Characterization of anisotropy of elastic modulus with three-dimensional freehand scan shear wave elasticity imaging

The purpose of this study is to develop a freehand scan three-dimensional (3D) shear wave elasticity imaging (SWEI) method for characterizing the anisotropy of elastic properties in biological tissues. The motivation behind this work lies in addressing the limitations of traditional two-dimensional (2D) SWEI, which only measures shear wave speeds in a single direction, as well as fulfilling the clinical demand for improved medical imaging.

Our imaging system utilizes a high-definition optical camera to continuously track the ultrasonic transducer, collecting spatial position-angle data of the transducer and corresponding two-dimensional SWEI data. By reconstructing three-dimensional SWEI images using these data, we achieved freehand SWEI.

We validated the accuracy of 2D SWEI on a standard elastic phantom, and then performed 3D SWEI on the pork tenderloin and the triceps brachii of two volunteers. We obtained shear wave speed of 1.82 to $$ in the pork tenderloin, shear wave speed of 1.16 to $$ in the triceps brachii of non-exercising volunteers, and shear wave speed of 0.55 to $$ in the triceps brachii of exercising volunteers, and the maximum shear wave speed directions were generally aligned with the orientation of muscle fibers.

We proposed a method that can overcome the limitations of 2D-SWEI regarding imaging angle while also extending the imaging angle of 3D-SWEI, which could have significant implications for improving the accuracy and safety of medical diagnoses.