The Development of Sonoelastography

This novel hybrid imaging technique uses Doppler ultrasound to map out, or image, the local vibrations within tissues or structures that are excited by shear wave oscillations at low frequencies (10-1000 Hz typically). The concept is that stiff tumors surrounded by soft tissues will present abnormal vibration amplitudes and can therefore be detected. Our approach was first reported in 1987 (RM Lerner, KJ Parker "Sonoelasticity images derived from ultrasound signals in mechanically vibrated targets" Proceedings of the Seventh Communities Workshop: Ultrasonic Tissue Characterization and Echographic Imaging 7(127-129) 1987), and the first sonoelastography image was published in 1988 (RM Lerner, KJ Parker, J Holen, R Gramiak, RC Waag "Sono-elasticity: medical elasticity images derived from ultrasound signals in mechanically vibrated targets" Acoustical Imaging 16(317-327) 1988). This launched a new era of imaging the biomechanical properties of tissues. Details are at http://www.ece.rochester.edu/projects/sonoelasticity.

Journal Articles

  1. Elastography imaging: the 30 year perspective
    J. Ormachea and K. J. Parker
    Phys Med Biol, vol. 65, no. 24 , pp. 24TR06-1 -24TR06-38  (2020). View PDF
  2. Methodology to study three-dimensional spatial distribution of prostate cancer and their dependence on clinical parameters
    K. D. Rojas, M. L. Montero, J. Yao, E. Messing, A. Fazili, J. Joseph, Y. Ou, D. J. Rubens, K. J. Parker, C. Davatzikos, and B. Castaneda
    J Med Imaging, vol. 2, no. 3 , pp. 037502-1 -037502-13  (2015). View Online
  3. Elastography: general principles and clinical applications
    M. M. Doyley and K. J. Parker
    Ultrasound Clinics, vol. 9, no. 1 , pp. 1 -22  (2014). View Online
  4. Application of numerical methods to elasticity imaging
    B. Castaneda, J. Ormachea, P. Rodrigues, and K. J. Parker
    Molecular and Cellular Biomechanics, vol. 10, no. 1 , pp. 43 -65  (2013). View Online
  5. The evolution of vibration sonoelastography
    K. J. Parker
    Curr Med Imaging Rev, vol. 7, no. 4 , pp. 283 -291  (2011). View Online
  6. Imaging the elastic properties of tissue: the 20 year perspective
    K. J. Parker, M. M. Doyley, and D. J. Rubens
    Phys Med Biol, vol. 56, no. 1 , pp. R1 -R29  (2011). View Online
  7. Performance of three-dimensional sonoelastography in prostate cancer detection: a comparison between ex vivo and in vivo experiments
    B. Castaneda, K. Hoyt, K. Westesson, L. An, J. Yao, L. Baxter, J. Joseph, D. J. Rubens, and K. J. Parker
    Proceedings IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium , pp. 519 -522  (2009). View PDF
  8. Measurement of thermally-ablated lesions in sonoelastographic images using level set methods
    B. Castaneda, J. Tamez-Pena, M. Zhang, K. Hoyt, K. Bylund, J. Christensen, W. Saad, J. Strang, D. J. Rubens, and K. J. Parker
    Proceedings, SPIE Medical Imaging: Ultrasonic Imaging and Signal Processing, vol. 6920 , pp. 692018-1 -692018-9  (2009). View PDF
  9. Tissue elasticity properties as biomarkers for prostate cancer
    K. Hoyt, B. Castaneda, M. Zhang, P. Nigwekar, P. di Sant'Agnese, J. Joseph, J. Strang, D. J. Rubens, and K. J. Parker
    Cancer Biomark, vol. 4, no. 4-5 , pp. 213 -225  (2008). View PDF
  10. Elastography in the management of liver disease
    E. L. Carstensen, K. J. Parker, and R. M. Lerner
    Ultrasound Med Biol, vol. 34, no. 10 , pp. 1535 -1546  (2008). View PDF
