Patent ID: 8753277

Claim:
A method of determining the shear modulus of a tissue of an individual, the method comprising the steps of: (a) transmitting at least one acoustic pulse at a first location of the individual and receiving a reference echo signal resulting from the at least one acoustic pulse; (b) transmitting a first push pulse at a second location of the individual; (c) transmitting a second push pulse that has a temporally distinct spatial peak from the first push pulse at a third location of the individual, wherein the first location, second location, and third location are each spatially distinct; (d) transmitting a series of tracking pulses at the first location and receiving a tracking echo signal from each tracking pulse; (e) determining the effect of the first and second push pulses on the tissue of the individual at the first location by analyzing the tracking echo signals; and (f) calculating the shear modulus of the tissue of the individual based on the effect of the first and second push pulses on the tissue of the first location compared to the reference echo signal.