Shear wave Vibro Magneto Acoustography for measuring tissue mimicking phantom elasticity and viscosity

Estimating the rheological properties of soft tissues is a useful procedure to identify and evaluate pathologies in medical diagnosis. Quantification of soft tissue viscoelasticity can be achieved by generating and tracking shear wave propagation. Many ultrasound-based techniques have been used to evaluate the induced shear wave. The viscosity and elasticity can be measured by shear wave dispersion. The Magneto Motive Ultrasound induces motion within magnetically labeled tissue. This paper describes the Shear wave Dispersion Vibro Magneto Acoustography (SDVMA) technique for analysis and quantifying the viscoelasticity through shear wave propagation in gelatin phantoms labeled with ferromagnetic nanoparticles. Phantoms were excited applying an external magnetic field gradient and the movements induced in the internal phantom structure due to the interaction of the field with the particles were obtained through pulse-echo equipment ultrasound. The movement information were processed to get values of elasticity and viscosity of the medium.