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.     

Simulation research on effect of magnetic nanoparticles on physical process of magneto–acoustic tomography with magnetic induction

Magneto–acoustic tomography with magnetic induction(MAT-MI) is a multiphysics coupled imaging technique that is combined with electrical impedance tomography and ultrasound imaging. In order to study the influence of adding magnetic nanoparticles as a contrast agent for MAT-MI on its physical process, firstly, we analyze and compare the electromagnetic and acoustical properties of MAT-MI theoretically before and after adding magnetic nanoparticles, and then construct a two-dimensional(2 D) planar model. Under the guidance of space-time separation theory, we determine the reasonable simulation conditions and solve the electromagnetic field and sound field physical processes in the two modes by using the finite element method. The magnetic flux density, sound pressure distribution, and related one-dimensional(1 D), 2 D, and three-dimensional(3 D) images are obtained. Finally, we make a qualitative and quantitative analysis based on the theoretical and simulation results. The research results show that the peak time of the time item separated from the sound source has a corresponding relationship with the peak time of the sound pressure signal. At this moment, MAMPTMI produces larger sound pressure signals, and the sound pressure distribution of the MAMPT-MI is more uniform, which facilitates the detection and completion of sound source reconstruction. The research results may lay the foundation for the MAT-MI of magnetically responsive nanoparticle in subsequent experiments and even clinical applications.     

Influence exerted by bone-containing target body on thermoacoustic imaging with current injection

Thermoacoustic imaging with current injection(TAI-CI) is a novel imaging technology that couples with electromagnetic and acoustic research, which combines the advantages of high contrast of the electrical impedance tomography and the high spatial resolution of sonography, and therefore has the potential for early diagnosis. To verify the feasibility of TAI-CI for complex bone-containing biological tissues, the principle of TAI-CI and the coupling characteristics of fluid and solid were analyzed. Meanwhile, thermoacoustic(TA) effects for fluid model and fluid–solid coupling model were analyzed by numerical simulations. Moreover, we conducted experiments on animal cartilage, hard bone and biological soft tissue phantom with low conductivity(0.5 S/m). By injecting a current into the phantom, the thermoacoustic signal was detected by the ultrasonic transducer with a center frequency of 1 MHz, thereby the B-scan image of the objects was obtained. The B-scan image of the cartilage experiment accurately reflects the distribution of cartilage and gel, and the hard bone has a certain attenuation effect on the acoustic signal. However, compared with the ultrasonic imaging, the thermoacoustic signal is only attenuated during the outward propagation. Even in this case, a clear image can still be obtained and the images can reflect the change of the conductivity of the gel. This study confirmed the feasibility of TAI-CI for the imaging of biological tissue under the presence of cartilage and the bone. The novel TAI-CI method provides further evidence that it can be used in the diagnosis of human diseases.     

Feasibility of photoacoustic tomography for ophthalmology

For the eyeball composed of membrane and liquid,the contrast of ultrasound imaging is not high due to its small variance in acoustic impedance.As a new imaging modality,photoacoustic tomography combines the advantages of pure optical and ultrasonic imaging together and can provide high resolution,high contrast images.In this paper,the feasibility of photoacoustic tomography for ophthalmology is studied experimentally.A Q-switched Nd:YAG pulsed laser with 7-ns pulse width is used to generate photoacoustic signal of a porcine eyeball in vitro.The two-dimensional(2D)optical absorption image of the entire eyeball is reconstructed by time-domain spherical back projection algorithm.The imaging results agree well with the histological structure of the eyeball and show a high imaging contrast.     

Acoustic dipole radiation model for magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction

An acoustic dipole radiation model for magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction (MAT-MI) is pro-posed,based on the analyses of one-dimensional tissue vibration,three-dimensional acoustic dipole radiation and acoustic waveform detection with a planar piston transducer.The collected waveforms provide information about the conductiv-ity boundaries in various vibration intensities and phases due to the acoustic dipole radiation pattern.Combined with the simplified back projection algorithm,the conductivity configuration of the measured layer in terms of shape and size can be reconstructed with obvious border stripes.The numerical simulation is performed for a two-layer cylindrical phantom model and it is also verified by the experimental results of MAT-MI for a tissue-like sample phantom.The proposed model suggests a potential application of conductivity differentiation and provides a universal basis for the further study of conductivity reconstruction for MAT-MI.     

