Bone Imaging Using Tone-Burst Vibro-acoustography and Pulse-Echo Ultrasound: A Qualitative Comparative Study

This paper presents a comparative study between tone-burst (TB) vibro-acoustography (VA) and pulseecho ultrasound imaging on bone tissue. Vibroacoustography is an innovative technique that uses the dynamic (oscillatory) radiation force of ultrasound to remotely vibrate an object or a part of it. In response to this force, an acoustic signal is emitted which is related to the object’s mechanical properties. By probing the object point-by-point in a raster scanning motion and recording the resulting acoustic emission, an image of the object can be obtained. The goal of this study is to qualitatively evaluate the performance of vibro-acoustography versus pulse-echo ultrasound (C-scan) for bone imaging. In vitro excised rabbit scapulae with and without associated muscles are tested. The results reveal that conventional ultrasound images show speckles which degrade image quality, however the TB VA images are free from this artifact and have high resolution. These results encourage use of TB VA imaging for various applications. 1