Study of acoustic nonlinearity parameter imaging methods

in reflection mode for biological tissues

Xiufen Gong,a) Dong Zhang, Jiehui Liu, Huanlei Wang, Yongsheng Yan, and Xiaochen
Xu
State Key Lab of Modern Acoustics, Institute of Acoustics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Received 10 February 2004; revised 16 June 2004; accepted 22 June 2004
Three novel methods for acoustic nonlinearity parameter B/A imaging in reflection mode are
developed in this paper. They are: 1 the acoustic nonlinearity parameter B/A tomography by
detecting reflective second harmonic wave, 2 the B/A tomography in reflection mode via the
measurement of the difference frequency wave generated by a parametric array, and 3 the C-scan
imaging of B/A via the measurement of the echo second-harmonic signal. A theoretical analysis and
the experimental imaging of normal and pathological biological tissues by using these methods are
also present and discussed. Results show that using the acoustic nonlinearity parameter imaging we
can more easily distinguish the diseased tissue from the normal one than using the linear acoustic
parameters. 2004 Acoustical Society of America. DOI: 10.1121/1.1781709
PACS numbers: 43.80.Ev, 43.80.Cs FD Pages: 18191825

I. INTRODUCTION on the insert-substitution method have been developed,16 18

The ultrasound B-scan imaging has been widely used in
a modern hospital for clinical ultrasound diagnosis because it
can provide important information on the diseased state of
the tissues in a human body noninvasively and nondestruc-
tively. The principle of this technique is based on the as-
sumption of linear acoustics. However, many reports indicate
that the nonlinear acoustical effects must be considered in
the range of biomedical frequencies and intensities.13 Due
to these nonlinear effects, a monochromatic sound wave will
be distorted progressively and harmonics will be generated.
Considering that the second harmonics has a better direc-
tional performance and spatial resolution compared with the
fundamental wave, the most current B-scanning has the func-
tion of the second-harmonic imaging.4 6 It is well known in
nonlinear acoustics that as a measure of nonlinearity of a
medium, the acoustic nonlinearity parameter B/A determines
the pressure amplitude of the second harmonics generated.
Also, since this parameter reflects the dynamic properties of
the medium, it can give more important messages about the
structural features and the pathological change of the tissues
than the linear ultrasonic parameters.711 Therefore, the non-
linearity parameter B/A can become a new and useful pa-
rameter in biological tissue characterization.
Owing to the inhomogeneous features of biological tis-
sues, most efforts have worked on the B/A imaging in the
fields of ultrasound biomedicine and nonlinear acoustics.
Ichida et al.12 presented a phase shift method, and Nakagawa
et al.13 reported methods using the second-harmonic wave
and parametric array for nonlinearity parameter imaging.
Cain14 theoretically studied the ultrasonic imaging of the
nonlinearity parameter B/A in reflection mode. Fatemi and
Greenleaf proposed a method for read-time assessment of
tissue nonlinearity.15 In our laboratory, several B/A imaging
techniques in transmission mode for biological tissues based
a
Electronic mail: dzhang@nju.edu.cn
e.g., B/A tomography via the measurement of the second-
harmonic detection, and B/A tomography via the measure-
ment of the sum or difference frequency wave produced by
the parametric effect. The obtained experimental images
showed that the difference between healthy and pathological
tissues could be determined quite well by using the acoustic
nonlinearity parameter.
Up to now, few works on B/A image using echo
signals19 have been reported. Considering that the ultrasound
medical diagnostic instruments operate mostly in reflection
mode, it is necessary to investigate the B/A imaging in re-
flection mode. Besides, the B/A imaging via the measure-
ment of the second harmonics is limited by high sound at-
tenuation. Hence, development of novel techniques for
reducing the frequency and obtaining lower sound attenua-
tion in the reconstruction of B/A tomography is needed.
In this paper we present three versions of B/A imaging
methods in reflection mode, which are: 1 the acoustic non-
linearity parameter B/A tomography by detecting the reflec-
tive second-harmonic wave, 2 B/A tomography in reflec-
tion mode via the measurement of the low difference
frequency wave generated by a parametric array, and 3 the
nonlinearity parameter B/A imaging in reflection mode at a
constant depth named C-scan imaging of B/A) via the mea-
surement of the echo signals of second harmonics. A theo-
retical analysis and the experimental images of normal and
pathological biological tissues obtained by using these meth-
ods are presented and discussed.
II. METHODS AND RESULTS
A. Tomography of the nonlinearity parameter B A via
the second harmonics in reflection mode
1. Theory
A compound PZT transducer T, as shown in Fig. 1, is
used to transmit the primary wave at frequency and also to
receive the reflective second-harmonic wave at 2 2 . An

