title: Quantitative diagnostics of soft tissue through viscoelastic characterization using time-based instrumented palpation.
abstract: Although palpation has been successfully employed for centuries to assess soft tissue quality, it is a subjective test, and is therefore qualitative and depends on the experience of the practitioner. To reproduce what the medical practitioner feels needs more than a simple quasi-static stiffness measurement. This paper assesses the capacity of dynamic mechanical palpation to measure the changes in viscoelastic properties that soft tissue can exhibit under certain pathological conditions. A diagnostic framework is proposed to measure elastic and viscous behaviors simultaneously using a reduced set of viscoelastic parameters, giving a reliable index for quantitative assessment of tissue quality. The approach is illustrated on prostate models reconstructed from prostate MRI scans. The examples show that the change in viscoelastic time constant between healthy and cancerous tissue is a key index for quantitative diagnostics using point probing. The method is not limited to any particular tissue or material and is therefore useful for tissue where defining a unique time constant is not trivial. The proposed framework of quantitative assessment could become a useful tool in clinical diagnostics for soft tissue.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Palacio-Torralba
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hammer
authors.affiliation: Edinburgh Urological Cancer Group, Division of Pathology Laboratories, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Crewe Road South, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK.
authors.forename: Daniel W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Good
authors.affiliation: Edinburgh Urological Cancer Group, Division of Pathology Laboratories, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Crewe Road South, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK; Department of Urology, NHS Lothian, Western General Hospital, Crewe Road South, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alan McNeill
authors.affiliation: Edinburgh Urological Cancer Group, Division of Pathology Laboratories, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Crewe Road South, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK; Department of Urology, NHS Lothian, Western General Hospital, Crewe Road South, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK.
authors.forename: Grant D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK.
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Reuben
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK. Electronic address: y.chen@hw.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Yuhang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D004548:Elasticity; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D010173:Palpation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011467:Prostate / Q000166:cytology; D013997:Time Factors; D014783:Viscosity
keywords: Quantitative diagnostics; Soft tissue; Tissue diagnostics; Tissue mechanics; Viscoelasticity