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Experimental investigation and theoretical modelling of the nonlinear acoustical behaviour of a liver tissue and comparison with a tissue mimicking hydrogel

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Abstract

Native harmonics generated by nonlinear distortion of ultrasound during propagation in a medium may cause misinterpretations in spectral analysis when studying contrast agents. The aim of this paper is to quantitatively evaluate nonlinear propagation effects of diagnostic ultrasound pulses in biological tissues and to assess whether a cellulose-based hydrogel can be a suitable material for tissue mimicking purposes. Hydrogel and pig liver tissue samples of various thicknesses were insonified in a through-transmission set-up, employing 2.25-MHz pulses with different mechanical index (MI) values (range 0.06–0.60). Second harmonic and first harmonic amplitudes were extracted from spectra of received signals and their ratio was then used to compare hydrogel and liver behaviours. Resulting trends are very similar for sample thicknesses up to 8 cm and highlight a significant increase in nonlinearity for MI > 0.3, for both liver and hydrogel. A numerical procedure was also employed to calculate pressure distribution along the beam axis: these theoretical results showed a very good agreement with experimental data in the low pressure range, though failed in predicting the MI threshold. In conclusion, the hydrogel resulted to be a suitable material for manufacturing tissue mimicking phantoms, in particular to study contrast agent behaviour with a “low power approach”.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Prof. Alfonso Maffezzoli and Dr. Alessandro Sannino for providing useful suggestions and guidance in the hydrogel synthesis and preparation. This work was partially funded by the FIRB-US RBNE01E9ZR and CERSUM Laboratory Rif. Min. Decreto Direttoriale 1105/2002 N° 243 granted by the Italian Ministry of Research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Council of Research, c/o Campus Ecotekne, via per Monteroni, Lecce, 73100, Italy

    Sergio Casciaro, Ernesto Casciaro & Alessandro Distante

  2. Bioengineering Division, Euro Mediterranean Scientific Biomedical Institute, Brindisi, Italy

    Sergio Casciaro, Christian Demitri, Francesco Conversano & Alessandro Distante

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  1. Sergio Casciaro
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  2. Christian Demitri
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  3. Francesco Conversano
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  4. Ernesto Casciaro
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  5. Alessandro Distante
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Correspondence to Sergio Casciaro.

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Casciaro, S., Demitri, C., Conversano, F. et al. Experimental investigation and theoretical modelling of the nonlinear acoustical behaviour of a liver tissue and comparison with a tissue mimicking hydrogel. J Mater Sci: Mater Med 19, 899–906 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-007-3007-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-007-3007-8

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