Ultrasound imaging system for measuring stiffness variation in the fingerpad skin in vivo

Wan-Chen Wu; Balasundar I. Raju; Mandayam A. Srinivasan

doi:10.1117/12.595096

12 April 2005 Ultrasound imaging system for measuring stiffness variation in the fingerpad skin in vivo

Wan-Chen Wu, Balasundar I. Raju, Mandayam A. Srinivasan

Proceedings Volume 5750, Medical Imaging 2005: Ultrasonic Imaging and Signal Processing; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.595096
Event: Medical Imaging, 2005, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

An elasticity imaging system was developed for measuring the stiffness variation at different depths of the human fingerpad skin in vivo. In this system, ultrasonic backscatter microscopy (UBM) with a single high frequency (28MHz) transducer was employed to obtain data on tissue heterogeneity at high axial resolution (~25 mm). The dorsal side of the finger was fixed on a manually controlled vertical stage and an acrylic indentor was applied to the fingerpad. A slit cut vertically through the indentor at the center and a piece of transparency sheet attached to the bottom allowed most of the ultrasound power to pass though while maintaining a flat surface in contact with the skin. With the assumption that the skin can be modeled as a semi-infinite layered structure, only data from a single A-line was obtained for strain analysis. The data at continuous indentation steps were cross-correlated to calculate the displacement at different spots along the depth. The de-correlation at certain regions was resolved by removing the data points with lower correlation coefficients, and curve fitting was applied to overcome the lack of resolution due to sampling. The fingerpads of 10 human subjects were tested in vivo and a gelatin phantom was made and tested for comparison. The results showed that even though some data were degraded due to the hypoechoic nature of the subcutaneous fat, the axial strain profile through the skin thickness (up to 3mm in depth) could be extracted as a measure of the stiffness variation.

Citation Download Citation

Wan-Chen Wu, Balasundar I. Raju, and Mandayam A. Srinivasan "Ultrasound imaging system for measuring stiffness variation in the fingerpad skin in vivo", Proc. SPIE 5750, Medical Imaging 2005: Ultrasonic Imaging and Signal Processing, (12 April 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.595096

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