Patent ID: 8840555

Claim:
An ultrasound system comprising: an ultrasound transducer adapted to obtain a dynamic series of echo signals of a subject tissue at different deformation states; and an image processor for generating and displaying ultrasound images of the subject tissue, the image processor configured to: generate dynamic images that correspond to the dynamic series of echo signals; identify a plurality of pixels representing the subject tissue within a region of interest (ROI) of a first of the generated images; evaluate local tissue mechanical behavior by tracking the displacement, deformation, and echo intensity of the identified plurality of pixels from the first image to subsequent images based on groups of pixels neighboring each of the identified plurality of pixels; determine tissue functionality in the subject tissue at the tracked pixel locations; display the tissue functionality in dynamic images that correspond to the tracked pixel locations; generate a histogram or probability density function plot of the multiple tissue functionality parameters that can be deduced from determined stiffness-strain relationship; generate an ordinal scale from an aspect ratio of the histogram or probability density function plot; and compare the ordinal scale to a previous ordinal scale in order to determine an amount of healing in a tissue that has occurred since imaging data used to generate the previous ordinal scale was obtained; wherein the local tissue mechanical behavior comprises one of displacement and deformation of the identified plurality of pixels; and wherein the tissue functionality comprises a stiffness-strain relationship and other parameters deduced from this relation.