CM Principles of Ultrasound PP

Principles of ultrasound
Ultrasound fundamentals
o Acoustic properties of tissue
o Pulse echo procedure
o Principles and properties of ultrasound waves
o Transducers
18.6.6 Principles of ultrasound

Unit C18.6 Maintaining Medical Imaging
Equipment
Module 279 19 C Medical Instrumentation II
© dr. Chris R. Mol, BME, NORTEC, 2016

Sound & ultrasound waves
(Ultra-)sound is a longitudinal wave in a material. The frequency of the ultrasound waves used in
medical imaging is in the 2-18 MHz range, well above the highest frequencies that humans can hear
(20kHz).
longitudinal wave in a spring:
the frequency depends on how
fast the hand is moved.
wave length
an (ultra-)sound wave is a series of
compressions and rarefactions
propagating in a medium.
wave length = sound velocity in the medium / sound frequency.

the wavelength of a 1.5 MHz ultrasound wave in tissue (1500 m/s) = 1 mm.
© dr. Chris R. Mol, BME, NORTEC, 2016 Ultrasound Principles

Acoustic properties of tissue: ultrasound velocity
How fast the ultrasound wave is propagated through
a material depends on the type of material, especially
its density. For example:
in air 330 m/s
in water 1,480 m/s
in muscle 1,580 m/s
in bone 4,080 m/s
in steel 6,000 m/s
‘Soft tissues’, such as muscles, kidneys, liver and heart have Ultrasound gel is used to make sure that
quite similar ultrasound velocities around 1,500 m/s. there are no air bubbles between transducer
Bone and air (in the lungs), as well as metal implants, are and patient. Air bubbles would reflect all
more compact and have quite different acoustic properties. ultrasound before it enters the patient.

Properties of ultrasound waves
When (ultra-)sound travels through one type of tissue and hits another type of tissue, part of the wave
(energy) will be reflected and part will be transmitted. The amount that is reflected (the ‘strength of the
echo’) is dependent on how different the ultrasound velocities in the two types of tissue are.
The ultrasound that is reflected is used to create the ultrasound image.
For example:
• if coming from muscle tissue, the wave hits a bone or air
(in the lungs) most sound energy will be reflected and
little is transmitted. Bone and air have very different
acoustic properties from ‘soft tissue’ such as muscle.
• If coming from fluid in the placenta, the wave hits fetal
tissue, only a small part will be reflected and most will be
transmitted. Most soft tissues have similar acoustic
properties.
Ultrasound is mostly used for imaging ‘soft tissues’

Acoustic properties of tissue: absorption of ultrasound
Some materials (tissues) absorb ultrasound waves more than
others. For example, blood absorbs only a little, air absorbs a lot.
High ultrasound frequencies are absorbed more than low
frequencies.
Lower sound frequencies lead to lower image resolution

but greater tissue penetration.
Higher sound frequencies improve image resolution
(finer detail) when deep penetration is not necessary.
Which ultrasound frequency to use (in the 2-18 MHz range) is therefore a trade-off between depth
penetration and image resolution.
For clinical applications that require deep penetration a lower ultrasound frequency needs to be used.

Transducers to create ultrasound waves
Ultrasound can be created by an ultrasound transducer
which contains a piezo-electric crystal. When a
strong, short electric shock is applied to such a
transducer, the piezo-electric crystal will start to
resonate and send out shock waves (ultrasound).
The frequency of the waves depends on the thickness
of the crystal.
A piezo-electric crystal creates in principle one ultrasound frequency (band).

This is why different transducers are needed for different applications.
However, sophisticated ‘multi-frequency’ or ‘broadband’ transducers contain multiple crystals and can
produce different ultrasound frequencies. In this case the same transducer can be used for different clinical
studies, but the system has to be switched over (button) to the frequency that is to be used for the study at
hand.
Pulse echo procedure: principle
The most common ultrasound technique uses the pulse echo method:
• a short ultrasound pulse is transmitted by the transducer.
• the transducer is then switched to ‘receiving mode’ and collects the
ultrasound pulses (‘echoes’) that are reflected back towards the
transducer, bouncing off from the different tissue transitions that the
wave has encountered.
• the time between transmission and receiving the echoes depends on
the ‘depth’ of the reflecting layer: the longer it takes for an echo to
return, the further away from the transducer was the reflecting layer.
the strength of an echo is a determined by

the difference in tissue properties of the
different tissue layers.

