Basic of Ultrasound

Dr.Shamim
Dr.Shamim Rima
Rima
MBBS,DMU,FCGP
MBBS,DMU,FCGP
M.Phil
M.Phil (Radiology
(Radiology &
& Imaging)
Imaging)
 TOPIC

• Sound
• Wave parameter
• Velocity of sound
• Pulse ultrasound parameter
• Pizoelectric effect
 What is ultrasound ?
• The frequency range of sound above
20kHz is known as ultrasound.
• These waves, inaudible to humans,
can be transmitted in beams and
used to scan the tissues of the body.

• Medical uses of US ranges normally

from 2MHz to 10MHz.
Periodic motion causes
pressure waves in
surrounding physical media.
In the diagram, when the
piston is shoved forward it
compresses the medium. The
compression travels through
the medium. As the piston
moves back and forth, it
creates more compressions
that travel through the
medium like cars down a
highway. The more quickly
the piston moves back and
forth, the closer one
compression is to the next
one.
• Ultrasound is produced through the
conversion of electrical energy into
mechanical energy, and is detected by
the reverse process, by converting
mechanical energy into electrical
energy.
• The transducer is a device that is both
a transmitter and receiver of the
ultrasound signal and it serves a dual
role in pulse echo imaging.
• The transducer contains a special
type of crystal with in it named
piezoelectric crystal.
• In a electric field the alignment of
dipole with in the crystal changes,
which in turn causes the crystal to
change the shape.
• If the voltage is applied in a sudden
burst the crystal vibrates and
generates sound.
 Advantages
• Ultrasound can be directed as a beam.
• Ultrasound obeys the laws of reflection and

refraction.
• Ultrasound is reflected by objects of small
size.
Disadvantages

• Ultrasound propagates poorly through a

gaseous medium.
• The amount of ultrasound reflected depends
on the acoustic mismatch.
 Nature of sound

• Sound waves are longitudinal in nature,

and require a material medium ( solid,
liquid or gas) for their transmission; they
will not pass through a vacuum.

• Sound must be generated mechanically

by an oscillating body of matter.
• The velocity of sound depends on
nature of medium.

• The velocity of sound is determined by

the rate at which the force is
transmitted from one molecule to
another.
• It moves by producing band of
compression and rarefaction motion of
the molecule of conducting particle.
• The length of the wave is the distance
between two adjacent bands of
compression and rarefaction.

• The velocity of transmission is

independent of frequency.
• The velocity of transmission depends
upon physical make up of the matter
through which the sound is being
transmitted.
• It transmitted rapidly through less
compressible material and slowly in
gases.
• The intensity of ultrasound varies
longitudinally along the length of the
beam.
 Properties of ultrasound
• Ultrasound obeys the wave equation.

• Velocity = frequency x wave length.

• Velocity= meter/ sec.

• Frequency= Hz (hertz= 1 cycle/ sec ).
• Wave= meter
 Frequency
• Number of cycles per second.

• Sound waves with frequencies ranging about 15Hz

to 20,000 Hz are audible to the normal human ear.

• Medically useful ultrasound involves frequencies of 1

to 10 MHz.

• The duration of the pulse is about 1 microsecond

and the pulses repeated about 1000 times per
second.
• The higher the frequency, the longer the will be
cylindrical segment or near field ( fresnel zone).
• At the same time. The far field ( fraunhofer
zone) becomes less divergent at higher
frequencies.
• The best lateral resolution exists at the junction
of the near and far fields ( ie, ability to display
two closely spaced points in the same plane, as
two separate images).
• Depth resolution improves at higher frequencies
(points closely spaced in depth, displayed as two
separate images).
• As frequency is increased, greater absorption of
sound energy occures in the tissues, weakening
the beam intensity.
 To summarise

•• Correct
Correctdepth
depth==reasonable
reasonablehigh
highfrequency
frequency==reasonably
reasonably
short
shortwave
wavelength
length==reasonably
reasonablygood
goodresolution.
resolution.
•• Too
Toomuch
muchdepth
depth==low
lowfrequency
frequency==long
longwavelength
wavelength==
poor
poorresolution
resolution
•• Too
Toolittle
littledepth
depth==Wont
Wontsee
seestructures
structuresof
ofinterest
interest! !

