Ultrasonic tissue characterization of atherosclerosis by a speed-of-sound microscanning system

Yoshifumi Saijo, Esmeraldo Santos Filho, Hidehiko Sasaki, Tomoyuki Yambe, Motonao Tanaka, Naohiro Hozumi, Kazuto Kobayashi, Nagaya Okada

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

68 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We have been developing a scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) system for medicine and biology featuring quantitative measurement of ultrasonic parameters of soft tissues. In the present study, we propose a new concept sound speed microscopy that can measure the thickness and speed of sound in the tissue using fast Fourier transform of a single pulsed wave instead of burst waves used in conventional SAM systems. Two coronary arteries were frozen and sectioned approximately 10 μm in thickness. They were mounted on glass slides without cover slips. The scanning time of a frame with 300 × 300 pixels was 90 s and twodimensional distribution of speed of sound was obtained. The speed of sound was 1680 ± 30 m/s in the thickened intima with collagen Aber, 1520 ± 8 m/s in the lipid deposition underlying the Abrous cap, and 1810 ± 25 m/s in a calcified lesion in the intima. These basic measurements will help in the understanding of echo intensity and pattern in intravascular ultrasound images.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1571-1576
Number of pages6
JournalIEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control
Volume54
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2007 Aug

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