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 116 (3), September 2004 0001-4966/2004/116(3)/1819/7/$20.00 2004 Acoustical Society of America 1819
FIG. 1. Propagation path of generated second harmonics in reflection mode.

aluminum plate is fixed at position L from the transducer to

enhance the reflective signal. The test sample is inserted into
the water as a reference medium at distance x from T with FIG. 2. Geometry of ultrasonic tomography in reflection mode.
xL. When a wave with the finite amplitude P 1 (0) is trans-
mitted from the transducer at x0, P 1 P 1 (0)sin t, the
wave will be distorted along the path of propagation and the where w is the i of distilled water, whose B/A5.2. The
second harmonics generated. ratio of Eq. 2 to Eq. 3 will be

The pressure amplitudes of the reflected second harmon- p 2s L 1 L
ics received by the compound transducer consist of two p i x
parts, one of which is the reflected second harmonics gener- p 2w L 1R w L 0

ated on the forward path and the other is the second harmon-
ics generated on the backward path of the reflected primary
wave from the plate and can be expressed as

exp
0
x
2 1 x dx L

x
2 x dx

P 2s L R
2 2
P 0 L
i x dxR L
i Lx dx ,
L

0
2 x dx R exp Lx

0
2 1 x dx
4 1

0 0

where i (x) (x)/ 0 (x)c 30 (x),

(x)1 (B/2A)(x) .
1
L

Lx
2 x dx
0
L
2 1 x dx dx. 4

0 (x), c 0 (x) and (B/A)(x) are the density, velocity, and the Figure 2 shows a conventional CT scanning system. The
nonlinearity parameter at x. R is the reflection coefficient of sample rotates from 0 to 360 at an equal interval angle
the plate. Considering the sound attenuation of the sample, 2 /K K is the number of rotating steps, and at each
Eq. 1 is rewritten as angle j j2 /K ( j0,1,...,K1) the compound trans-

ducer sweeps step by step along one fixed direction u axis.
p 2s L R
2 2
P 0
4 1

0
L
i x exp
0
x
2 1 x dx Assuming that the linear scan is uL/N L and N are the
distance and the step number of the linear scan respectively,

the projection data are sampled at u i iu (iN/2,
x
L
2 x dx L

0
2 x dx
N/21,...,0,1,...,N/2). Thus, a K(N1) projection data
matrix will be obtained for each specimen.

Lx L The ratio of P 2s (L)/ P 2w (L) can be regarded as the pro-
R exp 2 1 x dx 2 x dx jection data p(u, ) in the CT technique
0 Lx

L
2 1 x dx dx, 2
p u,
1
0L
V

V
i x,y d v , 5
0
where VL/2, i (x,y) i (x,y)C(x,y), C(x,y) is the ma-
where 1 (x) and 2 (x) are the attenuation coefficients of the trix of the attenuation correction and determined by Eq. 521
primary and second-harmonic waves.
In order to avoid the measurement of the absolute sound
pressure amplitude for the second harmonics, the finite- C x,y
1
2

2

0
exp
V
v
2 1 x,y d v

amplitude insert-substitute method16,20 is used. When the

sample is absent, the pressure amplitude of the second har-
monics in the water reflected from the plate is
V

v
2 x,y d v R exp
V/2 v

V
2 1 x,y d v

P 2w L
L 2
P 0 R 1R w ,
2 1
3 V

V/2 v
2 x,y d v d .

