Method and apparatus for elasticity imaging
First Claim
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1. A method of identifying a region within a tissue portion having a different elasticity than the surrounding tissue of the tissue portion comprising:
- causing a deformation of the tissue portion to create stress and strain in the tissue portion;
determining at least one property of at least one of the created stress and strain in the tissue portion when the tissue portion is deformed to yield a pattern of the at least one property of the created stress and strain in the tissue portion; and
evaluating the pattern of the at least one property in the tissue portion by the further steps of;
defining a model of the tissue portion with homogeneous tissue and with given boundary conditions for the tissue portion;
calculating the pattern of the at least one property for the defined model;
comparing the pattern obtained in the determining step and the calculated pattern to obtain the difference between the patterns, this difference indicating the presence and location of a differing elasticity region of tissue within the tissue portion; and
calculating elasticity characteristics of the tissue portion by varying a spatial distribution of modulus of elasticity in the defined model to minimize the difference between the pattern from the determining step and that calculated for the defined model thereby solving an inverse mechanical problem and obtaining spatial distribution of elasticity modulus in the tissue portion.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for imaging a portion of the body tissue comprises support for a portion of the tissue, and a force applying member that tends to deform the tissue relative to a reference position, while at the same time a pressure pattern distribution is generated indicating areas of greater pressure which are a function of the amount of deformation and localized portions of the tissue being deformed.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method of identifying a region within a tissue portion having a different elasticity than the surrounding tissue of the tissue portion comprising:
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causing a deformation of the tissue portion to create stress and strain in the tissue portion; determining at least one property of at least one of the created stress and strain in the tissue portion when the tissue portion is deformed to yield a pattern of the at least one property of the created stress and strain in the tissue portion; and evaluating the pattern of the at least one property in the tissue portion by the further steps of; defining a model of the tissue portion with homogeneous tissue and with given boundary conditions for the tissue portion; calculating the pattern of the at least one property for the defined model; comparing the pattern obtained in the determining step and the calculated pattern to obtain the difference between the patterns, this difference indicating the presence and location of a differing elasticity region of tissue within the tissue portion; and calculating elasticity characteristics of the tissue portion by varying a spatial distribution of modulus of elasticity in the defined model to minimize the difference between the pattern from the determining step and that calculated for the defined model thereby solving an inverse mechanical problem and obtaining spatial distribution of elasticity modulus in the tissue portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An apparatus for determining variations in elasticity of bodily tissue comprising:
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means for applying pressure to an accessible surface of said tissue to provide at least two conditions of compression loading of tissue to be examined; means for measuring at least one of the parameters of stress and strain under the at least two different conditions of loading for establishing a pattern of at least one of the parameters in the tissue comprising members that have portions extendable to engage the tissue with a force, and wherein said members comprise a plurality of members in an array across a surface portion of the tissue; and means for evaluating an elasticity of the tissue from changes in the pattern of at least one of the parameters of stress and strain from at least two different conditions of loading. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification