USG physics Ashesh’s

Physics of ultrasound

History of ultrasound

Though the technology for production of ultrasound and the characteristics of sonic waves has
been known for long, the first major attempt at a practical application was made in the
unsuccessful search for the sunken Titanic in the North Atlantic in 1912.

Sound : Sound is a form of mechanical energy travelling through matter as a wave producing
alternating compression and rarefaction.

The distance between two bands of compression or rarefaction is called wavelength. It is

represented by the symbol λ.

The number of cycles per unit time is called the frequency , represented by the symbol μ. The
unit of acoustic frequency is Hertz ( Hz) .

Audible sound has a frequency 20 – 20,000 Hz.

Ultrasound :
Ultrasound by definition has a frequency of greater than 20,000 Hz ,the upper limit for human
hearing.
Diagnostic imaging have frequency from 1 to 20 MHz.

Velocity of sound
The velocity of transmission of sound is primarily dependent on the physical characteristic of
the matter through which sound is being transmitted.
V= μ λ
The velocity of sound is constant in any particular medium, therefore when frequency
increases, the wavelength must decrease.
Propagation velocity is important in clinical ultrasound as it is used in determining the distance
of reflecting surface from the transducer.
Body tissue except bone behaves like liquids.
Avg Velocity of sound in body tissue is 1540 m/sec.
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Interaction between ultrasound and matter

Reflection- The reflection of ultrasound when it strikes an acoustic interface depends upon :

1. The acoustic impedance of the tissue

2. The angle of incidence of the US beam

When sound waves pass from one tissue plane to another, the amount of reflection is
determined by the difference in impedences of the two tissues.The greater the difference, the
greater the percentage reflected.

Difference between most body structure is fairly small except between air and bone.

A soft tissue air interface reflects the entire beam and a soft tissue bone interface reflects a
major portion of it.

Therefore coupling agents are used so that the transducer can couple directly with the skin
without any air gap.

Refraction

 Refraction is the change in direction of sound wave when it passes from a tissue with
one velocity to a tissue with a different velocity.
 Refraction is important because it leads to artifacts.
 If this is suspected, increasing the scan angle so that it is perpendicular to the interface
minimizes the artifact.

Absorption
 Absorption refers to the conversion of ultrasonic energy to thermal energy.
 In soft tissues there is a linear relation between frequency and absorption of US.
 Higher freq being more strongly absorbed.
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 Therefore the selection of proper frequency transducer is a compromise between best
resolution (high feq) and the ability to propagate the energy into deeper tissue ( low freq).

Instrumentation:
1. Transmitter
2. Transducer
3. Receiver
4. Image display

The transmitter

 Transmitter provides precisely timed, high amplitude voltage to the transducer for the
production of acoustic energy.
 The transmitter also controls the rate of pulses emitted by the transducer or the PRF.

The pulse repetition frequency determines the time interval between two pulses. It must be
long enough to permit the sound to travel the depth of interest and return before the next
pulse is sent.

In imaging PFR 1- 10 KHz is used, resulting in an interval of 0.1 – 1 msec.

The transducer

 A transducer is a device that converts one form of energy to another.

 In case of ultrasound, the transducer converts electric energy to acoustic pulses which is
transmitted into the patient.
 The transducer also serves as the receiver of the reflected echoes and converts it into
electric energy for processing.

Parts of transducer:
Piezoelectric crystal:
The most important component of a transducer is the piezoelectric crystal.
Two electrodes:
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The back and front of the crystal are in contact with two electrodes which supply the
voltage.
The outside electrode is grounded to protect the pt from electric shock and its outside is
Coated with watertight electric insulator.
The inside electrode is closely related to a backing block that absorbs sound waves
transmitted back into the transducer.
The housing
It is usually a strong plastic.
An acoustic insulator of rubber or cork prevents the sound from passing into the housing.

Piezoelectricity and production of ultrasound

Piezoelectricity is that characteristic of certain materials which on application of an electric field

causes change in their physical dimension and vice versa.
The principle of Piezoelectricity was discovered by Pierre Curie in 1880

Generation of ultrasound using piezoelectricity Detection of ultrasound using piezoeltcty

Piezoelectric materials are made up of innumerable dipoles arranged in a geometric pattern. An

electric dipole has a positive charge on one end and a negative charge on the other.
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When a electric field is applied , the positive and negative poles are realigned and thus causes
the crystal to change dimension.

 If the voltage is applied for a short burst , the crystal vibrates and produces sound
waves.
 The backing block quickly dampens the vibrations to prime the transducer for its second
function– detection of returning echoes.
 The returning echoes posses energy which causes physical compresssion of the crystal
 which induces voltage between the electrodes.
 This voltage is amplified and acts as the ultrasonic signal for display.

