Measurements of ultrasonic pulse distortion produced by human chest wall

Ultrasonic wavefront distortion produced by transmission through human chest wall specimens was measured over a two-dimensional aperture. Measured pulse wavefronts were sometimes disrupted by secondary wavefronts produced by interaction between the transmitted pulses and the bone and cartilage structures of the rib cage. The secondary wavefronts produced large distortions in the received waveforms and interfered with the determination of the wavefront distortion caused by soft-tissue inhomogeneities. The effects of secondary wavefronts were minimized by reducing the region of analysis. Differences in arrival time and energy level between these restricted regions and references that account for geometric delay and spreading were computed. Spectral changes were assessed by calculating a waveform similarity factor that is decreased from 1.0 by changes in waveform shape. For 16 different intercostal spaces, the arrival time fluctuations of the measured waveforms had an average (+/-s.d.) rms value of 21.3 (+/-8.4) ns and an average correlation length of 2.50 (+/-0.62) mm. The energy level fluctuations had an average rms value of 1.57 (+/-0.45) dB and an average correlation length of 1.98 (+/-0.33) mm, and the average waveform similarity factor was 0.964 (+/-0.012). For soft-tissue inhomogeneities in chest wall specimens, the average rms arrival time and energy level fluctuations were less than half those measured for the abdominal wall. However, although the average correlation length of the arrival time fluctuations was less than half that found for the abdominal wall, the average correlation length of the energy level fluctuations was similar to that of the abdominal wall.