PRINCIPLES OF

ULTRASOUND
 ULTRASOUND IMAGING
• Ultrasound (U/S) is acoustic (sound) energy in the form of waves
having a frequency above the human hearing range
• Ultrasound imaging is the use of u/s (i.e sound beyond human
perception: 2-20MHz) to interrogate the human body and produce
images of diagnostic quality.
• The human ears can perceive sound with frequency lying between 20-
20,000Hz.
• Sound waves with lower frequency is called Infrasound
• Sound waves with higher frequency is called Ultrasound
• Ultrasound is a mechanical wave
• Ultrasound has the properties of
• Penetrating tissues
• Being directed into a beam
• Being partially reflected at tissue interfaces
• Receiving of the reflected echoes is the basis of u/s imaging
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ULTRASOUND
IMAGING
• The u/s is generated by a transducer which contains a piezoelectric
material
• The piezoelectric crystal within the probe is vibrated to produce
ultrasound waves
• The waves then travel through the tissues and are partly reflected at
each tissue interface
• U/S just like audible sound cannot propagate in vaccum
• Requires a material medium
• As U/S moves through the medium, it causes disturbances leading to
the expansion and compression of the medium (low and high
pressure areas)
• The low pressure areas (RAREFACTION) are where the particles have
been spread apart.
• The high pressure areas (COMPRESSION) are where the particles have
been squeezed together.
• One compression and one rarefaction is equal to one cycle
• Time for one cycle to occur is = PERIOD
• The distance between two successive peaks or troughs is the
wavelength of the wave
• The speed (or velocity) of the sound wave is the speed at which sound
waves travel through a particular medium
• The number of cycles in a given time is equal to the Frequency of the
sound wave
There is a relationship between the sound wave parameters:
• The wavelength of the sound wave is dependent on:
• Frequency of the sound wave
• Speed of the sound wave
• This relationship is defined by the formula:
• λ = c/f or
• C=fλ
Where λ = wavelength
c = speed
f = frequency
In other words,
• The frequency and wavelength are inversely related
• (when freq is increasing, the wavelength is decreasing)
• This means that with high freq, the penetration is decreased
Important to note that:
• Higher freqs with shorter wavelengths leads to better resolution and
detail
• What we lose in penetration, we gain in resolution and detail
• The lower the freq, the longer the wavelength and therefore the
deeper the U/S wave can penetrate
The nature of the medium through which u/s travels influences what
happens to the sound wave eg:
• The speed of propagation of sound in a particular material or medium
is determined by the nature of the material especially the stiffness
and density of the material (i.e. the acoustic impedance)
• the stiffer the medium, the higher the speed of sound
• In materials or tissues with great difference in their densities (or
difference in acoustic impedances termed acoustic mismatch), the
amount of sound wave reflected back is great.
Speed of sound in:
• soft tissue is approximately 1540m/s
• Air = 331m/s
• Water = 1480m/s
• Bone = 4080m/s
• Speed of sound varies slightly with Temperature
• The higher the temperature, the greater the speed
• Speed also depends on the elasticity of the material
• The stiffer the material, the higher the speed
• Speed is lower in gases (gases are highly compressible)
• Speed is higher in liquids
• Speed is highest in sounds (nearly incompressible)
Interaction of u/s with tissue
There are some events that follow whenever u/s interacts with tissue.
These include:
• Transmission
• Attenuation
• Scattering
• Absorption
• Refraction
• Reflection
These events are important in making diagnostic images
REFLECTION
• When u/s meets the boundary between tissues, a fraction (or
proportion) of the u/s beam is reflected (or bounces back) towards the
source.
• The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection
• The proportion of the reflected beam depends on the difference in the
densities between the tissues (acoustic mismatch)
• If the difference is great, a greater proportion is thrown back
• The proportion that is not reflected continues and is used to image
deeper structures
• Reflection of echoes is the basis for ultrasonography.
• There are two basic types:
• Specular
• Non-specular
• Specular reflection
• There are 3 major types
• Major
• Medium
• diffuse
Major specular reflection
• Occurs when there is great difference in impedance between tissues
• Produces large reflection
• The continuing wave has reduced amplitude
• Examples of major specular reflectors include:
• Diaphragm
• Wall of urine filled urinary bladder
• Endometrial stripe
• Blood vessel wall
• Gallbladder wall
• Medium specular reflections occur with dense soft tissues like muscles while
• Diffuse specular reflection occurs with soft tissues like liver
Non-specular reflection
• Also called scattering
• Occurs when u/s is incident upon rough surface or
• The tissue interface causing the reflection is very small compared to
the wavelength
• The ultrasound is scattered in all directions
• Example of non-specular relectors is RBC
Refraction
• This occurs at boundaries between tissues with different speed of
ultrasound
• The ultrasound beam deviates and changes course
• The refracted beam bends away from the perpendicular if the speed
in the second medium is higher and vice versa
Absorption
• This is the removal of energy from the u/s beam and its dissipation as
heat
• As the u/s beam traverses the body, the energy of the beam reduces
gradually
ATTENUATION
• This is the loss of intensity of sound as the beam traverses the
medium
• Attenuation occurs as a result of reflection, refraction and absorption