1820 J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 116, No. 3, September 2004 Gong et al.: Reflective nonlinearity parameter imaging
 FIG. 4. B/A tomography via second-harmonic wave in reflection mode for
a three layers tissue sample: a sample model, b experimental tomogra-
FIG. 3. Block diagram of experimental system for B/A tomography via phy.
second-harmonic wave in reflection mode.

can be determined by the gray scale of their images as fol-

Equation 4 shows that p(u, ) is a linear integral of
lows: for the fatty tissue B/A10.9, for the normal porcine
i (x,y) along the propagation path of the wave, therefore
liver B/A7.3, and for the hepatonecrosis liver B/A10.5.
the i (x,y) image can be reconstructed by using the filtered
These obtained values coincide well with the results in
convolution method in the CT technique. Then, the nonlin-
literatures.7,18 Furthermore, the hepatonecrosis liver can be
earity parameter B/A tomography can be obtained after the
discerned according as its B/A value is higher than that of
correction of sound attenuation.
the normal liver, therefore, they can be distinguished more
easily by means of B/A tomography.
2. Experimental system and results
The block diagram of the experimental system is shown B. Tomography of the acoustic nonlinearity
in Fig. 3. The outer annular ring of the compound transducer parameter B A via the difference frequency wave
with a resonance frequency of 2.0 MHz is used as the trans- from a parametric array in reflection mode
mitter and the central disk with a resonance frequency of 4.0
MHz as the receiver to detect the second harmonics. A 2.0 1. Theory and method
MHz tone-burst signal is generated by a programmable func-
When two primary waves with angular frequencies 1
tion generator Agilent 33250A, USA. After passing
and 2 and the initial sound pressure amplitudes P 1 (0) and
through a broad-band power amplifier ENI 2100L, USA,
P 2 (0) are transmitted from a transducer simultaneously, sev-
this signal is sent to the transmitter. The second-harmonic
eral frequency components will be generated during the
signals of 4 MHz cumulated in the path of propagation
sound propagation due to the nonlinear interaction of these
through the sample will be reflected by the aluminum plate
two waves in a medium. If only the quadratic effects are
and then detected by the receiver. By using a frequency-
considered, the second harmonics 2 1 and 2 2 as well as
selective amplifier with a central frequency of 4 MHz, the
the parametric signals with sum and difference frequencies
reflected second-harmonic wave is amplified and recorded by
components 1 2 will be generated.22
a digital oscilloscope Lecroy 9310A, USA. The amplitude
As shown in Fig. 6, an aluminum plate with rhe reflec-
of the reflected second harmonics in the reference medium
tive coefficient R used as a reflector is located at distance L
water P 2w can also be measured. Then the value of
away from a compound transducer T. Considering only the
P 2s (L)/ P 2w (L) is used as the projection data. The two-
difference frequency component P d , the reflected sound
dimensional mechanical scanning system motor 1 for
pressure amplitude of the difference frequency wave re-
sample rotating and motor 2 for linear scanning is controlled
ceived by the compound transducer is
via the GP-IB interface by a computer.
A cylindrical sample container with diameter of 30 mm
is surrounded by a polythene membrane. The excised fresh
soft tissues taken from a slaughter house are carefully packed
into the container and the unoccupied space is filled with a
0.9% saline solution to avoid the influence of gas bubbles.
The cross section of a three-layer sample model is shown in
Fig. 4a. The internal layer is the porcine liver tissue, the
intermediate layer the porcine fatty tissue and the external
layer water. The corresponding experimental B/A tomogra-
phy is shown in Fig. 4b. The second sample model consists
of two half-cylindrical tissues with normal liver tissue and
hepatonecrosis tissue as shown in Fig. 5a. The correspond-
FIG. 5. B/A tomography via second-harmonic wave in reflection mode for
ing experimental tomography of B/A is shown in Fig. 5b. normal and hepatonecrosis livers: a sample model, b experimental to-
The averaged values of B/A for the above-mentioned tissues mography.

J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 116, No. 3, September 2004 Gong et al.: Reflective nonlinearity parameter imaging 1821
FIG. 6. Propagation path of generated difference-frequency wave via a para-
metric array in reflection mode.

d
P dw R 1R P 0 P 2 0 w L, 6
2 1

where w 2(B/A) w /2 w c w3 , d 2 1 , w , c w are

the density and velocity of the reference medium distilled
water, respectively.
For an inhomogeneous medium biological tissue the
nonlinear coefficient i (x) is dependent on the position.
Then Eq. 6 will be rewritten as

P ds R 1R
d
2 1
P 0 P 2 0
L

0
i x dx. 7 FIG. 7. Block diagram of experimental system for B/A tomography via a
parametric array in reflection mode.

