Resident Physics Lectures
Attenuation Math
Attenuation
Reduction in amplitude
& intensity as sound
travels through medium
Causes
absorption
sound energy converted to heat
dominant influence in soft tissue
reflection
scattering
Absorption
Units
decibels (dB)
dB indicates signal gain
“+” indicates signal gets larger
“-” indicates signal gets smaller
ultrasound absorption is always negative dB
sound always loses intensity
negative sometimes implied
dB indicates fraction of intensity lost
Logarithm Review
x = log10(y) means
10 to what power = y ?
or
10x = y
Logarithms Review
log 1 = 0
log 10 = 1
log 100 = 2
log 10n = n
log (1/10) = 10-1 = -1
log (1/100) = 10-2 = -2
log (1/1000) = 10-3 = -3
Gain & Decibels
Power In Tissue
Power Out
(attenuation)
decibel definition
dB =10 X log10 [power out / power in]
Power Ratio = Power Out / Power In
dB =10 X log10 [power ratio]
Gain & Decibels
Power In Tissue
Power Out
(attenuation)
Power Ratio = Power Out / Power In
Power Ratio > 1
Amplifier
Power Out > Power In
• Power Ratio < 1
Absorber / Attenuator
Power Out < Power In
Log [Power ratio] >0
Log [Power ratio] <0
dB =10 X log10 [power ratio]
Power Ratio
Power Ratio = Power Out / Power In
dB =10 X log10 [power ratio]
Decibel calculation
logarithms Power ratio dB
log 1 = 0
1 0
log 10 = 1
log 100 = 2 10 10
log 10n = n 100 20
log (1/10) = 10-1 = -1 1/100 -20
log (1/100) = 10-2 = -2
log (1/1000) = 10-3 = -3 10 n n X 10
2 3
dB Attenuation
dB / 10 indicates # of powers of ten attenuation
Every increase of 10 dB indicates another factor
of 10 attenuation
10 dB: 1 factor
of 10 or 10 you
morons 60 dB: 6 factors
of 10 or
1,000,000, nyuk,
nyuk, nyuk
20 dB: 2 factors
of 10 or 10 X 10
or 100
10 dB = 1 power of 10 = 10
20 dB = 2 powers of 10 = 100
60 dB = 6 powers of 10 = 1,000,000
Logarithm Law
Log(A x B) = Log(A) + Log(B)
Log(20) = Log(10) + Log(2)
Logarithm Law
16 dB = 10 dB + 3 dB + 3 dB
X10 X2 X2 = X40
- 16 dB means signal is
reduced by a factor of 40
Attenuation & Frequency
Attenuation affected by
medium
frequency
As frequency increases, so does attenuation
bass sound carries farther than treble
high frequency = poorer penetration
Attenuation In Soft Tissue Rule
of Thumb
0.5 dB / cm attenuation for each MHz frequency
“cm” refers to distance of sound travel
other texts may say 1 dB / cm depth / MHz
1 cm depth equivalent to 2 cm sound travel
Rule of Thumb
0.5 dB/cm/MHz
To calculate attenuation (dB) simply
multiply rule of thumb by round trip distance
& by frequency
5 MHz sound; 10 cm sound travel
attenuation = 0.5 dB/cm/MHz X 10 cm X 5 MHz = 25 dB
3.5 MHz sound; 4 cm sound travel
attenuation = 0.5 dB/cm/MHz X 4 cm X 3.5 MHz = 7 dB
Attenuation Coefficient
Attenuation Coefficient = 0.5 * Freq.
(dB/cm) (dB/cm/MHz) * (MHz)
indicates fraction of beam
intensity lost per unit distance
of sound traval
Attenuation Coefficient
Attenuation Coefficient = 0.5 * Freq.
(dB/cm) (dB/cm/MHz) * (MHz)
Frequency Attenuation
(MHz) Coefficient
(dB/cm)
1 0.5
2 1.0
5 2.5
10 5
Attenuation Coefficient
Comments
Attenuation Coefficient = 0.5 * Freq.
(dB/cm) (dB/cm/MHz)
(MHz)
Longer path increased attenuation
Higher frequency increased
attenuation coefficient
Higher attenuation coefficient
more attenuation
dB vs. Intensity Ratio
dB attenuation =10 X log10 [intensity ratio]
Fraction attenuated = 1 - intensity ratio
dB Intensity Fraction
atten. Ratio atten.
1 .79 .21
2 .63 .37
3 .50 .50
4 .40 .60
5 .32 .68
10 .1 .90
20 .01 .99
30 .001 .999
Soft Tissue Attenuation
Calculation
Attenuation = Attenuation Coefficient X Path Length
Freq. Atten Coef. Atten(dB). % Int. Red. Atten(dB) % Int. Red.
dB / cm 1 cm 1 cm 10 cm 10 cm
2.0 1.0 1 21 10 90
3.5 1.8 1.8 34 18 98
5.0 2.5 2.5 44 25 99.7
7.5 3.8 3.8 58 38 99.98
10.0 5.0 5.0 68 50 99.999
Attenuation
Why dB?
dB’s can be added together
Rule of thumb doesn’t always work
Attenuation higher in lung & bone
than in soft tissue
Attenuation in lung and bone not
proportional to frequency
Class during lecture on
attenuation
Attenuation Coefficients
0.5 dB/cm/MHz is soft tissue average assumed by scanner
Tissue Attenuation Coefficient
(dB/cm/MHz)
Fat 0.6
Brain 0.6
Liver 0.5
Kidney 0.9
Muscle 1.0
Heart 1.1
Half Intensity Depth
Decreases with increasing frequency
HID = 3 dB / Attenuation Coefficient
HID = 3 dB / Freq (MHz) * 2
Frequency Atten Coef. HID
(MHz) dB/cm cm
------------------------------------------------------
1 0.5 6.0
2 1.0 3.0
5 2.5 1.2
10 5.0 0.6
Attenuation
half intensity depth (HID)
depth where intensity = 50% of original
corresponds to 3dB attenuation
180
HID 150
100
66
39
Practical Implications of
Attenuation
limits maximum imaging depth
higher frequencies result in
increased attenuation
decreased imaging depth
improved axial resolution
