By:

Sitanshu Satpathy
Nishant Gupta
Characteristics of sound waves
Categorisation of sound waves
Ultrasound
Sound waves above 20 KHz are usually called as ultrasound
waves.
These propagate mechanical energy causing periodic vibration
of particles in a continuous, elastic medium.
Cannot propagate in a vacuum since there are no particles of
matter in the vacuum.
It is propagated through continuous compressions and
rarefactions through the neighbor particles depending on the
density and elasticity of the material in the medium.
The velocity of the sound in
Air: 331 m/sec; Water: 1430 m/sec
Soft tissue: 1540 m/sec; Fat: 1450 m/sec
Ultrasound medical imaging: 2MHz to 10 MHz
2 MHz to 5 MHz frequencies are more common.
5 MHz ultrasound beam has a wavelength of 0.308 mm in soft
tissue with a velocity of 1540 m/sec.

Bats navigate using
ultrasound
Bats make high-pitched chirps which are too high for
humans to hear. This is called ultrasound.
Like normal sound, ultrasound echoes off objects.
The bat hears the echoes and works out what caused
them.
Dolphins also navigate with ultrasound.
Submarines use a similar method called sonar.

o If a bat hears an echo 0.01 second after it makes a
chirp, how far away is the object?
o Clue 1: the speed of sound in air is 330 ms
-1
o Clue 2: The speed of sound equals the distance
travelled divided by the time taken
o Answer: distance = speed x time
o Put the numbers in:
distance = 330 x 0.01 = 3.3 m
o But this is the distance from the bat to the object and
back again, so the distance to the object is 1.65 m.
We can also use ultrasound to look
inside the body .
Ultrasound Physics
Transducer

Piezoelectric crystal
Emit sound after electric charge
applied
Sound reflected from patient
Returning echo is converted to
electric signal grayscale image
on monitor
Echo may be reflected, transmitted
or refracted due to inhomogeneity
Transmit 1% and receive 99% of
the time
Ultrasound Imaging
How does it work ??
An ultrasound element acts like a bat.
Emit ultrasound and detect echoes
Map out boundary of object
Now put many elements together to
make a probe and create an image
Ultrasound tissue
interaction
As the ultrasound beam travels through tissue layers, the
amplitude of the original signal becomes attenuated as the
depth of penetration increases due to
1. Absorption = energy is captured by the tissue then
converted to heat
2. Reflection = occurs at interfaces between tissues of
different acoustic properties
3. Scattering at interfaces = beam hits irregular interface
beam gets scattered

attenuation can be minimized
by using time gain control
Sound propagation
Tissue Average
Attenuation
Coefficient in
dB/cm at 1 MHz
Propagation
Velocity of Sound
in m/sec
Fat 0.6 1450
Liver 0.8 1549
Kidney 0.95 1561
Brain 0.85 1541
Blood 0.18 1570
This is a 2D ultrasound scan through the foot of a foetus. You can see
some of the bones of the foot. We can process the image in a computer
to find the outline of the foot. This is called surface rendering.

Imaging system
Piezoelectric
crystal
Acoustic
absorbers
Blockers
Imaging
Object
Transmitter/
Receiver
Circuit
Control
Circuit
Pulse
Generation
and Timing
Data-Acquisition
Analog to Digital
Converter
Computer
Imaging
Storage and
Processing

Display
Instrumentation
Probes ( curvy , linear or
rectangular , small area )
Monitor
Image control
Modes of display
A mode
Spikes where precise length and depth
measurements are needed ophtho

B mode (brightness) used most often
2 D reconstruction of the image slice

M mode motion mode
Moving 1D image cardiac mainly ( blood flow )
(uses doppler effect) ( as blood flows away reflected
echo has larger wavelength and vice versa)

Artifacts
Acoustic shadowing
Ultrasound beam does not pass
through an object because of reflection
or absorption
Black area beyond the surface of the
reflector
Examples: cystic calculi, bones


Acoustic enhancement
Hyper intense (bright) regions below
objects of low ultrasound beam
attenuation
Through transmission
Examples: cyst
Guidelines for the safe use of ultrasound
therapy devices
1. Ultrasound is energy and is absorbed by tissue, causing
heating so during ultrasound therapy patient should be
continuously monitored.
2. If any painful sensation is felt by the patient then its an
indication of overheating of bones.
3. Proper coupling of applicator surface with the patient (using
ultrasound gel)/
4. During pregnancy patient should never receive any ultrasound
therapy it results in exposure to fetus.
5. Should not be applied over brains or spinal cord.
6. Should not be used if cardiac enhancements are used by the
patients.
7. Weak blood vessels may rupture on exposure.
8. Operator training.