Detection of the elastic properties of cornea tissue by high resolution acoustic radiation force imaging

In present study, a high resolution acoustic radiation force impulse imaging (ARFI) based on a dual-confocal transducer was established to obtain the relative stiffness map for assessing the cornea sclerosis. The 11 MHz pushing element was used to create the localized displacement of tissue and the displacements were used tracked by 48 MHz imaging element. Since the tissue displacements are correlated directly with the tissue elastic properties, the stiffness distribution in cornea can be found in a tiny region by mechanical B/D scan. The ex vivo cornea experiments were carried out using fresh porcine eyeballs. The localized sclerosing corneas were created artificially by injecting the formalin solution. The experimental results show that the epithelium and endothelium are harder than stroma in cornea by using ARFI imaging. Furthermore, the tiny region of localized sclerosis in cornea was distinguished as well. All the results demonstrated that the high resolution ARFI imaging has a great potential for clinical diagnosis in cornea sclerosis.