title: Single tracking location acoustic radiation force impulse viscoelasticity estimation (STL-VE): A method for measuring tissue viscoelastic parameters.
abstract: Single tracking location (STL) shear wave elasticity imaging (SWEI) is a method for detecting elastic differences between tissues. It has the advantage of intrinsic speckle bias suppression compared with multiple tracking location variants of SWEI. However, the assumption of a linear model leads to an overestimation of the shear modulus in viscoelastic media. A new reconstruction technique denoted single tracking location viscosity estimation (STL-VE) is introduced to correct for this overestimation. This technique utilizes the same raw data generated in STL-SWEI imaging. Here, the STL-VE technique is developed by way of a maximum likelihood estimation for general viscoelastic materials. The method is then implemented for the particular case of the Kelvin-Voigt Model. Using simulation data, the STL-VE technique is demonstrated and the performance of the estimator is characterized. Finally, the STL-VE method is used to estimate the viscoelastic parameters of ex vivo bovine liver. We find good agreement between the STL-VE results and the simulation parameters as well as between the liver shear wave data and the modeled data fit.
authors.forename: Jonathan H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Langdon
authors.forename: Etana
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Elegbe
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: McAleavey
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D055119:Elastic Modulus / Q000502:physiology*; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008954:Models, Biological; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D059629:Signal-To-Noise Ratio