Researchers have developed a new ultrasound method that can measure tension in human tissue for the first time, potentially revolutionizing disease diagnosis.
An ultrasound machine shoots high-frequency sound waves at the internal structures of the body and records the reflected sound to create images in real time. Ultrasound is cheaper, faster, and more accessible than other imaging techniques such as MRI. In some cases, such as diseases of the shoulder joint, there may be abnormalities that cannot be seen until the patient moves.
Diagnostic ultrasound is used to see if tissues and organs are functioning properly. Noninvasive diagnostic ultrasound can be used to look at the abdomen, breasts, kidneys, pelvis, thyroid, muscles and bones, and blood flow. Although ultrasound provides valuable information for diagnosing and treating a variety of diseases and conditions, it has limitations.
One is that ultrasound cannot measure tension levels in human tissue. This led researchers at the University of Sheffield, in collaboration with researchers at Harvard, Tsinghua and Galway Universities, to develop a new ultrasound technique that can distinguish between firm and tense tissue.
“When you go to the hospital, your doctor may use an ultrasound machine to make images of organs such as the liver or other parts of the body such as the intestines to help find the cause of the problem. said Dr. Artur Gower, one of the study’s authors. “One of the limitations of ultrasound currently used in healthcare is that images alone are insufficient to diagnose whether there is tissue abnormality.”
Human tissues can sense and respond to mechanical stress and adapt their shape accordingly. The force of daily muscle contractions adds to that stress. That is, all living tissues are subject to mechanical stress even when they are at rest. Mechanical stress also affects artificial soft materials such as wearables and implantable soft bioelectronics.
Stress measurements in tissues and artificial soft materials are important to determine their proper function, but difficult to measure, so researchers turned to the acoustoelastic effect for answers. The principle of acoustoelasticity is simply that the greater the tension, the faster the sound waves spread.
Employing a technique commonly used to measure tension along railroad tracks, the researchers used a mathematical theory they developed to relate tension to wave velocity to direct two sound waves in different directions. has been sent.
The researchers used a particular type of wave called a shear wave, which, unlike surface waves, is an elastic wave that can travel through the body of an object. By using shear waves, we succeeded in measuring tension first in a hydrogel and then in porcine skeletal muscle.
This is the first ultrasound method capable of measuring soft tissue tension of any kind, and researchers are excited about its potential applications.
“What we did in our research is develop a new method of using ultrasound to measure the level of tension in tissue. This technology is the first to use ultrasound to measure forces within tissue, allowing early diagnosis of abnormal tissue and disease. It can now be used to build new ultrasound machines.”
In addition to its potential in healthcare, the researchers believe the method can also be applied in other fields such as biomedical engineering, biology, and soft-matter physics.
The study was published in a journal scientific progress.
Source: University of Sheffield
