AIM: Ch 14: Ultrasound Flashcards
Term that describes sound waves of frequencies exceeding the range of human hearing and their propagation in a medium
Ultrasound
Modality that uses ultrasound energy and the acoustic properties of the body to produce an image from stationary and moving tissues
Medical diagnostic ultrasound
It generates the sound pulses and detects returning echoes to be converted to 2D tomographic image using ultrasound acquisition system
Transducer
Medical uses of ultrasound came about shortly after the close of which era?
World War II
Wave front by which energy propagation in ultrasound occurs in the direction of energy travel
Longitudinal wave
It refers to the distance between compressions or rarefactions, or between any two points that repeat on the sinusoidal wave of pressure amplitude
Wavelength
Unit of wavelength
mm or um
It refers to the number of times the wave oscillates through one cycle each second
Frequency
Unit of frequency
1/s or Hertz (Hz)
Identify the frequency range of the following:
1. Infrasound
2. Audible sound
3. Ultrasound
4. Medical ultrasound
- Infrasound: <15 Hz
- Audible sound: 15-20 kHz
- Ultrasound: >20 kHz
- Medical ultrasound: 2-10 MHz up to 50 MHz
It is the distance traveled by the wave per unit time and is equal to the wavelength divided by the period.
Speed of sound
Unit of speed of sound
m/s
Relationship of period and frequency
Inversely related
Two factors that affect wave speed
- Bulk modulus
- Density of the medium
A measure of the stiffness of a medium and its resistance to being compressed
Bulk modulus
SI units for B and density of the medium
kg/(m-s2), kg/m3
Average speed of sound for the following:
1. Soft tissue
2. Fatty tissue
3. Air
- 1540 m/s
- 1450 m/s
- 330 m/s
It is a fundamental property that generates echoes and (contrast) in an ultrasound image
Difference in the speed of sound at tissue boundaries
Which speed of sound is being used by medical ultrasound machines when determining localization of reflectors and creating the acoustic image
Speed of sound of soft tissues: 1540 m/s
The spatial resolution of the ultrasound image depends on what factor?
Wavelength
Ultrasound wavelength affects the spatial resolution achievable along the direction of the beam
The attenuation of the ultrasound beam energy depends on what factor?
Frequency
A high-frequency ultrasound beam (small wavelength) provides better resolution and image detail than a low-frequency beam; however, the depth of beam penetration is significantly reduced at higher frequency
Most important factors that determine the amount of constructive or destructive interference of the interacting beams are:
Phase: position of the periodic wave with respect to a reference point
Amplitude of the interacting beams
It is defined as the peak maximum or peak minimum value from the average pressure on the medium in the absence of a sound wave
Pressure amplitude
T/F: In most diagnostic ultrasound applications, the compressional amplitude significantly exceeds the rarefactional amplitude
True
SI unit of pressure amplitude
Pascal (Pa) = N/m2
It is defined as amount of power per unit area
Intensity, I
T/F: Intensity is inversely proportional to pressure amplitude
False
It is proportional to the SQUARE of the pressure amplitude
SI unit of medical diagnostic ultrasound intensity
milliwatts/cm2
It describes the logarithmic ratio of relative intensity and pressure levels
Decibel (dB)
T/F: The absolute intensity level depends upon the method of ultrasound production
True
This refers to the tissue thickness that reduces the ultrasound intensity by 3 dB
“Half-value” thickness (HVT)
A loss of 3 dB (-3 dB) represents how much loss of signal intensity
50%
It occurs at tissue boundaries where there is a difference in the acoustic impedance of adjacent materials.
Reflection
T/F: For non-normal incidence, the incident angle is that made relative to normal incidence; the reflected angle is equal to the incident angle
True
It describes the change in direction of the transmitted ultrasound energy with nonperpendicular incidence
Refraction
It occurs by reflection or refraction, usually by small particles within the tissue medium, causes the beam to diffuse in many directions, and gives rise to the characteristic texture and gray scale in the acoustic image.
Scattering
It refers to the loss of intensity of the ultrasound beam from absorption and scattering in the medium.
Attenuation
It refers to the process whereby acoustic energy is converted to heat energy, whereby, sound energy is lost and cannot be recovered.
Absorption
What does this equation represent:
Acoustic impedance (Z)
delta = density, c = speed
What is the SI unit of acoustic impedance (Z)?
Rayl = 1 kg/(m2 * s)
T/F: Acoustic impedance gives rise to differences in transmission and refraction of ultrasound energy, which is the means for producing an image using pulse-echo techniques.
False
Acoustic impedance gives rise to differences in transmission and reflection of ultrasound energy, which is the means for producing an image using pulse-echo techniques.
What is the acoustic impedance of air?
0.0004 x 10^6 Rayl
What is the acoustic impedance of water?
