SONIC ENERGY

D.O. MURABULA
Sound is a mechanical wave that travels in a medium in a longitudinal
and straight-line fashion.
When a sound travels through a medium, the molecules of that medium
are alternately compressed (squeezed) and rarefied (stretched).
Sound cannot travel in a vacuum; it requires a medium for transmission,
as the sound wave is a mechanical energy that is transmitted from one
molecule to another.
It is important to note that the molecules do not move as the sound
wave passes through them, they oscillate back and forth, forming zones
of compression and rarefaction in the medium.
Characteristics of Sound Waves
• Frequency , Period , Amplitude , Power ,Intensity ,Wavelength , Propagation speed.
• Frequency of a sound wave is the number of cycles that occurs in one second.
The unit Hertz is 1 cycle / second. Frequency is an important characteristic of
sound in ultrasound imaging as it affects penetration of sound and image quality.
• The time that a wave takes to vibrate up and down and thus is reciprocally related to
frequency. For instance, a sound wave with a frequency of 10 Hertz will have a
period of 1/10 second.
• Amplitude, power and intensity are three wave characteristics that relate to the
strength of a sound wave.
• Amplitude is defined by the difference between the peak (maximum) or trough
(minimum) of the wave and the average value. The peak or crest, represents the zone
of compression and the trough represents the zone of rarefaction.
 Units of amplitudes are expressed in pressure parameters (Pascals) and in clinical
imaging in million Pascal (MPa).
The amplitude of a sound wave diminishes as sound propagates through the body.
• Power is the rate of energy transferred through the sound wave and is expressed in
Watts. Power can be altered up or down by a control on the ultrasound machine.
• Intensity is the concentration of energy in a sound wave and thus is dependent
on the power and the cross sectional area of the sound beam. The intensity of a
sound beam is thus calculated by dividing the power of a sound beam (Watts) by its
cross sectional area (cm2 ), expressed in units of W/cm2 .
• The wavelength of a sound wave is the length of a wave and is defined as the
distance of a complete cycle. It is designated by the symbol lambda (λ), is
expressed in mm in clinical settings, and can be calculated by dividing the velocity
of the wave by the frequency of the wave (λ = v/f). The propagation speed is the
distance that a sound wave travels through a specified medium in 1 second.
Frequency of sound is the number of cycles per second (s) and is expressed in Hertz
(1 cycle / sec). In Wave A, the frequency is 2 cycles per sec or 2 Hertz and in wave B
the frequency is 3 cycles per sec or 3 Hertz.
Amplitude (A) is defined by the difference between the peak (maximum) or trough
(minimum) of the wave and the average value. Units of amplitude are expressed in
million Pascals (MPa).
The wavelength of a sound wave is the length of a wave and is defined as the
distance of a complete cycle. It is designated by the symbol lambda (λ), and is
expressed in mm.
The sound source, which is the ultrasound machine and/or the transducer, determines
the frequency, period, amplitude, power and intensity of the sound. Wavelength is
determined by both the sound source and the medium and the propagation speed is a
function of the medium only. The propagation speed of sound in soft tissue is constant
at 1,540 m/s.
ULTRASOUND
• Sound is classified based upon the ability of the human ear to hear it. Sounds sensed by young
healthy adult human ears are in the range of 20 cycles per second or Hertz, abbreviated as Hz, to
20,000 Hz, or 20 KHz (Kilo Hertz) termed audible sound (Range of 20 – 20,000 Hz).
• If the frequency of a sound is less than 20 Hz, it cannot be heard by humans and is defined as
infrasonic or infrasound.
• If the frequency of sound is higher than 20 KHz, it cannot be heard by humans and is called
ultrasonic or ultrasound.
• Typical frequencies used in medical ultrasound are 2-10 MHz (mega, (million), Hertz).
Ultrasound frequencies that are commonly used in obstetrics and gynecology are between 3 and
10 MHz3
Frequency Spectrum of Sound Sound Wave Frequency Ultrasound
Ultrasound Greater than 20 KHz
Audible Sound 20 Hz to 20 KHz
Infrasound Less than 20 Hz
• Diagnostic imaging is generally performed using ultrasound in the frequency
range from 2 to 15 MHz.
• The choice of frequency is dictated by a trade-off between spatial resolution and
penetration depth, since higher frequency waves can be focused more tightly but
are attenuated more rapidly by tissue.
• The information in an ultrasonic image is influenced by the physical processes
underlying propagation, reflection and attenuation of ultrasound waves in tissue .
Ultrasound generation
• Ultrasound waves are generated from tiny piezoelectric crystals packed within the
ultrasound transducers.
• When an alternate current is applied to these crystals, they contract and expand at
the same frequency at which the current changes polarity and generate an
ultrasound beam.
• The ultrasound beam traverses into the body at the same frequency generated.
• Conversely, when the ultrasound beam returns to the transducer, these crystals
change in shape and this minor change in shape generate a tiny electric current that
is amplified by the ultrasound machine to generate an ultrasound image on the
monitor.
• The piezoelectric crystals within the transducer therefore transform electric energy
into mechanical energy (ultrasound) and vice-versa. One crystal is not sufficient to
produce an ultrasound beam for clinical imaging and modern transducers have
large number of crystals arranged into parallel rows.
• Each crystal can nevertheless be stimulated individually.
• The crystals are protected by a rubber covering that helps decrease the resistance to
sound transmission (impedance) from the crystals to the body.
• The high frequency sound generated by a transducer do not travel well through air,
so in order to facilitate their transfer from the transducer to the skin of the patient, a
watery gel is applied that couples the transducer to the skin and permits the sound
to go back and forth.
• Ultrasound is therefore generated inside transducers by tiny crystals that convert
electric current to ultrasound and convert returning ultrasound beams from the
body into electric currents. Modern transducers have crystals made of synthetic
plumbium zirconium titanate (PZT).
Types of Ultrasound Modes
A-mode, which stands for “Amplitude mode”, In A-mode display, a graph shows
returning ultrasound echoes with the x-axis representing depth in tissues and the y-
axis representing amplitude of the returning beam. Historically, A-mode ultrasound
was used in obstetrics in measuring biparietal diameters.
B-mode display, which stands for “Brightness mode”, known also as two-dimensional
imaging, is commonly used to describe any form of grey scale display of an
ultrasound image. The image is created based upon the intensity of the returning
ultrasound beam, which is reflected in a variation of shades of grey that form the
ultrasound image. It is important to note that B-mode is obtained in real-time, an
important and fundamental characteristic of ultrasound imaging.
M-mode display, which stands for “Motion mode” is a display that is infrequently
used in current ultrasound imaging but is specifically used to assess the motion of the
fetal cardiac chambers and valves in documentation of fetal viability and to assess
certain fetal cardiac conditions such as arrhythmias and congenital heart disease.
The M-mode originates from a single beam penetrating the body with a high pulse
repetition frequency.

