Ultrasound Shear Wave Elastography and Transient Optical Coherence Elastography: Side-by-Side Comparison of Repeatability and Accuracy

Abstract

Objective: We compare the repeatability and accuracy of ultrasound shear wave elastography (USE) and transient optical coherence elastography (OCE). Methods: Elastic wave speed in gelatin phantoms and chicken breast was measured with USE and OCE and compared with uniaxial mechanical compression testing. Intra-and Inter-repeatability were analyzed using Bland-Altman plots and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Results: OCE and USE differed from uniaxial testing by a mean absolute percent error of 8.92% and 16.9%, respectively, across eight phantoms of varying stiffness. Upper and lower limits of agreement for intrasample repeatability for USE and OCE were ±0.075 m/s and -0.14 m/s and 0.13 m/s, respectively. OCE and USE both had ICCs of 0.9991. In chicken breast, ICC for USE was 0.9385 and for OCE was 0.9924 Discussion/Conclusion: OCE and USE can detect small speed changes and give comparable measurements. These measurements correspond well with uniaxial testing.INDEX TERMS Biomedical Optical Imaging, Elastography, Phantoms, Shear wave, Ultrasound elastography IMPACT STATEMENT USE and OCE can be used interchangeably in select applications provided that certain constraints are considered. This allows clinicians and researchers greater freedom to choose the appropriate modality.

Assessing Porcine Iris Elasticity and Mechanical Anisotropy with Optical Coherence Elastography

“…The acoustic beam was focused on the iris inside the eye, and the transducer was inclined at an angle of ~45° with respect to the OCT beam. The transducer sent an acoustic pulse that was synchronized with the OCT frame trigger for M-B mode imaging [32][33][34]. The acoustic excitation pulse was sent in a train…”

Continuous shear wave measurements for dynamic cardiac stiffness evaluation in pigs

“…Next to the challenges to induce and observe the shear wave in the myocardium, there are also challenges to provide a robust estimate of the wave speed due to its variability (averaged variability of ± 20% in systole and diastole in this study, whereas the limit of agreement in ideal conditions is 0.1 m/s 26 ). The variability in wave speed estimation might arise from the dependence of the wave propagation on the ventricular morphology, the stress state (ventricular pressures) and the myocardial fiber orientation 27 .…”

Comparison of optical coherence elastography techniques, Brillouin spectroscopy, and ultrasound elastography on samples with varying stiffness

“…Ultrasound elastography is an established clinical method for imaging the mechanical properties of tissues [1]. USE provides good intra-sample repeatability and the ability to detect small changes in the elastic properties of samples [2]. It has shown its clinical utility in a variety of applications, such as breast and thyroid and breast cancer [1].…”