High-frequency ultrasound scattering in complex media for biomedical applications

Scattering occurring during ultrasound propagation in soft tissues (i.e., complex media) is caused by local changes in compressibility and mass density. Therefore, at high ultrasound frequencies (i.e., beyond 40 MHz), inverse models can be used to infer quantitative microstructural information from backscattered echo signals. These so-called quantitative ultrasound (QUS) approaches have been used and applied to numerous organ systems for a wide range of diseases over the past 40 years. After a brief theoretical review of ultrasound scattering in soft tissue, this talk will present QUS methods, inverse models, and example applications for biomedical research in the eye, tendons, and skin. The presentation will also highlight the use of quantitative acoustic microscopy instruments operating at frequencies beyond 250 MHz to improve scattering modeling, inverse models, and QUS performance in biomedical research. [Work supported by NIH grants R01CA277038, R01GM143388, R21EB028084, and R01HL175513.]