? The goal of the project is development of a physical and technical foundation for novel medical diagnostic technologies based on the use of ultrasonic RF as a virtual finger for remote probing of internal tissues. The milestones of the project include development of an experimental system for RF generation in model objects, for testing and validation of RF transmitters operating over a wide range of frequencies, design of a Doppler system for remote detection of RF induced acoustic signals, comprehensive mathematical analysis of RF generation in biological tissues, and laboratory model studies on RF induced local and oscillations waves in bones and heterogeneous soft tissues. The project will culminate in analyzing the applications of RF based methods in areas of medical diagnostics where the proposed technology has advantages over conventional approaches such as brain assessment; evaluation of muscle dynamic characteristics, assessment of hip fragility and monitoring the growth and ossification of infant's bones. The project is based on several innovations in different areas of physical and medical acoustics, such as use of acoustic RF for remote assessment of bones, Shear Wave Elasticity Imaging, Time Reversal focusing of ultrasonic beams, and remote evaluation of soft tissue shear viscosity. ? ?
| Barannik, E A; Girnyk, S A; Tovstiak, V V et al. (2004) The influence of viscosity on the shear strain remotely induced by focused ultrasound in viscoelastic media. J Acoust Soc Am 115:2358-64 |