Pulse echo procedure: A, B display mode
retina
In this example, the different
layers in an eye reflect the
ultrasound. The echo indicated
ultrasound with r, shows that the retina has
transducer come loose from the back of the
eye. This echo is not present in
healthy people.
A-mode stands for Amplitude mode. The

strength of the echo can be translated into
received echoes the brightness of an image dot. This gives
the B-mode (for Brightness).
the signal amplitude indicates
One transducer pulse gives measurements along one line
the strength of the echo
Pulse echo procedure: creation of an image
One ultrasound pulse gives measurements along one line only.
A two dimensional image is created by using a transducer which consists of a series of ultrasound
crystals. Each transducer is used to acquire echoes along one line. All lines, side by side, create an image.
Ultrasound image transducer with reflecting object

multiple crystals

Pulse echo procedure: creation of an image
A full (B-mode) ultrasound image is built up from a large number of ultrasound pulses across the study object

Ultrasound Transducers: shapes and sizes
There is a large variety of ultrasound transducers on the market.

One reason for the different shapes is the application area. If
the transducer needs to go inside a body cavity, the shape must
be adapted to this. The other reason is the different technologies
used in the transducer (next slides).

Ultrasound Transducers: focusing
The ultrasound beam from a simple crystal spreads out in the
distance. This lowers the resolution of the image, since it cannot
be determined precisely where an echo originates.
In order to avoid this, techniques to focus the

ultrasound beam are applied. Older technology
transducers focused their beam with a physical
(plastic-like) lens in front of the transducer.

Ultrasound Transducers: focusing, beam forming
Newer technology transducers use phased excitation ultrasound

signals crystals beam
array techniques to enable the ultrasound
machine to change the direction and depth
of focus.
This technique can be applied if the

transducer contains many ultrasound
crystals which can be controlled with a
complex set of pulses from the system.
By having slight timing differences between

pulses going to different crystals, desired
ultrasound wave fields can be generated.

Different types of Ultrasound Transducers
Curved
crystals
array
2D
Linear phased
Linear
phased array
array
array
The transducer is an important part of an ultrasound system. Many

variations of (piezo-electric) crystal configurations (‘arrays’) have
been developed over time, all with specific (dis-)advantages.
Also the number of crystals (elements) in a transducer has
increased enormously. Modern arrays can have many hundreds of
elements (see microscopic picture).

Color-flow Doppler Ultrasound
Ultrasound can be used to measure blood flow in arteries to assess blood
flow abnormalities. This is accomplished by analysing the frequency
shift in the ultrasound echoes. The change in frequency (compared to the
transmitted pulse) is an indication for the speed of movement of the
reflecting tissue: e.g. flowing blood. This speed is displayed as a colour.
Returned signal
Transducer artery and vein on top of

each other
Skin surface
Layers of
intervening
tissue
Vessel
Blood flow
Beam blood vessel, turbulent

flow
EN
D
The creation of this presentation was supported by a grant from THET:
see https://www.thet.org/

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Principles of ultrasound

18.6.6 Principles of ultrasound

© dr. Chris R. Mol, BME, NORTEC, 2016

wave length = sound velocity in the medium / sound frequency.

© dr. Chris R. Mol, BME, NORTEC, 2016 Ultrasound Principles

© dr. Chris R. Mol, BME, NORTEC, 2016 Ultrasound Principles

© dr. Chris R. Mol, BME, NORTEC, 2016 Ultrasound Principles

Lower sound frequencies lead to lower image resolution

© dr. Chris R. Mol, BME, NORTEC, 2016 Ultrasound Principles

A piezo-electric crystal creates in principle one ultrasound frequency (band).

the strength of an echo is a determined by

© dr. Chris R. Mol, BME, NORTEC, 2016 Ultrasound Principles

A-mode stands for Amplitude mode. The

Ultrasound image transducer with reflecting object

© dr. Chris R. Mol, BME, NORTEC, 2016 Ultrasound Principles

© dr. Chris R. Mol, BME, NORTEC, 2016 Ultrasound Principles

There is a large variety of ultrasound transducers on the market.

© dr. Chris R. Mol, BME, NORTEC, 2016 Ultrasound Principles

In order to avoid this, techniques to focus the

© dr. Chris R. Mol, BME, NORTEC, 2016 Ultrasound Principles

Newer technology transducers use phased excitation ultrasound

This technique can be applied if the

By having slight timing differences between

© dr. Chris R. Mol, BME, NORTEC, 2016 Ultrasound Principles

The transducer is an important part of an ultrasound system. Many

© dr. Chris R. Mol, BME, NORTEC, 2016 Ultrasound Principles

Transducer artery and vein on top of

Beam blood vessel, turbulent

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