Model-free quantification of shear wave velocity and attenuation in tissues and its in vivo application

We validate a technique for model-free measurement of shear wave velocity and attenuation. A mechanical shaker was used to excite harmonic plane and cylindrical waves in phantoms and excised tissue. Radiation force was used to excite impulsive cylindrical waves. 2D FFT of the displacement yielded the k-space whose coordinates are frequency and the wave number. The shear wave velocity at each frequency was obtained by finding the maximum at the given frequency in k-space and dividing the frequency coordinate by the wave number coordinate. The attenuation (α) at a given frequency was calculated using α = FWHM × π/√3, where FWHM is the full width at half maximum of the k-space peak along the given frequency. This method was applied to measure shear wave velocity and attenuation of transplanted kidneys and livers, and in the thyroid tumor, and compare it to the healthy tissues. The velocities and attenuations at each frequency for various excitation methods agree within one standard deviation. The k-space estimates of velocity and attenuation agreed with those obtained using the phase gradient (velocity) and amplitude decay (attenuation). The transplanted organs and the thyroid tumor had higher velocity and lower attenuation than healthy tissues.