Measurement of prostate viscoelasticity using Shearwave Dispersion Ultrasound Vibrometry (SDUV): An in vitro study

We report shear stiffness and viscosity "virtual biopsy" measurements of three excised non-cancerous human prostates using a new characterization tool known as Shearwave Dispersion Ultrasound Vibrometry (SDUV) in vitro. Improved methods for prostate guided-biopsy are required to effectively guide needle biopsy to the suspected site. In addition, tissue stiffness measurement helps identifying a suspected site to perform biopsy because stiffness has been shown to correlate with pathologies such as cancerous tissue. More importantly, early detection of prostate cancer may guide minimally-invasive therapy and eliminate insidious procedures. In this work, "virtual biopsies" were taken in multiple locations in three excised prostates; SDUV shear elasticity and viscosity measurements were performed at the selected "suspicious" locations within the prostates. We found that the range of the shear elasticity and viscosity were 1.31 - 12.81 kPa and 1.10-6.82 Pas, respectively. The mean and standard deviations for the shear elasticity and viscosity were 5.20 ± 2.55 kPa and 2.68 ± 1.47 Pas, respectively. SDUV measurements of prostate elasticity and viscosity are generally in agreement with preliminary values reported previously in the literature. It is however important to emphasize here that the obtained viscoelastic parameters values are local, and not a mean value for the whole prostate.