1.48 x 10^6 Rayl
What is the acoustic impedance of bone?
7.8 x 10^6 Rayl
T/F: The reflection of ultrasound energy at a boundary between two tissues occurs because of the differences in the acoustic impedances of the two tissues.
True
It describes the fraction of sound intensity incident on an interface that is reflected.
Incident reflection coefficient (Ri)
Defined as fraction of the incident intensity that is transmitted across an interface.
Intensity transmission coefficient (Ti)
T/F: RI = 1 − TI
False
A conduit of tissue that allows ultrasound transmission through structures such as the lung is known as what?
Acoustic window
When the beam is perpendicular to the tissue boundary, the sound is returned back to the transducer as what?
Echo
As sound travels from a medium of higher acoustic impedance into a medium of lower acoustic impedance, the reflected wave experiences a 180-degree phase shift in pressure amplitude, as shown by the negative sign on the pressure amplitude values
False
However, if you use the formula, the statement in in Q card is actually true because in that case Z2 < Z1, which means their difference is a negative number. Nevertheless, the above discussion assumes a “smooth” interface between tissues, where the wavelength of the ultrasound beam is much greater than the structural variations of the boundary. With higher frequency ultrasound beams, the wavelength becomes smaller, and the boundary no longer appears smooth. In this case, returning echoes are diffusely scattered throughout the medium, and only a small fraction of the incident intensity returns to the ultrasound transducer.
T/F: For nonperpendicular incidence at an angle i, the ultrasound energy is reflected at an angle r equal to the incident angle, i = r Echoes are directed away from the source of ultrasound and are thus undetected.
True
It describes the change in direction of the transmitted ultrasound energy at a tissue boundary when the beam is not perpendicular to the boundary.
Refraction
What law describes the relationship of the angle of refraction relative to the change of speed that occurs at the boundary?
Snell’s Law
What are the 2 circumstances where no refraction occurs
- c1=c2, or
- Perpendicular incidence
This situation occurs when c2 > c1 and the angle of incidence of the sound beam with the boundary between two media exceeds an angle called the critical angle
Total reflection
In this case, the sound beam does not penetrate the second medium at all but travels along the boundary.
How do you compute the critical angle?
See below
It arises from objects and interfaces within a tissue that are about the size of the wavelength or smaller and represent a rough or nonspecular reflector surface.
Acoustic scattering
It is a smooth boundary between two media, where the dimensions of the boundary are much larger than the wavelength of the incident ultrasound energy.
Specular reflector
In general, the echo signal amplitude from the insonated tissues depends on 4 factors. Name them.
- Number of scatterers per unit volume
- Acoustic impedance differences at the scatterer interfaces
- Sizes of the scatterers
- Ultrasonic frequency
Hyperechoic (higher scatter amplitude) and hypoechoic (lower scatter amplitude). Hyperechoic areas usually have greater numbers of scatterers, larger acoustic impedance differences, and larger scatterers.
These terms are used for describing the scatter characteristics relative to the average background signal:
Hyperechoic
Hypoechoic
T/F: Acoustic scattering from specular reflectors increases with frequency, while nonspecular reflection is relatively independent of frequency.
False
Acoustic scattering from nonspecular reflectors increases with frequency, while specular reflection is relatively independent of frequency.
It is the loss of acoustic energy with distance traveled, and is caused chiefly by scattering and tissue absorption of the incident beam.
Ultrasound attenuation
T/F: Absorbed acoustic energy is converted to heat in the tissue.
True
Unit of attenuation coefficient, u
dB/cm
Ultrasound attenuation expressed in dB is approximately proportional to what factor?
Frequency
T/F: Since the dB scale progresses logarithmically, the beam intensity is exponentially attenuated with distance
True
What is the relationship of HVT and frequency?
Inversely proportional
As the frequency increases, the HVT decreases, as demonstrated by the examples above.
What device produces and detects ultrasound, and is comprised of one or more ceramic elements with electromechanical properties and peripheral components?
Transducer
It converts electrical energy into mechanical energy to produce ultrasound and mechanical energy into electrical energy for ultrasound detection.
Ceramic elements
It is the functional component of the transducer.
Piezoelectric material
Often a crystal or ceramic, it converts electrical energy into mechanical (sound) energy by physical deformation of the crystal structure. Conversely, mechanical pressure applied to its surface creates electrical energy.
These are characterized by a well-defined molecular arrangement of electrical dipoles
Piezoelectric materials
What comprises a single-element ultrasound transducer assembly?
See below
This is an example of a natural piezoelectric material commonly used in watches and other timepieces to provide a mechanical vibration source at 32.768 kHz for interval timing.
