Fundamentals of Static Ultrasound Elastography

Abstract

The usefulness of tissue elasticity for diagnosing lesions such as cancers has been recognized for many years. Recently, in the field of image diagnosis, various elastography techniques for imaging the tissue elasticity distribution in real time have been developed and put into practical use. Based on accumulations of clinical finding and efforts for establishing guidelines for diagnosis, the position of elastography in the clinical diagnosis is being established. The static ultrasound elastography was put into practical use for the first time among various elastography techniques and 10 years passed. Therefore, it can be considered that the static ultrasound elastography enters a mature phase technically. A principle of static ultrasound elastography is to measure the displacement distribution in tissues induced by applying the external force, and to calculate and image the strain distribution in real time. So far, various methods for applying external force and measuring the displacement and strain distribution by ultrasound have been developed. In this paper, based on the background of various developments, fundamentals of static ultrasound elastography are described.