Simultaneous viscosity and elasticity measurement using laser speckle contrast imaging

Viscosity and elasticity are closely related to the physiological characteristics of biological tissues. This Letter reports a simultaneous quantitative measurement of these parameters realized with the laser speckle contrast imaging method. The propagation of a Rayleigh wave induced by an acoustic speaker is traced, and the frequency-dependent velocity dispersion is extracted with the frequency-wavenumber spectrum analysis method. The viscosity and elasticity moduli of oil-in-gelatin tissue-mimicking phantoms are calculated by fitting the dispersion curves to the Voigt model. The method is validated by comparing it with the results obtained by using a conventional mechanical rheometer.