Quartz crystal
Discuss the mechanism by which a potential difference (voltage) is created across the piezoelectric element with one surface maintaining a net positive charge and one surface a net negative charge:
a. Under the influence of mechanical pressure from an adjacent medium (e.g., an ultrasound echo)
b. When an external voltage source applied
See below
Piezoelectric materials are characterized by a well-defined molecular arrangement of electrical dipoles, as shown in Figure 14-9. Electrical dipoles are molecular entities containing positive and negative electric charges that have an overall neutral charge. When mechanically compressed by an externally applied pressure, the alignment of the dipoles is disturbed from the equilibrium position to cause an imbalance of the charge distribution. A potential difference (voltage) is created across the element with one surface maintaining a net positive charge and one surface a net negative charge. Surface electrodes measure the magnitude of voltage, which is proportional to the incident mechanical pressure amplitude. Conversely, application of an external voltage through conductors attached to the surface electrodes induces the mechanical expansion and contraction of the transducer element.
Ultrasound transducers for medical imaging applications employ this synthetic piezoelectric ceramic, which is a compound with the structure of molecular dipoles.
Lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT)
This process permanently maintain the dipole orientation
Cooling
For PZT, these processes cause the dipoles to align in the ceramic
Heating the material past its “Curie temperature” (e.g., 328°C to 365°C) and applying an external voltage
Curie temperature
328°C to 365°C
T/F: For PZT in its natural state, piezoelectric properties are exhibited.
False
For PZT in its natural state, NO piezoelectric properties are exhibited
What mode do resonance transducers for pulse-echo ultrasound imaging operate, whereby a voltage of very short duration is applied, causing the piezoelectric material to initially contract and then subsequently vibrate at a natural resonance frequency?
Resonance mode
What is the usual voltage (and its duration) used for resonance mode?
Voltage: 150 V
Duration: 1 us
The natural resonance frequency is selected by the (a) of the PZT, due to the preferential emission of (b)-wavelength ultrasound waves in the piezoelectric material
a. Thickness cut
b. 1/2-wavelength
Usually, you have a given x-MHz transducer with speed of sound of PZT material ~4,000 m/s. From the formular of speed, c = wavelenght x frequency, you’ll be able to compute wavelength. For half of the computed wavelength will be the required transducer element thickness.
What factors determine the operating frequency for resonance transducers?
Speed of sound of, and the thickness of the piezoelectric material
Resonance transducers transmit and receive preferentially at a (blank)
Single center frequency
It is layered on the back of the piezoelectric element, absorbs the backward directed ultrasound energy and attenuates stray ultrasound signals from the housing.
Damping block or backing block
The damping block is the component that also dampens the transducer vibration to create an ultrasound pulse with a SHORT (a), which is necessary to preserve detail along the (b)
a. Short pulse length (SPL)
b. Beam axis (axial resolution)
This process lessens the purity of the resonance frequency and introduces a broadband frequency spectrum.
Dampening of the vibration (aka “ring-down”)
It describes the bandwidth of the sound emanating from a transducer
Q factor
A “high Q” transducer has a narrow bandwidth (i.e., very little damping) and a corresponding long SPL. A “low Q” transducer has a wide bandwidth and short SPL.
Describe the required bandwidth transducer for the following and the reason why so:
1. Medical imaging
2. Blood velocity measurements by Doppler instrumentation
3. Continuous-wave ultrasound transducers
- Imaging applications require a broad bandwidth transducer in order to achieve high spatial resolution along the direction of beam travel.
- Blood velocity measurements by Doppler instrumentation require a relatively narrow-band transducer response in order to preserve velocity information encoded by changes in the echo frequency relative to the incident frequency.
- Continuous-wave ultrasound transducers have a very high Q characteristic.
T/F: Since the Q factor is derived from the term “quality factor,” it means that a transducer with a low Q does imply poor quality in the signal.
False
While the Q factor is derived from the term “quality factor,” a transducer with a low Q does not imply poor quality in the signal.
It provides the interface between the raw transducer element and the tissue and minimizes the acoustic impedance differences between the transducer and the patient.
Describe the relationship of Q factor and SPL
See below
What is the acoustic impedance of the acoustic coupling gel?
Acoustic impedance similar to soft tissues
What is the purpose of the acoustic coupling gel?
It used between the transducer and the skin of the patient to eliminate air pockets that could attenuate and reflect the ultrasound beam.
The thickness of each layer of the matching layer is equal to (a) wavelength, determined from the (b) of the transducer and (c) characteristics of the matching layer.
a. 1/4
b. Center operating frequency
c. Speed
Broadband multifrequency transducers have bandwidths that exceed (blank) of the center frequency
80%
Describe nonresonance (broad bandwidth) “Multifrequency” transducers
- Center frequency can be adjusted in the transmit mode
- The piezoelectric element is intricately machined into a large number of small “rods” and then filled with an epoxy resin to create a smooth surface
- The acoustic properties are closer to tissue than a pure PZT material and thus provide a greater transmission efficiency of the ultrasound beam without resorting to multiple matching layers.
