Performance improvement of magneto-acousto-electrical tomography for biological tissues with sinusoid-Barker coded excitation

By combining magnetics, acoustics and electrics, the magneto-acoustic-electrical tomography(MAET) proves to possess the capability of differentiating electrical impedance variation and thus improving the spatial resolution. However,the signal-to-noise ratio(SNR) of the collected MAET signal is still unsatisfactory for biological tissues with low-level electrical conductivity. In this study, the formula of MAET measurement with sinusoid-Barker coded excitation is derived and simplified for a planar piston transducer. Numerical simulations are conducted for a four-layered gel phantom with the 13-bit sinusoid-Barker coded excitation, and the performances of wave packet recovery with side-lobe suppression are improved by using the mismatched compression filter, which is also demonstrated by experimentally measuring a three-layered gel phantom. It is demonstrated that comparing with the single-cycle sinusoidal excitation, the amplitude of the driving signal can be reduced greatly with an SNR enhancement of 10 dB using the 13-bit sinusoid-Barker coded excitation. The amplitude and polarity of the wave packet filtered from the collected MAET signal can be used to achieve the conductivity derivative at the tissue boundary. In this study, we apply the sinusoid-Barker coded modulation method and the mismatched suppression scheme to MAET measurement to ensure the safety for biological tissues with improved SNR and spatial resolution, and suggest the potential applications in biomedical imaging.     

固体粗糙界面与超声的非线性相互作用研究

本文提出了一种随机弹性接触界面与超声的非线性相互作用理论. 首先建立了描述随机弹性接触界面的模型, 然后分别研究了界面间应力-应变关系在线性简化模型、指数模型、高斯模型下与超声的非线性相互作用. 数值仿真和实验研究结果均表明高斯模型更适合描述固体接触界面. 本文在介观结构上解释了固体界面与超声的相互作用, 对工业超声无损检测裂缝、缺陷及损伤有指导意义. 关键词： 超声无损检测 固体粗糙界面 非线性效应     

Two-Dimensional Lorentz Force Image Reconstruction for Magnetoacoustic Tomography with Magnetic Induction

Magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction has shown potential applications in imaging the electrical impedance for biological tissues. We present a novel methodology for the inverse problem solution of the 2-D Lorentz force distribution reconstruction based on the acoustic straight line propagation theory. The magnetic induction and acoustic generation as well as acoustic detection are theoretically provided as explicit formulae and also validated by the numerical simulations for a multilayered cylindrical phantom model. The reconstructed 2-D Lorentz force distribution reveals not only the conductivity configuration in terms of shape and size but also the amplitude value of the Lorentz force in the examined layer. This study provides a basis for further study of conductivity distribution reconstruction of MAT-MI in medical imaging.     

超声增强藻酸钙凝胶支架材料孔隙率的研究

藻酸钙凝胶具有三维立体多孔结构, 能为细胞生长提供充分的附着空间, 且具有良好的生物相容性和一定的机械强度, 是一种理想的细胞支架材料. 本文研究了藻酸钙三维支架材料的力学特性与氯化钙/藻酸钠的配比的关系, 并提出采用低强度脉冲超声处理藻酸钙凝胶、基于超声空化效应增强藻酸钙凝胶孔隙率的新方法. 实验采用交联合成方法制备藻酸钙凝胶支架材料, 测量力学特性、孔洞的联通性与孔隙率, 并利用绿色荧光蛋白的表达评价细胞的增殖能力. 结果表明, 当氯化钙/藻酸钠的配比为3:5时, 凝胶的机械强度和弹性较好, 力学性能稳定, 为最佳配比参数. 采用声压0.055 MPa的脉冲超声作用20 min, 可以有效提高凝胶支架的孔隙率; 且细胞在该支架中生长状态良好, 呈现团簇状生长趋势.     