  11. Quantitative characterization of viscoelastic properties of human prostate correlated with histology
    M. Zhang, P. Nigwekar, B. Castaneda, K. Hoyt, J. Joseph, P. di Sant'Agnese, E. Messing, J. Strang, D. J. Rubens, and K. J. Parker
    Ultrasound Med Bol, vol. 34, no. 7 , pp. 1033 -1042  (2008). View PDF
  12. Quantitative characterization of viscoelastic properties of human prostate correlated with histology
    M. Zhang, P. Nigwekar, B. Castaneda, K. Hoyt, J. Joseph, P. di Sant'Agnese, E. Messing, J. Strang, D. J. Rubens, and K. J. Parker
    Ultrasound Med Biol, vol. 34, no. 7 , pp. 1033 -1042  (2008). View PDF
  13. Prostate cancer detection based on three dimensional sonoelastography
    B. Castaneda, K. Hoyt, M. Zhang, D. Pasternack, L. Baxter, P. Nigwekar, P. di Sant'Agnese, J. Joseph, and J. Strang
    Proceedings, IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium , pp. 1353 -1356  (2007). View PDF
  14. Prostate cancer: three-dimensional sonoelastography for in vitro detection
    L. S. Taylor, D. J. Rubens, B. S. Porter, Z. Wu, R. B. Baggs, P. di Sant'Agnese, G. Nadasdy, D. Pasternack, and E. Messing
    Radiology, vol. 237, no. 3 , pp. 981 -985  (2005). View PDF
  15. Detection of intraocular pressure change in the eye using sonoelastic Doppler ultrasound
    S. K. Alam, R. W. Richards, and K. J. Parker
    Ultrasound Med Biol, vol. 20, no. 8 , pp. 751 -758  (2004). View PDF
  16. Three-dimensional registration of prostate images from histology and ultrasound
    L. S. Taylor, B. S. Porter, G. Nadasdy, P. di Sant'Agnese, D. Pasternack, Z. Wu, R. B. Baggs, D. J. Rubens, and K. J. Parker
    Ultrasound Med Biol, vol. 30, no. 2 , pp. 161 -168  (2004). View PDF
  17. In-vitro imaging of thermal lesions using three-dimensional vibration sonoelastography
    M. Zhang, J. Strang, D. J. Rubens, and K. J. Parker
    Proceedings, 2nd International Symposium on Therapeutic Ultrasound , pp. 176 -184  (2002). View PDF
  18. Detection and three-dimensional visualization of lesion models using sonoelastography
    L. S. Taylor, R. S. Gaborski, J. Strang, D. J. Rubens, and K. J. Parker
    Proceedings, SPIE Medical Imaging: Ultrasonic Imaging and SIgnal Processing, no. 4687 , pp. 421 -429  (2002). View PDF
  19. Shear wave focusing for three-dimensional sonoelastography
    Z. Wu, L. S. Taylor, D. J. Rubens, and K. J. Parker
    J Acoust Soc Am, vol. 111, no. 1 , pp. 439 -446  (2002). View PDF
  20. Viscoelastic effects in sonoelastography: impact on tumor detectability
    L. S. Taylor, M. S. Richards, A. J. Moskowitz, A. L. Lerner, D. J. Rubens, and K. J. Parker
    Proceedings, IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium, vol. 2 , pp. 1639 -1642  (2001). View PDF
  21. Non-invasive quantitative reconstruction of tissue elasticity using an iterative forward approach
    D. Fu, S. F. Levinson, S.M. Gracewski, and K. J. Parker
    Phys Med Biol, vol. 45, no. 6 , pp. 1495 -1510  (2000). View PDF
  22. Three-dimensional sonoelastography: principles and practices
    L. S. Taylor, B. S. Porter, D. J. Rubens, and K. J. Parker
    Phys Med Biol, vol. 45, no. 6 , pp. 1477 -1494  (2000). View PDF
  23. Solution of the inverse problem in sonoelastography using an iterative forward approach
    D. Fu, S. F. Levinson, S.M. Gracewski, and K. J. Parker
    Proceedings, Ultrasonic Imaging and Tissue Characterization Symposium , pp. 61 -62  (1999). View PDF
  24. Feature-adaptive motion tracking of ultrasound image sequences using a deformable mesh
