WAVES • We use logarithmic measures, called

• There are two types of waves: decibels (dB). A dB is a dimensionless

– Transverse waves: these waves measure. It is a ratio.
are perpendicular to the • We pick some standard to measure, call
direction of energy transfer, it S0, and measure signal strength
e.g., violin string. (intensity) w.r.t. S0.
– Longitudinal waves: these X (dB) = 10 log10 (S/S0)
waves are parallel to the • Energy loss is called attenuation. There
direction of energy transfer, are many mechanisms that cause that.
e.g., a pulse from a piston in a The main ones we care about are:
cylinder, sound waves. – Absorption: conversion to heat
• Ultrasound is a wave with a frequency – Reflection: organized change in
exceeding the upper limit of human direction of the wave (specular:
hearing mirror like)
– greater than 20,000 Hz (hertz) – Scatter: disorganized change in
• We can measure longitudinal waves in direction
two ways: • Attenuation is denoted by α, a
– Distance: the wave length coefficient that describes how energy is
– Frequency: how many times per dissipated.
second the compression peak
occurs at a point in space. VELOCITY
• Frequency (f) and wavelength (λ) are Velocity (propagation speed)
related by the speed of sound in the • The speed with which a sound wave
medium: travels through a medium
• V=ƒ λ • Units of measure are distance/time
• Generally speaking, V is related to the – cm/sec
compressibility of the medium, slower • The speed of sound is determined by
in gasses, faster in liquids, and fastest the density and
in solids. stiffness of the media in which it travels
SOUND – slowest in air/gasses
• Sound is a mechanical wave that travels – fastest in solids
in a straight line • Average speed of ultrasound in the
• Requires a medium through which to body is 1540 m/sec
travel Interactions of Ultrasound with Tissue
• Sound has: • Reflection
• Energy: or work, in Joules (1 J = • Scattering
1 kgm2/s2) • Transmission
• Power: is rate of energy, in • Attenuation
Watts (1 W = 1 J/s) • What is reflection in ultrasound?
• Intensity: is pressure, force per • Reflection of a sound wave occurs when
unit area, in Pascals (1 P = 1 the wave passes between two
N/m2) tissues of different acoustic
• Sound intensity/energy/power changes impedances and a fraction of the wave
over many orders of magnitude. 'bounces' back.
• This forms one of the major principles • These waves will reflect from deeper
of ultrasound imaging as the ultrasound tissue structures
probe • What does transmission mean in
• detects these reflected waves to form ultrasound?
the desired image. • As the ultrasound energy travels
• Acoustic Impedance: The resistance to through tissues of the body, it
the propagation of ultrasound waves • is scattered, transmitted, or reflected
through tissues. back to the transducer. Ultrasound
• Each tissue type has a unique acoustic • that is scattered does not help to create
impedance. Acoustic impedance is the an image. Ultrasound that is trans-
product of the • mitted produces an echo-free area on
• density and speed of sound in the the image.
tissue. • How is ultrasound transmitted through
Reflection tissue?
– Reflection from a smooth tissue • The sound waves are reflected back to
interface (specular) causes the sound the transducer by boundaries between
wave to return to the scanhead tissues in the path of the beam (e.g. the
– The ultrasound image is formed from boundary between fluid and soft tissue
reflected echoes or tissue and bone). When these echoes
hit the transducer, they generate
Scattering electrical signals that are sent to the
• Redirection of the sound-wave in ultrasound scanner.
several directions Attenuation
• Caused by interaction with a very small • The amplitude/strength of the wave
reflector or a very rough interface decreases with increasing depth
• Only a portion of the sound-wave • Attenuation in ultrasound is the
returns to the scanhead reduction in amplitude of the
• Scattering occurs when a sound wave ultrasound beam
strikes a structure with a different • as a function of distance through the
• acoustic impedance to the surrounding imaging medium. Accounting for
tissue and which is smaller attenuation
• than the wavelength of the incident • effects in ultrasound is important
sound wave. Such structures are known because a reduced signal amplitude can
as affect the
• “diffuse reflectors,” with examples • quality of the image produced.