Considering the sound attenuation of the sample, this equa-

tion is modified as 2. Experimental arrangement

P ds R
d
2 1
P 0 P 2 0
0
L
i x,y C x,y dl, 8 The block diagram of the experimental system is shown
in Fig. 7. A compound transducer is employed as both the
transmitter and the receiver. The external circular PZT ring
where C(x,y) is the attenuation matrix defined as
with an outer diameter of 2.2 cm and with a resonance fre-

C x,y
1
2
2

0
exp
0
L
1 x,y 2 x,y dl
quency of 4 MHz is used as a transmitter of two primary
waves. The internal PZT disk with a diameter of 0.7 cm and
with a resonance frequency of 1 MHz is used as a receiver of

l
L
d x,y dl
L

0
d x,y dl the difference frequency wave. Two function generators
Philips PM5193 and Agilent 33250A transmit sine waves

at 3.5 and 4.5 MHz, respectively. These two signals are
L
added by an adder, then modulated by a pulse generator
R exp 1 x,y 2 x,y dl
0 HP8110A, USA. The modulated burst signal is amplified

l
d x,y dl d .
0 ence frequency is received by the internal PZT disk and re-
In order to avoid measuring the absolute value of the sound
pressure, the finite amplitude insert-substitution method is
introduced and the distilled water is used as the reference
medium. Using Eqs. 6 and 8, we define p P ds / P dw as
the projection data in the conventional CT technique, the
procedure of which is similar to that shown in Fig. 2.
The two-dimensional image of i (x,y)C(x,y) is recon-
structed by using the filtered convolution algorithm to deal
with the projection data. Then the i (x,y) tomography is
obtained by correction of C(x,y). Finally the B/A tomogra-
phy is imaged with algebraic transformation.
by a power amplifier ENI A150, USA and then excites the
9 external PZT of the transducer. The reflected signal of differ-
corded by a digital oscilloscope Lecroy 9310, USA. The
amplitudes of the difference frequency wave at 1 MHz are
measured with and without inserting the sample ( P ds and
P dw ). The ratio of P ds / P dw is considered as the projection
data. In the mechanical scanning, the rotating interval angle
is 15, so 24 angles are needed in one circle. At each angle,
the projection data is sampled at the step of 1.25 mm. All
projection data are collected in the range of 8 cm and a
2465 projection matrix is obtained. The B/A tomography
is displayed after reconstruction and correction by attenua-
tion C(x,y).

1822 J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 116, No. 3, September 2004 Gong et al.: Reflective nonlinearity parameter imaging

FIG. 8. Comparison of beam patterns at 1 MHz between generation directly
from a transducer and that from a parametric array.
3. Experimental results
a. The beam pattern of the difference frequency wave.
The beam pattern of the difference frequency wave at 1 MHz
for a distance of 8 cm generated by the nonlinear interaction
of the two primary waves at 3.5 and 4.5 MHz is shown in
Fig. 8 as closed circles. For comparison, the beam pattern at
the same distance from the transmitter excited directly at 1
MHz is also shown in this figure as open circles. It can be
found that the difference frequency wave has a better direc-
tional performance, which will be conducive to improve the
resolution of imaging.
b. B/A tomography for biological tissues.B/A tomogra-
phy was performed for several biological tissues including
normal and diseased ones. As shown in Figs. 9a and 10a,
the two sample models in different tissue combinations are
studied. In Fig. 9a the porcine fatty tissue is located in the
external ring and the internal part is the normal porcine liver
tissue. In Fig. 10a, the left side is the normal porcine liver
tissue and the right side is a kind of pathological porcine
liver tissue hepatocirrhosis. The corresponding experimen-
tal images are shown in Figs. 9b and 10b, respectively.
The obtained experimental images coincide well with
their sample models and the gray levels represent the B/A
values of biological tissues. Based on the gray levels of the
FIG. 9. B/A tomography via parametric array in reflection mode for two
kinds of normal tissues, a sample model normal liver and fatty tissues,
b experimental tomography.
J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 116, No. 3, September 2004
FIG. 10. B/A tomography via parametric array in reflection mode for nor-
mal and diseased tissues: a sample model normal and hepatocirrhosis
livers, b experimental tomography.
images, the averaged values of B/A are obtained as follows:
B/A11 for the porcine fat; B/A6.5 for the normal por-
cine liver and B/A8.3 for the hepatocirrhosis liver. These
results are consistent with those presented in Refs. 7 and 18.
The second-harmonic imaging has been successful for
years due to its better lateral resolution and improved clarity
of the image quality. However, the second harmonics has
higher attenuation because of the doubling of the fundamen-
tal frequency. The difference frequency scheme is needed
because it provides the low frequency wave corresponding
to the low sound attenuation with a high directionality.
C. Nonlinearity parameter imaging in C-scan mode
1. Theory and method
The nonlinearity parameter C-scan image is constructed
by the echo signal of the reflected second harmonics at a
constant depth of a biological specimen. Assume that a finite
amplitude plane wave P 1 (0) with frequency f 0 is emitted at
z0 and travels through the medium. The biological speci-
men can be regarded as a layered medium distributed in the
uniform media. At distance z from the source, the reflected
echo signal of the second harmonics 2 f 0 is
P 12r 2 f 0 ,z P 12 2 f 0 ,z R 2 f 0 ,z exp 2 2 f 0 ,z dz ,
10
where R(2 f 0 ,z) is the reflection coefficient at z, 2 (2 f 0 ,z)
is the sound attenuation at 2 f 0 , and P 12(2 f 0 ,z) is the pres-
sure amplitude of the cumulated second harmonics at dis-
tance z and should satisfy
d P 12 2 f 0 ,z
dz
K z P 21 f 0 ,0 exp 2 1 f 0 ,z dz
2 2 f 0 ,z P 12 2 f 0 ,z , 11
where K(z) /4 0 c 30 B/A(z)2 .
If an infinitesimal ultrasound wave P i (0) with fre-
quency 2 f 0 is transmitted into the medium, the reflected sig-
nal of this fundamental wave at z will be
P ir 2 f 0 ,z P i 2 f 0 ,z R 2 f 0 ,z exp 2 2 f 0 ,z dz ,
12
Gong et al.: Reflective nonlinearity parameter imaging 1823
FIG. 11. Block diagram of experimental system for B/A imaging by C-scan
method.