    F. Yeung, S. F. Levinson, D. Fu, and K. J. Parker
    IEEE Trans Med Imaging, vol. 17, no. 6 , pp. 945 -956  (1998). View PDF
  25. Vibration sonoelastography and the detectability of lesions
    K. J. Parker, D. Fu, S.M. Gracewski, F. Yeung, and S. F. Levinson
    Ultrasound Med Biol, vol. 24, no. 9 , pp. 1437 -1447  (1998). View PDF
  26. Multilevel and motion model-based ultrasonic speckle tracking algorithms
    F. Yeung, S. F. Levinson, and K. J. Parker
    Ultrasound Med Biol, vol. 24, no. 3 , pp. 427 -441  (1998). View PDF
  27. Theory and application of sonoelasticity imaging
    L. Gao, K. J. Parker, S. K. Alam, D. J. Rubens, and R. M. Lerner
    Int J Imag Syst Tech, vol. 8, no. 1 , pp. 104 -109  (1997). View PDF
  28. Techniques for elastic imaging: a review
    K. J. Parker, L. Gao, R. M. Lerner, and S. F. Levinson
    IEEE Eng Med Biol vol. 15, no. 6 , pp. 52 -59  (1996). View PDF
  29. Imaging of the elastic properties of tissue — a review
    L. Gao, K. J. Parker, R. M. Lerner, and S. F. Levinson
    Ultrasound Med Biol vol. 22, no. 8 , pp. 959 -977  (1996). View PDF
  30. Sonoelasticity imaging: theory and experimental verification
    L. Gao, K. J. Parker, S. K. Alam, and R. M. Lerner
    J Acoust Soc Am, vol. 97, no. 6 , pp. 3875 -3886  (1995). View PDF
  31. Sonoelasticity imaging of prostate cancer: in vitro results
    D. J. Rubens, M. A. Hadley, S. K. Alam, L. Gao, R. D. Mayer, and K. J. Parker
    Radiology, vol. 195, no. 2 , pp. 379 -383  (1995). View PDF
  32. Detection of intraocular pressure change in a human eye model using sonoelastic Doppler ultrasound
    S. K. Alam, R. W. Richards, and K. J. Parker
    Proceedings, IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium , pp. 1057 -1060  (1992). View PDF
  33. Sonoelasticity of organs: shear waves ring a bell
    K. J. Parker and R. M. Lerner
    J Ultrasound Med, vol. 11, no. 8 , pp. 387 -392  (1992). View PDF
  34. Time domain Doppler estimators of the amplitude of vibrating targets
    S. R. Huang, R. M. Lerner, and K. J. Parker
    J Acoust Soc Am, vol. 91, no. 2 , pp. 965 -974  (1992). View Online
  35. Sonoelasticity imaging: results in in vitro tissue specimens
    F. Lee, J. P. Bronson, R. M. Lerner, K. J. Parker, S. R. Huang, and D. J. Roach
    Radiology, vol. 181, no. 1 , pp. 237 -239  (1991). View PDF
  36. On estimating the amplitude of harmonic vibration from the Doppler spectrum of reflected signals
    S. R. Huang, R. M. Lerner, and K. J. Parker
    J Acoust Soc Am, vol. 88, no. 6 , pp. 2702 -2712  (1990). View Online
  37. Tissue response to mechanical vibrations for sonoelasticity imaging
    K. J. Parker, S. R. Huang, A. Musulin, and R. M. Lerner
    Ultrasound Med Biol, vol. 16, no. 3 , pp. 241 -246  (1990). View PDF
  38. "Sonoelasticity" images derived from ultrasound signals in mechanically vibrated tissues
    R. M. Lerner, S. R. Huang, and K. J. Parker
    Ultrasound Med Biol, vol. 16, no. 3 , pp. 231 -239  (1990). View PDF
  39. Sono-elasticity: medical elasticity images derived from ultrasound signals in mechanically vibrated targets
    R. M. Lerner, K. J. Parker, J. Holen, R. Gramiak, and R. C. Waag
    Acoust Imaging, vol. 16 , pp. 317 -327  (1988). View PDF
  40. Sonoelasticity images derived from ultrasound signals in mechanically vibrated targets
    R. M. Lerner and K. J. Parker
    Proceedings, Seventh European Communities Workshop: Ultrasonic Tissue Characterization and Echographic Imaging (7) , pp. 127 -129  (1987). View PDF