Second harmonic magnetoacoustic responses of magnetic nanoparticles in magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction

Due to the unique magnetic, mechanical and thermal properties, magnetic nanoparticles(MNPs) have comprehensive applications as the contrast and therapeutic agents in biomedical imaging and magnetic hyperthermia. The linear and nonlinear magnetoacoustic responses determined by the magnetic properties of MNPs have attracted more and more attention in biomedical engineering. By considering the relaxation time of MNPs, we derive the formulae of second harmonic magnetoacoustic responses(2H-MARs) for a cylindrical MNP solution model based on the mechanical oscillations of MNPs in magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction(MAT-MI). It is proved that only the second harmonic magnetoacoustic oscillations can be generated by MNPs under an alternating magnetic excitation. The acoustic pressure of the 2H-MAR is proportional to the square of the magnetic field intensity and exhibits a linear increase with the concentration of MNPs. Numerical simulations of the 2H-MAR are confirmed by the experimental measurements for various magnetic field intensities and solution concentrations using a laser vibrometer. The favorable results demonstrate the feasibility of the harmonic measurements without the fundamental interference of the electromagnetic excitation, and suggest a new harmonic imaging strategy of MAT-MI for MNPs with enhanced spatial resolution and improved signal-to-noise ratio in biomedical applications.     

A position resolution MRPC for muon tomography

Muon tomography is a promising method in the detection and imaging of high Z material. In general, considering the quality of track reconstruction in imaging, a detector of good position resolution, high efficiency and large area is required. This paper presents the design and study of a prototype of position sensitive MRPC with 0.15 mm narrow gas gap and 2.54 mm strip readout. Through a cosmic-ray experiment, the performance of MRPC module is carefully observed and each channel is calibrated. Through an X ray experiment with a narrow slit, the position resolution is studied. The results show that the time resolution of the module can reach 61ps and the spatial resolution can reach 0.36 mm.     

Electrical Conductivity of Synthetic Quartz Crystals at High Temperature and Pressure from Complex Impedance Measurements

An electrical conductivity measurement system under high-pressure conditions with a multi-anvil high-pressure apparatus by an ac complex impedance method was set up.With this system,we have successfully measured the electrical conductivity of synthetic quartz under pressure up to approximately 1.0GPa in the temperature range 661-987K.The values of electrical conductivity decrease with the increasing pressure and increase with the increasing temperature.The activation enthalpies for the α-quartz crystals are 1.10-1.28eV.The electrical conductivity of α-quartz is ionic,with Na ions moving in channels parallel to the c-axis being the predominant current carrier.     

Acoustic characteristics analysis of slender cavity system with arbitrary impedance end conditions

A modeling method for the dynamic characteristics analysis of a slender acoustical cavity with impedance end conditions is established. In order to satisfy the continuity requirement at impedance ends for the first order differential of sound pressure, field function is constructed as the standard Fourier series supplemented by boundary smoothed auxiliary polynomials. System characteristic equation is derived by solving the governing differential equation and impedance acoustic boundary of slend...     

A study on the multi-freedom broadband impedance model for time-domain simulations

The purpose of this paper is to construct a general broadband impedance model, which is suited for predicting acoustic propagation problems in time domain.A multi-freedom broadband impedance model for sound propagation over impedance surfaces is proposed and the corresponding time domain impedance boundary condition is presented.Basing on the extended Helmholtz resonator,the multi-freedom impedance model is constructed through combing with a sum of rational functions in the form of general complex-conjugate pole-residue pairs and it is proved that the impedance model is well posed.The impedance boundary condition can be implemented into a computational aeroacoustics solver by a recursive convolution technique, which results in a fast and computationally efficient algorithm.The two dimensional and three dimensional benchmark problems are selected to validate the accuracy of the proposed impedance model and time domain simulations.The numerical results are in good agreement with the reference solutions.It is demonstrated that the proposed impedance model can be used to describe the broadband characteristics of acoustic liners,and the corresponding time domain impedance boundary condition is viable and accurate for the prediction of sound propagation over broadband impedance surfaces.     

Reception pattern influence on magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction

Based on the acoustic radiation theory of a dipole source,the influence of the transducer reception pattern is studied for magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction(MAT-MI).Numerical studies are conducted to simulate acoustic pressures,waveforms,and reconstructed images with unidirectional,omnidirectional,and strong directional transducers.With the analyses of equivalent and projection sources,the influences of the model dimension and the layer effect are qualitatively analyzed to evaluate the performance of MAT-MI.Three-dimensional simulation studies show that the strong directional transducer with a large radius can reduce the influences of equivalent sources,projection sources,and the layer effect effectively,resulting in enhanced pressure and improved image contrast,which is beneficial for boundary pressure extraction in conductivity reconstruction.The reconstructed conductivity contrast images present the conductivity boundaries as stripes with different contrasts and polarities,representing the values and directions of the conductivity changes of the scanned layer.The favorable results provide solid evidence for transducer selection and suggest potential practical applications of MAT-MI in biomedical imaging.     

膀胱充盈的三维电阻抗成像算法

构建膀胱充盈估计的物理及数学三维电阻抗成像计算模型,利用混合正则化Combined Tikhonov重构算法加以验证,其结果有较高的空间分辨率,稳定性更高,抗噪性能增强.通过对结果的Laplacian函数分析,采用数学方法进行边界单元提取,处理,整合边界曲面片段等,从高噪声背景中提取对象的形态特征,最终实现三维图像重构.在二维成像的基础上,提供了目标空间位置、高度和空间对比度等信息,为定性分析提供重要依据.     

