System for real-time elastography

Abstract

A system is presented that continuously displays images of the strain distribution with up to 5 frame/s obtained by manually or semi-manually compressing or releasing the tissue during an ultrasound examination. The RF-echo data are sampled by a conventional desktop PC and images of the axial strain are calculated using the fast phase root seeking technique. Up to five elastograms per second of a tissue region of approximately 3.7 cm × 3.5 cm are displayed.