Color and spectral (pulsed) Doppler modes are dependent on the Doppler principle
(effect). The Doppler principle describes the apparent variation in frequency of a light
or a sound wave as the source of the wave approaches or moves away, relative to an
observer. The traditional example that is given to describe this physical phenomenon is
the apparent change in sound level of a train as the train approaches and then departs a
station. The sound seems higher in pitch as the train approaches the station and seems
lower in pitch as the train departs the station. This apparent change in sound pitch, or
what is termed the frequency shift, is proportional to the speed of movement of the
sound-emitting source, the train in this example. It is important to note that the actual
sound of the train is not changing; it is the perception of change in sound to a
stationary observer that determines the “Doppler effect”.
In clinical applications, when ultrasound with a certain frequency (f0) is used to
insonate a certain blood vessel, the reflected frequency (fd) or frequency shift is
directly proportional to the speed with which the red blood cells are moving
(blood flow velocity) within that particular vessel. This frequency shift of the
returning signal is displayed in a graphic form as a time-dependent plot. In this
display, the vertical axis represents the frequency shift and the horizontal axis
represents the temporal change of this frequency shift as it relays to the events of
the cardiac cycle. This frequency shift is highest during systole, when the blood
flow is fastest and lowest during end diastole, when the blood flow is slowest in
the peripheral circulation. Given that the velocity of flow in a particular vascular
bed is inversely proportional to the downstream impedance to flow, the frequency
shift therefore derives information on the downstream impedance to flow of the
vascular bed under study. The frequency shift is also dependent on the cosine of
the angle that the ultrasound beam makes with the targeted blood.
Doppler mode or Color flow mode is a mode that is superimposed on the real-time Bmode
image. This mode is used to detect the presence of vascular flow within the tissue being
insonated (Figure 1.12). By convention, if the flow is towards the transducer it is colored
red and if the flow is away from the transducer it is colored blue. The operator controls
various parameters of color Doppler such as the velocity scale or pulse repetition
frequency (PRF), wall filter, size of the area within the field of B-mode and the angle of
incidence that the ultrasound beam makes with the direction of blood flow. Low velocity
scales and filters are reserved for low impedance vascular beds such as ovarian flow in
gynecology (Figure 1.13) and high velocity scales and filters are reserved for high
impedance circulation such as cardiac outflow tracts (Figure 1.14). In order to optimize
the display of color Doppler, the angle of insonation should be as parallel to the direction
of blood flow as possible. If the angle of insonation approaches ninety degrees, no color
flow will be displayed given that the “Doppler effect” is dependent on the cosine of the
angle of insonation, and cosine of 90 degrees is equal to zero (Figure 1.15).
Attractive characteristics:
• Relatively low cost
• Portability of an ultrasound scanner
• The non-ionizing nature of ultrasound waves
• The ability to produce real-time images of blood flow and
moving structures such as the beating heart.
• The intrinsic contrast among soft tissue structures that is
achieved without the need for an injected contrast agent.
Ultrasound has a wide range of medical applications:
• cardiac and vascular imaging
• imaging of the abdominal organs
• in utero imaging of the developing fetus
Ongoing technological improvements continue to expand the
use of ultrasound for many applications:
• cancer imaging
• musculoskeletal imaging
• ophthalmology
• others
Ultrasonic Plane Waves
• An acoustic wave is a traveling pressure disturbance that produces
alternating
• Compressions
• Rarefactions (expansions) of the propagation medium
• The compressions and rarefactions displace incremental volumes of the
medium and the wave propagates via transfer of momentum among
incremental volumes.
• Each incremental volume of the medium undergoes small oscillations
about its original position but does not travel with the pressure
disturbance.
Reflection and Transmission
• An ultrasound image displays the magnitude (absolute value of
amplitude) of ultrasound echoes, so a physical understanding of
acoustic wave reflection is valuable for interpreting the images
Z is the acoustic impedance
For plane wave:
ρρκooZ=c=
ρo is the undisturbed mass density of
the medium
c is the speed of sound
is the compressibility of the
medium
θι
angle of incidence