基于声偶极辐射的磁感应磁声层析成像研究

基于声偶极辐射模型提出磁感应磁声层析成像理论来解决点声源理论所不能解释的边界信号和反相振动问题,理论分析了洛伦茨力引起的一维组织振动和自由空间的三维声偶极辐射,推导了磁声激发、磁声衍射传播和换能器磁声波形接收的解析公式。对二层柱状组织模型进行的数值模拟和实验测量结果证明声偶极传播的指向性会使磁声信号在不同传播方向上产生衰减,接收到的磁声波形在声压突变处产生反映电阻抗分布边界信息的脉冲串,重构的层析图像显示不同电阻抗组织的外形和尺寸。本研究为磁感应磁声层析成像技术在医学成像中组织电阻抗分布的重建提供了理论基础。     

Lorentz force electrical impedance tomography using pulse compression technique

Lorentz force electrical impedance tomography(LFEIT) combines ultrasound stimulation and electromagnetic field detection with the goal of creating a high contrast and high resolution hybrid imaging modality. In this study, pulse compression working together with a linearly frequency modulated ultrasound pulse was investigated in LFEIT. Experiments were done on agar phantoms having the same level of electrical conductivity as soft biological tissues. The results showed that:(i) LFEIT using pulse compression could detect the location of the electrical conductivity variations precisely;(ii)LFEIT using pulse compression could get the same performance of detecting electrical conductivity variations as the traditional LFEIT using high voltage narrow pulse but reduce the peak stimulating power to the transducer by 25.5 dB;(iii)axial resolution of 1 mm could be obtained using modulation frequency bandwidth 2 MHz.     

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.     

三维磁共振电阻抗成像的改进分层灵敏度算法

针对人体组织电导率的三维成像问题,提出一种改进的分层灵敏度磁共振电阻抗重建算法.利用单方向磁感应强度信息,对三维电导率图像实行分层重建,每层重建仅利用该层磁通密度分量测量数据,然后对单层重建结果进行修正以获得三维电导率重建图像.三介质长方体模型上的仿真实验证明,改进的分层重建算法改善了层间串扰现象,可以获得比一般分层算法甚至整体算法更高的图像分辨率,而且重建时间较整体算法显著减少;基于人体腿模型的仿真实验表明该算法对复杂模型三维重构的可行性;最后通过仿体实验验证算法的重建效果.改进的分层灵敏度重建算法降低了灵敏度矩阵法的计算机硬件需求,减少了重建时间,对MREIT的三维重建具有较高的成像精度和求解效率.     

基于电阻抗层析成像的高强度聚焦超声温度监测技术

作为一种对正常组织无损伤且不易引起癌细胞转移的非入侵肿瘤治疗手段,高强度聚焦超声(HIFU)治疗过程中焦域的温度监测是实现剂量精准控制的关键.本文基于生物组织的温度-电阻抗的关系,将电阻抗层析成像(EIT)和HIFU治疗相结合,提出了一种利用组织焦平面的表面电压实现电阻抗重构的检测技术.建立了HIFU治疗和EIT综合系统模型,在考虑组织的声吸收条件下,对三维Helmholtz方程在柱坐标下的声场计算进行了二维简化,并引入Pennes生物热传导方程来计算HIFU焦域的声压和温升分布特性;引入生物组织的温度-电阻抗关系,基于麦克斯韦电磁场理论,建立了具有温度分布HIFU焦域的电流和电压计算模型,利用恒流注入的边界条件实现电场计算,获得焦平面的表面电压分布.在数值计算中,利用实验聚焦换能器参数,模拟了在固定声功率下组织焦域的声场和温度场分布,以及中心和偏心聚焦条件下不同治疗时刻的电导率分布;然后通过对称电极的循环电流注入,计算了组织模型焦平面内的电流密度和电势分布,获得了焦平面圆周分布的表面电极电压;进一步采用修正的牛顿-拉夫逊算法,利用32×32的表面电极电压实现了焦平面内电导率分布的重建.结果表明,基于温度-电阻抗关系的EIT电导率重建技术不但能准确定位HIFU焦域中心,还能恢复HIFU治疗中焦域的温度分布,证明了EIT用于HIFU治疗中温度监测的可行性,为其疗效评估和剂量控制提供了一种无创电阻抗测量和成像新方法.     

Image series expansion for electrical impedance tomography

A novel electrical impedance tomography method is introduced for reconstruction of layered biological tissues. The method utilizes a recently proposed image series expansion scheme in conjunction with the WKB approximation. This results in a locality feature, assigning analytically to each image term a local impedance associated with a unique layer, and thus leading to linear, efficient, and accurate reconstruction procedures.