Elastography

Dear Colleagues,

The structural architecture of tissue has recently been receiving a great deal of great attention among the biomechanics and clinical community, as the elastic changes of tissue, which are associated with a broad spectrum of pathologies, promise a new class of diagnostic mechanical biomarkers that extend beyond linear stiffness to viscosity and nonlinear elastic parameters. The theory of ultrasonics physics and its relationship with elastography carries modeling approaches involving bulk and biomechanical properties of the medium, sources, responses, and ultrasonic scattered fields. 

The recent and future developments in elastography techniques are allowing for the in vivo and noninvasive quantification of biomechancial markers. They are derived from ultrasound signal processing, which are direct measures and are intimately related to the pathological changes of the structural microarchitecture of tissue.

This Special Issue is focused on new trends of both compressional and shear waves in elastography, beyond the current standard of stiffness maps, from experimental assessment, which constitutes a set of biomarkers, to histology and biochemistry, which, combined with preliminary clinical evidence, suggest a powerful diagnostic potential, with a range of highly prevalent pathologies, from birth and labor disorders (prematurity, induction failures, etc.), solid tumors (e.g., prostate, cervix, breast, and melanoma) or liver fibrosis, just to name a few. Rheological models and hyperelasticity or viscoelasticity theoretical considerations are also taken into account in this Issue, especially when the wave propagation reconstructs the biomechanical parameters considered. The potential of shear wave elastography using correlation, acoustic radiation force impulse, single tracking location, anisotropic shear wave elastography, and ultrafast imaging for clinical applications are key for new research lines.

Dr. Juan Melchor
Dr. Guillermo Rus
Dr. Antonio Gomez
Guest Editors

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