996: 63–72.
|
[34] |
Chen C F, Robinson D E, Wilson L S, et al. Clinical sound speed measurement in liver and spleen in Vivo. Ultrasonic Imaging, 1987, 9 (4): 221–235.
|
[35] |
Bamber J C, Hill C R. Ultrasonic attenuation and propagation speed in mammalian tissues as a function of temperature. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 1979, 5 (2): 149–157. doi: 10.1016/0301-5629(79)90083-8
|
[36] |
Sehgal C M, Brown G M, Bahn R C, et al. Measurement and use of acoustic nonlinearity and sound speed to estimate composition of excised livers. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 1986, 12 (11): 865–874. doi: 10.1016/0301-5629(86)90004-9
|
[37] |
Kumagai H, Yokoyama K, Katsuyama K, et al. A new method for measuring the speed of sound in rat liver ex vivo using an ultrasound system: Correlation of sound speed with fat deposition. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 2014, 40 (10): 2499–2507. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2014.03.019
|
[38] |
Frizzell L A, Gindorf J D. Measurement of ultrasonic velocity in several biological tissues. Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology, 1981, 7 (4): 385–387. doi: 10.1016/0301-5629(81)90049-1
|