Experimental validation of Crawling Wave Sonoelastography using a high-performance ultrasound system - Verasonics Vantage LE64

Crawling Wave Sonoelastography (CWS) is an elas-tography technique that enables the estimation of Shear Wave Speed (SWS). Current algorithms for SWS estimation utilizing time-frequency analysis methods are the Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) and the Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT), which are potentially suitable for realtime CWS. The capability of CWS for realtime applications has been demonstrated, yet it is constrained by the low frame rate achieved for SWS maps. At present, advanced ultrasound equipment supports the high computational demands necessary for generating quantitative ultrasound imaging. Specifically, the Verasonics Vantage LE64 research ultrasound system is able to integrate an ultrafast acquisition mode, which could address the issue of low frame rates. Accordingly, this study is aimed at assessing the conditions required to evaluate the feasibility of CWS using an ultrafast acquisition approach. The experiments were performed on homogeneous phantoms and were based on a comparative approach of combinations of color Doppler modes, particle movement estimators, and SWS estimators. The results suggest that Loupas particle movement estimator enables the potential of Ultrafast Compound Mode (UCM) in low contrast scenarios. Aditionally, CWT allowed the estimation of reliable SWS maps and offered the best performance for this setting.