Ultrasound Elasticity Imaging System with Chirp-Coded Excitation for Assessing Biomechanical Properties of Elasticity Phantom.

The biomechanical properties of soft tissues vary with pathological phenomenon. Ultrasound elasticity imaging is a noninvasive method used to analyze the local biomechanical properties of soft tissues in clinical diagnosis. However, the echo signal-to-noise ratio (eSNR) is diminished because of the attenuation of ultrasonic energy by soft tissues. Therefore, to improve the quality of elastography, the eSNR and depth of ultrasound penetration must be increased using chirp-coded excitation. Moreover, the low axial resolution of ultrasound images generated by a chirp-coded pulse must be increased using an appropriate compression filter. The main aim of this study is to develop an ultrasound elasticity imaging system with chirp-coded excitation using a Tukey window for assessing the biomechanical properties of soft tissues. In this study, we propose an ultrasound elasticity imaging system equipped with a 7.5-MHz single-element transducer and polymethylpentene compression plate to measure strains in soft tissues. Soft tissue strains were analyzed using cross correlation (CC) and absolution difference (AD) algorithms. The optimal parameters of CC and AD algorithms used for the ultrasound elasticity imaging system with chirp-coded excitation were determined by measuring the elastographic signal-to-noise ratio (SNRe) of a homogeneous phantom. Moreover, chirp-coded excitation and short pulse excitation were used to measure the elasticity properties of the phantom. The elastographic qualities of the tissue-mimicking phantom were assessed in terms of Young's modulus and elastographic contrast-to-noise ratio (CNRe). The results show that the developed ultrasound elasticity imaging system with chirp-coded excitation modulated by a Tukey window can acquire accurate, high-quality elastography images.

The scratch behaviors of copper bi-layers by a diamond tip: a molecular statics study.

The scratch deformation behaviors of two bicrystal coppers (Cu(100)/Cu(110) and Cu(110)/Cu(100)) during the nanoscratching process were explored and compared with their single crystal ingredients by the molecular statics simulations. The effects of lattice configuration and scratch depth were investigated in this study. The results showed that the motion of dislocations was blocked in the bicrystal interface until the dislocations accumulated enough energy to move. From the study, it was found that the bicrystal interfaces can provide resistance to the motion of dislocations, and can strengthen the mechanical properties of copper materials.