θr

angle of reflection

θt
angle of
transmission at a planar interface
between
a material with sound speed c1 and a
• A plane wave traveling in a semi infinite half-space that is
incident upon a planar interface with a second semi-infinite
half-space.
• The wave transmitted into the second medium is bent toward
the normal if c1 > c2 and away from the normal if c1 < c2.
• This change in direction is termed refraction and can be an
important source of artifacts in some clinical imaging
applications.
• The amplitudes of the incident and reflected waves (Pi and Pr,
respectively) are related by the reflection coefficient, R.
• A reflection is produced when an acoustic wave encounters a
difference in acoustic impedance, so an ultrasound image may
be thought of as a map of the relative variations in acoustic
impedance in the tissues.
• A negative value of R implies that the reflected wave is
inverted with respect to the incident wave
Attenuation
Attenuation of ultrasonic waves in a medium is due to:
• specular reflections
• divergence
• scattering from inhomogeneities
• thermal absorption: is the most significant source of
attenuation in diagnostic ultrasound.
• The primary consequence of frequency-dependent
attenuation is that higher frequency waves are attenuated
more rapidly than lower frequency waves and thus yield
shallower penetration depths for imaging
Sound speed, acoustic impedance, and attenuation coefficient
Sound speeds
• highest : in solids
• lowest : in gases Acoustic Properties of Selected Materials