How is excitation of the multifrequency transducer accomplished?
Short square wave burst of approximately 150 V with one to three cycles
This allows the center frequency to be selected within the limits of the transducer bandwidth. Likewise, the broad bandwidth response permits the reception of echoes within a wide range of frequencies. For instance, ultrasound pulses can be produced at a low frequency, and the echoes received at higher frequency.
Recent application of the concept of excitation of multifrequency transducer where lower frequency ultrasound is transmitted into the patient, and the higher frequency harmonics (e.g., two times the transmitted center frequency), created from the interaction with contrast agents and tissues, are received as echoes.
Harmonics imaging
Name 3 advantages of native harmonic imaging
- Greater depth of penetration
- Noise and clutter removal, and
- Improved lateral spatial resolution
Typical number of individual rectangular elements that comprise the transducer assembly.
128 to 512
Each rectangular element in a transducer assembly has a width typically less than (a) wavelength and a length of several millimeters
a. 1/2
Two modes of activation are used to produce a beam:
a. Linear (sequential)
b. “Phased” activation/received modes
Physically these are the the largest transducer assemblies, and contain how many elements?
Linear array transducers with 256 to 512 elements
In operation, the simultaneous firing of a small group of approximately (a) adjacent elements produces the ultrasound beam.
a. 20
This is produced by simultaneous activation, and defined by the number of active elements.
Synthetic aperture (effective transducer width)
This mode is when echoes are detected by acquiring signals from most of the transducer elements.
Receive mode
It occurs by firing another group of transducer elements displaced by one or two elements.
“A line” acquisition
Describe the field of view (FOV) produced for the following arrays:
1. Linear array
2. Curvilinear array
- Rectangular FOV
- Trapezodal FOV
Give the numer of individual elements in the following transducers:
1. Linear
2. Phased
- 256 to 512
- 64 to 128
Describe by which ultrasound beam is produced in the following transducers:
1. Linear
2. Phased
- Simultaneous firing of a small group of approximately 20 adjacent elements
- All transducer elements are activated nearly simultaneously
For a given transducer element, which of the following is on the order of 1/2 of the wavelength:
a. height
b. width
c. thickness
b. width
For a given transducer element, which of the following depends on the transducer design and slice-thickness requirements:
a. height
b. width
c. thickness
a. height
These high-frequency ultrasound devices, first investigated in the early 1990s, are silicon-based electrostatic transducers, recently shown to be competitive with the lead-zirconate-titanate for producing and receiving ultrasonic data for patient imaging.
Capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducers (CMUT)
Basic elements of CMUT
- Capacitor cell with a fixed electrode (backplate)
- Free electrode (membrane)
Principle of operation of CMUT, whereby an alternating voltage is applied between the membrane and the backplate, and the modulation of the electrostatic force results in membrane vibration with the generation of ultrasound.
Electrostatic transduction
In terms of depth of penetration, which technology is better, piezoelectric or CMUT?
Piezoelectric array
Lateral dimensions of the membranes of CMUT (a) microns and a thickness of about (b)
a. 10 microns
b. 1 to 2 um
Two distinct beam patterns:
- A slightly converging beam (near field)
- A slightly diverging beam (far field)
What factors determine the converging beam?
- Geometry
- Frequency of the transducer
What factors determine the distance of the near field in an unfocused, single-element transducer?
- Transducer diameter
- Frequency of the transmitted sound
T/F: For multiple transducer element arrays, an “effective” transducer diameter is determined by the excitation of a group of transducer elements.
True
This zone is adjacent to the transducer face and has a converging beam profile
Near field or Fresnel zone
It (a) describes a large transducer surface as an infinite number of point sources of sound energy where each point is characterized as a (b).
a. Huygens’ Principle
b. Radial emitter
The ultrasound beam path is thus largely confined to the dimensions of the active portion of the transducer surface, with the beam diameter converging to approximately (a) the transducer diameter at the end of the near field.
a. half
Factors which the near field length is dependent on?
- Transducer diameter
- Propagation wavelength
What is the formula for near field length?
See below
If you increase the diameter by two times, the NFL will increase by how much?
4x
If you increase the radius by two times, the NFL will increase by how much?
4x
This describes the ability of the system to resolve objects in a direction perpendicular to the beam direction
Lateral resolution
Lateral resolution is dependent on what factor?
Beam diameter
For a single-element transducer, lateral resolution is:
a. best at what point/s?
b. poor at what point/s?
a. At the end of the near field
b. Areas close to and far from the transducer surface
Peak (a) occurs at the end of the near field, corresponding to the minimum (b) for a single-element transducer
a. ultrasound pressure
b. beam diameter