•• Correct
Correctdepth
depth==reasonable
reasonablehigh
highfrequency
frequency==reasonably
reasonably
short
shortwave
wavelength
length==reasonably
reasonablygood
goodresolution.
resolution.
•• Too
Toomuch
muchdepth
depth==low
lowfrequency
frequency==long
longwavelength
wavelength==
poor
poorresolution
resolution
•• Too
Toolittle
littledepth
depth==Wont
Wontsee
seestructures
structuresof
ofinterest
interest! !
 Refraction
Refraction
•• The
The term
term velocity
velocity refers
refers to
to speed
speed inin aa
given
givendirection.
direction.
•• IfIf direction
direction isis along
along aa straight
straight line,
line, velocity
velocity
and
andspeed
speedare
arethe thesame.
same.
•• Velocity
Velocity==distance
distance//time.
time.
•• The
The of
of sound
sound and
and ultrasound
ultrasound inin particular,
particular,
depends
depends on on the
the density
density (gm/cm3)
(gm/cm3) andand the
the
compressibility
compressibilityof ofthe
theconducting
conductingmedium.
medium.
•• The
The waves
waves passpass through
through the
the
tissues
tissues at
at different
different speeds.
speeds.
•• Various
Various soft
soft tissues
tissues are
are essentially
essentially
liquids,
liquids, velocity
velocity of
of US
US isis 1540
1540 m/s.
m/s.
•• Rapid
Rapid conduction
conduction occur
occur in
in bone.
bone.
•• Slowest
Slowest conduction
conduction occur
occur inin gas.
gas.
 Wavelength

•• The
The length
length of
of aa single
single cycle
cycle of
of the
the
ultrasound
ultrasound wave.
wave.
•• It
It isis inversely
inversely proportional
proportional to
to the
the
frequency
frequency and and determines
determines the
the
resolution
resolution of of the
the scanner.
scanner.
Interaction between ultrasound and matter

Types:
Reflection
Refraction
Absorption.
 Reflection
• In ultrasound the reflected portion of the beam
produces the image. Transmitted sound
contributes nothing to image formation but
transmission must be strong enough to produce
echo at deeper level.

• The percentage of the beam reflected at tissue

interfaces depend on-
1. The tissue acoustic impedance
2. The beams angle of incidence.
 The tissue acoustic impedance
• The impedance of a material is the product of its
density and velocity of sound in the material.

• The velocity of sound in tissue is fairly constant over a

wide range of frequency , so a substance’s acoustic
impedance is constant.

• As sound waves pass from one tissue plane to another,

the amount of reflection is determind by the difference
in the impedance of the two tissues.

• The greater the difference, the greater the percentage

reflected.
 The beams angle of incidence

• The amount of reflection is determined by the

angle of incidence between the sound beam and
the reflecting surface.

• The higher the angle of incidence, the less the

amount of reflected sound.

• In medical ultrasound, in which the same

transducer both transmit and receive ultrasound,
almost no reflected sound will be detected if the
ultrasound strikes the patient’s surface at an
angle of more than 30 from perpendicular.
 Refraction

• When sound passes from one medium to another its frequency

remain constant but its wavelength changes to accommodate a
new velocity in the second medium.

• When the sound beam strikes the second medium at an angle,

the change in wavelength necessitates a change in direction.

• The beam finally emerges in the second medium with a

different wavelength and direction.

• This bending of waves as they pass from one medium to

another is called refraction.
 Snell’s law

• Sin Θ1 / SinΘ2 = V1 / V2 .

• Sin Θ1 = Angle of incidence

SinΘ 2= Angle of transmission
V1 = Velocity of sound for incident medium
V2 = Velocity of sound for transmitting

medium
 ABSORPTION

• The term absorption refers to the conversion of ultrasound

or ultrasonic to thermal energy.

• Absorption of ultrasound in fluids is a results of frictional

forces that oppose the motion of the particles in the
medium. The energy removed from the ultrasound beam is
converted into heat.
• Three factor determine the amount of absorption:
1. The frequency of the sound.
2. The viscosity of the conducting medium.
3. The relaxation time of the medium.
•• The
Thefrequency
frequencyofofsound
soundeffects
effectsthe
theamount
amountof of
absorption
absorptionproduced
producedby bythe
theviscosity
viscosityof
ofaa
material.
material.
•• The
Thehigher
higherthe
thefrequency,
frequency,thethemore
moreits
itsmotion
motionisis
affected
affectedby bythe
thedrag
dragofofaaviscous
viscousmaterial.
material.
•• Frequency
Frequencyalsoalsoaffects
affectsthe
theamount
amountof ofabsorption
absorption
produced
producedby bythe
therelaxation
relaxationtime.
time.
•• In
Inliquids,
liquids,which
whichhave
havelow
lowviscosity,
viscosity,very
verylittle
little
absorption
absorptiontakes
takesplace.
place.
•• In
Insoft
softtissues
tissueswhere
whereviscosity
viscosityisishigher
higherand
andaa
medium
mediumamount
amountofofabsorption
absorptionoccurs.
occurs.
•• In
Inbone
boneshows
showshigh
highabsorption
absorptionof ofultrasound.
ultrasound.
• The relaxation time is the time that it takes
for a molecule to return to its original
position after it has been displaced.