where P i (2 f 0 ,z) P i (2 f 0 ,0)exp 2(2f 0 ,z)dz. Dividing

Eq. 10 by Eq. 12 and eliminating R(2 f 0 ,z) and
exp 2(2f 0 ,z)dz, we get
P i 2 f 0 ,z P ir 2 f 0 ,z
. 13
P 12 2 f 0 ,z P 12r 2 f 0 ,z
FIG. 12. Sample models and experimental results in B/A imaging by C-scan
Differentiating Eq. 13 with respect to variable z and con- mode: a sample with half liver and half fat tissues, b sample with liver in
sidering the relationship of Eq. 11, we obtain inner circle and fat in outer ring, c sample with liver in central square and
fat in outside.

d P 12 2 f 0 ,z
dz P i 2 f 0 ,z
K z
P 21 f 0 ,z
P i 2 f 0 ,0
exp 2 1 f 0 ,z
writing the B/A value into the image file. Then the 2D image

of (B/A)(x,y), perpendicular to the z axis, is obtained by
2 2 f 0 ,z dz . 14 grating the C-scan method.
Biological samples in the different combinations of nor-
For biological tissues, 2 1 ( f 0 ,z) 2 (2 f 0 ,z), then Eq. 14 mal porcine liver and fat tissues are studied. Figure 12 shows
will be reduced to the sample models and corresponding experimental results.

