Patent ID: 9339256
Filing Date: 2016-05-17
CPC Classification: A61B,G01S,G03B

Claim Text:
1. A method of determining a stiffness of a tissue with ultrasound, the method comprising the steps of: forming a baseline image of a region of interest with a ping-based ultrasound imaging system; transmitting an ultrasonic pulse with a shear-wave-initiating transducer, the ultrasonic pulse being configured to induce a propagating shear wave in the region of interest; imaging the region of interest with the ping-based ultrasound imaging system to capture a first image frame and a second image frame of the propagating shear wave as it moves through the region of interest, wherein capturing the first frame comprises: wherein capturing the second frame comprises: subtracting the baseline image from the first image frame with the electronic controller of the ping-based ultrasound imaging system to obtain a first difference frame; subtracting the baseline image from the second image frame with the electronic controller to obtain a second difference frame; determining a position of the propagating shear wave in the first and second difference frames with the electronic controller; and calculating a first propagation speed of the propagating shear wave in the region of interest from the positions in the first and second difference frames with the electronic controller.