• The relaxation time is constant for any

particular material.
• A molecule with a longer relaxation time
may not return completely before a second
compression wave arrives.
THE ULTRASOUND IMAGING SYSTEM

Transducer
Pulse Generator
Amplification
Scan Generator
Scan Converter
Image Processor
Display
The Principal Functional Components of an Ultrasound
Imaging System
 Modes of ultrasound display
• The ultrasound images is an electronic
representation of data generated from
returning echoes and displayed on a TV
monitor.

• The image is assembled, one bit at a time.

Each retuning echo generates one bit of
data, and many bits together form the
electronic image.
The modes of ultrasound display are as follows

•• AA mode
mode
•• MM mode
mode
•• TM
TM mode
mode
•• BB mode
mode
 A mode
• In the A mode, echoes are displayed as
spikes projecting from a baseline. The base
line identifies the central aqxis of the beam.

• Spike height is proportional to echo

intensity, with strong echoes producing
large spikes.
 A mode is used in:

•• Ophthalmology
Ophthalmology
•• Echoencephalography
Echoencephalography
•• Echocardiography
Echocardiography
 M mode

•• When
When an an image
image isis displayed
displayed as as
dots
dots instead
instead of
of spikes
spikes isis known
known as
as
M
M mode.
mode.

•• Depth
Depth isis proportional
proportional to
to time.
time.
 TM mode
•• TM
TM mode
mode isis similar
similar toto the
the AA mode,
mode, except
except that
that the
the
echoes
echoesare
arerecorded
recordedas asdots
dotsinstead
insteadofofthe
thespikes
spikesand
and
the
theTM
TM mode
modeusedusedtotostudy
studymoving
movingparts.
parts.

•• TM
TMmode
modeisisone
onedimensional
dimensionalimage
imagecomposed
composedofofdots.
dots.

•• Depth
Depthisisproportional
proportionaltotothe
theheight
heightofofthe
thedots.
dots.

•• Use
Use: :echocardiography.
echocardiography.
 B mode
•• The
TheBBmode
modeproduces
producesaapicture
pictureofofaaslice
sliceofoftissue.
tissue.When
When
image
imageisisproduce
produceas
asaapicture
pictureofofaaslice
sliceofoftissue
tissueand
andresult
result
isisobtained
obtainedby
byanalyzing
analyzingbrightness
brightnessofofits itsdifferent
differentparts.
parts.
•• Echo
Echodepth
depthisisdetermined
determinedby
bythe
thetime
timedelay,
delay,as
asininAAmode.
mode.
In
InB-mode
B-modescanning,
scanning,computed
computedcontact
contactscanning
scanningisis
necessary.
necessary.

•• Two
Twotypes
typesofofBBmode
modedisplay
display––
**Gray
Grayscale
scaleimage
image
**Real
Realtime
timeimage.
image.
 Pizoelectric effect
• Certain material (Lead Zirconate Titanate)
are such that the application of an electric
field causes a change in their physical
dimensions, and vice versa. This is called
piezoelectric effect.
• Piezoelectric materials are made up of
innumerable dipoles arranged in
geometric pattern.
• An electric dipole is a distorted
molecule that appears to have a
positive charge on one end and a
negative charge on the other.

• The positive and negative ends are

arranged so that an electric field will
cause them to realign, thus changing
the dimension of the crystal.
• If the voltage is applied in a sudden
burst, or pulse, the crystal vibrates like a
cymbal that has been struck a sharp
blow and generates sound waves.

• As the sound pulse passes through the

body, echoes reflect back towards the
transducer from each tissue interface.
• These echoes carry energy and
causing a physical compression on
the crystal element in the
transducer.

• This compression forces the tiny

dipoles to change their orientation,
which induces a voltage between
the electrodes.
•• The
The voltage
voltage isis amplified
amplified and
and serves
serves
as
as ultrasonic
ultrasonic signal
signal for
for display
display on
on aa
monitor.
monitor.
•• The
The compression
compression forces
forces and
and
associated
associated voltage
voltage are
are responsible
responsible
for
for the
the name
name piezoelectricity,
piezoelectricity,
which
which means
means ‘pressure’
‘pressure’ electricity.
electricity.