In sample a, liver and fat tissues are located in the right and
d P 12r 2 f 0 ,z P 21 f 0 ,0
K z . 15 left half parts, respectively. With a sampling interval of 0.4
dz P ir 2 f 0 ,z P i 2 f 0 ,0 mm and a sampling number of 6464, the imaging area is
Parameter z can be converted to t by zc 0 t/2. Hence, the 2.562.56 cm2. In sample b, the central square is a liver
distribution of the nonlinearity parameter B/A is obtained as tissue with a border of 2.0 cm and the outer part is a fat
tissue. In sample c, the ring area is a liver tissue and the
B
A
z
8 c 2 P i 0 d P 12r 2 f 0 ,z
P 21 0 dt P ir 2 f 0 ,z
2. 16
other area is a fat tissue. The inner-radius and outer-radius of
the ring are 0.6 cm and 1.1 cm, respectively. For samples b
and c, the sampling interval is 0.5 mm and the sampling
From this equation, we can image the B/A distribution of the number is 6464, so the imaging area is 3.23.2 cm2. In
biological specimen by measuring the ratio of P 12r (2 f 0 ,z) experimental images, black and gray areas correspond to the
and P ir (2 f 0 ,z). porcine liver and fat tissues, the B/A values of which are 6.9
and 9.6, respectively. The obtained B/A values coincide well
2. Experiment and results with those obtained by other imaging methods. Figure 13a
Figure 11 shows an automatic mechanical system for the demonstrates a sample model with a half normal porcine
B/A C-scan imaging in pulse reflection mode with high pre- liver and a half diseased fatty liver. Figure 13b shows the
cision, which consists of a Newport MM3000 motion con-
troller, a pulse generator, a frequency synthesizer PM5193, a
wideband power amplifier ENI A150, a digital oscilloscope
HP54502A and a compound PZT transducer used both as a
transmitter for 2 MHz and a receiver for 4 MHz. The 3D
mechanical scanning system is used to construct the image at
a constant depth of the tissue. The reflected signals are de-
tected and measured by the following procedures: 1 pass-
ing the signal through the delay switch of the digital oscillo-
scope and adjusting the imaging depth of the sample, 2
segmenting the wave form, taking FFT and obtaining the
pressure amplitude of the reflected second harmonics
P 12r (2 f 0 ,z) and the reflected fundamental component
FIG. 13. B/A imaging by C-scan mode for a sample with half normal
P ir (2 f 0 ,z) respectively, 3 calculating the ratio P 12r / P ir , porcine liver and half diseased fatty liver: a sample model b experimental
the slope (d/dt) P 12r / P ir and the value of (B/A)(z), 4 result.

1824 J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 116, No. 3, September 2004 Gong et al.: Reflective nonlinearity parameter imaging
TABLE I. Linear and nonlinear parameters of several biological tissues.
Density Velocity Attenuation
Sample g/cm3 m/s 2 MHz, dB/cm B/A B/A Ref.
Porcine fat 0.95 1455 1.11 10.9
Porcine liver 1.06 1588 1.08 6.9
Fatty liver 1.05 1598 1.20 8.3
Hepatocirrhosis 1.05 1600 1.26 8.3
Hepatonecrosis 1.05 1597 1.17 10.5
a
See Ref. 16.
b
Reference 23.
corresponding two dimensional B/A image in C-scan mode.
From Fig. 13b, it is clearly seen that the nonlinearity pa-
rameter B/A of the diseased fatty liver (B/A8.3) is signifi-
cantly higher than that of the normal liver (B/A6.8), thus
it is easier to discriminate them from each other in the B/A
image according to different gray scales.
III. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
The B/A images obtained in reflection mode demon-
strate good clarity and improved contrast between the patho-
logical and healthy states of soft animal tissues. The values
of acoustic linear parameters including densities, sound ve-
locities, attenuations and nonlinearity parameters are com-
pared and listed in Table I. We found that the acoustic non-
linearity parameter is much more sensitive to the
pathological state of the porcine liver tissue than the linear
parameters.
For the developed B/A imaging methods in this paper,
the energy in the second harmonic frequency is higher than
that in the wave at the difference frequency generated by a
parametric array. However, the second harmonics has higher
sound attenuation because of the doubling of the fundamen-
tal frequency. The difference frequency sound wave at 1
MHz provides much lower sound attenuation and has better
directional performance compared with that excited directly
from a transmitter at 1 MHz, and therefore could improve the
imaging resolution. However, it should be noted that the pro-
posed three methods for imaging the B/A parameter are all
based on the assumption of the plane wave insonification.
Although use of the insert substitution method could reduce
the diffraction effect,16 further work on the diffraction effect
is necessary.
In summary, ultrasound identification of the healthy tis-
sues from the diseased ones is sometimes difficult due to the
fact that even when tissues are pathologically different, their
ultrasonic properties, such as sound velocity, attenuation, and
acoustic impedance, may still be quite similar. However,
their values of nonlinearity parameter are significantly differ-
ent and can be used to enhance the discrimination and evalu-
ate the healthy and diseased tissues effectively. The results
obtained in the present paper indicate the potential applica-
tion of nonlinearity parameter B/A imaging in ultrasound
diagnosis and bring about a step forward in medical ultra-
sound.
J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 116, No. 3, September 2004
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Authors wish to thank Professor F. Dunn for his
valuable suggestions and comments. This work was sup-
10.8a
ported by Natural Science Foundation of China and JiangSu
6.8b Province.
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