Measurement of Skin Elasticity Using High Frequency Ultrasound Elastography with Intrinsic Deformation Induced by Arterial Pulsation

Abstract

Mechanical property of the skin is one of the important factors for diagnosis of human skin diseases. In this paper, we proposed a novel method for estimation of shear wave velocity from deformation induced by an arterial pulsation. The induced deformation was measured by high frequency ultrasound. The elasticity of the in vivo human skin is evaluated based on the calculated parameters. P(VDF-TrFE) transducer with the central frequency of 100 MHz was used for imaging. The aperture diameter of the transducer was 2 mm, and the focal length was 4 mm. The repetition rate was 2,600 Hz. The sampling rate was 1 GS/s with 8 bit. The velocity induced by pulsation was measured by 1-D cross-correlation method at each depth. The shear wave velocity was estimated from the measured velocity. The shear wave velocity at the epidermis was 0.14 m/s, and the velocity at the dermis was 0.06 m/s. Because the stiffness of the skin was proportional to the shear wave velocity, the elasticity of the epidermis was higher than that of the dermis. These estimated elasticity well conformed to the histology of the skin and the past reports. Keywords Elasticity • High frequency Ultrasound • Shear wave velocity • Skin 21.1 Introduction Mechanical properties of human skin are the important factors not only in medicine field but also in cosmetic field. Especially, viscoelasticity of human skin is closely related to collagen and elastin of human skin. Also, it's considered that the

Comparison of different MyotonPRO probes for skin stiffness evaluation in young women

“…Research conducted on porcine skin shows that stratum corneum elastic modulus is approximately three times higher comparing to the dermis 49 . Furthermore, study performed with high‐frequency ultrasound elastography reveals that stiffness of the epidermis is higher in comparison to the dermis 29 . Therefore, our data confirm earlier results indicating that higher values of stiffness are obtained when measuring surface layers of the skin in volar forearm area.…”

“…Ultrasound Elastography has been originally used in breast cancer diagnostic 38‐41 and to assess the progression of chronic liver diseases that lead to fibrosis 42‐45 . Only recently, many research is being conducted into usefulness of Ultrasound Elastography in assessing other tissues, including skin 4,5,8,28,29 or scars 10 . It is known that Ultrasound Elastography collects information about skin stiffness and also provides a B mode ultrasound image that is useful for measuring skin thickness or monitoring/assessing changes in scars undergoing various treatments.…”

“…It is known that Ultrasound Elastography collects information about skin stiffness and also provides a B mode ultrasound image that is useful for measuring skin thickness or monitoring/assessing changes in scars undergoing various treatments. Although in order to evaluate changes occurring within dermis, it is recommended to use high‐frequency ultrasound 10,29 . However, despite the advantages, Ultrasound Elastography is neither a device easily accessible nor portable; thus, it is not widely used in clinical practice.…”

“…Unfortunately, this method has considerable limitations—that is it is not completely objective, even if the examination is performed by an investigator with a long experience. Therefore, in order to obtain more reliable skin biomechanical properties measurements, some devices have been already tested—for example Durometer, 2,3,14‐17 SkinFibroMeter, 9,14,18‐20 Khelometer, 12,14 Reviscometer, 12,14,21,22 Frictiometer, 14,21,23 Ballistometer, 24‐27 Ultrasound Elastography 4,5,8,10,14,28,29 and the most commonly used Cutometer 6,7,11,13,14,18,21,24,30 …”

High Frequency Ultrasound in Aesthetic Dermatology Novel Research for the Use of 18 MHz Shearwave Elastography for Pre and Post Therapy Assessment: A Pilot Study

“…14 m/sec Epidermal border: 0.04 m/sec Dermis: 0.06 m/sec.The study proved a difference in the elasticity or shear wave velocity measure between the epidermis and dermis(Figure 9)[6][7][8][9][10].…”