being red blood cells and non-smooth Ultrasound Image Formation: Pulsed
surfaces of visceral organs Ultrasound
• scattering “may be defined as the • Pulse-Echo Method
change of amplitude, frequency, phase – Ultrasound scanhead produces
velocity, or direction of wave propagate “pulses” of ultrasound waves
Transmission – These waves travel within the
• Not all of the sound-wave is reflected, body and interact with various
therefore some of the wave continues organs
deeper into the body
 – The reflected waves return to **This is the challenge of ultrasound
the scanhead and are imaging
processed by the ultrasound Therefore
machine High frequency scanheads have the
– An image which represents best resolution, but the least amount
these reflections is formed on of penetration (e.g. L10-5)
the monitor. Lower frequency scanheads provide
Piezoelectric Elements/Crystals more penetration, but poorer
• Some crystals change shape (in at least resolution (e.g.C4-2)
one direction) with applied voltage. Bandwidth
This is reversible: a change in • Bandwidth is the range of frequencies
dimension produces a change in emitted by the scanhead
voltage. • Each crystal emits a spectrum of
• The piezoelectric element/crystal frequencies
produces the ultrasound pulses The Returning Echo
– Electrical pulses applied to the • Reflected echoes return to the
crystal cause it to expand and scanhead where the piezoelectric
contract elements convert the ultrasound wave
– This produces the transmitted back into an electrical signal
ultrasound pulses • The electrical signal is then processed
Piezoelectric Crystals and by the ultrasound system
Frequency Goal of an Ultrasound System
• The frequency of the scanhead is • The ultimate goal of any ultrasound
determined by the system is to make like tissues look
thickness of the crystals alike and unlike tissues look
• Thinner elements produce HIGHER different
frequencies Types of Resolution
• Thicker elements produce LOWER • Axial Resolution
frequencies – specifies how close together
Frequency vs. Resolution two objects can be along the
• The frequency also affects the quality of axis of the beam, yet still be
the image detected as two separate
– the higher the frequency, the objects
shorter the wavelength – wavelength affects axial
– the shorter the wavelength, the resolution
better the axial resolution • Lateral Resolution
• Therefore, higher frequency scanheads – the ability to resolve two
produce better image resolution adjacent objects that are
Frequency vs. Depth of Penetration perpendicular to the beam axis as
However- separate objects
• The HIGHER the frequency, the LESS it – Beam width affects lateral
can penetrate into the body resolution
• The LOWER the frequency, the DEEPER
the penetration
• Elevational (azimuthal) resolution
represents the extent to which an
ultrasound system is
• able to resolve objects within an axis
perpendicular to the plane formed by
the axial and lateral dimensions.
• Spatial Resolution
– also called Detail Resolution
– the combination of AXIAL and
LATERAL resolution
– some companies may use this
term
• What is the difference between axial
and lateral resolution in ultrasound?
• Resolution of an ultrasound beam is
defined in three planes: axial, lateral,
and elevational planes. Axial resolution
is the ability to discern between two
points along or parallel to the beam's
path. Lateral (Alzmuthal) resolution is
the ability to discern between two
points perpendicular to a beam's path.
• Contrast Resolution
– the ability to resolve two
adjacent objects of different
intensity/reflective properties as
separate objects
• Temporal Resolution
– the ability to distinguish very
rapid events in sequence
– also known as frame rate
• Temporal resolution is the time from
the beginning of one frame to the next;
it represents
• the ability of the ultrasound system to
distinguish between instantaneous
events of rapidly moving structures, for
example, during the cardiac cycle
• What determines temporal resolution?
• Temporal resolution is chiefly
determined by the image frame rate of
the system
• (measured in Hertz), which may vary
depending on a number of factors