Natural Piezoelectric material- Quartz

Man made Piezoelectric crystals are called
Ferroelectrics – Barium Titanate
Lead Zirconate Titanate
Curie temperature- It is a temperature above which a Piezoelectric crystal loses its polarity
and therefore its Piezoelectricity. Therefore transducer should never be autoclaved. CT of
PZT is 328 degree centigrade.

Ultrasonic display

 The US image is an electronic representation of the data generated from the returning
echoes and displayed on a TV monitor.
 There has been a gradual evolution from the A-mode through the M-mode , B- mode ,
gray scale imaging and today all US examinations are done by real time imaging

A- Mode (Amplitude mode)

 In A mode or amplitude mode , echoes are displayed as spikes projecting from the base
line.
 In A mode the display contains information about the depth of the structure and the
amplitude of the returning echo.
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M- mode (Motion mode)

- mode displays echo amplitude and the position of moving reflectors.

relationship from characteristic pattern of motions.

vessel walls.

B mode (Brightness mode)

 The B- mode or 2D imaging produces a picture of a slice of tissue by moving the
transducer and displaying echoes as dots .
 B mode scanners had limited ability to display shades of grey and images mostly
comprised of light and dark areas. This is termed as bistable image.

Gray scale imaging

 B mode imaging took a major step forward with the advent of Gray scale imaging in
1972.
 In GSI the great variation of amplitudes of the echoes arising from tissues is displayed
as a varying shades of gray on a TV screen

Time gain compensator- The echoes from deep structures are much weaker then those from
superficial structures. TGC selectively amplifies the echoes from deeper structures to
produce an uniform image.

Coarse gain control- Increasing the CGC enhances the echoes from all depths proportionately.
Reject control- It selectively removes weaker signals and thus enhances the clarity of stronger ones.
Near gain control- It diminishes the echoes from superficial structures.
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Real time ultrasound

When images are acquired and displayed at the rate of several times per sec the effect is dynamic. As
the image reflects the state and motion of the organ at the time it is examined, it is regarded as being
real time.

Types of probes

Transducers used for RTI are classified by the method used for steering the beam- mechanically or
electronically.

Mechanical scanners-
 They consist of single piezoelectric element which is moved mechanically in a linear or circular
motion.
 They produce an image with a sector format usually encompassing an arc between 45 and 90
degree.
 Today mechanical steering system is used only in intracavitary imaging.

Electronic array transducer

They are composed of arrays of transducers produced by precise slicing of piezoelectric material
into numerous small units, each with its own electrodes.
They may be-
1. Linear arrays
2. Curved arrays
3. Phased arrays
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In Linear array transducers individual elements are arranged in a linear fashion.

The beam is moved across the scan plane by firing the elements in groups starting from one end of the
array and stepping along to the other.
Produces an image with a rectangular shape
They are best suited for imaging of the superficial structures.

Curved array transducers are variants of linear array transducers shaped into convex curves which
produce image in a sector format with a longer skin contact.

In phased array transducers by controlling the time and sequence in which the individual elements are
fired, the US waves that results can be steered in different directions as well as focused at different
depths.
 Produce image in sector format allowing for large field of view at depth.
 Provides limited display of superficial tissue
 Requires only a small skin contract area.

Transducer selection-
Penetration diminishes as freq increases . In general the highest US freq permitting penetration to the
depth of interest should be selected

Ultrasound artifacts
Reverberation artifact due to repeated reflection of waves between highly reflective surfaces. Give
false impression of solid structure where only fluid is present
Refraction artifact due to bending of sound. They cause structures to appear in the image that are
actually
outside the volume being examined
Side lobe artifact is caused by weak sound beam adjacent to the main US beam. They create the
impression of structure or debris in fluid filled structures
t is created when the path of the returning echo is not the one expected resulting in
display of the echo at an improper location of the image
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Bioeffects:
Thermal
High intensity of US………heat
Therapeutic benefit in physiotherapy ( local heating) and Us surgery ( cell killing).
Non thermal
The vibration of particles caused by high intensity US beam may disrupt intracellular
membranes. Dissolved gases may come out of solution or water may vaporise to form minute
gas bubbles.
This process is called cavitation –tissue damage and ionisation. Unlikely at diagnostic intensities

Safety indices:

Mechanical index indicates the probability of mechanically induced damage.

MI of 1 warns the possibility of mechanical effect in tissue.

Thermal index indicates possible heating of tissue.

TI of 1 indicates that in the worst case tissue will be heated to 1 deg centigrade

Prescribed levels- TI<2 & MI<0.3

AIUM safety statement states that ‘ there are no confirmed bilogical effect on the patient
or the operator caused by exposures from present diagnositic ultrasound instruments. Although the
possibility of biological effects being detected in future exits, current data indicates that the benefit to
the patients overweigh the risks, of any that may be present’
AIUM: ammerican institute of ultrasound in medicine