• Sound speed in soft tissues is similar to Material Sound speed

the sound speed in water at body m/s
temperature. Air 330
Water 1480
Acoustic impedances fat 1450-1460
• high values : of solids Liver 1555-1570
• intermediate values: Blood 1550-1560
Of liquids and soft tissues muscle 1550-1600
• low values: of gases Skull bone 3360-4080
Scattering
• Similar to the mechanism of specular (mirror-like) reflection,
scattering occurs when an ultrasonic wave encounters a variation in
the acoustic impedance of the medium
• Scattering occurs when the wave encounters features with dimensions
similar to or smaller than the wavelength
• Scattered echoes are omnidirectional and are significantly weaker than
specular reflections
• Constructive and destructive interference of echoes scattered backward
from cellular-scale tissue features to the transducer are the source of the
speckle texture that dominates the internal appearance of organs in
ultrasound images
Nonlinear Propagation
• This effect is negligible at low acoustic intensities.
• However, near the focus of beams used for diagnostic imaging the
density variations produced by the wave become significant such that
the compressive phase of the wave propagates at a higher velocity
than the rarefactional phase of the wave.
• Nonlinearity arises in acoustic propagation because the pressure wave
alters the density of the medium and the sound speed depends on
density.
Piezoelectric Devices
• Ultrasonic (piezoelectric) transducers are devices that convert electrical
energy into ultrasound and vice-versa
• They were made possible by the discovery of piezoelectricity in quartz
by Pierre and Jacques Curie in 1880
• Piezoelectricity is a reversible property of certain crystalline materials
by which:
• vibration applied to opposite faces of the crystal produces an
alternating net electrical charge across the crystal
• whereas an alternating voltage applied across the crystal causes it to
vibrate in thickness.
Piezoelectric Devices
• An applied force deforms the crystal, resulting in a rearrangement of
the dipoles that induces a net charge across the crystal.
• Conversely, a voltage difference applied across the crystal will
change the arrangement of the dipoles, thereby producing a bulk
deformation of the crystal.
• Transducers used for diagnostic imaging have conventionally been
fabricated using the ferroelectric ceramic lead zirconate titanante,
which is commonly referred to by the acronym PZT from the first
letters of lead (Pb), zirconium (Zr), and titanium (Ti)
• The bandwidth and sensitivity of the transducer are improved by
sandwiching the piezoelectric crystal between a backing layer and a
matching layer:
• Backing layer is to absorb ultrasound radiated from the back face of
the crystal and dampen reverberations within the crystal.
• Matching layer, which is bonded to the front face of the crystal,
serves to reduce the reflection coefficient between the transducer and
the tissue, thereby increasing the transducer’s sensitivity to weak
echoes
The Doppler Effect
• Doppler ultrasound is a method to image moving blood and estimate
blood velocity by exploiting the Doppler effect, which was studied in
1842 by Christian Doppler
• Schematic representation of the Doppler effect for a continuous-wave
point source (black dot) moving with velocity v.
• The circles represent the relative separation of the maxima of
consecutive cycles of the radiated wave as a function of the Doppler
angle.
• The frequency is compressed in the direction of motion and expanded
in the opposite direction
• The Doppler effect applies to echoes from moving reflectors such as
red blood cells as well as waves radiated from moving sources
Bioeffects Mechanisms
• The two most important mechanisms for biological effects of
ultrasound are: thermal absorption
cavitation
• Ultrasound is generally assumed to be the safest medical imaging
modality, but when a high-intensity ultrasound pulse is transmitted
through tissue:
1. A substantial amount of energy can be transferred from the pulse to
the tissue, thereby increasing the risk of adverse effects to the patient.
2. These biological effects can be used beneficially by therapeutic
ultrasound devices but are undesirable during diagnostic imaging.
Thermal absorption:
Tissue heating is caused by absorption, the primary mechanism of
attenuation
• The local temperature rise produced by a single pulse at the intensities
used for diagnostic imaging is small
• In B-mode imaging, where the beam is continuously steered through
the tissue, blood flow typically dissipates the heat deposited by one
pulse before the same volume of tissue is insonified again, but in
techniques such as pulsed Doppler where several pulses are transmitted
to the same focal point in close succession, local heating can occur at
the focus.
Cavitation:
Oscillation in the volume of a gas bubble in response to pressure fluctuations
produced by an incident ultrasound wave.
• Cavitation is most likely to occur in vivo when microbubble contrast agents are
employed or if the lungs are exposed to ultrasound, but most tissues contain small
volumes of gas that can coalesce to form cavitation nuclei when exposed to
ultrasound
• Low-intensity ultrasound typically produces harmless stable cavitation in which
gas bubbles are not disrupted