A method for performing shear wave elastography imaging of an observation field in a medium, the method comprising a plurality of shear wave imaging steps (30) to acquire a plurality of sets of shear wave propagation parameters, the method further comprising a reliability indicator determining step (40) during which a reliability indicator of the shear wave elastography imaging of the observation field is determined.

A method for two-dimensional sheare wave elastography imaging comprises: a) acquiring B-mode ultrasound images of a target region in a body; b) selecting a region of interest inside the B-mode image; c) transmitting a shear wave excitation pulse focalized on an excitation region; d) measuring displacements of tracking focal points at different depths positions along laterally staggered tracking lines within the region of interest; e) determining elasticity parameters of the regions between two of the tracking focal points at the same depth and on at least two adjacent tracking lines as a function of the displacements caused by the shear wave at the tracking focal points; f) modifying the appearance of pixel(s) of the B-mode image inside the regions relatively to the grey-scale B-mode image as a function of elasticity parameters determined for the regions; and g) displaying the pixel(s) having a modified appearance at the corresponding pixel of the B-mode image.

A transducer array includes at least one annular shear wave generation transducer that defines an interior area, the at least one annular shear wave generation transducer being configured to generate a shear wave excitation to a region of interest such that the shear wave excitation excites at least a part of a corresponding cylindrical portion of the region of interest and shear waves propagating from the cylindrical portion of the region of interest constructively interfere in an interior region of the cylindrical portion of the region of interest; and at least one tracking transducer positioned in the interior area of the at least one annular shear wave generation transducer, the at least one tracking transducer being configured to detect a shear wave in the interior region of the region of interest.

Disclosed is an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus comprising: a display; a memory for storing one or more instructions; and a processor for executing the one or more instructions stored in the memory. The processor acquires a plurality of pieces of elastic data about an object, generates a plurality of elastic images on the basis of the plurality of pieces of elastic data, acquires quality information about each of the plurality of elastic images on the basis of the pieces of elastic data respectively corresponding to the plurality of elastic images, determines at least one recommended elastic image, for which to acquire an elasticity value, from among the plurality of elastic images on the basis of the quality information, and controls the display to display the at least one recommended elastic image that is determined.

Methods, systems and computer program products for determining a property for a sample having a target region using ultrasound data from an ultrasound scanner include generating at least one spatial coherence curve based on ultrasound backscatter data in the target region, the spatial coherence curve comprising coherence values as a function of depth in the sample; and determining a property for a sample in response to the spatial coherence curve as a function of depth.

Methods and systems are provided for receiving beamforming of ultrasound signals to generate ultrasound images with increased resolution. In one example, a method includes calculating a respective beamforming quality metric for each of a plurality of beamforming sound speeds, each beamforming quality metric calculated on ultrasound receive channel signals time-delayed based on a respective beamforming sound speed, identifying a target beamforming sound speed based on the beamforming quality metrics, and generating an ultrasound image using the target beamforming sound speed.

An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system produces an image of shear wave velocities by transmitting push pulses to generate shear waves. A plurality of tracking lines are transmitted and echoes received by a focusing beamformer adjacent to the location of the push pulses. The tracking lines are sampled in a time-interleaved manner. The echo data acquired along each tracking line is processed to determine the time of peak tissue displacement caused by the shear waves at points along the tracking line, and the times of peaks at adjacent tracking lines compared to compute a local shear wave velocity. The resultant map of shear wave velocity values is color-coded and displayed over an anatomical image of the region of interest.

For clutter reduction in ultrasound elasticity imaging, the contribution of clutter to different frequency components (e.g., the transmit fundamental and the propagation generated second harmonic) is different. As a result, a difference in displacements determined at the different frequency bands is used to reduce clutter contribution to displacements used for elasticity imaging.

The present invention relates to a method for obtaining elastic properties of a soft solid by means of quasi-omnidirectional transverse waves generated by a focused ultrasound beam, with a helical phase profile that produces an acoustic vortex that generates a transverse wave front, not only in the direction perpendicular to the ultrasound beam but also in the same direction as the ultrasound beam. The invention also allows control of the transverse wave front generated, which facilitates the carrying out of elastography studies at different frequencies and increases the amplitude of the transverse waves produced, thereby improving the signal-to-noise ratio.

The present disclosure describes ultrasound systems and methods configured to interrogate the stiffness and/or elasticity of a target tissue via shear wave imaging Systems may be configured to stroboscopically transmit a plurality of push pulses into the target tissue at different focal depths. The quickly transmitted push pulses may generate shear waves that constructively interfere to form a composite shear wave. Example systems may include a beamformer configured to transmit push pulse parameters to a transducer array while receiving new push pulse parameters from a controller. Dual transmission and receipt of different push pulse parameters reconfigures the beamformer without interrupting push pulse transmission, thereby minimizing the delay between successive push pulses. Push pulses transmitted according to the disclosed methods may generate a composite shear wave configured to interrogate tissue with enhanced sensitivity across a broad depth.