Patent ID: 7753847

Claim:
A method for measuring a mechanical property of a subject, the method comprising: a) applying ultrasonic vibration pulses using an ultrasonic transducer to a vibration origin in the subject in an on-off time sequence in order to impart a harmonic motion at a prescribed frequency to the subject, the harmonic motion propagating outward from the vibration origin; b) applying ultrasonic detection pulses to a motion detection point, which is a selected distance away from the vibration origin, and receiving echo signals therefrom using the same transducer when the vibration pulses are off, in order to sense the harmonic motion propagating outward from the vibration origin at the motion detection point; c) detecting a harmonic signal at the prescribed frequency in the received echo signals; d) measuring a characteristic of the detected harmonic signal; and e) calculating the mechanical property using the measured characteristic.