A Scholte wave approach for ultrasonic surface acoustic wave elastography

Pathological changes in tissues are often related to changes in tissue mechanical properties, making elastography an important tool for medical applications. Among the existing elastography methods, ultrasound elastography is of great interest due to the inherent advantages of ultrasound imaging technology, such as low cost, portability, safety, and wide availability. Although ultrasonic shear wave elastography, as a platform technology, can potentially quantify the elasticity of tissue at any depth, its current implementation cannot assess superficial tissue but can only image deep tissue.