Patent ID: 8308643

Claim:
A computer implemented method for generating hardness information of tissue subject to a varying pressure, the method comprising: receiving signals from a tissue with a sensor for measuring the deformation of the tissue in a measuring plane defined by the sensor, where the sensor is moved, under control of an actuator, during the receiving signals step: (a) in a direction transverse to the measuring plane, and (b) while the tissue is subject to a varying pressure; identifying strain of the tissue from the signals received by the sensor moved during the receiving signals step in the direction transverse to the measuring plane; and relating the strain to at least one of either hardness or elasticity parameters of the tissue; and wherein moving the sensor under control of the actuator, in the direction transverse to the measuring plane while the tissue is subject to a varying pressure, is controlled to provide sufficient correlation between consecutive image frames generated from the signals received by the sensor to identify strain of the tissue.