超声造影剂微气泡的包膜黏弹特性的定量表征研究

包膜黏弹特性显著影响微气泡超声造影剂的诊断及治疗应用效果. 本文结合原子力显微镜技术及声衰减特性测量提出了一种对微气泡造影剂包膜黏弹特性定量表征的新方法. 首先采用原子力显微镜技术进行机械特性分析得到包膜微气泡的有效硬度及体弹性模量; 然后测量声衰减特性, 基于微气泡动力学理论, 计算包膜微气泡的体黏度系数. 为验证方法的有效性, 实验制备了直径为1-5 μm的白蛋白包膜微气泡造影剂, 原子力显微镜测量的有效硬度和体弹性模量分别为0.149±0.012 N/m和8.31±0.667 MPa, 并与粒径无关. 声衰减特性测量和动力学理论拟合的包膜微气泡的体黏度系数为0.374±0.003 Pa·s. 该方法可推广至其他种类包膜微气泡的黏弹特性表征, 对超声造影剂的制备及其诊断和治疗应用有积极意义.     

A Novel Approach to Correct Diffraction Effect in Measurment of ultrasonic Velocity and Attenuation at High Frequencies

A novel method to correct diffraction effect in measurement of ultrasonic velocity and attenuation at high frequencies is developed by using the superposition technique of Gaussian beams.To examine the validity of this numerical approach,the amplitude loss and phase advance due to the diffraction effect for an SiO2 specimen are numerically calculated in 30-240MHz,and the results are in good agreement with those by the Papadakis method.     

｜ω｜滤波器对卷积滤波法进行非线性参量B／A成像的影响

非线性声参量Ｂ／Ａ是医学超声组织定征的一个新参量，利用Ｘ射线ＣＴ成像的算法──卷积滤波法可以对一个简单样品进行非线性参量Ｂ／Ａ计算机模拟成像。本文研究了四种｜ω｜滤波器，即ＲＬ滤波器，ＳＬ滤波器，抛物线滤波器和改进的ＳＬ滤波器，分析了它们对卷积滤波法非线性参量成像的图像质量的影响。     

条状障碍物对超声非线性声场的影响研究

基于Khokhlov-Zabolotkaya-Kuznetsov(KZK)方程，在频域建立了求解三维非轴对称声场的方法，理论及实验研究了声波通过肋骨条状障碍物后的非线性声场分布，数值计算与实验结果相符.本文还讨论了条状障碍物对空间平均-时间平均声强(I_SATA)的影响. 关键词： 非轴对称 频域法 肋骨 衍射场     

Model Equation for Acoustic Nonlinear Measurement of Dispersive Specimens at High Frequency

We present a theoretical model for acoustic nonlinearity measurement of dispersive specimens at high frequency. The nonlinear Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov （KZK） equation governs the nonlinear propagation in the SiO2/specimen/SiO2 multi-layer medium. The dispersion effect is considered in a special manner by introducing the frequency-dependant sound velocity in the KZK equation. Simple analytic solutions are derived by applying the superposition technique of Gaussian beams. The solutions are used to correct the diffraction and dispersion effects in the measurement of acoustic nonlinearity of cottonseed oil in the frequency range of 33-96 MHz. Re- garding two different ultrasonic devices, the accuracies of the measurements are improved to ±2.0% and ±1.3% in comparison with ±9.8% and ±2.9% obtained from the previous plane wave model.     

用于活体温度评估的非线性超声热应变模型*

热疗在肿瘤消融、高血压治疗等方面有重要应用价值。对热疗过程进行温度监控有利于实施合理的治疗规划,同时可提高治疗的安全性、减少副作用。利用基于超声回波偏移的热应变测温理论进行二维温度估计是一种常用的超声测温方法。但该理论基于组织热膨胀及声速随温度线性变化的假设,适用的温度测量范围一般限于37℃-50℃。该文基于升温组织的物理参量非线性变化,提出了基于非线性超声热应变评估温度变化的模型。在基于活体猪肾周脂肪的微波加热实验中,该文利用上述模型结合动态帧选取算法和自适应滤波,对活体的呼吸、心跳运动进行抑制,减小二维温度图像中的噪声。所得结果表明运动补偿效果良好,对于温升范围不超过30℃的情况,测温误差在2.5℃以内。