Ultrasound Physics

Characteristics of Sound
Requires medium for its transmission. Compression and rarefaction. Propagation.

Ultrasound waves
Range Longitudinal waves Length of wave Wave once generated continue in original direction until it is either reflected, refracted or absorbed

Velocity of Sound
Independent of frequency medium

How velocity is related to:

Compressibility Density Intensity

Transducers
Converts an electrical signals into ultrasonic energy that can be transmitted to tissues & vice versa Constituents :1. Piezoelectrical crystals 2. Two electrodes 3. Backing block 4. Acoustic insulator(rubber ) 5. Plastic housing

 Two basic modes of transducers 1. Continuous mode doppler studies 2. Pulse mode

Curie temperature Resonant frequency Transducer Q factor Two characteristicspurity of sound & length of sound High Q transducer Low Q transducer

Advantage of High frequency over low frequency Depth resolution is superior & near zone is long Dis-advantage Tissue absorption increases with increased frequency

Interaction between ultrasound & matter

1. Reflection 2. Refraction 3. Absorption

Reflection
Reflected wave sound produces image It depends on 1. Acoustic impedance 2 Angle of incidence

Acoustic impedance
Impedance is product of tissue density with velocity of sound in the material.

Angle of incidence
Higher the amount of angle less is the amount of sound reflected Specular interface Examples diaphragm,walls of the vessels boundaries of many organs

Refraction
Bending of waves as they pass from one medium to another is called refraction Interfaces that are either smaller than the wavelength or not smooth are nonspecular interface Example Rbc,liver parenchyma

Absorption
It means conversion of ultrasonic to thermal energy It depend on 1. Frequency of sound 2. Viscosity of medium 3. Relaxation time

Ultrasonic display
A Mode displayed as spikes projecting from baseline. Spike height is proportional to echo intensity. It is static onedimensional mode. TM Mode echoes produced by moving structures as dots. B Mode produces a picture of a slice of tissue. Echoes displayed as dots. Gray scale Imaging Its a B mode type displaying large amplitude of echoes arising from tissues as varying shades of gray

 Real time imaging produces multiple images in a very short period Two types 1. Mechanical Oscillating & Rotating wheel 2. Electronic array Linear array & phased or steered array

PRINCIPLES OF DOPPLER ULTRASOUND

BASIC PRINCIPLE
Doppler ultrasound is a technique for making non-invasive velocity measurements of blood flow. Christian Doppler was the first to describe the frequency shift that occurs when sound or light is emitted from a moving source. Ultrasound is transmitted into a vessel and the sound that is reflected from the blood is detected. Because the blood is moving, the sound undergoes a frequency (Doppler) shift.

Uses of doppler
Determination of anatomy. Determination of small vessel flow distribution. Detection of vascular dilatation, obstruction. Evaluation of intravascular disease and evaluation. Detection of extra vascular flow.

1) Continuous wave doppler

Without B MODE imaging 2) Pulsed wave doppler
Pulsed Doppler ultrasound is a technique for measuring the velocity of blood in a small sample volume Used in general & obstetric ultrasound & also used to provide data for doppler sonograms & colour flow images.

Disadvantage

Aliasing

3) Color Doppler

DOPPLER INDICES